Where to put cash in these turbulent markets?

So they say to stay out of the stock markets with volatility at all time highs. Subprime has infected everything from mortgage brokers to investment banks, down to the local county bank. Where can one protect their cash in times where you don't even know which financial institution is the next to go under? The FDIC insures up to $100K per bank, but it's not feasible to move money into many different banks. Should I buy something to ensure the safety of my cash (ie T-bills, gold, etc.)? My money is with Citibank, who probably won't go under, but I would still like to reduce my risk during these times if possible. There must be others who sold homes at the peak and are sitting with a few hundred K in cash somewhere. What are you doing to ensure you don't lose it to your bank going under?

Where to put cash in these turbulent markets?
If you would like to truly reduce your risk, the safest thing to do would be to open up single CD's at different banks. It appears that you are much more conservative in that regard, so I would advise spending the leg work to set up those accounts with the various local banks in your area to get the most protection.





There aren't a lot of financial institutions "going under" as you say. It is true that the subprime market has pinched liquidity and forced a lot of companies out of business, but these our companies that were mostly speculative in that they were borrowing money to run their organizations and couldn't support the monthly nut to begin with. A bank that is not involved in the subprime market will still be affected, but with minimal risk of "going under".
Reply:I have the same worries, I will watch the answers to see if anyone has a solution to this debackle......What if many banks went broke as in 1929...do you really think the FDIC would have enough money to pay all depositers? I recall my that father telling me when I was a youngster he got nothing for his bank accounts. Is this "black Thursday" all over again or "can you lend me a dime" or will next year bring "happy days are here again" by the newly elected Democrats?
Reply:I shouldn't even answer because I don't really know since I don't deal in dollar figures that high, lol, but I would think you would want to have it spread out into a few safe places from bonds, to t-bills, to mutual funds, some large cap stocks like coke and pepsi and so forth, but NOT in just pure cash in a bank. With or without turbulent markets as we have now, there are better things to do than just pure cash IMO. I think mutual funds are fairly safe, I know the two I have haven't dropped hardly at all in these past few weeks, but I would sit down with an advisor who really knows what he's talking about, at Smith Barney or some similiar place.
Reply:If your money is in an FDIC insured account with Citibank you can't get much safer. Don't confuse Citi's stock share price sell off with fundamental problems indicating the bank may fail. They are large enough and diversified enough to weather the storm.





For you to loose your money Citi would have to fail, and FDIC would have to fail. If that happens it would mean such a drastic financial collapse that no financial institution would be safe.





I think the real question should be, Do you want to stay with investments that offer 100% safety of principal, or put some of your money into an investment that provides a protection against inflation. It sounds like this isn't the right time for you to enter the stock market. Or real estate. But you should start deciding on the stocks you like now. Then when you do want to make those investments you will be ready.

human teeth