Perception of the economy?

Status
Not open for further replies.
GUNNING said:
I've noticed that the question was how is your local economy doing and everyone is talking about getting out with their retirement in tact.
Click to expand...
That will happen.:smile:

bphgravity said:
The electrical industry here in Florida is the worst it has been in a really, really, long time.
Click to expand...
This is true. My wife worked for a resi developer for 18 years and is now unemployed. At our shop we have a few houses going, one new start in the last couple weeks. Less and less coming across the desk to bid.

The good news is we are still working OT on our commercial stuff.
 
Thankfully, I'm still able to pay my bills (both personal and company). Everyone's 401K plans are going down and nobody knows how far but the general consensus is not to look at your accounts on a daily basis and keep the money in. The losses are only on paper and will eventually rise once the panic has run its course. I'm trying to be optimistic. We're a long way off from bread lines and rolling old ladies for their SS checks !!!:D

Meanwhile, there's not a lot of new construction going on in my area but there are still a great deal of renovations. Small jobs, quick turn-around and quick payments. What I fear, more than anything else, is getting to the point where some EC's will come along and do work like 200 amp service upgrades for a few bucks over their cost of materials. While I understand the premise of having to feed one's family, excessive low-balling of jobs brings down all of us.

There's also a lot of homes for sale here in NJ (as I'm sure exists in the rest of the country). Along with our 401K's being down, house values have come down drastically. Houses that were valued at $400K and now down to $250K - $300K and still can't sell because people an't get mortgages.

I know this is not a political forum but I'd be in favor of investigations and jail time for ALL those involved in this mess.:mad:
 
Man the economy is tight here..our company is half million off and we are in the process of making some tough decisions..

yet I still am buying into investments and I am at the point I want to barrow some cash to buy some stock of the more stable corporations in our society at some bargain prices..

So I feel the economy is tanking yet I am sure it will recover..yet it will not recover to the disproportional degree that caused the crash but to a level we had a few years ago..that will create hope..

Butt the bailout is wrong to a degree..the problem we have is our assets to debt in our society is wrong and the governments cure is more debt..I do not know how that is going to work..There is a stable portion of our society and it must prevail and grow and it will as soon as we get the upside down portion stabilized..
 
Our company laid off all full time non permanent workers, well at least in our office, I heard the other division is still booming. I also heard Duke Power is going to break ground soon on their new reactor in W. North Carolina
 
I disagree with the idea that the only thing wrong with the economy is fear. There are some real core issues, in particular a housing bubble that is bursting. We cannot simply say 'Oh, if we all believe that everything was all right, then everything will be all right.' There are real loans made for unsustainable speculative reasons, and these loads are really going bad. Lots of real money has been lost.

With that said, the core of our economy is quite strong, and the current crisis is one of trust and fear. We have loads of natural resources. We have tremendous infrastructure (roads, power, clean water, etc) We have lots and lots of healthy workers, 90% of whom have jobs and are working. We have a functioning civil government, and and our version of 'political strife' is a bunch of name-calling and our version of 'culture wars' happens on television and in the voting booth. We are in a good place.

Most of the 'economic crisis' is a lack of credit and lending, caused by fear. IMHO this has greatly amplified the various real economic problems.

-Jon
 
I've had a candid discussion about this with a few of my customers. Most conveyed the same thing -- they are sitting on their cash waiting to see the outcome of this upcoming election.

Most are in agreement that the so-called bailout was a terrible waste of taxpayers' money and resources, and the markets have not positively responded at all. Funny thing that the markets went UP when the first bailout vote failed, and they have been going downhill fast since the danged thing has passed and been signed into law. :-?

On a personal note, I got up enough courage to have a looksie at my IRA balances -- it looks like I've taken a 40% hit on most of the mutual funds. But, one of my accounts -- an annuity -- has increased in value about the same percentage as any other year, so that is a partial relief.

I'm glad that my eggs are in more than one basket, that's for sure! :cool:
 
There are a few small upsides, one of which is the current price for copper. Kitco has it selling for about $2 a pound today (10/12/08). That by itself would be wonderful, except it is part of the general illness the whole economy is suffering from.
 
I don't see much change from last year. Just some banks and rich people who want the govt to bail them out. Economy is still the same. Poor as it's been for the last 8 years.
 
wawireguy said:
I don't see much change from last year. Just some banks and rich people who want the govt to bail them out. Economy is still the same. Poor as it's been for the last 8 years.
Click to expand...

If that so, In my area, we had a few dozen, new electricians get there license in the last few years, I think 2 are still in business, the rest are out of business and out of work, they had big ideas, of contracting and making all kinds of money, nice to dream!
 
"Stocks had their best day since the 1930s with the Dow Jones industrials gaining 936 points for the first time ever.

The Dow closed up 11.1% to 9,388 -- its biggest percentage gain since March 15, 1933, when the index gained 15.3%, and its fifth largest percentage gain ever."

I have strong faith in our economy. Things will turn around. It might be slow but it will happen.

Pray for those who don't have what we take for granted.

JJ
 
Things are pretty slow in Alabama, like everywhere else. I'm doing a little better lately and more on the horizon.

My 401k is down by 25% but selling now just locks in your losses. I figure if I had good investments a few months ago they will still be good investments when the storm blows over. The analylist are saying buy stock in companies who provide the things people can't do without right now i.e. trash haulers, Wal-mart etc.

Someone mentioned he was blessed to have a trade. A school I attended had a motto: "He who hath a trade hath an estate".

What we're going thru right now is like Yamamoto said when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor "We've kicked a sleeping giant".
 
hardworkingstiff said:
Like to hear from anyone if they are willing.

What's the economy like (locally)?

What's your perception of the economy?

I've been glued to the stock channels and trading stocks, so I've not really been in touch with reality lately. Seems in Wilmington, NC, that business is so/so. It appears to not be improving. How about in your area?
Click to expand...

Were so, just "Now" in our modern world!
Here check your price of gas instead Here
 
Have not seen any change here but its industrial versus residential. I'm fairly well off working the industrial field for a food manufacturer. I have noticed new home building in our area has plummeted to almost nonexistent. Things will get better and for myself being a long term investor now is the time to buy buy buy!:grin: You have to take opportunities when they rise and make the best of a bad situation.
 
I think like most of you the economy will get better. Its a question of when?
Everybody I talk to says after the thing on Nov 4th is over. I hope so. I live in the greater Seattle area and our resi market is dead like the rest of the country. Thankfully Jun 3rd I got my Comm admint license, because without that we wold of went belly up. Commercial is still going strong, but thats what is weird. I really like doing commericial for its obvious financial benefit, but how long until it pops. I counted 37 cranes in our skys the other night on the way to work so its still good around here as far as I can tell. I just hope that when the Seahawks are officially elimated this year, my bank account is not.

Tim C:D
 
My 401k is invested in a series of mutual funds that the investment advisers assured us was balanced so if one fund took a tank the rest would make up for it. Here are the results for the last 12 months fund by fund (as of this morning):

-33.26%
-39.04%
-39.40%
-45.31%
-35.60%
-35.58%
-35.12%
-39.91%
-42.99%
-36.70%
-41.56%
-30.17%
-35.01%
-26.76%

My mom and dad were put in some fairly risky funds by their "adviser". They are down over 30%, and they are in their 80s. They will never make it back up. The market did not regain the losses it had in the 30s until the 60s.

My guess is people will get scared first than mad. What happens while they are both scared and mad is hard to guess. But the fact that the federal government is talking very seriously about nationalizing a large chunk of the financial industry should tell you something. I guess they figure if they say the government is "taking an equity stake" people won't figure out that means it has been nationalized.
 
LOL.....Let me rephrase my commets....the economy here in Va. appears to be ok. The company I am employed by is doing amazingly well and continuing to grow. Hopefully the economy as a whole will rebound for the btterment of our nation and its stability within the world market. Sorry for the rant previously IWIRE.:D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top