Terror on Wall Street, a Financial Metafiction Novel Read Free Page A

down the sidewalk, and repeated her question to the rest of the people down the block.  
         “We’ve got limited cash here.  We have to order it.  There’s a limit on cash withdrawals of $300 inside.  The ATM machines are right on the side of the building if you don’t want to wait in line.”
         One irate man in line pulled her by the elbow of her jacket, and got in her face. 
         “Since when is there a limit?  It’s my money, and I want it now!”
         “I’m sorry, sir, but each branch holds just enough cash to satisfy our average daily needs.  Don’t worry.  The bank has plenty of money.  We just need to order it.”
         The crowd erupted with fervor.
         “There’s a longer line at the ATM than inside the bank!”
         “We want our money!”
         As the group became more restless, another manager emerged from the bank with a security guard.
         “Ladies and gentlemen, the bank is closing.  If you need to make a transaction, please use the ATM machines on the side of the building.  Please move away from the door so we can close it.”
         Instead of moving away from the door, the mass of people just crowded closer to it, pushing and shoving at each other and yelling in protest. 
         “Closed?  How can it be closed?”
         “It’s only 3 o’clock!  The bank closes at 5!”
         “I want to close my account!”
         Bob was in the back of the line, which was a good thing because the mob was pressing at the double doors at the front with such pressure, it seemed they were about to break.  There was no closing them as the line of people finally forced their way into the bank lobby like a rush of water through a floodgate.
         Bob left the line and went around the corner to the ATM machine, but the line there seemed as long as the one to get into the bank, so he crossed the street to the supermarket.
         The store was packed with people who were pulling things off the shelves as fast as they could and loading up their grocery carts with mountains of food and canned goods as if everything was free instead of being marked up 100%.  Bob waited in line at the small ATM machine in the lobby of the store.  After about 15 minutes, he was at the front of the machine, entering his card and punching in his PIN number.  The screen flashed a response to his withdrawal request of $300:
         Withdrawal limit exceeded.
         “What the hell?”
         He flipped out his cell phone and went on the Internet to check his account.
         404: error, page not found.
         “Son of a…”
         He pulled up the site for his online brokerage account and logged in.
         Password error.
         Bob Brammon had a few bucks saved at his bank and a modest securities account with his employer, but now all of it had disappeared into cyber space.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
    MELTDOWN
     
     
     
    The news was bleak.  The president had vowed to take military action and had promised that measures would be taken to keep shopping malls safe.  But a second story was developing that struck another chord of terror in the minds of Americans and many others all over the world.
         The stock exchanges took another dive right after the opening bell.  By Monday afternoon, trading on the New York, American, and NASDAQ exchanges had been suspended after a second record day of more historical losses.  The Dow Jones industrial average had fallen over 28% in just one and a half days of trading, its largest drop in history.  The FDIC announced that it had seized Bank of America, but assured depositors that their deposits were covered by FDIC insurance of up to $250,000 per depositor.  In the wake of the Bank of America failure, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund warned that the international financial system was on the brink of collapse, and that major international banks were