Hitting the bottom

MANIFESTO

Every time it looks like the stock market can't go any lower, another company is heard from. Over the weekend, it was Lehman Brothers; today it was AIG. Tomorrow it looks like it might be Washington Mutual sounding the death rattle.

With all of these major players trading in the single digits, it looks like it's time for many of them to fold up their tents. As a commentator said this morning, these companies just have nothing left to paper over their losses.

The situation continues to worsen, and with the S&P Index closing below the critical 1200 support level, we'd all better fasten our seatbelts for what will inevitably be a very bumpy ride.