different situation, piers. >> leigh gallagher, let's talk politics here. interestingly in britain where riots have been unfolding in the last four nights, all major politicians came back from their vacations, they were demanded back by the public and the media. i'm surprised given the scale of the volatility on wall street following the apparent solving of this debt crisis, which no one knew was going to be a solution if you like, that none of these top politicians are coming back from their vacations here. >> that's a good point. you said apparent solving of the debt problem. we're rioting here. we're rioting in the markets. i really think that this is not from the downgrade. this started as ali pointed out last thursday somewhat out of the blue even though there was turmoil in europe. i think what happened is the debt debate. we got a deal and believe it or not we expected last week a relief rally after they finally came to an agreement, not only did that never happen, we know what's happened since, but i think that signaled to investors, to wall street,

leigh gallagher, can we try the ten word rule with you? >> i'll try. i'm an editor. it might work. the worst thing you want to do is to pull out because then you have to be right twice. you have to be right when you pull it out and right when you put your money back in. so i think equities are still, you know, a long-term safe bet. you have to think for the long-term though. >> and carmen, i would be tempted to stuff it in a bag under my mattress at the moment. are you going that way? is gold an option? are you sticking to treasury bonds? >> when folks talk about mattresses is when there's a bargain sale going on and you should be buying more. in my words, is consider time frame, know where your money is, and calm your stomach. >> i think you actually did that in under ten words. that was good. very impressive. >> i'm a former editor too. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> representative barney frank says it's time for president obama to face up to liberals over budget cuts. and barney frank joins me now. thank you for joining me. what did you make of the fed's statement tod

leigh gallagher, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> jim spellman is in the bahamas. and chad myers watching the storms in the hurricane center. jim, looking pretty rough there now. what is the latest? >> reporter: yeah, piers, the wind has really been picking up over the last couple of hours. now it's been met by rain. it's just been coming in in bands here off the caribbean. everybody here is doing their best to get prepared. they know this storm is going to be big, powerful, it's the real thing, piers, and they're really getting prepared as best they can. >> chad, obviously the bigger concern outside of the bahamas is where this goes next. what intelligence do we have right now on the direction of irene? >> waiting for that right-hand turn that we always forecast. and if it doesn't turn to the right in time, could even make a little bit of run at florida, or even for that matter the carolinas. the problem is going to be when it goes past north carolina and makes a run at the northeast. this could literally make a run into long island, maybe even toward boston. can

>> our friend leigh gallagher from "fortune" said it beautifully saying if you make a decision to sell your long-term investments on a day like today, you better be right twice. you better right that you've sold at -- that it's going to go lower than this because otherwise you'll have sold at a loss, and you better be right about when to get back in which typically the average investor doesn't do. they wait for a big run-up and then they say things are safe. let me get in. you know, this is not -- this is not a market for amateurs right now. i don't think that there's a brilliant play other than the fact that there's really good investments out there today this. looks like a short-term play from nervous investors around the world. >> aly, i was also reading articles from our good folks at money.com and writing about the vix, the fear index. >> the volatility index. >> apparently 0 is considered more or less the tipping point fear. >> and we're in the 20s right now. >> 28.42. >> yeah. >> so what's the read here? >> remember that volatility is the thing that we all aim to not have in our