Is it all the candy I ate yesterday or is it the latest news making me sick to my stomach? We're still trying to recover from Halloween here in this part of Abingdon and we are more frightened by our breaking news e-mail alerts than anything that happened last night.
The AP is reporting that the Dow dropped 360 points by the time trading ended today.
With foreclosures and homes sitting empty, is what's happening a recession or just a correction? Will the effects be long-term or short-term? Dare I look at my 401k again for the next several years?
It seems just driving around the neighborhoods and shopping, I can't find much evidence of it here. I still see a lot of big vehicles that must eat lots of expensive gas and people buying and buying and buying.
Just wondering if any readers have a different perception. I know our unemployment rate here in Harford County and Maryland is still under the national average, around 3.5% (don't quote me on that), but that many aren't getting more than cost of living raises. And I mean a raise like we're still living in 1988 raise.
The publishing industry is especially susceptible to any negative thinking. Advertisers pull out of print at the first hint of trouble, so we're watching this all very carefully.
I guess for now, we'll just have to wait and see, turn down our heat, switch off the lights, not drive as much and hope for the best.
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2 comments:
Hmmmm ...consumers drive the economy and are very influenced by the media and perceptions. With enough talk of recession and depression, people will consciously or unconsciously cut back on spending, go out less often, defer unnecessary expenditures (and turn down the heat). Media hype of all the signs becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy ... to some extent. (IMHO)
job news was good today, unemployment stayed the same, and the stock market is still over 13,000 maybe it needed to be corrected. And anyone who bought a house with and arm or sub-prime rate is basically getting what they should have expected.
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