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CNN Live Today
News of WorldCom Bankruptcy Adding to Anxiety of Many Investors
Aired July 22, 2002 - 13:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The president of WorldCom is talking strength, focus and industry leadership even as his company goes bankrupt. WorldCom has filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, with $41 billion in debt. Chapter 11 filing comes after WorldCom stated nearly $4 billion.
News of the WorldCom bankruptcy has just added to anxiety of many investors.
Our Jason Carroll is live in New York with some folks reaction to this bear market.
I hope you're not feeling that anxiety too, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, to you, Kyra. Let me tell you where I'm standing, first of all, Right here, in the middle of Times Square, in the shadow of the Nasdaq, an appropriate spot for us to be, where we ask people about what they think of how the market has been performing. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of concern out here. I really don't think it hatters if you are standing on the streets of Dallas, or Los Angeles or Chicago. Basically, what we are hearing out here is probably what a lot of people all over the country are feeling, and we will start out here with two people who I've just met, who are Kind enough to join us this afternoon.
First, first we have Robert Bluestein (ph), and then we also have Vanessa Woods (ph). Robert, I am going to start with you. You have been investing for quite sometime, saving what, for 12 years. You're telling me you lost $20,000 over a short period of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, money in the stock for -- pension money for -- waiting for retirement. Yes, a lot of money I lost since the market tumbled down. It is all invested in corporation stock and the S&P 500 index.
CARROLL: Give me your a sense of what's been going on with corporate scandal and what not. How has that sort of made you feel about investing for the future?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes you a little apprehensive about how long it will take for it to recover. It might 20 years, five years. You really can't say. You really don't know how long the horizon is until it rebounds. It is something you have to be aware of. You can't expect to make a lot of money in a hurry, that's for sure.
CARROLL: All right, Vanessa (ph). I'm going to move on to you, Vanessa Woods (ph). You were telling me about your parents. They had invested heavily in WorldCom, and they told you they had lost a significant amount of money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I don't have any stocks myself, but I was talking to my parents recently, and my mother informed me that it did hit very close to home, being that my parents are both retired and their money is tied up in stocks, and WorldCom, they took a hit.
CARROLL: As their daughter, are you somewhat concerned now. Here your parents have been saving for a significant period of time, and now some of that savings now gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am. I have been very proud that my parents are retired at a young age, and they have been successful enough to be able to maintain that. But now with this stock market, knowing that their money is tied up in that, it makes me very much concerned.
CARROLL: Quickly, I want to get both of you, your gauge in investing for the future. How do both of you feel about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to diversify, for sure. You have to have a lot in money market funds, like government funds, bonds, very important to be invested in bonds these days, and in stocks also. But really diversify a lot, have a lot if bonds, if you can.
CARROLL: All right, Vanessa, how about you? You confident. I know you say you haven't invested yet, but what about the future?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't. You have to be educated. I feel now, based on everything that's happening, I'm getting a little bit more educated, and know kind of what I need to do for the future and keep on top of things.
CARROLL: Optimistic, pessimistic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cautious. Very cautious.
CARROLL: Optimistic.
CARROLL: All right, thank you very much. Thank you, both of you.
So again, a few words there to remember. Both of them -- some of them saying that they were cautious, another one saying optimistic. Also, be educated about how you invest, and basically maybe that would be one of the best ways to try to ride out this storm -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you so much.
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