<p>A survey of 950 small business owners revealed that 20% described their businesses as “sinking” … half as “stable” and 28% as “growing.” Sixty percent of the “growing” companies indicated they are using temps to handle the new business, rather than (having the confidence to) hire new staff.</p>
<p>Continued high unemployment, continued high foreclosures, continued difficulty for small businesses, continued difficulty for large companies like GE, plus growing state and federal deficits. Help me out here, exactly where is the Economic Recovery happening?</p>
<p>Intel is hiring. Google too I hear. So information technology is starting to look good. </p>
<p>Those government jobs are increasing too…I hear they’re looking to hire more folks at the SEC. I wonder why :)</p>
<p>Personally, it’s hard to see any impact yet. We live on a teeny tiny cul de sac with just seven or eight houses. Three of our neighbors who are the main wage earners (all professionals) have lost their jobs in the last year. None have landed yet. Depressing.</p>
<p>I think the attacks on Goldman and lurking financial “reform” will kill the stock market and that is the only thing sustaining the little spurts of recovery - not houses, not jobs, not exports.</p>
<p>S3, a waiter, finally got a job after a year. Full time too instead of the part time he had before the layoff. The restaurant trade is picking up.</p>
<p>Home prices in our neighborhood are now 10% below peak prices.
Large-cap tech companies are reporting very good earnings.
Companies the export to other countries, particularly Asia, are doing quite well and are hiring.
Domestic companies aren’t as consumers retrench their spending patterns.</p>
<p>Unemployment is at a record high here (in Atlanta), home prices in many places are still more than 10 below peak, and the local and state governments will be laying off and furloughing like mad in the next fiscal year.</p>
<p>That said, historically Atlanta has lagged the nation in recovery from recessions. So, we will see.</p>
<p>Huh? I’m not quite sure if you mean that the SEC shouldn’t “attack” Goldman for its abhorrent practices. Goldman operates to the advantage of a small number of insiders without much regard to the earnings of its institutional and other investors. They actually promoted the “architect” of this particular scheme. It probably did skirt laws and other firms have done the same thing for years. But even if the suit does not go forward, or if Goldman settles, I hope the constant negative publicity helps make it clear to investors that Goldman takes care of its insiders, not its clients. Nor do these types of allegations instill faith in the markets.</p>
<p>I fail to understand the argument against financial reform. The loosening of regulations caused the financial crises by removing controls to prevent runaway greed and risk taking. The downside is to the greedy bankers. Seems the right thing to do to put controls back in place.</p>
<p>Regarding regulations/financial reform…I just watched an old Frontline on the Madoff scam…and boy do we need to change what’s going on. The SEC knew about this back in 2001 and did NOTHING, even in the face of a detailed report from a expert who KNEW it was a Ponzi scheme. Understaffed and overwhelmed they said. Unbelievable.</p>
<p>If it hurts the economy temporarily (and I’m not sure it will), so be it. We need to get this under control…</p>
<p>Less banking regulation is what caused this mess. Regulation and oversight are not the enemy in a free market. Quite the opposite in fact. There needs to be rules. The rules for banks were removed in 1999. The market went wild and now we are all paying.</p>
<p>^^^ you mean YOU want less of it…along with all those derivatives salesmen on Wall Street. Actually, I saw a recent poll that confirmed that most folks want less regulation…EXCEPT when it comes to wall street. Most will make an exception there apparently… </p>
<p>But that’s veering too far into politics I guess. Hard to talk about the economy without getting into that but it’s worth a try. </p>
<p>Friend reported that she got a job HR today. Lots of folks in that field are out of work…and have been for a long time. Especially recruiters.</p>
<p>Unemployment is still high, but there are plenty of positive signs.</p>
<p>For over a year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been increasing at about 2%/month. The DJI just past 11000 and should hit 12000 by early August. The strong positive trend is starting to attract even more investment.</p>
<p>I make my best economic guess based on Long Island traffic. It has been on the slow, stable side for the past couple of years but is now worse than ever, indicating a stronger economy.</p>
<p>Nationwide housing prices have stabilized and are slowly increasing.</p>
<p>I don’t hear many comments about saving money. People seem cautious but are starting to buy more. The malls are crowded.</p>
<p>The handyman who has been helping me with home repairs has seen a substantial increase in business and is currently taking a vacation.</p>
<p>The rich are getting richer again. That’s what seems to be considered economic recovery in this new era in which the middle class is getting further pushed downward. I call it as I see it, from my office in a VERY depressed midwest city & my home that has an assessed value of half what it was 2 years ago.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah … and it took me two years to find a job that pays less than I made my first full year out of college in 1984.</p>
<p>California…land of “in the tank”!
Okay…we have great weather most of the time for the almost 13% unemployed folk to get tans! I am thankful the stock market is rebounding since CA housing is not. On the upside I have rediscovered the public library(though it’s hours are cut)…wow, a place you can get great books that you don’t have to pay for! What a concept!</p>
<p>Throw everyone’s problems in a pile on the floor…and you would still probably bend down to only pick up your own. Think Haiti…and that helps me put it all in perspective.</p>