United States Heading towards a Depression?

I pretend to be Mia, Gtech and little willy;

There is nothing wrong with economy, it is doing great. Bush is genius, his economic policies are great, we just need more tax cut.

 

Well, you know the economy is screwed with Starbucks starts closing.

 

Considering my US$100 now equals AU$100 when 2 years ago it equaled AU$200; obviously, the US economy is going down the shitter.

 

Obviously, their projections on the economy were badly flawed. Then again, someone probably made out like a bandit on the stock market when they added 600 corporate stores since 2006, and has already sold off stock that will be taking a hit from the news of closings and severance costs.

Discretionary spending is going to dry up. People can't use their homes as ATMs to live a lifestyle one or two tiers above their income level any longer. Or in the words of smatts, no more coke.

Walmart carries a lot of everyday necessities. I imagine this is the reason they continue to thrive. Demand for their goods is somewhat inelastic.

A year ago, people laughed if I brought up the word depression. Everyone thought I was an idiot. Well, they still think I am an idiot, and now the banks are talking about depression.

I'd say the economy is shrinking. GDP is also bolstered by all of the nonsense military and deficit spending. We're not growing as fast as the numbers claim we are. That is why the NBER goes back and adjusts it's past determinations on recessions. As you said, inflation and energy costs haven't fully worked their way through. If you watched the Peter Schiff clip I posted, the show host challenges him on government numbers, and Peter, being a clever man who does his research says, that the numbers are based on 2.x% inflation.

Now seriously, does anyone believe we are running under 3% inflation?

I had a great name lined up, but I waited to do a bulk buy and someone else scooped it.

Everytime I read bad news like the Fortis bank warning to it's investors, or the BIS report, I can hear Mia in the back of my head, "It's only a correction".

Although, Bush is not solely to blame. He's just the guy who lit the match, not the one who poured the gasoline.

 

Unemployment numbers and ECB meeting is tomorrow. Drop of 200,000 jobs and ECB rate hike is expected.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080702/us_nm/usa_economy_dc;_ylt=AlK_cjBydzu0kmcV_hmwKz2yBhIF

 

All the more reason for us all to kill ourselves. Not everyone wants to pay $7 for a shitty cup of foam.

The Starbucks where I am is in no danger of closing. But its in a market where people will pay $15 for that shitty cup of foam. We've got Vettes, Lambos, Ferraris, etc., parked in front of the place all day. That and a steady stream of FIB tourists with disposable coffee incomes.

I don't see the closing of Starbucks stores as a good economic indicator of anything other than not every market can sustain overpriced coffee.

That and they built too much, too fast. We should be more worried that pet owners are only going to spend about 5% more this year on their pets than last year. That is a true indicator of impending doom and gloom in my book!

 

...also don't forget to throw more FIAT money at the problem and hope that it will magically correct itself.

 

I didn't bro. I've been crying wolf for even longer! But they just call me doom and gloomer for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Can you prove it? We'd love to see a picture of a Ferrari parked in front of a Starbucks in your neck of the woods. What city is that again?

 

No wonder the government is going broke when people can buy a Ferrari with their welfare checks and food stamps.

 

Guess I'll just have to pretend to be Albanian and post nonsense all day long.

It's pretty obvious where I live. And no, nothing to prove. It's a daily occurrence. I forgot to mention Prowlers, Maserati's, Rolls, Hummers, Rovers, and mini-vans occasionally.

What a spacker.

 

I would guess that a lot of the people who think it's ok to pay $5 for a cup of coffee are also the ones losing their homes.

 

I'd have to agree with that. They are probably the idiots that bought more home than they could afford and then bought that coffee on credit via equity lines through their homes.

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080702/auto_stocks.html

You'd think with all the corner cutting on quality they could make some money. Maybe people don't want crappy cars anymore?

 

There was only so long they could make gas guzzlers and hummers before people stopped buying them....

 

It's time to just start wholesale copying the japanese.

 

NVDA is getting raped, hard.

 

In after hours trading it's down another $4 -- just another sign that the economy is in a slump.

We are now officially in a bear market. The Dow's worst bear market was at the start of the Great Depression, from April 17, 1930, to July 8, 1932. The Dow lost 86 percent of its value falling from 294.07 to a bottom of 41.22.

 

We've been in a bear market for almost a year. People just didn't know it yet. The dollar is trending towards poop value. Who cares if the Dow is at 14,000 if 14,000 doesn't buy what 10,000 bought 5 years ago?