[Slava]

As far as the US bringing down the whole world let me try to explain how some of this has happened:

A) The subprime mortgage issue. Basically the US lenders gave out mortgages very easily. Other countries do not lend their money this easily. Financial institutions around the globe bought up these securities. The idea is that these are asset-backed and secure. Some people around these parts also think that real-estate is foolproof..after all you just sell the property if you want the money, right!

B) With less people working and less people able to afford their mortgages, there are more defaults. This is why there are a lot of foreclosures and defaults. Because so many institutions bought so many of these mortgages the damage spreads.

C) Lending tightened up in the US, which causes less people in the US spending. When people are spending less demand ceases, and even the growth in Asia is not enough to off-set this loss of demand. With the world as globalized as it is, the ramifications spread quickly. This loss of demand is why the insulation of the oil and gas is precarious for Alberta and Canada....its still possible that we weather the storm well, but with the loss of demand its tough.

D) One of the reasons for a lot of quality stocks to be falling right now is also of note. With the banks and financial institutions having to search for liquidity (specifically through the summer and fall) they could not move their asset-backed holdings....the value was literally zero. In order to get some cash investors had to sell off good stocks. This is why companies like Manulife and Canadian Tire announced huge profits one week and then saw stock prices drop the next.