Asian stock markets resume slide after US rout

[Gman]

AP
Asian stock markets resume slide after US rout
Friday March 6, 12:30 am ET
By Jeremiah Marquez, AP Business Writer
Asia markets resume slide after US rout on worries over GM, financial firms; Tokyo off 3 pct

HONG KONG (AP) -- Asian stock markets resumed their downward slide Friday after Wall Street fell to its lowest levels in more than 12 years amid deepening fears about the future of General Motors Corp. and major financial companies.

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The region's retreat marked a return to the selling that had gripped global equities markets until a brief rally earlier this week on hopes China would announced major new stimulus measures.

Investors, already deflated after Beijing failed to deliver, were rattled by a warning from General Motors that the struggling automaker may have to file for bankruptcy.

Along with growing uncertainty about the financial system, the news led to yet another rout in U.S. markets with banking stocks suffering some of the steepest drops. Citigroup Inc., stilling reeling despite billions of dollars in government aid, fell below $1 a share.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090306/world_markets.html

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Thank you Bush, Cheney, et al. The only justice about all of this is that Halliburton (HAL) closed at 15.12 Thursday, down from 54 at the beginning of July last year. If he hasn't exercised them, that makes Cheney's options he had back in 2000 worth not much more than they were then.

[Cynical Guy]

1. So short sighted.

If you knew the market was going to fall, you would buy options. Lots of them. And you'd be making a pile o' money. No downside beyond what you paid for. And that only happens if the stock goes up. Since we knew the market was going to fall apart, it's free money.

Some option trading can be tricky because you're working under the normal circumstances of the market. In normal years, the average stock does not double. Or cut in half. It moves up or down 3-5%. That can make some options not worth the time.

But when you know you have significant volatility, the possibility of watching GE fall to under $8.00, Apple falling 50% in a year, etc... You can create some very inexpensive contracts and profit.

Cheney is not an idiot, and neither are his financial advisers. He's rolling in cash, and will be forever, and so will his children. The millions he "lost" in options that he was given by Halliburton are nothing compared to the other transactions he's been able to be part of over the last 8 years.