From what I understand, there may be a mortgage payment reduction plan of sorts introduced. I'm not clear if it literally shrinks the total mortgage or extends the payment terms which would shrink the payments and they end up paying more in the long run.

The fundamental cause of the current problems are not people buying mortgages they can't afford. The problem was systemic and grew out of many factors.

The subprime mortgage issue was just the fuse.

And I understand (and pretty much agree with) the idea that those who gamble should be punished. But it is also a fact that if that punishment is great enough great harm will be done to people who didn't gamble or had no way of knowing that they were gambling.

Much has been made about privatizing the profits and socializing the losses, but it is also true that this is how our system has operated for more than 100 years and in European economies for a lot longer. And I'm not really opposed to that idea when the losses reach a sufficiently broad level. I just don't think that the Paulson plan was the best way to do it and that they're creating a rush to solution that isn't necessarily needed.

But they are also in a screwed if they do and screwed if they don't situation. No matter which way we go, with a bailout or not, the next few years will be tough for a lot of people and so no matter what public opinion will be that the untaken road would have been better.

I hope the person who works there either is not affected or at least bounces back quickly.

I'm definitely affected. JPMorgan has a large U.S. retail banking operation based on the East Coast. My job is now redundant and opportunities in my field will almost certainly be based in New York.

At this point I expect at least 6-12 months of stable employment if I want it since bank mergers are slow, but I won't know for sure for a bit. I'm definitely in full job hunt mode now (I've been keeping an eye on things for a while). Time to see if the cinders have cooled on those bridges I burned at Wells.

Agreed. Some action is definitely warranted, but the aim should be to prevent the above, stem the collateral damage to responsible bystanders. They'll be some bleed over, and I'm cool if it's tilted in favor of a few undeserving gamblers.

It's just a little more comforting that they seem to be resisting the political b.s. pressure to get it done NOW NOW NOW at the expense of getting it done intelligently. "Throw billions at it and we don't have to worry about the details."

I just want to have the opportunity to help the crisis out by buying back my mortgage for pennies on the dollar

I'm just hoping the market goes low enough I can afford to buy a house.

I just hope the dollar holds through the weekend so I can still afford the bottle of scotch whiskey my friend is going to courier to me from Scotland.

Wow - it's like the "Sh!t hitting the fan" heard around the world.

One issue people are running into now is that it's apparently much more difficult to get a mortgage loan.