Market plunge, threat of new recession not worrying consumers

From the WOKV Money Watch, we continue to keep an eye on stock market activity, and how it could affect your wallet.

Monday's stock market plunge saw the Dow Jones fall 634 points, the worst drop since December 2008.

Investors might have plenty to worry about considering stock values have dropped 15 percent in the last two and a half weeks, but the consumers I talked to didn't seem all that concerned about Wall St.

I talked with about 20 shoppers at the St. Johns Town Center and Tinseltown.  Almost everyone I talked to said they didn't know enough about the market plunge to comment, or they weren't really concerned about the plunge because they weren't playing the stock market.  One person who did comment and only identified himself as Steve said he figured there would be trickle down, but he wasn't worried...

"I guess it has something to do with our credit rating with the nation dropping to double A from triple A...I'm not necessarily worried about  my money.  I'm not the the investment type or anything like that."

WOKV financial expert Hank Madden says average Americans should be worried about the effects the market plunge could have on their personal finances.

"Those same people are running up credit card debts.  Those same people are the ones that rent apartments.  They make short term loans, they make school loans, they make car loans, and all of those are pegged to the economy."

Madden says it's not like you're going to see money start to disappear from your bank account, but other funds could suffer.

"There's going to be an immediate effect, and that's going to be corrections to things like their IRA accounts and their 401Ks."

Still, Madden urges those who are playing the stock market not to panic because of the drop, and suggests that investors be disciplined in their buying and selling.  He says it's probably a good thing to keep an eye on Wall St. in the next few days, even if you don't have money invested.