Clipmarks | Recession Clips

Global Depression?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:29:34 GMT

clipped by: nchnted
clipper's remarks: The jig is up.

The question that has yet to be answered is whether a severe recession or possible depression is inevitable regardless. The country has a national debt of $9.6 trillion, annual deficits of $600 billion, unfunded future liabilities of $53 trillion, a trade deficit of $600 billion, inflation of 6%, 2 wars costing $12 billion per month, and a weak currency. Therefore, we have entered an extremely dangerous period without strong economic fundamentals.

The parallels to the early 1930s are eerie

Corrupt politicians, Washington bureaucrats, Wall Street fat cats, and clueless commentators have failed to realize that the jig is up. Our entire financial system has been built upon deception, lies and debt.

The only thing keeping the system afloat was blind faith in our government and financial leaders to do the right thing. That trust has been shattered into a billion pieces.

Marketing Time and Strategy needs

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:20:22 GMT

clipped by: Artemis466

Clip Source: www.futurelab.net

The Marketer's Bushido: Starting the Journey

Marketing is under pressure. In times of recession and downturn even more then before the various stakeholders require higher degrees of accountability and return on investments made, while budgets are cut. On the other hand, consumers and customers tune out of the marketing communication that is fired at them.

Inspiration Day

The average executive has only 3 hours a month to focus on the strategy of his business ^(*). This leaves no time for real reflection, analysis or contemplation of "what could be".

_{* Source: MANKINS, M.C., “Stop Wasting Valuable Time”, Harvard Business Review, September 2004 - based on a time study of senior executive time usage in 187 companies}

The Current Financial Crisis Is Only The Beginning

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:57:28 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks:

One could argue that the banking crisis is just the cold sweat, not the flu that follows it.

Clip Song

Clip Source: www.iht.com

The problem is not just that the banking system has been broken by an orgy of foolish lending but moreover that huge swaths of the global economy are predicated on that foolish lending and the consumption it allowed.

The bubble wasn't just in real estate, leaving the financial system holding the bag; the bubble was in consumption.

The banking crisis will have very serious negative effects on the real economy, and the cost will grow.

The core of the issue isn't even solvency. It's the way in which the debt causing the banking insolvency distorted, distended and hollowed out economies around the world.

The banking crisis is extraordinarily dangerous. But the changes in the global economy that are needed are even more profound. Savings rates are going to need to rise

and consumption fall.

The recession will be long and probably ugly.

There is no doubt that the needed changes can happen and that these innovative and creative economies can re-balance. But it is going to be very painful.

Wall Street Woes Spread Overseas

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:59:16 GMT

clipped by: jedichique
clipper's remarks: The US credit crisis is turning into a worldwide financial crash. Investors are gripped by fear and this in turn further weighs down recovery.

Clip Source: biz.yahoo.com

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines were all down more than 7 percent. Shanghai's index was down 3.8 percent.

Kenji Akasaka, 69, president of a local printing company, said he had never seen it this bad in the 40 years he has traded stocks. He said he invests mainly in blue-chips including Toyota Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co.

"There's no bottom to the stock markets now," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. There's no clue when it will stop."

Analysts also said there's pressing need for the U.S. to quickly implement the $700 billion plan to buy up toxic mortgage-related securities from troubled banks and financial institutions that are at the core of problem.

Tags: us recession, world financial crisis

IMF sees greatest shock since 1930s

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:38:21 GMT

clipped by: sunstreak509

Clip Source: www.ft.com

“The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s,” the IMF said. “The situation is exceptionally uncertain and subject to considerable downside risks.”

The fund said that global growth was likely to slow to 3.9 per cent growth in 2008 and 3 per cent in 2009, sharply down from 5 per cent growth last year. Some economists regard 3 per cent or 2.5 per cent global growth as equivalent to a world recession, given the trend rates of growth in the global economy, but Mr Blanchard said that such definitions were unhelpf

Tags: economy, business, markets

Biblical Worldview on Credit, Bailout, Recession

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:54:20 GMT

clipped by: daltonsbriefs
clipper's remarks: How little we think about God's plans for us, thanks for the reminder Dan.

Clip Source: 390days.com

Greatest Challenge is Knowing God, Not Recession

“And this is where we face our greatest challenge – knowing God and loving Him above all else. . . . The bottom line to any relationship is this: if you want to know someone, you must know him or her intimately.”

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12, NIV)

The real challenge isn’t “making ends meet,” but rather trusting God regardless of whether or not we can tie all the loose ends. The funny part is, I’ll bet the first thing most churched people these days do when money is tight is give less to God. Spiritually speaking, that’s the worse thing you can do. The real danger is spiritual recession, and we must be careful not to fall into its snare.

Tags: bible, worldview, credit crisis, bailout bill, recession

Recession, what recession?

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:58:11 GMT

clipped by: cento

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Recession, what recession? Jane Archer has met many cruisers who have three or four cruise holidays each year

Four Great Companies on Sale

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:14:54 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: You really have to wonder if all these finance mags and newspapers are just trying to convince people to buy in order to get things moving again. Likewise I suppose if things go bad they have no magazine. Some of the readers comments were interesting.

Clip Source: www.kiplinger.com

Four Great Companies on Sale

Abandoning stocks is not the best response to the turmoil gripping the markets. Stocks will roar back at some point. We suggest you find ports in the storm that will keep your money relatively safe while giving your portfolio a fighting chance to grow, even through this downturn.

What kinds of stocks are we talking about? Cheap ones, for starters. As recession fears rise and credit woes deepen, price-earnings ratios are shrinking. But even stocks with low P/Es are vulnerable if a recession cuts into profits, so you want a solid business with steady earnings prospects.

In this environment, big is certainly better. A fortified balance sheet is also a must -- this is no time for a company to need to borrow money or issue new shares. And even though their share prices may look tempting, we would avoid firms with ties to the financial and housing sectors for now. Below are four attractively priced stocks we think meet all these criteria.

Tags: investing, ebay, stocks, microsoft, att, 3m

How to recession-proof your family

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:56:39 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: EXACTLY!

'Why does Suze Orman say people first, then money, then things?'" she says. "It means if we cared about people more than we cared about money, we would not be having what happened today, because the people who run the corporations, if they had cared about all of you, they wouldn't have created loans that you couldn't afford."

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

How to recession-proof your family

(OPRAH.com) -- The American economy has hit a new low. Home values are plummeting, bills are rising and job layoffs have every worker concerned.

Factor in the sudden bankruptcy of 158-year-old investment bank Lehman Brothers, an $85 billion federal bailout of insurance giant American International Group Inc., Bank of America's quick purchase of Merrill Lynch and rumors of future sales and the rejection of a $700 billion government bailout, it's no wonder Americans are worried about their money.

Are you sick to your stomach and scared out of your mind?

"We have built an entire economy on lies and deceit," she says. "It's like building a home or an entire building on a sinkhole. You have a foundation, supposedly. But a little crack, if something goes wrong -- a little earthquake, a tremor -- and it starts to open, everything starts to fall down and ... that is exactly what has happened in the United States of America."

Tags: recession proof, family, loans, homes, suze orman, bankruptcy, credit lines

Oil Outlook Clouds Russia’s Economic Future

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:55:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: That could trigger a vicious circle of falling income and investment, as production gets more expensive in Russia's aging fields.

The era of record profits from oil and gas is over - that's according to Russia's Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin. 2008 is likely to be the year of peak oil and gas production in the country.

The big oil companies are cutting investment in new projects. Russia has received up to $1 Billion a day in oil revenues in recent years, and the country's budget and economy remain highly dependent on hydrocarbon earnings.

The world financial crisis and recession has triggered big falls in the world's oil price. That will significantly affect the Russian budget, according to Mikhail Kroutikhin, partner at Rusenergy.

Clip Source: www.russiatoday.com

“We will see a deficit after the price goes down to 70 dollars, at least that s what the Finance Minister says. I believe it could be sooner.”

At the beginning of the week oil dropped to an 8 month low, and rebounded slightly on Tuesday to $89 a barrel for Russia’s Urals blend.

As the worlds second largest oil exporter, Russia is critically dependent on international consumers. President of the Russian Oil and Gas Industrialists Union, Gennady Shmal, says the oil giants have also looked abroad to borrow.

“A lot of our oil companies have high dependence on foreign borrowings. We don't have a common figure but for example Gazprom has around $40 Billion and Rosneft is also around $40 Billion. And Russia exports a lot, so we depend on our international consumers of oil and gas.”

The first signs of falling consumption from US and China - the world's largest oil consumer - could see the price of oil down to 60 $ per barrel, analysts say.

Tags: russian finance minister, oil & gas industrialists union, foreign borrowing, falling income and investment, russia's aging fields, gasprom & rosneft

WHERE IS THE BOTTOM ?

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:27:34 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Is Capitalism worth saving?

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Stocks drop for 6th session on recession fear

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Stocks fell for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, as a coordinated worldwide cut in interest rates failed to alleviate fears about a global recession.

It was a session of wild swings, with no clear direction determined until the final minutes. Wall Street's favorite measure of investor fear, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, hit a record intraday high.

The Nasdaq has lost 16.81 percent in the last six days -- its worst six-day percentage loss since April 2001.The Nasdaq has dropped 351.55 points in the last six days -- its worst six-day point loss since December 2000.

Bank of America's shares fell 7 percent to $22.10 after it was forced to price a $10 billion stock offering at below Tuesday's closing price.

Quarter Of All Teens Plan To Buy An iPhone

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:53:33 GMT

clipped by: David M Ewalt
clipper's remarks: There are lots of teens who hold down part time jobs, and they don't have to deal with the same sort of economic woes as their parents. So the kid market may provide Apple with a little bit of recession-proofing.

Clip Source: apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com

Today’s economic crisis doesn’t seem to have reached the 769 high school students polled in Piper Jaffray’s 16th bi-annual survey of teenage buying patterns and preferences.

The survey, conducted at several apparently well-heeled high schools in the United States over the past few weeks — while the global financial markets were melting down — focused on MP3 players, online music and Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

The results, released late Tuesday, may say more about the demographics of the population Piper Jaffray is testing than the buying power of most U.S. teenagers, but they will be music to Steve Jobs’s ears.

According to senior research analyst Gene Munster, who directed the study:

8% own iPhones, up from from 6% in Spring 2008.

22% of students surveyed expect to buy an iPhone in the next 6 months, up from 9% in Spring 2008.

Of students expecting to buy a mobile phone, 33% specified an iPhone.

Of the 40% of students who legally purchase music online, 93% said they use iTunes

Tags: apple, iphone, itunes, teenagers

The Debate: I Learn Something New Every Day

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:19:51 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Apparently 95% of us will need to sacrifice by enjoying Barack's tax cut and new health care plan but some will sacrifice by paying more in taxes. Raising taxes to battle a recession - well, you can't say Obama lacks for original ideas.

THE OBAMA DOCTRINE: Obama asserts that America has a moral obligation to intervene with force in certain foreign circumstances and cites the Holocaust. His gist - if we could have intervened effectively to prevent the Holocaust we should have. Hmm - many have argued that the rail lines to Auschwitz were within range of US bombers yet Roosevelt did nothing. Both George Bush and George McGovern think Roosevelt erred -

$79 BILLION: Obama was wrong about the Iraqi budget surplus at the last debate and he is still wrong.

Clip Source: justoneminute.typepad.com

Barack Obama tells us that he wrote letters to both the Treasury Secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve warning them of a housing bubble two years ago, yet nothing happened. Geez, maybe Obama should have gotten himself a blog. Well - until I learned that correspondence was the way to get things done I had the silly idea that Senators made things happen by holding hearings, introducing legislation and giving speeches.

As to the notion that the Fed chairman was unaware of a housing bubble until Barack was kind enough to point it out to him, please. Here are some stories from three years ago telling us the Fed was noodling the problem of a housing bubble. Didn't seem to help.

STILL LEARNING: McCain wants to send the Treasury Secretary out to buy houses? Kidding? I need to see the transcript.

SHARED SACRIFICE: Obama explains that we will all have to share some sacrifices in order to revive the economy.

Tags: mccain, obama, fed reserve and treasury secretary, energy, national security, health care, social security, taxes

UK in Recession

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:52:28 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Britain is already in a recession, which is worsening and could see unemployment rise by 350,000 by next year, a business group has warned.

A quarterly survey of 5,000 businesses by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) says confidence has collapsed in both manufacturing and service sectors.

Technically the UK is not yet in recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

But the BCC described the survey results as "exceptionally bad" and said the economy was under "immense pressure" for the second quarter in a row.

The BCC believes the number of people out of work will rise by between 300,000 and 350,000 over the next year or two, which would take the unemployment total to more than two million.

Tags: uk recession

Senate passes bill to bailout rescue Las Vegas gamblers

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:16:27 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Unconfirmed Sources political satire and news story parodies as represented above are written as satire or parody. They are, of course, fictitious.

Clip Source: www.unconfirmedsources.com

U.S. Senator Harry Reid speaks in favor of the economic rescue plan for Las Vegas casinos

Senators debated a $3 trillion ~~bailout~~ rescue package for Las Vegas gamblers

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) read a letter from a Las Vegas casino ~~executive~~ cashier, who was ~~fired for embezzling corporate funds~~ laid off due to the economic ~~recession~~ slowdown

The ~~bailout~~ rescue plan calls for the U.S. Treasury to buy up gambling debt certificates from insurance companies, investors, and the casinos

"Over the years, I have amassed huge gambling debts. My wife left me, and I had to stop paying my mortgage payments on my mansion," explained a well-known former NBA basketball star who at one time played with the Phoenix Suns, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Thanks to lawmakers in Washington, I won't have to worry about making my mortgage payments, nor paying my gambling debts. For a while, I really thought the ~~mafia's~~ casino's collection agents were going to ~~have me killed~~ make me pay up."

Tags: satire, unconfirmedsources