now it's France and the money...

Yesterday, I posted about China and the amount of money the U.S. has borrowed from them with their purchase of bonds, etc. Today the U.S. stock market closed down another 387.18 points. In just over two weeks the market went to an all-time high of 14,021.95 to 13,270.68! That's a difference of 751.27. What caused the drop today?

Stocks Tumble as French Bank Reacts to Home Loan Worries
Stocks dropped sharply as soon as trading opened today after a French bank, BNP Paribas, suspended operations of three of its funds in the wake of turmoil in the American market for home loans and the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve injected cash into the financial system because of tightening credit markets.

hmmmm. How much money do we owe the French and how many bonds do they own?

George W had an answer to the situation in his press conference today.

Asked at a news conference this morning whether he thought the turmoil in the subprime lending market could put a chill on credit in the broader economy, President Bush said, “The fundamentals of our economy are strong,” adding, “I’m told there is enough liquidity to enable the system to correct.”New York Times

and just how is he going to help this correction?

In an interview with reporters after meeting Wednesday with his economic advisers at the Treasury Department, the president said, "I'm inclined to want to push hard" for revenue-neutral legislation to make the U.S. tax code more competitive globally by reducing corporate taxes. Investor's Business Daily

oh, and this little tidbit also

"Obviously anybody who loses their home is somebody with whom we must show an enormous empathy," Bush said. Asked whether he would champion a government bailout, Bush responded: "If you mean direct grants to homeowners, the answer would be `No, I don't support that.'" Washington Post

In other words, "Let's give Halliburton, Pfizer, Exelon and all the rest of my buddies more, and f*** the regular guys who pay the most taxes and now won't have a place to live."

kinda like Robin Hood, "take from the poor and give to the rich."

oh, wait. i think it's the other way around...