A few months ago a barrel of oil was about $150+ with predictions of over $200, we are now less than $34. On gasbuddy.com, gas is as low as $1.20 in some places. This would be a great thing if we did not have the economy spiraling down in every direction. I am of the opinion that a lot of what we are seeing is directly related to energy costs going up and taking everything else with it. I feel that many families ended up using all their extra income to pay for fuel costs and in turn simply quit buying anything they did not HAVE to buy. Now, with people tightening up, many others have lost their jobs.
Greed seems to be controlling the financial industry and sometimes it bites you in the butt, as in giving your money to Madoff, yeah, he "made off" with a lot of peoples money.
There are several people that now are saying that all along Madoff was crooked and the Securities and Exchange Commission would not listen. There may be some heads rolling there.
I would be interested in what others have to say, but let us not make this a political discussion.
RandyA