http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...6373033250483832.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1& My Favorite quote: "Investors are asking if this is just a slowdown or the start of the next recession," said Gary Flam, a portfolio manager at Los Angeles-based Bel Air Investment Advisors. Um, we are in a recession and have been since a few months after Obama was elected. How do we go into a recession from a recession?
Re: Bad Econmic News On one side you hear 'economic recovery' and the other side (Fear mongers?) you hear economic apocalypse.
Re: Bad Econmic News And that's true. I think what the article is getting at is that more and more, investors are taking a bleak outlook on the economy as gas prices rise, commodity prices rise, fewer jobs (and even fewer quality jobs) are being created than expected... and it points to an out and out depression. We went to Dysfunction Junction (Wal Mart) tonight and the prices have really jumped. From about 3 months ago, motor oil up $5 for a 5-qt container, oil filter up almost $1, chocolate chips up 60%, spiral paper from $1 to $3... it's incredible. We shop at WINCO and prices are up at least 20% over 6 months ago. All the while many homeowners (like us) continue to watch the value of their house go down. There just isn't a lot of good news of there and people have really lost faith in Congress to do anything about it. I'm very concerned.
Re: Bad Econmic News No, the recession started in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, a few months after Obama was elected. What we are in now is a slow recovery AFTER the recession. barfo
Re: Bad Econmic News There's only one way out of economic hard times, and that's if you and your fellow americans start spending your money instead of hoarding it. The economy is in your hands. You can be part of the solution, or you can be part of the problem. Which is it going to be? barfo
Re: Bad Econmic News It's not a matter of me thinking it. It's a matter of how recessions are defined. Besides, I feel fine. barfo
after? Check your timeline. The economy was in the crapper well before the election results... we were hemorrhaging jobs at an incredible rate and the housing market bubble had burst. Once BO put George's unnecessary wars on the books the reality of the sad state of the country's economic health was undeniable. but it's been a series of bad decisions going back decades that has made our bed. STOMP
Re: Bad Econmic News Technically we're out of the recession from the end of President Bush's 2nd term through the first few months of President Obama's presidency. What's been going on since then has been bouncing along the bottom. Technically it's a "recovery", but it's really a dead cat bounce. IMO, we're on the verge of a second recession. The cause of this one will be the fear of encroaching government regulation, increased taxation and the devaluation of the dollar.
Re: Bad Econmic News Gee, ya think? The government took over GM, it basically partnered with GE, and it's printing money like we're playing Monopoly. The ONLY thing worth having money in right now is the market, since the QEs inflated the dollar to keep that propped up. The problem is that at some point, the inflation must kick in, and the market won't be worth anything at that point. Do people realize that we have literally been printing money that doesn't exist in real value?
Re: Bad Econmic News What is the real value of the US Dollar? How many US Dollars does the USA actually have?
Re: Bad Econmic News I know you are joking, but when prices jump and salaries stay the same that means people have less disposable income. That means they have less to spend outside their basic needs. That means the recession we are in will continue to stagnate.
Re: Bad Econmic News The government bubble is going to burst, too. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/7/lack-of-buyers-may-force-treasury-to-boost-interes/ Lack of buyers may force Treasury to boost rates Fed to end $600B purchase of bonds The U.S. Treasury next month will go back to relying on the kindness of strangers like never before to purchase the nation’s burgeoning debts — and taxpayers may have to pay higher interest rates to attract enough foreign investors, analysts say. Though a significant rise in interest rates could be toxic for a softening U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has said it will end its program of purchasing $600 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds as planned on June 30. The Fed is estimated to have bought about 85 percent of Treasury’s securities offerings in the past eight months. That leaves the Treasury, which is slated to sell near-record amounts of new debt of about $1.4 trillion this year, without its main suitor and recent source of support, and forces it back into the vagaries of global markets. Among the countries that will have to step forward to prevent a debilitating rise in interest rates are China, Japan and Saudi Arabia — and even hostile nations such as Iran and Venezuela with petrodollars to invest, according to one analysis. The central bank launched the unusual bond-buying campaign last fall in an effort to lower interest rates and boost the sagging economy — and it was successful at drawing down long-term interest rates to record lows last winter. In particular, 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell to unprecedented lows near 4 percent and spawned a refinancing wave that helped consumers to discharge debts, purchase homes and increase spending. But by the start of the year, a pickup in inflation — led by a surge in oil and other commodity prices that some economists blamed on the Fed’s easy money policies — wiped out the boon for consumers and home buyers and started to weigh on the economy. With the economy relapsing back to tepid rates of growth around 2 percent, some Fed officials argue that it should continue the easing program, but fear that the commodity boom could turn into a serious inflation threat makes it difficult for the Fed to do so.
Re: Bad Econmic News Oh Barfo, you know that isn't true. The only way out of a hard economic time if for the government to spend more money.
Re: Bad Econmic News Let's be honest, though...he hasn't voted for a single piece of legislation. At least 268 other people are to blame... I'm not saying he's blameless, but all it takes is the legislative branch to say "no, I'm not going to write that law, or vote for it, or vote to pay for it". Like I keep saying, for all of the people opposed to fighting wars halfway around the world, why don't you call your congresspeople and tell them not to vote for the appropriations that pay for things like fuel and food and bombs? I know it's called "obamacare", but Pelosi and her "persuasive ways" helped get the votes to pass that. Pres just signed off at the end.
