Oil-pocalypse Now!

97 dollars a barrel

Gas will crest 4 bucks soon

bahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That'll sink a potential recovery in nothing flat.

where in the f*ck are we all going?

Sick man walking

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

Is America the sick man of the globe?

American Nightmare

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2010/09/24/obama-and-the-american-dream-in-reverse/

Less is more.

Learn to live with "more".

Trillions for defense, but not one penny for jobs

H.R.5297 - State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010

Yes, we are running horrific deficits that will eventually bite us in the ass.

Yes, just throwing money at a problem is not a solution.

Yes, this Initiative does not force banks to lend money, it is simply an incentive for them to do so.

BUT... the cost of this thing ($30 billion dollars) is about what we pay pursuing foreign wars for a two month period.

At least this legislation is attempting to jump start jobs recovery which is the NUMBER ONE thing America needs right now.

Let's put less money into killing and more into "life-ing". This and tax cuts for business is what we need. NOW. We're trying to avoid Depression 3.0 here people.

"de-incentivizing" growth...

...the Obama Formula

Trillions for Defense, trillions for entitlements - stratospheric spending. What's gonna happen?

do ya feel lucky punk? well do ya?

People who claim to know shit say the chance of a double dip recession has sunk to 20%. Some same the chances have increased.

Everyone predicts slow growth at best.

Obviously, no one knows for sure about anything.

But the consensus ranges from semi-crappy to horribly crappy.

months of right-sizing, still no takers

151 23rd Street in "Greenwood Heights" Brooklyn.

$595K down to $399K

Who do you gotta blow to get this market re-started?

food, oil... way up

Hungry?

Want to go places? do stuff?

Expect to pay more. remember the 70s... 80s? Yeah, like that.

Petrochem increases are at the danger threshold. Vegetables up 56% from a year ago... fruits up 29%.

See, the government tracks this stuff: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.htm

Does anyone in D.C. bother to read this stuff?

feed the bear

which way are home prices going?

the brutal part of this ongoing flogging has not yet begun

Are you happy about the rise in home prices that have occurred in some places these past few months?

Well...

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in a Reuter's interview said, "Home prices, as measured by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, will trough in the third quarter of 2010 after declining 38 percent"

here are some other stats he was spouting:

"about 25 percent of single-family homes with mortgages have negative equity"

"7.5 million foreclosure sales will have taken place between 2006 and 2011. The majority of these sales, however, have not emerged yet, with 4.8 million foreclosure sales expected between 2009 and 2011"

"Foreclosure sales will increase, and home prices will resume their decline by early 2010 as mortgage servicers figure out who will not qualify for a modification"

oy.

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.

why are they shooting at these cans?

SOMEBODY HATES THESE CANS!!!