Economic Downturn

The TSX dropped another 800 points yesterday, dipping below the 11,000 mark. It was a similar story for the DOW-JONES I believe.

One notable stock drop was that of PotashSaskatchewanCorp. It freefell a whopping 26% shedding $36.15 in value! Almost every Canadian owns shares in this company through MFs, equities, and other investments.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/10/02/markets-drop.html?ref=rss

This is of great concern because University of Saskatchewan economics prof, Howe, went on air the other week claiming that Saskatchewan would ride these times out without much trouble. Moreover, a recent delegation from Saskatchewan, comprised of Premier Brad Wall, several cabinet ministers, the mayor of Saskatoon, Don Atchison, and 50 of Saskatchewan's biggest employers, came to Ontario to sell its brand of "land of milk and honey" to skilled immigrants in this province. "Thousands of jobs" "booming economy" were their war cries. I wonder what Premier Wall thought of yesterday's stock drop.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/09/30/f-saskatchewan-jobs.html

The thing people forget about economic recessions/depressions is that they can't necessarily be predicted. That is precisely why there are crashes and mass credit crunches. There are indicators and the economists of the 21st century are somewhat better informed than those of the 1920s/1930s - I would like to believe so anyways. But we'll see what happens today on the markets.