Carnage on Wall Street

by Ryan Healy on October 9, 2008

Did you see what happened to the DOW today? It dropped… no, plummeted… another 679 points by the closing bell.

If it’s not clear by now, it should be: This is no ordinary market correction.

Just look at the numbers. From August 11, 2008 through October 9, 2008, the DOW has shed 3,155 points. That’s a 26.89% loss in only two brief months.

No, it’s not a correction — it’s a shakedown.

Reminds me of some lyrics from a Tree63 song on their latest album, Sunday. They sing, “What God makes, God will shake, but his throne will be there still.”

At this point, I think we can safely make the argument that paying off debt will give you a better return on your money than investing it in the stock market.

If you pay off debt, you’ll get a guaranteed R.O.I. of whatever your interest rate is. And if you have one of those “normal” interest rates, you might be able to lock in 25% or more… automatically!

On the other hand, throw some money in the stock market and you might wind up with nothing. Here’s a picture that says it all:

==> If You Bought $1,000 Worth of Stock a Year Ago

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one could be worth $1,000 as well.

Do you have debt? Now would be a great time to start paying it off.

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