Times seem to be getting bad

[LAA66]

 Been out of work for over a year and a half. There is very little new housing going on in our area just foreclosures adding to the inventory. I don't see it turning around until 2012 at the earliest. 

[js27]

Yes thing's have slowed down quite a bit. Our company is down about 10% from last year which doesn't seem like much but it was enough to cut our work force by 40 %. I have been very forturnate so far to keep my position. I just hit my 5 year mark in Nov. My wife's company who works in retail is also down about 10%. They too have had let some people go.
I hope thing turn around soon but I know it is going to take a while.
JS27

[71chally416]

Ah,so it`s the media that`s the cause of all the countrys problems-thanks for enlightening me. 

I think they had alot to do with it YES. If people are hammered with bad news about the economy day after day for two years they tend to believe it. Perception is reality. What would be the end purpose of continually calling the economy in recession when it technically wasn't?
The reality is the American economy depends on the people living here. If they sit on their money and stop buying, guess what happens?

[4Cruizn]

Definitely a sad situation . . . 

[Chryco Psycho]

well in the area I am in we are nowhere near recession yet , the price of oil has taken away a number of jobs but a lot of places are still hiring & desperate for workers , but the media keeps hammering away at how bad things are & people ere have stopped spending even though for the most part things are good

[bb71challenger]

I am with others that think the media played a big part in all this mess. If you want a lesson in what the media can accomplish just look back to the Vietnam war. The images and coverage that got airtime pretty much turned the whole nation against the very men that needed their support the most, the poor bastards having to fight the war. You can choose to dislike the leadership without spitting on the soldiers that are for the most part just doing what they it takes to stay alive.

[moparmaniac59]

I was just watching the news this morning and they were talking about the post Christmas washout and now it's all said and done & many businesses will close. They showed several jewelry stores that were closing. Now I can see the places that sell non-essential and luxury items closing like jewelry, TV/stereo equip/electronics. New car sales ect, but frankly I am surprised that automotive repair shops are struggling. I figure you still have to drive and now most folks are keeping their cars longer, so older cars will need maintenance. People still have to eat (maybe not eat out out as much) so maybe restaurants will suffer. I think some of the recession may be a help to folks that have to stetch a dollar with retail stores selling clothes & such at a much reduced rate, so maybe there is a silver lining in the clouds for some!!  :bigsmile:I hope & pray the best for all that have suffered from this mess.


                                                                      Matt B.

[Moparal]

I work in many states in our nation. In all the big plants and industries.  Just in 2008 my eyes have witnessed 10's of thousands of job lay offs due to the economy.  It is real and not just media hipe.

If your in construction, cement, glass, steel, plastics, or other related industries you have most likely taken a hit of some sort.  I have been in 4 or 5 plants in the last 3 months that layed off between 250 to 2500 employees.   I have been to some gypsum plants in Michigan that went from 300 people to 35 in one day and they have salary desk job peopl trying to run heavy equipment in the mine pits. Talk about shaky.  Lots of paper mills are going down to.  I see it all first hand.

When the resturant food industries slow down, so does the work that raises the produce or meat to supply them.  I have been seeing farms shutting down nation wide.  Then co-op areas are buying out other plants and shutting them down just to produce more in their area.  I saw 3 sugar plants bought out and shut down this year alone 2 were in Ca.

[71chally416]

Well there is no doubt it is real now. The economy is retracting. I just wonder if it might be a little better right now if it wasn't hammered into everyones head the last two years that the Great Depression II was upon us.    Take away the high price of gas that has now gone down $1.50 a gallon (where I live) and things 2 years ago weren't all that bad at all, but that was not the message the Media gave. 

[priderocks]

I am a self-employed cabinetmaker and have been self-employed for twenty-five years. While I am sad to see a lot of people I know hurting, I am also angered by the legions of people who have cush government positions (I won't call it work) who will never feel any pinch. Here in California, which is totally ungovernable by anyone, public unions are fighting the Terminator's proposal that every state employee take two days off per month without pay. Against their contract, they say. In the real world, a retracting economy forces layoffs, reduced spending, pay cuts, inventory reductions, etc. Except in the government, where the talk is tax hikes to cover the drop in revenue. This makes me mad as heck.

[torredcuda]

I do agree the media overhyped the recession but there were real signs a couple years ago things were slowing down.I work in manufacturing and we have been slowing steadily for over two years.My wife works in a restaurant and they have seen a small decrease in business but nothing too dramatic.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Sales are off for recyclers too. Everyone thinks with no NEW car sales, it would be great for business. Its not. We're holding our own, and I'm not planing any layoff's but the pinch is on. The city really raised my assessment (even in a DOWN real eastate market) so taxes are up. As a matter of fact I just wrote the check. Then the state raised the base amount on workmens comp insurance, so thats up about 30%.  So we have to sell a bunch more parts just to break even. Even my industry has been lowing prices on certain things just to get them gone.

On a market note, the last I saw LKQ's stock was around $9 per share. They were up in the forties earlier.  They own allot of yards all across the country and a few realted enterprises. 

All related area's of scrap are down, although car bodies have come up a little bit. Aluminum , copper, catalitics are still down.  I do agree that some of this is due to media hype. When nobody buys anything there's no reason to make more.

Sidebar - The wifes business is doing very well.

[tactransman]

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=53001.0   

[Topcat]

Another new realty for sale sign just went up next door to the business next to us. Then one across the street also.
Silicon valley is turning into a ghost town. I drove thru parts of Milpitas last week and saw dozens and dozens of vacant large buildings.

If it keeps going the way it's been going; Silicon Valley won't be known anymore as the location for new technology.

[71chally416]

It's too expensive to do buisness in Calif. As the government condemns companies for moving overseas they make it less and less attractive for them to do buisness here with more taxes and regulations. Try to find the Mexican EPA.