To the editor:

I have just finished watching what was billed as the second presidential debate. I was less than impressed with our choices for president.

I could not imagine two politicians seeking the highest office in our nation neither one mentioning that the middle class has just lost over $2 trillion in their 401(k)s. Maybe they are so naive that they do not realize that their money has melted just like the evil witch in the “Wizard of Oz.” In many cases, this represents their total savings from a lifetime of work.

Nor do they seem to realize that it will take much more time for the huge hedge fund managers to keep selling into every rally of the market trying to raise cash to pay their investors who want out. This will kill every rally of the market until this pressure is released from these uncontrolled giant hedge funds and will continue driving the market lower each and every time the market attempts to come back.

The small investor is the first to go, and the big boys invested in these giant hedge funds are only interested in saving whatever they can. There are still a few trillion wanting to divest so the market can easily lose another 2,500 points before we find a bottom. No one seems to yet realize that the die is cast and that we have entered into insolvency. Even discounting the $53 trillion in unfunded liabilities, the chance of quick recovery is an impossible dream.

E.G. Hickam,
Lawrence