I lost $11,600

Yes, that is correct. I have lost $11,600.

The news of this stunning loss arrived via my quarterly 401K statement. The line item refers to "change in market value" and it tells me that my retirement nest egg is $11,600 less than what it was three months ago.

I'm hyper pissed.

I am just one of millions of Americans who contribute weekly/monthly to a 401K account to provide a nest egg for retirement. We invest in the stock market or the bond market with the expectation that our contributions will grow year after year and that we will be able to do all those fabulous things that Dennis Hopper talks about in those TV commercials where he's standing in the desert.

We understand the market is volatile. It goes up, it goes down.

But we do not make those contributions week after week with the expectation that our accounts will sink faster than the Giuliani campaign. So, I think I can safely speak on behalf of millions of 401K account holders when I say HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!

Eleven fucking thousand dollars? Are you shitting me?

And here's the point of this diary:

I am not the only 401K investor who is getting a statement reflecting huge stock market losses. In fact, i'd say there are millions who are opening letters from their brokers and saying "Holy fucking shit!!!"

You won't read about this on Politico or the Washington Post, but it is palpable and raw and it will affect the presidential race.

Because $11,600 is real money.