Another Day, Another Dollar-- Part II: What We're Not Spending Money On

VETERINARY AND PET SERVICES -6% (I don't know about this. Some of our friends are spending real big bucks on operations on their pets.

CLOTHING AND REPAIR ALTERATION -19% (For the most part, it is just cheaper to buy new stuff.)

POSTAL AND DELIVERY SERVICES -28%-- (Is that why the post office is having problems?)

DENTAL SERVICES -4%-- (Not life threatening, put it off)

CASINO GAMBLING -11%-- (Other than the GRBs, who has money to throw away. Plus, how about bringing back the $1 and $2 tables.)

PLEASURE BOATS -12%-- (Not to mention the price of gas on the water. Something that can easily be given up.)

NEW AUTOS -12%-- (Sticker shock!)

NURSERY SCHOOLS -5%-- (Hard to believe this is dropping. Where those kids going?)

TOBACCO -16%-- (Folks quitting I guess.)

JEWELRY -7%--

FOREIGN TRAVEL BY US RESIDENTS -4%-- (Not surprising with sorry state of US dollar.)

MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES -9%-- (I'm surprised by this one.)

I Also Have Cut Way Down on All Sorts of Travel. --RoadDog


HOW'S THAT AGAIN? Dicker: To bargain or trade.

Another Day, Another Dollar-- Part 1

From the Aug. 15th Time Magazine.

In these days where I get great joy looking at how much interest my CDs are earning, here's a look back at what Time calls six months before the official beginning of the Great Recession, 2007, as they're calling it. Unemployment was 4.6% and Americans were saving less than 2%. Today, people are saving 5.4%.

Of course, this is before the GRBs had their way with us.

SINCE 2007 CONSUMERS ARE SPENDING MORE ON:

Higher education-- 6% (Not surprising with the ever-increasing tuition.)
Movie theaters-- 12%
Watches-- 13% (I'm surprised at this. Fewer and fewer folks have watches, instead using their cell phones.)

Used autos-- 4% (Used cars, however, are getting much more expensive.)
Cell-Phone services-- 31% (Big surprise here.)
Lotteries-- 16% (You just never know.)
Physician services-- 7% (I'm surprised this is so low.)

Alcohol-- 5% (Not surprising as the price of booze keeps going up, plus you can always drink to forget.)

Foreign Travel in the US-- 17% (Lots of folks from overseas are sure taking advantage of our worthless money. keep those printing presses rolling!)

What Are We Spending Less On, Next. --RoadDog


HOW'S THAT AGAIN: Catawampus...Something that sits crooked.

It's Them, Not Me: Let's Call 'Em What They Really Are-- Gamblers, Not Investors

From the August 10th Chicago Tribune "Roller coaster turns up" by Don Lee and Tom Petruno.

"...on a day when Wall Street went on a wild ride....The central bank did its best to soothe jittery investors...."

We all know how the stock market has been going down and up tremendously the last week, dropping 674 points Monday and rebounding 430 yesterday.

And this because "investors" are worried about the economy.

Notice how I put the word "investors" in the sentence. Investors is not a correct term anymore. A more justifiable word would be "gamblers." These folk are doing no more than sitting at a poker table and "gambling" not only with their money, but even worse, with everyone's life and future in the country.

And, let's face it, they are gambling with our country's future. And all just to make a huge amount of money by producing nothing. And they don't have to worry if they mess up because the government will bail them out.

There was a time when investing meant you put your faith in a company's ability to grow and with that made a reasonable profit. Now "investors" put their money down not so much for the company but in the hopes that other "investors" will do so as well and huge profits will be realized.

Everything is in the short term, not the long haul.

Time has come to overhaul Wall Street significantly or even do away with it along with all commodities and futures.

A Bad Road We're Headed Down.


STILL NOT FUNNY.

It's Them, Not Me: Feds Keeping Interest Rates Low

Troubling stories on front page of today's Chicago Tribune about the country's economic woes what with the debt ceiling being raised, the nutty stock market, unemployment and all the other problems.

One statement from the Federal Reserve had their intention of keep short-term interest rates near zero for at least two more years. This will be great for the GRBs (corporations, investors and investment bankers) who got us into this mess through their greed.

Not so great for poor yokels like myself who do not "play" the stock market, spend beyond our means and rely on Certificates of Deposit for most of our investments.

The interest rates on CDs are a joke! Mostly less than 1%. If this keeps up, we'll have to start paying banks to keep our money.

The Time's Coming. --RoadDog


NOT FUNNY.

Economic Evolution

The May Ladies' Home Journal had a graphic showing the impact of the economic woes on various sectors.

After the sector, is the PRE-RECESSION item, DOWNTURN items, and, then, as it gets worse, ROCK BOTTOM:


SHOPPING-- recreational shopping-- necessity shopping-- urgent shopping (like toilet paper)

HAIR CARE-- salon color and cut-- sun for the highlights-- ponytail

SKIN CARE-- Botox-- wrinkle cream-- natural aging

ENTERTAINMENT-- Theater-- Movies-- Monopoly

STAYING COOL-- mountain vacation-- blow-up pool-- popsicle

HEALTH CARE-- prescription medicine-- home remedy-- Band-aid

LHJ telling it like it is.

I'd Laugh, But It AIN'T Funny. Thanks AIG. --RoadDog

Fast-Falling Real Estate Prices

My friend Frank has been watching prices falling in Cape Coral, Florida, and I must admit, they are something else. You can get a condo for anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000 and a regular house, even one on a channel, for around $100,000 to $150,000. Things are really bad there with so many houses being owned by banks outright.

Almost gets me to thinking about getting a second place, but I sure don't want the hassle, and really don't think I can afford it. Not so much about the initial cost, but the upkeep and taxes.

Came across an article about the ten places in the US with the fastest-falling real estate prices.

10. Salem, Oregon
9. Port Saint Lucie, Fl
8. Visalia, Ca
7. Miami, Fl
6. Orlando, Fl
5. El Centro, Ca
4. Bakersfield, Ca
3. Cumberland, Md
2. Yuma, Az
1. Virginia Beach, Va

If prices are that low in Cape Coral, what must they be in these places?

Thinking, Just Thinking. --RoadDog

Some More on the Economy's Impact on Yorkville, Illinois

From Oct. 13th Chicago Tribune.

Right now there are an estimated 15,000 people living in Yorkville. From 2000 to 2007, Kendall County, of which Yorkville is the county seat, was called the fastest-growing county in the US as the Chicagoland sprawl reached this exurban area.

Population was expected to reach 50,000 in two more years, but has now been dropped to 19,308. From 591 building permits issued in the first half of 2006, it was down to 100 in the first half of this year.

I'm Actually Glad to See This Slow-Down. --RoadDog

Mighty Scary Times Thanks to Clueless Greedy People

These are frightening times in the economy, and at 57, I've lived through some bad economic times, but nothing like what we have right now.

Even though oil closed at $77 yesterday, gasoline prices have dropped, but nowhere near as low as it should have dropped. When oil goes up, we see prices reflect it within hours at the pumps. But let it drop, well, it is much harder to change those prices. Now, I see the good folks at OPEC (our enemies) are going to meet to drop production so they can keep prices up.

With the bailout for the greedy, looks like the markets would stabilize, but no, the clueless idiots in it are running around like Chicken Little. After all, these are the people who got us into this mess, that and some mighty poor excuses for CEOs and upper management in many of out top companies.

And now, Wachovia's top executives are preparing for an all-expense paid trip to the Greek islands and I doubt any of these good people are going economy class. A Wachovia spokesman said they always recognize their top financial advisers in such a way. Excuse me? I can think of ways to recognize the idiots.

New name for the GRBs are DFIs. These Guys Are Too Much. --RoadDog

Is It Just Me, But Has the Time to Start Worrying Arrived

Our economy definitely has me more than just a little bit worried, and I've been around awhile. I've lived through some rough times in the 60s with the Vietnam War, the fuel crisis of 1973, and high interest rates (right when we wanted to buy a house). But none of that worried me more than I am right now.

Prices just keep going up. Everytime you turn around, someone is announcing they're raising prices.

A trip to the old grocery store is frightening when you get to the cash register. Dining costs have risen. And then there is the joy of filling your gas tank. On top of that, taxes!! Sales tax of 9 to 10 % is becoming common. Oh yes, around here, one problem is property taxes. We are going to hit $8,000 a year this summer. When I finally paid off the house a few years ago, I was paying as much in mortgage as I was for property taxes.

Then, there are SO Many people trying to get rich as fast as possible, with little concern of what that is going to do to others.

Here, I refer to Day traders, Commodity Exchange people, Big Oil, and some real estate people. Don't get me started on the CEO and Boards of Directors situation.

If I had to start somewhere, it would have to be with the crippling gas prices. I do not really see anyone in Washington doing anything about it. A few have given mouth service, but nothing comes of it. Something really has to be done. And done soon.

At least take away Big Oil's rocket up, feather float down gas prices. Something happens like Monday's refinery fire and gas at the pump goes up within hours and takes days and weeks to come back down. If it is to go up fast, it should be mandated to come down just as quickly.

Worried in Spring Grove. --RoadDog