Chart Porn

Chart compares bear markets from the Depression to now. Sourced from here.

Given the ferocity of decline above, I am not sure if the honorable Dr. Bernanke is sifting the tea leaves appropriately when he makes statement like this...

From here: “If actions taken by the administration, the Congress, and the Federal Reserve are successful in restoring some measure of financial stability -- and only if that is the case, in my view - - there is a reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009 and that 2010 will be a year of recovery”.

Market Reaction

Dow is up by almost 400 (10,738.28 at 3pm today). We need to take time and plan the bailout better. The world has not ended as was predicted by the scholars and pundits at the Fed / Treasury.. Maybe I am missing something or am very very stupid.

From Dealbook:

The Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington nonprofit group that studies money and politics, reports that on average, lawmakers who voted in favor of the bailout bill have received 51 percent more in campaign contributions from sources in the finance, insurance and real estate industries — or FIRE industries, for short — over their congressional careers than those who opposed the emergency legislation..