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OBAMAS FIRST DAY AS PRESIDENT
Obama's only been in power one day and ALREADY the bad news is flooding in. If this is what he does in a single day, I can't even image 4 years! Pray for the Rapture to arrive first!
U.S. banks have admitted to $334 billion in losses and write-downs, and the final total will almost certainly be much higher. To compensate, they have managed to raise $235 billion in new capital. The trouble is that the net loss of $99 billion implies that they will need to shrink their balance sheets by 10 times that figure — almost a trillion dollars — to maintain a constant ratio between their assets and capital. That suggests a drastic reduction of credit, since a bank's assets are its loans. Fewer loans mean tighter business conditions on Main Street. Your local car dealer won't be able to get the credit he needs to maintain his inventory of automobiles. To survive, he'll have to lay off some of his employees. Expect higher unemployment nationwide.
Anyone who doubts that the U.S. is heading for recession is living in denial. On an annualized basis, real retail sales and industrial production are both declining. Unemployment is already at its highest level in five years
"A lot of people, they just feel hopeless," said Kita Curry, a psychologist and the president of Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles, where the crisis line has seen a 20% jump calls from people citing financial woes. Centers in other cities are reporting as much as a 65% increase in calls.
The lights are going out all across America:
The number of Americans whose electricity or natural gas has been shut off for nonpayment of their bills is up sharply in many parts of the country as people struggle with higher prices and a shaky economy.
Shut-offs are running 17% higher than last year among customers of New York state's major utilities and 22% higher in Michigan.
U.S. banks have admitted to $334 billion in losses and write-downs, and the final total will almost certainly be much higher. To compensate, they have managed to raise $235 billion in new capital. The trouble is that the net loss of $99 billion implies that they will need to shrink their balance sheets by 10 times that figure — almost a trillion dollars — to maintain a constant ratio between their assets and capital. That suggests a drastic reduction of credit, since a bank's assets are its loans. Fewer loans mean tighter business conditions on Main Street. Your local car dealer won't be able to get the credit he needs to maintain his inventory of automobiles. To survive, he'll have to lay off some of his employees. Expect higher unemployment nationwide.
Anyone who doubts that the U.S. is heading for recession is living in denial. On an annualized basis, real retail sales and industrial production are both declining. Unemployment is already at its highest level in five years
"A lot of people, they just feel hopeless," said Kita Curry, a psychologist and the president of Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles, where the crisis line has seen a 20% jump calls from people citing financial woes. Centers in other cities are reporting as much as a 65% increase in calls.
The lights are going out all across America:
The number of Americans whose electricity or natural gas has been shut off for nonpayment of their bills is up sharply in many parts of the country as people struggle with higher prices and a shaky economy.
Shut-offs are running 17% higher than last year among customers of New York state's major utilities and 22% higher in Michigan.
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