Sorry guys....hope you won't mind....
WTF F*#@ S#*% yen is flying off the roof. I can't afford a damn thing!
WHEN IS THIS DAMN CRISIS GOING TO END

No time soon. I think people need to realise that we were close to the brink in terms of the collapse of the financial system. Now that has more or less been averted but there's a lot of volatility out there and with a US election and recession fears markets are jittery.

The Yen thing...well the Asian markets are all over the place, but some of it is also volume related as banks trade more currency to make money than equities (listed stocks).

Thanks for the insight, gforce.
Comeon, who's hoarding yen? Ease up man!!!

I made the mistake of looking at my TSP retirement account balance. I know what it was a month and a half ago and I know what it is now...talk about depressing

Yeah, but are you anywhere near retirement? If not, then it's nothing to worry about.

I actually just increased my 401k contributions. I know that you can't time when we've hit "bottom," but I may as well scoop stuff up while it's cheap.

UnderBelt - don't worry about that account. Think of all the shares you're able to buy right now while the values are all tanked. Once things stabilize and recover you'll be looking good! Had things not crashed let's say you're account would be buying 10 shares per pay check - but with the crash they're able to buy 100 shares per check! This'll be a big boon for your retirement account a few years from now.

^ What he said.

Let this also serve as a valuable lesson for those of us who are investing now: when you're 5 to 10 years away from your retirement, you should be pulling most of your money out of the stock market. I'm hearing lots of horror stories about people in their 60s and 70s who are losing the bulk of their retirement savings because they left it in.

Let's pick up this thread in 2030 and see where we are. ;p

I know it is temporary, I knew it was stupid to even look at the balances but I had to look...kinda like a car crash. In fact I pushed every bit of money I could afford into the 'risky' funds a few weeks ago because I know this is the time to buy those shares when they're cheap...

PS. 30 years to retirement..(Now THAT's depressing!)

edit:

come on whats the us$ buying .95 yen?
Puhleese....
The Aussie dollar has dropped just under 40%! Its buying .61 yen it was equal about a month ago.
When it gets to that then I'll feel your pain.

some people are predicting that its only just beginning. I hope as do they that they are wrong.

Unfortunately, i'm spending SGD (Singapore dollar). It's lost about 20% both on USD and Yen.
But under 40% on ASD?!!!!! That does suck big time.
Also, the stuff around the corner ain't cheap. There's probably 6 fellas that I'm expecting I can't resist, my estimate its gonna set be back USD600 which by the way is nowhere in my pocket yet.

Yeah 20% down is a I FART A LOT and it was allready buying less US$ than the Aussie in the first place I think. So that really does bite.

I dont get it, a pace like Australia, resource rich and stable. Australia really suffers when the world economy falters. Its a I FART A LOT... Foreign investment money pours in to exploit the situation that Australia is going gangbusters, because of its lifestyle and resources and (supposedly) stable economy and governence and because of our rising interest rates. Designed to keep a lid on inflation. You see Money is lent out in Japan @ 0.5% and brought over to Australia @ 6-7% and money is made on the difference. So as soon as interest rates are lowered a little about 1-1.5% All of a sudden those bitches with there cheap money start pulling out because the margins for profit are less (and threaten to get even worse) leaving the poor old Aussie dollar to flounder like a fish out of water...F _ _kers.

edit: I feel I must temper my complaints about the loss of ground of certain "foreign" currencies agianst the US$. With an expression of sympathy towards the hardship of all the American families that are getting shafted over the loss of value in there own homes and nest eggs.

This disaster is the ugly side of capitalism. And I think shows just a few of the flaws in it.

I feel you man.
Unfortunately the strong JPY era is likely to stay around for as long as investors continue to pare down carry trades.
AUD and NZD have long been carry trade favourites and now investors are funding their high yield assets with JPY which appears to be less messy then the western counterparts.
However, the high JPY will hit the japanese exports (including our hobby) hard at some point and we should see some stabilization.

Thanks germs and max. Looking forward to the day when $$$ flows out of our pockets freely again.
Best.