According to various sources, Fox is currently working on producing a sequel to Wall Street, Oliver Stone's 1987 opus about corporate greed. While Charlie Sheen will probably not be back for a second round, Michael Douglas has already expressed interest in reprising his role as Gordon Gekko, the morally bankrupt "Master of the Universe" who perfectly captured the profit-at-all-costs ethos of Ronald Reagan's second term. Tentatively titled Money Never Sleeps, the film will feature Gekko's return to the world of big business following his release from jail.

Some critics have argued that Gekko, while the perfect poster boy for 1980's greed, doesn't really fit the mold of 2008 greed. After all, Gekko (and his real-life inspiration, Ivan Boesky) used inside information to attack weak companies, which he subsequently bought out, chopped up, and sold piecemeal.

The current crop of Wall street baddies, on the other hand, bought up tons of cruddy mortgages, combined them into cruddy financial instruments, and repackaged these chopped-and-pressed agglomerations as AAA securities. Clearly, comparing Gordon Gekko to Dick Fuld is like comparing apples and...well, other apples. Maybe it's like Granny Smiths and Mackintoshes.

The unthinkable has happened. The sight of my portfolio of investments has reduced me to tears. Who wouldn't be crying when looking at 40% of their value gone this year? Even worse than the sheer magnitude of my losses... what those losses mean to me and to others.

I'm lucky. I don't need my retirement funds for at least 20 years or more. There is no doubt in my mind that I will have recovered all the lost value well before that. I worry about those who don't have years to wait, though. They're the big losers in all of this. Think about all the Baby Boomers who scrimped and saved to get to retirement, only to see their hard earned dollars massively reduced in a period of a few weeks.

Some Boomer friends of mine who were invested more conservatively have seen their portfolio drop "only" 15%. Imagine the impact of that over 20 years of retirement. These retirees need to draw on their accounts now, and can't wait to recover value. The portfolios of all retirees are going to be depleted much quicker than they thought.

Who would have thought that the people with all their money in certificates of deposit earning 3% or 4% would now look like geniuses? They were missing out on stock market gains, but now are feeling pretty good about the fact that their principal investment was protected.

This is depressing. And each day I tell myself that the bottom has to be near; that my investments can't go down much further than they already have. And each day Wall Street surprises me with a hefty drop in my value. There's not much to be done about my ailing retirement fund, other than to work hard and keep saving for the retirement that will hopefully still be funded when I get there.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Chalk this up as another opportunity for self employment created by the current housing meltdown. An entrepreneurial spirit in Stockton California started the Greener Grass Company, which for the right price will spraypaint your lawn a lushious green in order to increase the home's curb appeal. Nick Terlouw uses a converted insecticide sprayer and a water based dye to transform lawns from lame to lush in just a matter of hours.

While he is in his first year of operating he's already found a niche spraypainting the front lawns of higher end foreclosed homes for real estate agents who are ready to do anything to get a home to sell. While the banks aren't footing the bill for the service like they have for those offered by "board up" men, Nick sees a bright green future ahead as foreclosures and dry spells don't appear to be on the way out.

Politicians, economists, columnists and bloggers have offered numerous stark predictions about how the current financial crisis and government bailout will affect average Americans. But the truth is that Wall Street's crisis, which kicked off September 15 with the fall of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG, is already affecting Main Street.

We list eight ways your finances are already being affected by the current financial meltdown:

Credit card limits reduced:
Even if you have a high credit score and a blemish-free payment history, your credit limit may have been cut. American Express recently cut the credit for 10% of its cardholders, but most banks have reduced credit limits for some customers since last summer. If you are making a big purchase or use your credit card for unplanned expenses, be sure to check your limit. There are big penalties for going over it.

Student loans harder to come by:
It's not just banks and mortgage lenders that are suffering. The student loan industry is in crisis. Private lenders are going under and some state agencies and large banks, including Bank of America and Wachovia, have stopped issuing student loans. Some schools are being more forgiving on payment schedules as students scramble to secure funding. Call the student aid office for help, but expect less favorable terms than prior years.

Money market mutual funds safer:
To stave off investor panic after one prominent money market fund "broke the buck," or posted a small decline in value, the government has promised it would cover any losses. Not all funds are covered in the new program, so check with your fund company if you are worried. With this added protection, money market funds are now just as safe as bank savings accounts.

More incentives to open bank accounts:
One result of the credit crisis is that banks are trying their darndest to attract more deposits. Chase is currently offering $125 (at least in New York City) to open an account with direct deposit. Citibank is beefing up its "Thank You" rewards program. Refer a friend, and Bank of America will give you both $25. Remember, low fees and high interest on savings are more important than one-time incentives when choosing a bank.

Easier to get a loan if you have good credit:
Don't forget, even in the current crisis, banks want to stay in business. So they are continuing to make loans to borrowers with with good credit records and plenty of assets. There are good deals on home equity lines of credit and businesses have found short-term loans easier to come by since the bailout talks began.

Harder to get a loan if you have weak credit:
If you have a tarnished credit history, don't expect to get a loan any time soon -- even if you're willing to pay high interest rates. Banks continue to tighten their lending standards as the credit crisis deepens. If you need to rebuild your credit score, a good way to start is by using a secured credit card (one where you have cash in a bank account to back up purchases).

More deals at stores in preparation for weak holiday spending:
With the economy slowing and family budgets tightening, retailers are anticipating a tough holiday sales season ahead. So they are layering on the deals early. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when the holiday shopping season kicks off, should provide a bonanza of deals. Consumer electronics will offer particularly good buys.

Investment returns are down:
The stock market has taken it on the chin in recent weeks. But sharp sell-offs on bad news have been followed by major relief rallies a day or two later. The worst thing you can do is panic and sell at the bottom. Instead, make sure your investments are diversified and use the upswings to sell some stocks if you realize now that you've taken on more risk than you can handle.

A few months ago, I got into an argument with a couple of my fellow Walletpop writers. I found myself standing out in favor of a federal fund to help distressed homeowners refinance their mortgages, and my colleagues were arguing (with some justification) that it was unfair to make them foot the bill for other peoples' incompetence.

It was a difficult argument for me; I'm as selfish as the next guy, and I'm not really all that excited about shelling out cash for somebody else's failed mortgage. On the other hand, it seemed to me that defaulted mortgages would lead to a lot of empty homes, plummeting real estate values, failing banks, imploding financial institutions, and so forth. I figured that, if we could keep people in houses and keep them paying mortgages, many of these problems could be averted. Sure, it would be unfair to all the homeowners who played by the rules, not to mention the renters (like me), who won't even benefit from stabilized home values. Still, with the country falling into a hole and the mess splashing everyone, assigning blame wasn't going to get us out.

Even though I rent, this crisis affects me in a variety of ways. For example, my wife works for an engineering firm. If the current banking crisis continues, it isn't hard to imagine a point at which the projects that she works on will go bankrupt from lack of credit. No credit equals no paycheck and, before I know it, we're applying for welfare and emergency assistance. The sad fact is that, even apart from dire predictions of runaway inflation and the collapse of the economy, most of us are only one or two degrees of separation away from the banking mess.

It's still too early to know how deep the room rate cuts will be, but we already know they'll be significant, and they're happening in a city where average folks could most use the price break. Last month, the average hotel room rate in Manhattan stood at a staggering $350, up $50 from just 16 months earlier. That price level is unheard of in most parts of America, but in New York's tight room market, the cost was buoyed by big-spending businessmen hitting town to schmooze with the likes of Lehman Brothers. Some estimates say Wall Street accounts for a fifth of Manhattan's economy.

The occupancy rate before the meltdown was a healthy 90%. Hoteliers know that's in the past. Not only are there fewer titans to feed that kind of traffic, but there's also the fact that surviving companies, particularly ones in the financial sector that feeds the city's hotel industry, are seeing the light and are seriously tightening their belts. Last month, hotels were projecting a six percent increase in rates next year, which was already about half as vigorous as usual. Now, they are already predicting that for 2009, room rates will largely hold at 2008 rates, if not drop a bit.

Last Friday, after asking reporters to turn off their cameras, President Bush offered his take on the country's current financial crisis. Amid appreciative giggles from his fellow diners, Bush announced that "Wall Street got drunk [...] and now it's got a hangover." He then went on to ask "How long will it [take to] sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments?" Finally, he noted that "We got a housing issue...not in Houston, and evidently not in Dallas, because Laura's over there trying to buy a house."

Here's the video (and some commentary from The Young Turks):




In addition to the President's apparent callousness regarding the country's subprime housing disaster, his seeming ignorance of the long-term implications of his policies is absolutely stunning. No wonder he wanted the cameras off!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He's done some silly, stupid things while under the influence, but he's never tanked the economy!