I have been reading articles from various news sources over the past few weeks/months, and am intrigued by the lack of coverage, at least in my opinion of the states in our union. Maybe I am bias as a trader, (trade the 830 and 10:00) econ numbers end of story. But, from what I am reading, its really not. We know the FED can print money, but the states cannot. And it seems if you look closely at a state by state basis, from a micro perspective, things seem to be pretty bad. Now maybe this isn't news to most of you, but for the most part, it is to me. I am not going to go through all 50 states, but a few to give you a idea of what I am talking about. Alabama. Gov claims the state is in the worst fiscal crisis since the great depression. Arkansas. REP gov is RAISING taxes, sales tax but a tax by a republican nonetheless. California. State relies heavily on the wealthiest 10% for income tax and cap gains tax, problem, state is facing 35 bil deficit. Idaho. Worst economic situation in decades. Minnesota, deficit of 4.5 bil through '05. New York, worst since 1970's when it almost went bankrupt, possible 12 bil shortfall. Oklahoma, facing worst budget situation in 100 yrs. Also, lots of states are considering bringing slots into their states, PA , for one. This is only a very small abbreviated sample of what I have seen, but if you get deeper it gets worse. I read a article, I forget the state, but they are cutting the school week from 5 to 4 days, to save on heat/bus/teachers salaries. Now, Wyoming is doing well bc of the natural gas situation (you nat gas traders can fill us in on that) but other than that I am not seeing anything positive for a few yrs at the least. I am seeing taxes. Lots of different taxes. Lots of cutbacks, which will add to the unemployment numbers, and freezing on new job hires. Now, why is our govt trying to bandaid the situation with these bs halfass cutbacks when what we really need is broadbased tax reform, starting imo, with the cap gains. When and who decided that we should be taxed for money we are risking? Thats a lil ot but I had to slip it in. I read a few yrs ago, or maybe a yr ago that brazil was doing away with their cap gains tax, does anyone know how it has worked out for them, I know its not the perfect model, but I am just looking for a precedent. What do you guys think? Are the states troubles being exaggerated? Do the inflow of macro numbers we see everyday accurately reflect whats really going on in our union? I am certainly no more than a novice at this macro stuff, I just trade the numbers, but I would like to learn more about how these problems could be addressed and their implications on our markets going forward. I wish they had ETF'S on states. Thanks, and am hoping for some good feedback. Also, if you have any links of where I could get good econ numbers on the various parts of the union, state by state would be perfect, but if not even west coast, midwest, etcetera would be helpful. Later.