The Glimmer Exchange has taken yet another serious downturn, City economists said on Friday. Their concession comes after frustrated guardians have complained about glimitary problems for weeks. "I've got glimmer coming out my waste excretion terminals!" one Exo complained. "There's nothing I can buy with it." The crisis has led some Guardians to drastic measures. One Huntress reported that she panicked when the exchanges crashed and invested all her glimmer in the hand cannons the gunsmith, Banshe-44, sales as toys to young guardians. She is confident that the market will turn around and she will be able to dismantle the cannons at a high rate of return. Most guardians do not share her optimism for the market. Experts say that the recent surge of gravity, grenade, and rocket-assisted suicides is linked to the downturn. One guardian explained: "You'll see some dude sittin' on the other side of the Tower railing, not sayin' a word to anyone. All of a sudden he'll just stand up and jump right off!" Others prefer to have company in their final moments. Many dance parties have ended abruptly in misadventure mass-suicide pacts in recent weeks. The spectacles have become so common that most guardians take no notice. Vanguard and Faction officials have all but given up on the once-important Golden Age material in favor of newer and scarcer currencies. The problem is far from being resolved, since there are nearly as many currencies as there are vendors. One Titan complained that he accidentally paid for his lunch with his hard-earned savings of Vanguard Marks and tipped his waitress with Strange Coins. There was nothing he could do, since the unofficial Tower policy is "No Refunds." Crucible Marks, Motes of Light, Faction currencies, Vanguard Marks, and Strange coins are only a handful of the many new methods of payment. Many of these currencies are simply not a viable source of income for the Traveler's defenders. Each Guardian is allowed only 100 Crucible and Vanguard Marks per week, analysts say, and others are simply too difficult to find. "I was looking forward to retiring when I reached level 30," one Warlock said. "Now I don't know what I'll do. I had my Glimmer retirement funds stored in chests throughout the solar system, but the chests are worthless now, and not just because everyone loots them.” Other vendors, such as the Awoken Queen's Petra Venj, still show confidence in the buying power of Glimmer. These venders only conduct business with those who have membership cards, much like the infamous 21st century scam called Costco. Another vague and uninteresting character, Xûr, only accepts Motes of Light and Strange Coins in exchange for his wares. Tower officials have deliberately publicized the enigma of this character to increase sales. His claims to be "a member of The Nine" are likely another facet of the publicity stunt. In reality, Guardians know practically nothing about any of the wars they are involved in and could not care less about the vendor. Some have speculated that he is simply a rip off of the Resident Evil 4 merchant, but with crappier products. Others claim his ties to "the Nine" clearly identify him as one of the Ring-wraiths from The Lord of the Rings. In reality, the only interesting thing about Xûr is that he only works the weekend shift, a fact that would make it difficult for guardians who do their shopping during the week to rely on him. Another controversial legislation passed by the Speaker has fixed the maximum amount of Glimmer any guardian can carry at 25,000 in an effort to curb the economic problems. Guardians are stocking up on multiple copies of the over-abundant purple shaders, worthless but awesome-looking autopilot drop ships, and anything else they can lay their hands on so the Glimmer they earn in missions will not go to waste. Most guardians agree that Glimmer is already worthless anyway.