Irving Progressive

With the Dow plunging by nearly 700 points today, and a stock price movement graph that looks like a train running off the cliff in one of those old black-and-white Western movies, I sold my remaining small stockholdings today. I'm in a (very small pile of) cash position from tomorrow onwards in the USA. I will now shift my attention to what I can do to stem the losses in my UK pension fund.
One revealing note in the Housing Bubble Blog is this insight into how some people worked a seemingly undendingly rising market in California:

“‘We called them ‘foreclosure loans’ because they were doomed to fail,’ said one agent, who didn’t want to be identified because she’s still in the industry. ‘The lender expected the borrower to lose the house and the bank would resell it for its higher appreciated value. But the market dropped and they got caught with their pants down.’”

And where there is trouble, you will find gallows humor. Here is Thomas Friedman reporting:

A commentator on CNBC caught my attention. He was being asked to give advice to viewers as to what were the best positions to be in to ride out the market storm. Without missing a beat, he answered: “Cash and fetal.”

If I lie down on the floor correctly I can currently meet both of those requirements...
My girlfriend and I took action today; we both gave notice at our respective apartment complexes. We will move in together in December (renting an affordable house, hopefully not an imminent foreclosure) and expect to save at least $1500 a month and probably closer to $2000 a month in expenses. Since we have no debt, all of that money will go into savings. Right now we are entering a period of time where Cash Is King. I have no idea how much longer I will have a job (I am in the I.T. industry, and that is not a high-security place to be right now), so it is imperative that I create some cash reserves. The current crash will result in a real recession (we were already in one, it's just that the archaic way of determining the CPI and GDP had not caught up to reality), and I do not know what this means for me in the long term. I suspect that I will have to work until I drop dead. Right now I will never be able to afford to retire. Still, as long as I have my health, I shall count my blessings.