As I watch the talk shows and the remarks on this blog, I have to say that nearly everyone is missing the whole point and that is, this bailout would not have worked. There is nothing this Congress can do to save our financial system. The Congress was going to give Paulson $250 Billion for starters. If they were serious and actually knew what they doing, that's about 10 times as much too short. Estimates are that there are still $2-3 Trillion in outstanding toxic debt instruments still weighing on the system. Imagine Paulson coming to the American people asking for a couple trillion. Just imagine... This so-called "bailout" would have made us feel better for a little while - I was thinking perhaps for a couple of days before the market figured out that the frozen credit markets didn't thaw, not even a little.

I'm really disappointed at virtually everyone. We have Rush Limbaugh, probably the most economically inept radio talk show host on the right, although he's learned a lot in the last 6 months, who is running around pointing fingers at the Democrats as if that matters now. It matters for purposes of the election (if you're a Republican or self-described independent) but it doesn't matter a whit regarding the ramifications of this mess.

If I listened to left-wing talk radio, I imagine I would be disappointed at them for pointing their ignorant fingers at Republicans who are being blamed for blocking that stupid "bailout" bill, a joke of a bill in its objective, if there ever was one. (I give Congress points for the compromises that both sides made however, but the thing never had a chance of accomplishing its objective, not ever.)

I'm disappointed at those who aren't seeing the reality of the world even as it is hitting them square in their collective faces. This isn't Democratic and Republican. It's survival.

When I first joined this board, this is what I wanted to write about. I was hoping there would be time for me to get to know everyone and maybe establish some credibility by say, learning how to write for starters. You see, I knew this was coming - knew it just as certain as you're reading this. But I hadn't a clue as to how to present myself when writing about it. Most people don't follow this kind of thing and I had no idea what I needed to do to write something valuable. Bing can vouch - I echoed these exact sentiments in an email exchange when I first came aboard.

Well the time for niceties is passed us now. All I can do is blurt it out. The bottom line is we are screwed. Most of you have lost over 26% in your 401k accounts and other investments. Over the next 4-8 years, you will lose at least 90% before this is over. This, boys and girls is a once in 200-year phenomenon that we are experiencing and the measuring stick is a combination of the human social mood and the size of the bubble.

There are approximately $450 Trillion in derivatives waiting to crash upon us including $62 Trillion in credit default swaps, which will be the next ax to fall. To put that $62 Trillion in perspective, the gross domestic product of the entire planet is $44 Trillion, $13 Trillion for the US. I'm feverishly trying to understand a high level view of these CDSs but they're very complicated. But one thing I can tell you is they are lurking and ready to cause financial devastation. If I haven't gotten your attention, let me point out the Dow lost 778 points on moderate volume and short selling was prohibited on almost 800 securities. Short selling was blamed abouta week ago for all of our ills yet what we saw today occurred with a ban on short selling in place. Imagine what a collapse in the debt markets regarding CDSs.

No asset classes will be spared, except cash. I don't want to go too overboard in what's coming because you'll never believe me. In fact, I expect that if I'm lucky perhaps 25% of you who began reading this are still with me by now. But let me say this. That $200,000 house you are currently living in is on its way to $20,000.

And I'm not smart enough to come up with this on my own. I belong to a traders group of some very smart people who have been on this bandwagon for years. I literally got in "word fights" about this very topic and pissed off just about everyone. (No, really!) "How could something like that happen to the United States," I asked? After all, we're the baddest country that ever graced the planet. "THERE WAS NO WAY," I screamed!! They told me to read Empire of Debt, by Bill Bonner. I scoffed.

Then February 27th, 2007 happened. I was on the freebie email list for Elliot Wave International and got a bulletin that claimed that Robert Prechter advised his subscribers just a few days before, February 21st that it was time for "speculators to return to a fully leveraged short position." He explained his reasoning through what seemed like a complicated expression of Fibonacci projections of time and price. It really isn't as complicated as it seemed back then. If you remember, Feb. 27th of last year was the day that markets in China fell by 10% and the contagion spread around the world. Robert Prechter was proven right within days.

I was intrigued so I subscribed to his services and received Conquer the Crash as a throw-in. I have never been so riveted with a non-fiction book in my entire life. He describes things that had already begun to happen, and he wrote this book in 2002! Conquer the Crash describes how we get to, what will happen and how to survive a deflationary depression. I wondered, "Who is this guy, Nostradamus??"

That was when I began studying Elliot Waves and their relationship to human behavior. There is something to this. This isn't just another technical analysis technique that may or may not work. This is a study that attempts to explain the relationship of our herding behavior with the rest of nature. We are a part of nature and The Wave Principle explains the relationship.

If you want to learn more, I would suggest www.goldennumber.net. (Start with Phi Basics) You can literally get lost on this site. If you end up bored at this point, then you should quit there and not pay attention to any of my posts because they won't be for you. But if you find yourself intrigued, then you should watch History's Hidden Engine. It's about an hour and you can either download it or stream it. If you're still on board, the next step is to actually learn the principles of The Wave Theory. There is a free primer at http://www.elliottwave.com/tutorial/Default.aspx. You will have to register and establish a user name and password. These are reputable guys - you don't have to worry about them sharing your email address. For reading in your spare time, http://www.socionomics.net/index.aspx is highly recommended. Again, if you weren't into GoldenNumber.net, then forget about it. Please feel free to email with questions. I consider myself a novice Elliotician but on good days I can hold my own and I'm not afraid to tell you that I don't know.

OK! I've said my peace. The bottom line is this is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It's a YOU issue. Your future is in your own hands. Your Congress and President cannot help you and the Congress and President you elect next month cannot help you either. They can do some things that mitigate the devastation somewhat like making the US self-sufficient regarding energy in order to bring some of that $700 Billion back to the US and eliminating the capital gains tax to encourage what little money there is for investment. They can also reduce the world's second largest corporate tax (ours) to 12%, like Ireland and maybe that will keep US corporate headquarters from continuing their mass exodus to... Ireland!