Noonan: Obama's Got A Mighty Hill To Climb

So, there was ZERO job growth in August. And the unemployment rate is still stuck at 9.1%. And the stock market is down again for the week. 
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan has succinctly summed up the problem that President Obama now faces. Here's an excerpt:

The real challenge for the speech is the collapse of trust in the president's economic leadership. There are any number of ways to illustrate this. Here is a CNN poll: 65% of respondents disapprove of how he is handling the economy, 34% approve.
The president's problem is that shortly after he was sworn in, the size and severity of the recession became apparent, and from that moment he did not do things that the majority of the American electorate, in hindsight, would say were helpful. And that's the problem with the speech Thursday night, a national mood of, "Nothing personal, but we don't think you can help in this area.

Click here to read the entire column.

Read More...

Philadelphia Area Economy Takes Hit

While the national economic picture grows dimmer and stock averages fall, the Philadelphia area economy also seems to be taking a hit.
Specifically, the manufacturing sector looks bleak.
It's just been reported that manufacturing in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly shrunk in August by the most in more than two years. What happened? Well, orders plunged and factories laid off workers.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index dropped to minus 30.7 this month. That's  the lowest since March 2009. Readings less than zero mean the manufacturing sector is contracting.

Read More...

Bad Economic News Triggers Stock Plunge

The stock market is slipping rapidly -- again -- on some really bad economic news.
More Americans than forecast filed applications for jobless claims last week, suggesting that the labor market is struggling two years into the economic recovery. Claims jumped by 9,000 to 408,000 in the week ended Aug. 13. That's the the highest number in a month.
Inflation also seems to be on the horizon and double-dip recession fears are in the news again.
Here's how Joachim Fels, who co-heads Morgan Stanley's global economics team puts it:  "Our revised forecasts show the US and the euro area hovering dangerously close to a recession — defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction — over the next 6-12 months."
And all this is happening as President Obama begins his vacation on Mahtha's Vineyahd.

Read More...

Invest In Beer? Think About It . . .

If you bought $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today.
If you bought $1,000 of shares in AIG, you would have $33.00 today.
If you bought $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers, you would have $0.00 today.
But, if you bought $1,000 worth of beer... Drank all the beer and turned in the aluminum cans for recycling, you would have $214.00 today.
Therefore the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

Read More...

One Year Later . . . Things Are Even WORSE

Following is something I posted LAST SUMMER.
Read it and reflect on the fact that nothing has changed. In fact, things are now even WORSE!

More jobs lost. Unemployment still at record levels.

Payroll numbers down once again.

Work week hours down again.

Factory orders down again.

Foreclosures at a new high.

A continuously sluggish housing market.

Consumer confidence taking a nosedive.

The nation mired in massive, unprecedented debt -- the highest since World War II.

This is NOT a recovery. This isn't anything even close to a recovery.

And the President and the Vice President want us to believe that this is "recovery summer"?

They oughta be ashamed of themselves.
Shame on 'em! Shame on all of 'em!

Read More...