To think it took less than 2 years for these markets to prop up again to levels right before the Lehman days is simply amazing, its pretty wonderful to see what a couple of trillion here and there can do to the market that suffered from the biggest credit crisis in history, so I guess its smooth sailing once again, troubles are gone and the market looks like its making that "V" shaped recovery. I don't think anyone even felt a recession, all they witnessed was a layoff here and there but the unemployment checks they received for 2 years has helped out substantially, they were still able to afford nearly all sort of entertainment and still eat out and enjoy themselves with a movie and even drive a brand new leased car for $199 a month. I have to say that this was one of the best recessions this economy has ever witnessed, now once everything is back in place and housing prices start to gain 20-30% a year people can once start using that money to go out and buy bigger and better things they didn't have during the recession, like upgrading your 52" flat screen to a 62" flat screen, maybe buy one of those new 3D TVs. Maybe upgrade that smartphone you bought in 2009 for something new in 2010, why carry and old one year old cell phone. Maybe upgrade your 2 year old car for something a little better and cooler. This has been the easiest and quickest recession I have ever seen and I'm hoping the next recession 10 years from now is 2x as fast and better.
Amazing times. But the truth is unemployment will never even go under 8% and in reality the economy is still down 40-50% from the highs.look at car sales 11.5 mil vs 17 mil at the highs. unemployment rate 9.7% vs 4.5%. home sales 2 mil verus 400k now. i could go on for pages. THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY CHANGED IS THE GOV'T SKIED THE STK MKT LIKE NEVET BEFORE AND ITS NOW CHANGING PEOPLES PERCEPTION OF BUSINESS CONDITIONS. the greatest transfer of wealth in history is going on the past yr as insiders sell at record levels.
The speed of the recovery is amazing considering the severity of the crisis but you cannot fix a massive debt problem with more debt.
no, but you can transfer the debt problem from weak hands to strong hands. that is exactly what happened. the banks transfered their bad debts to the government and the government intends to hold it long term. will it work long term. nobody knows but its working now.
it actually doesn't do you still remember 2006-2007 and goldilocks? it looked like everlasting prosperity previous full cycle was 2003-2007 this one will be at least 2 times shorter we're 13 months into recovery so not more than 11 months left till the next bust
Here is some food for thought that hardly anybody ever mentions: Perhaps we've learned from history and are better able to deal with economic and financial shocks than in the past? Question for the bears: What news could come out that would actually make you turn bullish?