Paying Any Attention to the Stock Market Today?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 218 points due to two developments related to the subprime mortgage mess: Goldman Sachs downgraded Citigroup to "sell" based on its expectation that the bank will have to write down $15 billion in bad mortgage-related investments over the next two quarters, and Lowe's reported lower than expected earnings (and forecast low earnings for next quarter) because of the housing slump: housing inventory high, turnover low, home prices dropping, so people aren't indulging in home improvement. Also affecting the market, the price of oil is up again and the value of the dollar continues to drop.

Meanwhile, executives of charity organizations are attributing a sharp drop in donations to the housing slowdown:

Charity executives are nervously monitoring the mortgage debacle while food and energy costs continue to rise. Food banks and homeless shelters are already grappling with reduced federal aid as fears grow that more people will need help just as charity giving starts to decline. ...

The backbone of those charities, U.S. households with $200,000 or more in annual income or more than $1 million in assets, are also the ones most likely hit by the recent drop in stock prices sparked by the mortgage mess, according to research. ...

There are anecdotal reports the mortgage mess is forcing corporations to pull back too. Carol Schneider, media relations manager for the Food Bank for New York City, said a major U.S. bank — she wouldn't name the company — has reduced its donation by 60 percent this year, citing the fallout from mortgage losses. ...

Food pantries around the country are scrambling to meet rising demand from households that can't afford food because of rising housing costs.

The crisis also affects renters, who are heading for emergency shelters after landlord-owners foreclose on apartments and houses, said Steve Berg, vice president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

It's alarming, it's depressing, it's infuriating. There was a whole lot of greed and fraud involved in the marketing of non-conforming subprime mortgages, and now there is a widening circle of suffering resulting from the inevitable collapse.