Uncomfortable Answers to Questions on the Economy (bankruptcy, loans, agent)

[baystater]

Uncomfortable-Answers-to-Questions-on-the-Economy: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105428/Uncomfortable-Answers-to-Questions-on-the-Economy - broken link)

Just some question from NYT article, figure I'd throw them out there for discussion.


1. Is This a Recession?

2. How Bad is Housing?

3. When Will Banks Revive?

4. Is My Job Safe?

5. Are Consumers Done?

6. Who's to Blame?

[krakenten]

1. Yes
2. Pretty bad-but people do need places to live.
3.Of course-that's where all the money is.
4. No-hasn't been for quite a while
5.They should be-what's left to buy?
6.The usual bunch of greedy fools who got their jobs by knowing other greedy fools.

Any questions?

[jimhcom]

1. Duh
2. Not as bad as it will be next year.
3. The big ones.
4. Are you a bankruptcy lawyer?
5. Just about. Christmas should be the last nail.
6. The powers that be.

[goodbyehollywood]

1. Yes. We've been in a stealth recession for months. That's a good thing. It means the bottom is that much closer.

2. Bad. And likely to get worse, then better.

3. Some won't. Some shouldn't. Hard to feel too sorry for them.

4. No. The days of one-company careers and corporate loyalty are long gone.

5. Fork time. Gas and food cost too much to justify that 50" plasma, that new Beemer or even that Grande Vanilla Latte. Starbucks closing 600 stores and auto makers having a lousy June seals the deal on consumers tentpoling the economy near-term.

6. Everybody who took and sold liar loans and Option ARMS. The Fed who kept rates too low too long. Everybody who packaged and traded securitized mortgage products as creative investments. Investors who demanded higher yields, enabling CDOs. Homeowners who banked at the housing ATM. Certain CEOs and CFOs who should be happy they're not in jail.

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by baystater

1. Is This a Recession?

Not yet, it's just slow growth. That's what Cost Inflation does, erodes like a cancer.

Originally Posted by baystater

2. How Bad is Housing?

Who cares? I suppose if you're a real estate agent or mortgage lender like sucks. I'd add real estate attorneys to that, but obviously the mental midgets of America didn't see the value in spending $75 to $150 to consult with a real estate attorney before making a massive investment in a house.

Originally Posted by baystater

3. When Will Banks Revive?

Again, who cares? All 14 national banks in Cincinnati survived the great depression. Even today they're still around, even though they have different names. I'm not really concerned about a bank in California or Washington that crashes.

Originally Posted by baystater

4. Is My Job Safe?

If you're in health care, government or the export industry, sure. Everything else is tied to disposable income.

Originally Posted by baystater

5. Are Consumers Done?

Of course. The US$ will continue its slide as other currencies like the Euro, Ruble and basket currencies come into their own. That will drive prices up, plus continual commodity shortages will drive prices higher.

A big problem will be the idiots who lived off of their over-time, instead of banking it or paying down debt. Once companies start cutting over-time, disposable income will take a huge hit. We saw that in the 4th Quarter 2000 as companies cut over-time once Y2K was a bust and the euphoria of Millennium Fever ended, leading to a 9 month recession from January 2001 to September 2001.

Originally Posted by baystater

6. Who's to Blame?

Consumers, for over-spending and having unrealistic expectations.