Anyone else NOT been affected by the economy?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

My company just laid off a boatload of people today.  The entire company can now fit in a single conference room, which is kinda sad.

How this effects me:
(1) Takes a low level of morale and makes things even worse
(2) Requires me to take on even more work, meaning I'll soon have to do work for at least 3 hours of every day instead of just 2
(3) Forces me to dust off my resume and start looking again just in case
(4) Reduces the size, quality, and quantity of alcohol at our office holiday party
(5) May lead to the elimination of "bagel day," "pizza day," or—worst case scenario—both.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Oh yeah, and the value of my 401(k) has been slashed from $450 to nearly $300.  This means I will have to put off my retirement by approximately 18 hours.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

The portfolio I made in 2004 out of my summer work money began with $3500, rose to $5620 in mid 2007, and is now worth a whopping $2,016. My college fund is down $95,000. My grandfather's estate is down $950,000. Other than that, we haven't been affected at all!

You were able to lose that much money?

My broker explained that he had never seen an environment like this and basically apologized for what has happened.

I just let all my stocks collapse, but I am confident that all the companies I am invested in are sound like Apple Computer, AT&T, Phillip Morris, and Enterprise Energy. But I did invest in Citigroup, Crocs, Wachovia, and some other nuclear energy companies which have taken a hit during the collapse. However, since they own their own uranium fields, I think they'll be back. Crocs probably will never get back to the $75 it was when I should've sold it, or the $30 I paid to buy it.

Crocs is far more likely to hit $0 than it is to get to even $3.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

The portfolio I made in 2004 out of my summer work money began with $3500, rose to $5620 in mid 2007, and is now worth a whopping $2,016. My college fund is down $95,000. My grandfather's estate is down $950,000. Other than that, we haven't been affected at all!

You were able to lose that much money?

My broker explained that he had never seen an environment like this and basically apologized for what has happened.

I just let all my stocks collapse, but I am confident that all the companies I am invested in are sound like Apple Computer, AT&T, Phillip Morris, and Enterprise Energy. But I did invest in Citigroup, Crocs, Wachovia, and some other nuclear energy companies which have taken a hit during the collapse. However, since they own their own uranium fields, I think they'll be back. Crocs probably will never get back to the $75 it was when I should've sold it, or the $30 I paid to buy it.

Crocs is far more likely to hit $0 than it is to get to even $3.

Yeah. That was the worst investment I ever made. I got greedy when I watched it run up from $30-$75. I almost sold it before they released earnings, but I thought it would have a good report. Instead, it dropped off 25% and never had a bump afterwards. Now I'm stuck with it.

Well, it's a good little holding you can use to offset capital gains taxes someday.  Sadly, that's about the only value I can see those shares having for a while.

I got burned a little bit with Citibank, but I only invested, like, $250 in it.  Because I was worried it might...well, you know what happened.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

The idea that there is no significant investment done outside of the elite is complete nonsense.

Approximately 50% of all American households own stock thanks to the spread of 401(k) plans.