Of course, we may not have hit the actual bottom yet -- but I predict we will soon. Election years are almost always bad, but this subprime lending spiral is historical. What compounded the problem this week was last Friday's jobs report -- which was totally glossed-over by the media (who still focused on the bailout bill and mortgage issues). The September jobs report had a huge impact.
I predict that by early Spring we'll be out of this mess, in the wider sense. The actual markets should rebound in a few weeks after everyone is finished peeing their pants (financial lingo) and after the uncertainty of the election is over. So buy yourself a Christmas present in the form of a nice mutual fund :)Buy low, sell high - remember? Now if only we weren't writing a huge check on Monday for that house...