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Home » Culture » Life

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Wall Street blues

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Man on the street afraid of being out on the street

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  • PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROD LAMKEY JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES
As the sun rises, commuters make their way up from the Wall Street subway station at the corner of Wall and William streets.
  • Before the opening bell, crowds (left) of people make their way along Wall Street. A man (center) who did not wish to give his name joins others in a protest on Broad Street as the New York City Central Labor Council Board urges Congress to protect the American worker in deciding bailout options. New York City's labor leaders are proposing seven conditions for a $700 billion bailout to provide stronger protections for working families and impose aggressive public oversight on financial institutions. More New York City workers (right) head to their jobs.
  • Men take a break outside the New York Stock Exchange.
  • Reginald Reeves helps customers as they search for ties at a table he is watching while he waits for the vendor who never showed up for work on Wall Street. When large brokerage firms get hurt by the financial crisis, small businesses feel the effects of the economic crisis, too.
  • James Long marches and shouts along with other picketers in a demonstration on Broad Street. The protesters encourage Congress to be fair in working out a multibillion-dollar bailout.
  • In the early morning hours on Wednesday, well before the day of trading begins, commuters (right) arrive at the Wall Street subway station in New York. Sitting in the calm atmosphere of Central Park, former UBS employee Ilya Kostyukovsy (below) takes time to read a recently purchased book. Taking job interviews over the phone, he has been looking for work in his field since he was laid off by UBS in April. He says he is not in favor of the government's bailout plan of the financial giants.

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By Kara Rowland

Sherry Rivera was raising two children by herself on $20,000 a year, relying on savings to make monthly mortgage payments of $1,875.

Somehow, she managed to keep her head above water long enough to see her new lending business through its rocky first couple of years, despite what she recalls as an "ever-present fear of being the bag lady."

Guardian National Funding eventually started making regular loans — enough not only to pay the bills, but also to put her son and daughter through college. She was able to save up a considerable nest egg, too.

"When I look around, I don't have a business," Ms. Rivera says 16 years later.

She laid off her last employee about two years ago, gave up her office space and went through $150,000 in savings. In the past eight months, she's made two loans. Now, at 59 and with less than $100,000 left in her 401(k) account, she worries about retirement.

"I'm hoping that God gives me the strength to work much longer," she say. "I'm really scared."

All eyes have been on politicians in recent days as they hammer out a bailout deal, each side taking breaks to blame the other for negotiations breaking down. Meanwhile, phrases like "economic meltdown" and "crisis on Wall Street" have punctuated newspaper headlines and cable news tickers.

But as Wall Street and Capitol Hill have dominated the spotlight, the people at the story's core are getting laid off and watching their investment portfolios dwindle. Some of them are putting off retirement while others are just sitting tight and waiting for the market to determine their fate.

For some, like Ms. Rivera, it may as well be the end of the world.

"The average consumer is confused because he feels that he's done everything right and now the bottom is falling out," says Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the nonprofit National Foundation for Credit Counseling. "They were told to buy a house because homeownership is a great wealth-building tool. Even if they were able to make a house payment, they have seen their value decline. They were told to save for their retirement, now they're watching the value of their portfolio decline."

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