WALL ST. IS FINE. . . . REALLY????? (Investment gurus used to advise others):

The stock market is going to go up because American is selling itself. Yep, the corporations that comprise the factories and industries of the United States are being bought up because the dollar is worth very little against foreign currency. I'm not just talking about the actual factory buildings built abroad to take advantage of cheap foreign labor, I'm talking about the ownership of the factories.

So, the ripples that we see on Wall Street are not really indicative of the bad health (more like a death knell) of the stock market. The last wheezing gasps of a once vibrant economy, now fueled by constantly infused debt are being felt on Wall Street, and making undeniable signals to all financial experts. The only thing that the Bush administration can do now is lie through its teeth (deny inflation, for example and say that everything is fine), blame others, and try to make it seem as though all this is just a normal fluctuation in the economy (dismissing the disaster as a mere bubble).

In the mean time, those who have been telling others how to invest are now financially strapped. Lehman, Citibank, Countrywide Financial Corp, and a host of others have been badly hurt.

Bush kicked off an inflationary cycle by allowing (or insisting) that oil monopolies collude and ramp up the price of gasoline. In the meantime we can't see who was at Energy Task Force meetings or what was said at those meetings. Restaurants have to pay more for the food that they buy, and their employees have to get raises to pay for higher costs of food in their own homes, higher prices for gas, and higher prices for rent. So, that kicks off an inflationary cycle in which everyone everywhere demands more money for less service. Products are getting worse (try getting real chocolate in cookies now), and smaller (cans that were 14 ounces are now 12). We tolerate more ground insects in our breakfast cereal. We try to compete with $1/day child slaves abroad and find that we have to lower our wage expectations to get or hold jobs.

My advice. . . don't stand under financial skyscrapers, and, if you do, watch for falling former millionaires leaping out of windows to their deaths. Those who know what is happening are very scared. Those who are not scare just don't know what they are talking about.

In some ways, I hope that Obama doesn't get elected. He will inherit this mess (financial mess, wars, foreign hatred, etc). It is going to be a long long road to recovery if we can recover at all. I believe that 4 more years of McCain (clone of Bush) will push us beyond the point of no return (if we aren't there already).

Truer words have never been spoken.

...And catch the gray men as they dive from the 14th floor. - Steely Dan

My 500 dollars in AMD is now worth 200. I will buy more because it is such a damn deal at this price. AMD is also an American made company. I use their products and would love one of their new quad core processors. Got my eye on the Phenom 9850!

You might want to check their management, first. IMO. They seem to be trying too many things in the market, instead of sticking to what they do best. I found one relevant article for you:
source
AMD's Troubles Had Been Building
By Alex Handy

August 15, 2008 — An unending spiral of bad luck, poor management and hasty decisions added up to seven straight quarters without a profit at AMD. But the company’s troubles go deeper than that. They run so deep that even former employees could see them appearing well before the world came tumbling down around a former Silicon Valley success story.

In mid July, the company reported a US$1.19 billion loss, and that board chairman Hector Ruiz would yield his CEO duties to then-COO Dirk Meyer.

AMD’s myriad troubles have been building for a long time, but it wasn’t until it acquired graphics card manufacturer ATI in 2006 that things began to go completely sideways. That $5.4 billion purchase pushed the company into a heap of debt that has resulted in seven straight quarterly losses, broken fabrication processes and a forthcoming 10 percent reduction in its worldwide workforce. It also has again dropped behind Intel after once offering the first dual-core desktop processor.
~snip

Wall St was just badly damaged - Dow drops 500 points.