Is the Dow safe now?
The market closed within arm's reach of last Friday's close.
The Dow ended its most amazing week ever at 11,375.8, only 33.56 points below where it was one week ago.
But oh, has the debate started.
My inbox is full of people hailing the government's many actions or hating them. The taking of mortgages from the banks will turn into a $1trillion taxpayer bill bailout. Or the government's getting these mortgages at a very cheap price and could eventuallly profit from them.
A week ago, the world's largest insurer was not a government controlled company. Lehman Brothers was still in business. No money funds had broken the buck in 14 years.
My take: We should be slammed with so many new regulations that make sure the taxpayer's money is well spent.
And investors should demand, insist, on transparency. Some of the things I found on AIG's books were amazing to me. How anyone who looked could not have been worried, I don't know.
I'm not entirely sure it's over. I don't know what will happen next. But it sure feels better.




Harriet Johnson Brackey, the personal finance columnist for the Sun Sentinel, is an award-winning business reporter. Her columns for 2008 were named "The Best in the Business," a national award chosen by her colleagues at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.