Would You Buy a House From This Man?
Okay, Vigilant Reader Judi really needs to find something to do with her time. Until that tragic day comes, however, we are blessed that she sends us links to interesting—and hysterical—stuff:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Home Crisis Investigation | ||||
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I bet Tim Geithner is a great guy to have a beer with—as long as he’s buying. But other than pouring free money into the coffers of the big banks (whose profits have amazingly skyrocketed as a result), what exactly has he done for the economy?
Even the supposed good news isn’t all that good when you look at it:
Alan Lancz, money manager at Alan B. Lancz & Associates, said the GDP report signaled the economy was improving, but he worries that investors are getting ahead of themselves and buying stocks as if the economy will rebound quickly off the bottom.
“The good news is it’s heading in the right direction and the bad news is the higher the market moves the more it’s discounting a V-shaped recovery,” he said.
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The GDP report is the strongest sign yet that the recession is winding down. However, the Commerce Department revised the first-quarter GDP figure much lower, saying economic activity tumbled 6.4 percent. That is the worst quarterly reading in nearly 30 years.
The latest report also said consumers cut spending by 1.2 percent in the second quarter, after a 0.6 percent increase in the first quarter.
Investors have been looking to consumers to help lead the economy out of a recession. Spending has been cut as consumers continue to worry about jobs. The unemployment rate is expected to move higher after hitting a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June.
“We’re still not in very good shape in the employment part,” said Steven Stahler, president of the Stahler Group in Baton Rouge, La., adding he doesn’t expect to see consumers leading the country of out recession soon.
Maybe the economy is bottoming out, but the next unemployment report is going to make that hard to sell. The statute of limitations for Blaming Bush is perilously close to running out. Soon, there will be lots of Obamavilles—shanty towns and tent cities reminiscent of the Hoovervilles of the Great Depression—blotting the landscape.