Sick man walking

The hollowing of America's manufacturing capacity and other super horribleness

Is America the sick man of the globe?

in blows the perfect storm

from CNN Money: double dip warning signs

A quick synopsis of these "things that could throw us back into recession".
1. If job losses continue deep into 2010.
2. Flat 2009 Christmas retail sales.
3. Oil in 2010 blasting through $100/barrel threshold.
4. Another year of weak auto sales.
5. Further foreclosures and further downward momentum on home prices.
6. another Bear Market... 20% price drop.

We're in recovery mode, but it's a shaky, fragile thing that can be taken down like a house of cards.

And Big Daddy has already shot his load.

unemployment rising

I got nothing snarky to add. This is all pretty clear.

Below is a comment from a post at the James Pethokoukis blog at Reuters - 12 reasons unemployment is going to (at least) 12 percent

I’ve had businesses for 30 years.

This is all very simple. Businesspeople are not stupid. They aren’t hiring because:

1. They don’t know what tax increases are coming.

2. They don’t know what new burdensome regulations are coming.

3. They don’t know what changes to the health care system are coming, and if perhaps they will be responsible for everyone’s COBRA or similar for years.

4. They don’t know if it will be harder to fire people in the future.

5. They don’t know if every employee will be allowed to join a union, increasing costs and headaches.

6. They don’t know what new procedures will be invented to upend the bond markets completely, overturning centuries of settled law.

7. They don’t know if Washington will unilaterally cut their compensation.

8. They don’t know if cap-and-trade will double their energy costs.

And on and on and on and on and on and on and on.

I can’t imagine hiring anyone until all this nonsense shakes out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see unemployment above 13%.

I can hold off generating taxable activity a lot longer than Democrats can retain Congress, that’s for damn sure.
- Posted by Chester White

this Market will never ever ever again crash. NEVER

speculate, confiscate, sell.
one millisecond at a time.
yeah baby yeah!!!