[Schneed10]

Any candidate planning to roll back the Bush tax cuts will push the economy further into recession. Taking money out of the hands of people, even if they are the rich, will hinder their ability to spend (hurting retail), hinder their ability to invest (hurting the financial companies), and hinder their ability to hire people to the extent they run small businesses.

Increasing taxes will always create higher unemployment. It's practically a law of physics in economics. Higher taxes takes money out of the economy, so businesses tighten their belts. They lay people off or put hiring freezes in place.

Yes, the Fed will continue to ease the Fed Funds rate. If you'll remember in 2002, the Fed took the rate all the way down to 1% and maybe even below, if my memory serves. They'll continue to go lower as time goes on. This will help the stock market.

As for a bottom in the stock market, really hard to say. If I knew, I'd be a rich rich man. Some think the fears have already been priced into the market, and we're kind of close to a bottom already. Others think the credit crunch is going to take tons of money out of the market as lenders refuse to lend to folks with marginal credit, banks foreclose on mortgages, etcetera. We'll see.