ChangeWave looked at consumer spending habits between February 18 and February 25. They polled 3,773 people on their spending plans going forward. Thirty-nine percent said that they would spend less over the next 90…
Since the next President will not sit in his or her office until next January, there is little that person can do, directly at least, about the current economic crisis. Many, if not most,…
Recessions make strange bedfellows. Of all the truly huge businesses in the US, save the oil companies, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Microsoft (MSFT) are having unusually good runs. Yesterday, the CFO of Microsoft had the…
The muni markets are getting into more trouble as each day passes. According to Bloomberg "U.S. states and local governments may extend the worst slump in municipal bonds on record as they replace as…
The National Association for Business Economists has just published its poll of economists. It is done twice a year, and was conducted the first two weeks of February. According to Reuters "Of the members…
Every morning traders wake up and hope that the financial services disaster has ended and that housing has reach a nadir. Better go back to bed. According to a study put together by four…
It should come as no surprise that companies which has taken on too much debt over the last three years will start to fail and have to file for Chapter 11. Some of the…
The head of Honda (NYSE:HMC) recently made an interesting observation. He sees sales faltering in some states where housing prices and commodities costs are in trouble. But, looking at the broader US, he sees…
Inflation rose faster than expected last month, up 1% driven high by food prices and gasoline. Looking at the numbers year-over-year, the increase was over 7%. According to MarketWatch "This is the fastest pace…
All the economic news was bad this morning. Alan Greenspan said economic growth in the US had gone to zero and was likely to move negative soon. And, the Association for Business Economics survey…
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) do not have much in common.That changed a bit yesterday when word came out that they would both cut workers. It is a demonstration of how…
In one of those odd time warps in history inflation and a stagnant economy are coming together. Inflation is growing primarily because of the high price of oil and grain. The GDP is barely…
A close look at Ben Bernanke’s testimony in the Senate today show that the man is profoundly worried. He just know how to couch in complex terms. The chairman hints at what he believes…
The rate cuts being made by the Fed are not being passed along to homeowners, consumers, and most businesses. "Companies are paying more to borrow now than before the Fed reduced its benchmark rate…
There is a recession over on Wall St. Bank where brokerage stocks are down 50% and losses keep mounting. But, a great majority of businesses in the US and Europe are not seeing much…