Merrill Lynch + Lehman Brothers X AIG = PANIC

I have never claimed to be an omnicient financial guru, so I’ll pass you the salt to go with my following comments; panic is never a good way to react to challenging circumstances.  Yes, things are quite scary, and I for one hate the lingering smell of uncertainty.  But if level heads prevail and we do our best to utilize the 6 percent of our brain capabilities, we will get through this. 

Most people are familiar with the AIG brand, noting mostly that it is a giant company, and a blue chip powerhouse.  But AIG is so much more to the insurance industry.  They are the groundbreakers, the company that everyone hates but still wishes they could be just like them.  Hank Greenberg, the ex CEO who brought AIG to their perch high above the rest of the insurance kingdom, was known for being a hardnosed, shrewd leader who knew what he wanted and wouldn’t stop until he got it.  You can consider AIG the anchor tenant of an idustry with many, many other players.

So here we are, with AIG in a corner with seemingly nowhere to go.  But similarly, like an eight thousand pound elephant in the same corner, you aren’t going to be able to move it.  AIG’s power and indispensible necessity is formidable, to say the worst, and they will still be standing when the smoke clears and the medics are hauling away the casualties.  And Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers?  I don’t really know, but I think that it is pretty much playing out as we speak.  Images of ex-employees walking out with boxes, and pieces of once great companies sold off like copper pipes stripped from old houses.

In the end, all of this will play out and we will not have any say in the matter.  This recession is in full tilt and we will just have to lash ourselves to the mast and weather the storm.  Just like we have done several times before!