Cash & Savings: $53,398(-22.10%)
Foreign Currency: $31,751 (1.10%)
US Brokerage: $74,195 (-15.75%)
Overseas Brokerage: $20,437 (-18.08%)
401(k): $18,004 (6.09%)
IRA: $54,172 (-27.01%)
Roth IRA: $13,836 (-17.53%)
Total Assets: $265,793 (-17.18%)
It turned out my September cash level was artificially high due to expense reimbursement from work. Had I exclude that from the calculation then my cash level wouldn't swing that much.
Coming to the end of October there seems to be a sense of clam slipping into the market but the worse is yet to come. Massive layoffs is not just news on the TV but also live events happening in the neighborhood. There are predictions of unemployment rate going to 7.5 or 8.5% by end of 2009. I'm not an economist nor have the tools and data to calcualte that figure, but just by seeing what is happening I can tell this recession will be longer and harsher than the last one.
I'm no Dr. Doom but seeing people around you got laid off across all sectors isn't fun - construction, architecture, accounting, head hunting, IT, etc. Everyone better tighten up a bit, I know I'm ready to live below my means for the next two years.
October 2008
November 1st, 2008 at 08:12 pm
November 2nd, 2008 at 02:58 pm 1225637909
November 9th, 2008 at 05:25 am 1226208332