Another Rough Week?

In the last 3 days of last week, Dow dropped about 600. Grrr! Expect more this week. Analysts are expecting banks to announce another $20 billion in loan writedowns for this quarter. If anything, final numbers could be even larger. I worry about Countrywide Financial (CFC), the largest mortgage lender. They squeaked by the August crisis with $12B in emergency financing plus selling $2B in preferred stock sold to BankAmerica. Now the stock is very near its recent lows. They are so big, their problems will adversely affect other financials. On the overnight market, a major Hong Kong bank just reported an addiitional $1B write-down on its loans related to sub-prime.

NAS stocks were slammed hard late in the week. Meanwhile gold is 835 while oil pushes 100, a price that will bleed thru to economies around the world. Already (Sun evening), Japan, Hong Kong & Korean markets are lower 2-3%`each. The US stocks markets will be open on the semi-holiday of Mon. Get ready for another rough week, keeping in mind that lower prices bring more attractive buying opportunities.