"If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool." says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates (unemployed, economic)

[KRAMERCAT]

"We're in a complete mess and the consumer is smart enough to know it," says Davidowitz, whose firm does consulting for the retail industry. "If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool." says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates.

"The Worst Is Yet to Come" If You: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

[oz in SC]

NOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! !!!!

Happy days are just around the corner....green shoots are popping up everywhere....it is all getting better.....

Repeat it long enough and it might actually come true.

[delusianne]

The stock market wont acknowledge this, either, I think because traders are confident the govt and low-balling analysts will prop it up.

OTOH people *are* saving more.

[chielgirl]

It's simple logic.
Then again, people didn't see it coming although all of the signs were there.

[oz in SC]

Neither will homeowners it seems...no matter that homes just aren't selling,that prices are STILL dropping,homeowners think things are going to get better...

Of course things might actually get better....except for the millions of newly unemployed,the lack of jobs,the loss of retirement money....but at least we have the TV.

[cleanhouse]

The worst is past. But any sort of prosperity for the nation is a long way off.
The housing and commercial real estate markets are buried under a few tons of mud.
Until the mud is washed away forget about any sustained economic growth.

[delusianne]

I dont think the worst is past.

[delusianne]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

Neither will homeowners it seems...no matter that homes just aren't selling,that prices are STILL dropping,homeowners think things are going to get better...

Of course things might actually get better....except for the millions of newly unemployed,the lack of jobs,the loss of retirement money....but at least we have the TV.

The bigger-than-life TV....

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

It's simple logic.
Then again, people didn't see it coming although all of the signs were there.

We didn't see it coming this FAST.....we gambled and lost...had hoped the market would hold for another six months or so but such is life.

In a few months we too will be one of the millions of homeowners being foreclosed on...

[oz in SC]

Originally Posted by delusianne

I dont think the worst is past.

Neither do I....

To me I simply cannot see any reason for things to get better...

But it seems none of this is based upon logic or reason but upon feeling and hope.