AIG struggles to survive financial tsunami

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insurer American International Group struggled for survival a day after a financial tsunami overtook investment bank Lehman and forced the sale of rival Merrill Lynch in the biggest financial industry shake-up since the Great Depression.

AIG’s struggles followed the failure of frantic attempts to find a rescuer for investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, and Merrill Lynch & Co’s agreement to be taken over by Bank of America Corp.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to review options for AIG, which has lost some 90 percent of its value so far this year, a person familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Fearing a meltdown on Wall Street, the U.S. presidential candidates sparred Monday over who could best restore financial health, with John McCain pledging reform and Barack Obama saying hands-off Republican policies were the problem.

Full Story Here:
AIG struggles to survive financial tsunami

I have been watching the ebb and flow of the market for quite some time now. And I haven’t been very happy with the return I am seeing on my investments.

Today the market went on a panic march based on the near certain demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings and Merrill Lynch. The problem for me is, MY money is tied up in AIG through my wealth management broker. They are his investment of choice, and have, traditionally, returned a nice profit to the investor.

I don’t blame my investment guy, he has his money tied up in the same money markets, but there have been some terribly shady dealings on Wall St. and the recent bust in the mortgage market, combined with the hysterics of oil investments during the recent hurricanes, has greatly contributed to a highly volatile market that is on the verge of doing an *Enron* to everyone that has money tied up in it.

The only bright side to this is the drop in oil prices, as go oil therefore goes the market, and prices are on the way down. If that trend holds it’s bound to give some relief to the financial markets.

I certainly hope it does, many folks are living week to week and have to budget closely. Many are in the same situation I am in, with a fixed retirement income, the luxury in life come from our investments and their returns, not to mention the fact that these investments are the backup for many retirement funds. I can’t rely on the federal government to send me my check every month, not 100% rely on it, just as the others today can’t rely on Social Security as a viable and survivable income either.

It’s going to get bumpy folks, the politicians are pointing fingers, that’s never a good sign. But politics didn’t cause this, unscrupulous business did. Obama is a fool, he is saying “hands-off Republican policies are the problem”, and that only reinforces my belief that we do NOT need so-called leadership from the Dems. I want the government to keep their hands OFF of my money!