as for the unemployment rate,does it carry as much weight as it once did? i ask this because so many are self employed now and work from home via the internet as well as other service related self employment jobs.
It doesn't matter where you work as long as you are working and producing income. The self-employed people are in the statistics. The US also has a huge underground economy thanks to the influx of illegal aliens which is why I would love to see a national sales tax as opposed to our current income tax. Sure we have many people who will lose their house because they were allowed to purchase a house they could not afford, and they didn't have the sense to understand what that meant, but the truth of the matter is they are working. The stock market is down because we have no idea how to value sub-prime assets. Are all these loans bad? Of course not, but there isn't anyone that can get a handle on it so the market discounts it and we drop. Has our economy changed if these loans were bad? No. Sure some financials will not be looking too good, and yes financials are a big part of the stock market, but financials don't drive our economy. Bottom line if people are working this mess will get cleaned up without a depression or recession.
"Banks Still Expanding By Tony Crescenzi 1/7/2008 3:49 PM EST The Federal Reserve's most recent data on bank credit, which measures the total amount of money extended by commercial banks via loans, leases and securities purchases, continues to expand at a fast pace. The expansion is being spurred, in part, by the movement of structured investment vehicles onto the balance sheets of banks and by continued re-intermediation of credit formerly raised in the capital markets. This shows that the credit crunch is not playing out in the banking system in the very negative way that is often perceived. In the week ended Dec. 26, bank credit increased a solid $30.4 billion to $9.26 trillion following an increase of $64.4 billion the previous week. The gains put the annualized increase since the end of July at about 18%, roughly double the pace of the past five years."
Please take note of the date. And how much lower is the interest rate now? Banks are pulling in their horns right now. Talk to any commercial loan officer.
the banks are very circumspect and they are afraid to loan money right now. also,business' are feeling the pinch because they are well aware of the financial stress and are nervous about making big purchases. in 2000,it took 2 years to work through a "stock bubble". with a stock bubble,anyone can just press a sell button and their stock is sold. real estate takes much longer to unwind and unfortunately investors cannot press the old sell button to liquidate their real estate. again,i reiterate that many americans are maxed out with debt/credit cards. 5 years ago they would just get some sort of loan and start from scratch,thats no longer a viable way to rid themselves of debt.
Never believe the media. US is going out of recession as we speak. When the Universities and media discover something it is already too late. It's a rule Bill
watch wealthtrack,starts now,6.30 cst pbs channel 20 in chicago, these ostriches do not have their heads in the sand,smart guests , not the usual hold and you'll make money over the longrun, last week were guessing 40% drawdown,U.S.
That's not all inclusive, just broad based and no specifics on timing with this revelation. Time constructs perhaps.
I think this quote expresses the essence of TrailerTrader.com better than anything else I've read here.