Ha. I'm so not normal. I got this as I was just sitting here worrying about my retirement account fund balance, and wondering how to re-allocate.
-d On 1/5/06, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > [Abridged From WSJ.com] > Overextended Consumers Present > A Serious Issue for the Economy, > > In the aftermath of Japan's burst bubble during the 1990s, the country > was plagued by "zombie companies," firms that weren't viable but which > banks refused to cut off entirely for fear of revealing how many bad > loans they had on their books. > > In the U.S., we will have Zombie Consumers. George A. Romero's classic > "Dawn of the Dead" anticipated this 30 years ago when he set his movie > in a shopping mall. Zombies had returned to the mall after their > deaths by instinct because, as one character explains, "it was an > important place in their lives." > > The biggest and most underrated development in the U.S. economy over > the past year is that the personal-savings rate went negative. In > other words, Americans spent more money than they made last year -- > for the first time since, oh, the Great Depression. The average worker > hasn't participated in the economic recovery. Inflation-adjusted > hourly and weekly wages are still below where they were at the start > of the recovery in November 2001, points out the Economic Policy > Institute. > > As we all know, people made up for this by borrowing more, primarily > from their homes. As short-term rates rose, however, home-equity loans > and low-cost mortgages became less attractive. Home prices seem to be > stalling out. > > The consensus among economists is that consumer overextension isn't > much to worry about. Their thinking: American consumers have never > stopped spending before. Why should they now? > > In a fashion, the consensus may turn out to be right. There doesn't > need to be a consumer implosion any time soon. Companies may be able > to delay any implosion. Corporations will take extreme measures to > keep their patients alive. Rather than write off bad loans, financial > companies will extend more credit, improve terms, lower interest-rate > payments and try to offload troubled loans to the financial markets. > > In retail, we have already seen the first glimmerings of zombie > consumerist behavior. The walking dead keep coming back to the auto > showroom for one more Hemi engine and thousands of dollars in cash > back. As General Motors can attest, it's not enough. > > Wal-Mart Stores assaulted Christmas with a monster marketing campaign. > The effort left the titan with its weakest same-store sales growth > since 2000, but it was growth. Investors will have to wait to see how > Wal-Mart margins come in. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:190566 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
