The economy, is it good or bad. (Page 86/181)
aceman NOV 13, 07:54 PM

quote
Originally posted by 84Bill:



What the hell?
Do you think I have nothing better to do than act as your own personal delivery service?
Go find the stuff and post it your self.




Sorry. I didn't know that it was the day the government cheese was being handed out.
84Bill NOV 13, 08:02 PM

quote
Originally posted by spaceboy:
Sorry. I didn't know that it was the day the government cheese was being handed out.



Oh stop groveling and jack another thread spaceboy.

And for christ sakes lay off the government cheese and whiiiiiiiinnnnneeee routine.
Red88FF NOV 14, 12:50 AM

quote
Originally posted by 84Bill:

Gas prices hit working class
Study says lower income people effectively pay 8 times more to fill up; broader economy could feel sting.
November 13 2007: 4:38 PM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lower-income Americans spend eight times more of their disposable income on gasoline than wealthier residents do.

The disparity is dramatic. In Wilcox, Ala., people spend 12.72 percent of their income to fuel one vehicle, according to a new study from the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). In Hunterdon County, N.J., people spend 1.52 percent.

The study illustrates the impact rising oil prices are having on people's budgets. Many economists have downplayed the effect gasoline prices will have on consumer spending. But with prices now pushing above $3 and studies like this, some say the economy may take a hit. Ya think?




For crying out loud, these guys just keep shoveling their line of crap on the stupid populace! (not aimed at you Bill but at the writers) I mean come on! duh, same can be said for a loaf of bread or a pack of chewing gum! Gees got more money it costs less of a percentage of wealth to buy the same thing, duh! Hell when Bill Gates donates a few million dollars to some cause it is the same as me dropping 35 cents in the poor jar at the grocer on a percentage of wealth basis.

Soooo why don't these same jack asses write this percentage income stories when the Democrats raise gas taxes? or cigarette taxes? many more comparisons can be made I'm sure to illustrate the point. Ya, we are for the little guy! The truth hurts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
84Bill NOV 14, 07:21 AM
Investors await inflation report
Futures drift after dramatic rally on Wall Street; reading on wholesale inflation due before market open.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks futures drifted Wednesday morning, ahead of some key economic readings and comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Stock futures wavered early Wednesday as investors moved to the sidelines after Wall Street had its best day in two months.

But futures could find more direction at 8:30 a.m. ET when the government releases readings on retail sales and inflation at the wholesale level. Then at 9:10 a.m. ET, Bernanke is set to speak at a conference on monetary policy at the CATO Institute.

Signs of tame inflation and consumer strength could help stocks extend their gains, but the rally could quickly end if spending is weaker than expected or prices are higher.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that retail sales gained only 0.2 percent in October, down from a 0.6 percent rise in September, due partly to weak auto sales. Excluding autos, those sales are expected to post a 0.3 percent rise after a 0.4 percent gain in the previous months.

The Producer Price Index, which measures prices at the retail level, is seen rising 0.3 percent in October due to higher energy prices after a 0.1 rise in September. The more closely watched core PPI, which strips out food and energy prices, is forecast to be up 0.2 percent, following a 0.1 percent gain.

Bernanke is due to speak on communications by the Federal Open Market Committee, the policymaking body that sets interest rates. Investors and economists will be looking for any clues in the speech about what the Fed might do with rates at its next meeting Dec. 11.

Stocks rallied in a dramatic session Tuesday that sent the Dow Jones industrial average higher about 320 points.

Part of the good news lifting stocks Tuesday was a sharp sell-off in oil, which closed down more than $3 a barrel. But in early trading Wednesday, oil prices rebounded back above the $92 a barrel mark, gaining 92 cents to $92.09.

Still, even with the rise in oil prices, Asian markets closed higher, led by a 2.5 percent gain in Japan's Nikkei. European markets were higher in midday trading.

Other news lifting markets Tuesday were statements from some major Wall Street firms, which said they saw limited problems in the value of their holdings due to subprime and credit market woes.

Early Wednesday, HSBC Holdings (Charts) announced it was taking a $3.4 billion charge because of accelerating losses in its U.S. mortgage business. Shares of the bank slipped 0.8 percent in London trading, even as it said those losses were "more than offset by revenue growth in the group" as a whole and that it saw third-quarter operating income gains.

In other corporate news, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz made a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in which he announced he had submitted an offer to buy Wendy's (Charts), but at a lower price than what he previously said the nation's third-largest hamburger chain is worth. The filing did not say what the new price was - only that it was below the $37 to $41 a share range previously disclosed. But that was still enough to lift Wendy shares in after-hours trading, as they gained nearly 2 percent to $32.24.

Verisign (Charts), which has branched out from its core business of registering Internet names and providing security for online transactions, may pull back from that strategy. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday the company will tell an analyst meeting that it plans to divest itself of as many as 10 of its 15 business units in a corporate overhaul.

E-Trade Financial CEO Mitch Caplan reportedly canceled a scheduled appearance at a Merrill Lynch & Co. banking conference. E-Trade shares swung wildly earlier this week after it reported October operating results and an analyst suggested it was at risk for bankruptcy. Shares of E-Trade (Charts) lost 59 percent in trading Monday before rebounding 40 percent Tuesday.

Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally told reporters at the Los Angeles Auto Show that Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) did not need a strategic partner elsewhere in the world or an outside investor to complete its restructuring and return to profitability in 2009. He said that such a combination would be a distraction for the company.

Department store retailer Macy's (Charts, Fortune 500) is due to report results before the market open Wednesday, with analysts forecasting a sharp drop in earnings on lower sales at stores open at least a year. To top of page


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Uh-oh. It's Enron all over again
Everything was supposed to be different in the post-Enron era. So why, asks Fortune's Bethany McLean, does it feel like someone hit rewind?

Fortune Magazine) -- Start with the headlines about off-balance-sheet entities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs (or sieves, as some wags are calling them). As Gertrude Stein never said, an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle.

Just as Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles were propping up its stock price by camouflaging the company's real financial results, so SIVs were inflating the credit market by providing demand for the complex securities created out of mortgages and loans used to finance buyouts.

Like Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles, SIVs were invisible to those on the outside -- and to many on the inside -- until they weren't. When times were good, these creations made money for their sponsors, but when times changed, they became a problem for the rest of us.

It's a little bit like "heads I win, tails you lose," which is pretty much how a former Enron executive described that company's off-balance-sheet vehicles.

In both cases, part of the problem was that the rating agencies, which are supposed to serve as watchdogs, were blindly optimistic, either through sheer incompetence or because of conflicts of interest. Just as Enron's investment-grade rating -- which it kept until four days before its bankruptcy -- turned out to be an illusion, so did the investment-grade ratings on many mortgage-backed securities.

"Structured finance," as the Street calls the black art of making one thing look like something else, couldn't transform Enron from a money-losing company into a moneymaking one, and it couldn't make subprime mortgages into investment-grade debt.

Now the rating agencies are scrambling to explain why it isn't a problem that they are paid by the very people they're supposed to rate, and Congress is holding hearings. That's exactly what happened six years ago
84Bill NOV 14, 06:40 PM
After the rally, a retreat
Stocks tumbled at the end of a choppy session as higher oil prices, questions about the credit crisis gave investors a reason to retreat after the previous day's rally.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks ended lower Wednesday after a mixed session turned sour in the last half hour of trade, with investors bailing out of technology, financials and some of the other leaders of the previous day's rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) fell 83 points after posting modest gains during the session. The S&P 500 (Charts) index fell 0.7 percent, and the Nasdaq composite (Charts) lost 1.1 percent.

After the close, Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500) confirmed market rumors that NYSE-Euronext chief executive John Thain will take over the top spot at the bank, following Stanley O'Neal's exit.

Stocks had risen in the morning following a mild wholesale inflation report. But the tone turned murkier as the session wore on and investors considered rising oil prices and more questions about the bank sector. In the last half hour, a variety of stocks slumped, dragging down the broader market.

There wasn't one single factor that caused the late selloff, said Paul Mendelsohn, president of Windham Financial Services. He said that the spike in oil prices played a role in the decline, as did some weakness in big industrial stocks such as Caterpillar (Charts, Fortune 500) and 3M (Charts, Fortune 500), but that it was also just driven by traders wanting to take profits after Tuesday's run.

"People are coming up with all sorts of reasons for what caused the selloff, but it may just be all the volatility that's in the market right now," Mendelsohn said. "I think we're going to consolidate a bit."

On Tuesday, the Dow rallied nearly 320 points, scoring its second biggest one-day point gain of the year as investors bet that encouraging comments from Goldman Sachs and other banks meant that the worst of the credit market crisis was over.

But news of large writedowns from HSBC and Bear Stearns Wednesday reminded market participants that the outlook for the credit crisis remains murky.

Additionally, Tuesday's advance was largely fueled by short-covering, analysts said, and that didn't extend into Wednesday's session. Short covering is when investors who sold shares short to take advantage of a falling market have to buy them back.

Looking forward, stocks are in for more volatility through the end of the year, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "We still have the same problems we had a week ago."

He was referring to oil prices above $90 a barrel, gold prices above $800 an ounce, a weak dollar and questions about the long-term fallout from the credit market crisis.


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Looking back on history as a guide, there are many many similarities.

I'm going to say it regardless of many tards on here who will decide to inevitably comment negatively but from what I can see, the first horseman appears to be cresting the horizon. I'd like to think he is headed away but it doesn't look good. I see this like the weather reports, a hurricane off in the Atlantic with weeks before landfall. No one really cares until the wind picks up. I'm boarding up just in case.
pokeyfiero NOV 14, 09:10 PM
The economy isn't in the shitter and people do have jobs but many people are having trouble paying for what they have.
Fuel costs and crazy mortgages are a big problem. People are working out here but they are not making enough to pay the bills. Luxury items and services are way down.
Restaurant's are having a serious decline and contractors are all scrambling for any work they can get.
I frequent the auction world to buy and sell and the surge of people trying to make a buck has been incredible the last 6 months. Selling the used equipment has become near impossible to make a profit.

My family businesses are in retail,construction and property investment and all three are suffering. I do believe things will stabilize but it will be harder and problems will arise sooner and sooner until we simply can not sustain a credit nation any longer.
My personal hope is in diversity and preplanning as well as keeping enough capitol on hand to profit from the bad investments of others.
example: I am currently looking at a beautiful home built in 01 that sold 13 months ago for 583. Today the bank owns it and it is listed at 329. Their are thousands of examples like this even in equipment.

My advice to anyone getting their hold in the world is to own everything you have and if you do owe money on a home to pay it off at any cost. Sell your junk on ebay or get a second job whatever. A couple hundred bucks a month more towards your mortgage will cut it in half in the long term, Pay off your cars and only buy what you can pay for this month.
If 84 Bills doom and gloom comes true and lets face it it just might; people that prepared will be the ones eating with a roof over their head. They will be sad at all the suffering around them but they will have a full belly while being sad.

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Though I am branded a devil in priests clothing I cast not the raiment I wear for I am not beholden to any flock with which any color has been given to me.

84Bill NOV 14, 09:55 PM
"Additionally, Tuesday's advance was largely fueled by short-covering, analysts said, and that didn't extend into Wednesday's session. Short covering is when investors who sold shares short to take advantage of a falling market have to buy them back."


The above is a VERY good indication that the vultures are taking advantage of the markets fall. Buying back stocks on short can be a great financial move but it fuels the degradation of the market.

I addition, with oil peeking at 100 a barrel it looks like holiday travel plans and spending will be weak which will also further the markets downward spiral. The dominoes are falling.

[This message has been edited by 84Bill (edited 11-14-2007).]

84Bill NOV 14, 10:00 PM

quote
Originally posted by pokeyfiero:
The economy isn't in the shitter and people do have jobs but many people are having trouble paying for what they have.
Fuel costs and crazy mortgages are a big problem. People are working out here but they are not making enough to pay the bills. Luxury items and services are way down.



Well that is the economy, people spending money.


quote

If 84 Bills doom and gloom comes true and lets face it it just might; people that prepared will be the ones eating with a roof over their head. They will be sad at all the suffering around them but they will have a full belly while being sad.



It's not just my ideal of "doom and gloom" but many other can see something looming and it dont look good. I may agree that the economy is sputtering along on 7 of 8 cylinders but when it gets down to 6 it will be WAY to late. The sheeple will start to stampede and that will FOR SURE hasten the arrival of the "doom and gloom" as it were.
Red88FF NOV 15, 12:17 AM
Decided I don't care any more. heh

[This message has been edited by Red88FF (edited 11-15-2007).]

84Bill NOV 15, 07:12 AM
Foreclosure filings: No slowdown yet
Hardest hit cities are on coasts and in Rust Belt, according to a new survey.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Three states, California, Florida and Ohio, continue to dominate new foreclosure filings, as most of the nation saw increases in the third quarter, according to a new survey.

During the period ended Sept. 30, 77 out of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas reported rises in delinquencies compared with the previous three months, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties.

The three most affected states reveal the two main causes of mortgage payment problems: economic weakness, as exemplified by Ohio, and speculative excess that led to high home prices and unaffordable mortgages, as represented by California and Florida.

In the past few months, the foreclosure story has become a tale of two regions. Some of the hardest-hit states have traditionally been in the Midwest, where plant closings and job losses have hit the economy there hard.

The other region is the Sun Belt, which is showing even more significant foreclosure growth as out-sized price increases in the first half of the decade led to virtually unchecked real estate speculation.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending, 7.2 million households have subprime mortgages, and more than 14 percent of those are in default. It projects that one of every five of those loans issued in 2005 and 2006 will end in foreclosure, with 2.2 million families losing their homes.

Not every state has been clobbered, according to James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO. "There continue to be pockets of the country - most noticeably metro areas in the Carolinas, Virginia and Texas - that have thus far dodged the foreclosure bullet," he said in a statement.

But, nationally, foreclosure filings, which include all three main stages of foreclosure, default or late payments, auction and real estate owned (properties reacquired by lenders and now being resold), were up 30 percent compared with the previous three months.

Among metro areas, the highest delinquency rate was in Stockton, Calif., which totaled 7,116 filings during the three month period, one for every 31 households. Second was the Detroit area with one per 33 households and a total of 25,708. Half the cities in the top 10 were in California.

Several Massachusetts cities experienced huge delinquency jumps during the quarter. Boston filings soared 146 percent to one per every 220 households, Springfield's increased 151 percent (one per 172) and Worcester 122 percent (one per 150).

Filings in the Providence, R.I./ New Bedford, Mass. area climbed a whopping 295 percent, albeit from a low base, to one for every 549 households.

The metro areas least affected include Greenville, S.C. (one per 3,289), McAllen, Texas (one per 2,185) and Baton Rouge, La. (one per 2,074). To top of page

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Carolinas are cheap... but it wont last once the local government realize they have a cash cow in their back yard.