Money Matters - Part 9

It wouldn't let me read Skills gap...College is great at teaching you what you want to learn, whether you can work in it or not. . Where do you go for someone who will tell you what jobs are actually out there?

Much easier to find out these days - the internet.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryhannon/2011/09/26/an-aging-population-means-new-jobs/

Why don't we see reports of all the quiet bank runs in Europe? Only Fox (that I've seen) reported the Latvia run.

From what I'm reading, all these runs are sucking up the cash and starting to make a bad credit freeze even worse, and no one wants the government issued bonds. Just look at the yield rates, heh. Everyone's caught on to the game, I think.

I have only seen it online. Italy's yields have actually come down a bit.

I keep saying over and over that this thing is huge and has yet to hit fully.

if i keep reading this thread i will begin to believe the end is near..............where is the silver lining?

Hold on to your own, and line your mattress- the one stuffed with money.

stuff your mattress? we have a tempurpedic!! what is the second option?????

Hope the Mayans were right??

At this point - I really hope so!

um, build pyramids? I must slept thru that in school. Honestly I don't think I hear one word about the Mayans in school.

The "silver" lining is worth less today than it was a couple months ago. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=SLV+Basic+Tech.+Analysis&t=1y

I am glad I sold my silver when it was high. Gold is down $200 from it's high point as well.

anyone here see the dirty dozen? enough with the negatitive vibes...............market is up a bit today.

Remember the recipe to boil a frog?

You’ve probably heard the old saying before: If you want to cook a frog, you can’t toss it into a pot of boiling water because it will just jump out. Instead, you put it in the water first and then slowly turn the temperature up. The frog will slowly adjust to the change until it’s too late.

We are slowly boiling the frog...

oh you mean victor :)

Good Morning America reported that the middle class people in the US is declining and declining fast. 1 out of every 2 people are Low Income or in Poverty. I think poverty is 15 thousand and under. I dont fit in there yet.

The 2011 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11fedreg.shtml
Persons in family/Poverty guideline
1, $10,890
2, 14,710
3 , 18,530
4, 22,350
5 , 26,170
6, 29,990
7, 33,810
8, 37,630

I would think those would be homeless and starving guidelines!

They can make that money and still receive goverment aide, Foodstamps, heating etc.

Not always so... I fall in the poverty guidelines for a single person but I don't qualify for food stamps nor heating assistance. The food stamps in VA are restricted in what they can purchase, for example NO organic foods, and only store brand canned foods even if they are more expensive than national brands. Of course, the cheap carbohydrates and sugary foods are not restricted.

God only knows what else I don't qualify for, but that suits me. I would HATE being beholden, or on the dole...

There will be a turnaround at some point. A very slow climb back to what will be the new normal. We have just been spoiled by the last 25 years.

An important thing to remember is that this is not a 'normal' recession. Aside from the usual business cycle, we have had the huge underlying financial problems of the housing bubble triggering the financial crisis of '08. Governments bailed out financial institutions. That just bought time until the governments faced the same problems. On top of that, recessions always speed up changes that would have to happen anyway. There are jobs, both in number and type, that will never return. People have to learn new skills. No getting around it. As I have said many times, the unemployment rate throughout this recession has never even hit 5% for those with a four year degree, even though for new grads it is much worse.

Yes, I think there will eventually be a "turn-around" but I don't think it will resemble anything we imagine now.

But then again, the Mayans may be right!

If the Mayans were correct, it will be over in a flash. That's rather comforting.

If the Mayans were correct wouldnt we be gone by now?

No, next Dec., 2012

eeks - see how good my memory is.

Good thing the Mayan's set it in stone for those of us who easily forget!

To me, the silver lining is that I have another day/ moment/ breath to get it right.

What a dumb place to plant a tree!! ^_^

I wouldnt want to jump thats for sure.

The cat food I buy at Trader Joe's for the stray cats went up 35% when I bought it last night. The calcium chews I buy and send to my sister didn't go up but I got 75 for the same $$ I used to pay for 90.

Seems like no matter what you have saved for retirement, it will never be enough. I will work as long as someone will pay me - but that takes a job away from someone younger. I hate, hate, hate this "circle of life" thing.

It sure is discouraging,... sobering, or.. makes you want to get drunk.

Pre social Security, where would all the aging parents be? In a home of working adult children, when they could no longer afford a home of their own. Pre SS, kids would grow up and hopefully send money home to the parents no longer able to work. Now its reversed. The parents have an income stream ( too little in some cases but still comes every month). I'm not trying to make any judgements here, just observe that the paradigm has changed hugely.

(going off to look up paradigm again and see if I even used it correctly)

Fanny and Freddie are getting sued

Three CEOs from each are being sued. Funny that this kind of thing happened after Occupy Wall Street - I'm sure one has nothing to do with the other.

Is Barney going down with them?

The Occupy crew barely ever mentioned Freddie and Fannie. Same with Corzine, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, etc.

Re F&F:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-16/the-sec-s-fannie-freddie-cases-are-theater-of-the-absurd-the-ticker.html