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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?..._MbE&refer=home
Recession in U.S. Started in December 2007, NBER Says (Update2)
By Timothy R. Homan and Steve Matthews
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy entered a recession a year ago this month, the panel that dates American business expansions said today.
The declaration was made by the cycle-dating committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit group of economists based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The last time the U.S. was in a recession was from March through November 2001, according to NBER.
�The committee determined that the decline in economic activity in 2008 met the standard for a recession,� the group said in a statement on its Web site. The 1.2 million drop in payroll employment so far this year was the biggest factor in determining that start of the contraction, the group said.
Federal Reserve policy makers at their last meeting predicted the economy will contract through the middle of 2009, in line with private economists� forecasts. If correct, the recession would be the longest since the Great Depression.
^5 MikeLord! 
FED is going to slash interest rates again.. and they should announce it around 11:15am, today. Expecting .5% cut, possibly larger, which could be the lowest rate we've had in history.
Market Update: "The Federal Open Market Committee cut the fed funds target rate to 0-0.25% from 1.00%, which is a deeper cut than the 50 basis point cut that economists were expecting."
LOL - One more little rate cut and we are at a 0% interest rate! 
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Fed cuts target for key rate to record low
Fed cuts target for key interest rate to record low, pledges to use all available tools
* Tuesday December 16, 2008, 2:26 pm EST
* Yahoo! Buzz
* Print
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve has cut its target for a key interest rate to the lowest level on record and pledged to use "all available tools" to combat a severe financial crisis and prolonged recession.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks in this Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 file photo, at the Federal Reserve in Washington. Credit card companies could no longer boost interest rates on existing account balances if the Federal Reserve adopts new rules as written at a meeting set for Thursday Dec. 18, 2008.
The central bank says it reduced the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to a range of zero to 0.25 percent. That is down from the 1 percent target rate in effect since the last meeting in October.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues also pledged to use "all available tools" as they struggle to contain a financial crisis that is the worst since the 1930s and a recession that is already the longest in a quarter-century.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fed-cuts-target-for-key-rate-apf-13846723.html
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"Fed cuts target for key interest rate to record low, pledges to use all available tools" -- hahaha, what tools do they have left? Pay people to borrow money? 
sorry for the ignorance, but what does this mean for us?
| quote: |
| Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal sorry for the ignorance, but what does this mean for us? |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal sorry for the ignorance, but what does this mean for us? |
Jim Cramer had it right....
General Motors - Full Time Employees: 252,000 
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Bush considering 'orderly' auto bankruptcy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is looking at "orderly" bankruptcy as a possible way to deal with the desperately ailing U.S. auto industry, the White House said Thursday as carmakers readied more plant closings and a half million Americans filed new jobless claims.
With General Motors, Chrysler and the rest of Detroit anxiously holding its breath and waiting for a federal rescue, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, "There's an orderly way to do bankruptcies that provides for more of a soft landing. I think that's what we would be talking about."
President George W. Bush, asked about an auto bailout, said he hadn't decided what he would do but didn't want to leave a mess for Barack Obama who takes office a month from Saturday.
Bush, like Perino, spoke of the idea of bankruptcies orchestrated by the federal government as a possible way to go -- without committing to it.
"Under normal circumstances, no question bankruptcy court is the best way to work through credit and debt and restructuring," he said during a speech and question-and-answer session at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. "These aren't normal circumstances. That's the problem."
Perino said the White House was "very close" to a decision -- though she wouldn't give a timetable. She emphasized there were still several possible approaches to assisting the automakers, including short-term loans from the Treasury Department's $700 billion Wall Street bailout program.
The Big Three automakers said anew that bankruptcy wasn't the answer, as did an official of the United Auto Workers who called the idea unworkable and even dangerous. GM said a report that it and Chrysler had restarted talks to combine was untrue.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Capitol Hill that grim new unemployment data heightened the urgency for the administration "to prevent the imminent insolvency of the domestic auto industry."
The California Democrat said Bush has the legal authority to act now, and should attach the accountability standards that were included in a $14 billion House-passed and Bush-supported carmaker bailout that died in the Senate last week. That plan would have given the government, through a Bush-appointed "car czar," veto power over major business decisions at any auto company that received federal loans.
Pelosi spoke after the government announced that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 554,000 last week.
The comments in Washington came a day after Chrysler LLC announced it was closing all its North American manufacturing plants for at least a month as it, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. await word on government action. General Motors also has been closing plants, and it and Chrysler have said they might not have enough money to pay their bills in a matter of weeks.
Prices of GM and Ford stocks were down sharply Thursday after the remarks out of the White House. Ford, unlike General Motors and Chrysler, is not seeking billions in federal bailout loans, but a collapse of the other two could hurt Ford as well.
Alan Reuther, the United Auto Workers' legislative director, said the union urged the administration during a meeting this week to follow the provisions included in the House-passed auto aid bill.
Congressional aides in both parties who have been closely following the discussions suggested the talk of bankruptcy could be a tactic to extract more hefty concessions from the companies and union in exchange for granting short-term loans from Treasury's financial industry rescue fund.
Perino said one factor preventing an announcement of action by the administration is that discussions continue with the various sides that would have to sign on to a managed bankruptcy -- entities such as labor and equity holders in addition to the companies themselves.
A senior administration official said the talks between Bush officials and the Big Three and their stakeholders amount to information-gathering, not negotiating.
The White House has repeatedly emphasized its opposition to "disorderly bankruptcy" -- presumably a Chapter 7 filing that would effectively shut down a company and require liquidation of assets. That has left on the table the possibility of forcing one or more automakers into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows a firm to keep operating while under a court's purview.
Harlan Platt, who teaches corporate turnarounds at Northeastern University in Boston, said the government may be waiting for an offer of an ownership stake in the companies, much as it received in return for capital plowed into banks. "You really have to ask the question: If this is good enough for Wall Street, why isn't it good enough for Detroit?" he said.
On Thursday, spokesmen for Chrysler, GM and Ford generally referred to their previous comments that bankruptcy was not a workable solution. The car companies argue that no one would buy a vehicle from a bankrupt company for fear that the company might not be around to honor warranties.
"We continue to work with the administration to find a solution to this liquidity crisis," said GM spokesman Tony Cervone.
Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan noted previous statements against bankruptcy by CEO Robert Nardelli. Financing for even a prepackaged bankruptcy would be difficult to get in the current tight credit market, Chrysler has said.
The National Automobile Dealers Association also spoke out against bankruptcy for car companies "in any way shape or form, orderly or disorderly, prepackaged or unpackaged, managed or unmanaged," said spokesman Bailey Wood.
Bush said the auto industry is "obviously very fragile" and he is worried about what an out-and-out collapse without Washington involvement "would do to the psychology" of the markets.
"There still is a lot of uncertainty," he said.
At the same time, the president said anew that he is worried about "putting good money after bad," meaning taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used to prop up companies that can't survive the long term.
He revealed one other consideration -- that Obama will become president in just over a month.
"I thought about what it would be like for me to become president during this period. I believe that good policy is not to dump him a major catastrophe on his first day in office," Bush said.
Associated Press writers Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by diskodave General Motors - Full Time Employees: 252,000 |
"slowdown" continues
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...1bfg&refer=home
BOE Cuts Rate to Lowest Since Bank�s Creation in 1694 (Update3)
By Svenja O�Donnell
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England cut the benchmark interest rate to the lowest since the central bank was founded in 1694 as policy makers tried to prevent the credit squeeze from deepening Britain�s recession.
The bank rate was reduced a half-point to 1.5 percent, bringing policy makers closer to the point at which they will run out of options to fight the financial crisis with conventional tools. The pound rose against the euro and the dollar because some investors had bet on a larger reduction.
�They�ll come down below 1 percent by the second quarter,� said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Securities in London. �Things have deteriorated further and this highlights the need for further monetary stimulus. Non- conventional monetary policy techniques are on the cards.�
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King may have to cooperate with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to inject money into the economy and the financial system through so-called quantitative easing as Britain suffers its first recession since 1991.
After almost 16 years of continuous growth, the economy contracted 0.6 percent in the third quarter, and the Bank of England predicts it will shrink 1.3 percent in 2009.
�The availability of credit to both households and businesses has tightened further, pointing to the need for further measures to increase the flow of lending to the non- financial sector,� the Bank of England said in a statement. �Output is likely to continue to fall sharply during the first part of this year.�
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...MTiQ&refer=home
U.S. Economy: 2008 Payrolls Drop Biggest Since 1945 (Update2)
By Shobhana Chandra
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. lost more jobs in 2008 than in any year since 1945 as employers fired another 524,000 people in December, indicating a free-fall in the economy just days before President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
�Consumers are now going to get more and more scared at the prospect of losing their job,� said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. Obama�s proposed fiscal stimulus �needs to be big, needs to be bold, needs to be swift. If they can do something quickly we can limit the hemorrhage by mid-year.�
The Labor Department reported that the nation lost 2.589 million jobs in 2008, just shy of the 2.75 million decline at the end of World War II. The unemployment rate climbed more than economists forecast, to 7.2 percent in December, the highest level in almost 16 years.
This will get drastically worse in 2009 before they get better. This shit will last a few years before we are back on solid ground.
PS. Rich is right though that the Labor Union is getting paid ridiculous wages to do trivial tasks and its no wonder we are uncompetitive - CH 11 is inevitable for GM at the minimum. Ford may side step it but at the point who knows.
This is how bad things are getting...
Restaraunts are starting to be sneaky with fees...
In New York, but if it's being done there sure it'll spread...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0427200...ly___166426.htm
* A $1-per-person charge for water at West Village restaurant Bobo -- noted on the menu but not mentioned by waiters. The drink is filtered tap water.
So it takes $1 PER PERSON to filter water?
* $3 for bread and another $2 for butter at Company, in Chelsea.
These two things were free before!
* A 10 percent charge for takeout food at the sushi hot spot Nobu Next Door in TriBeCa.
I've heard of takeout tax (whic are laws), but that's just stupid.
Last week, The Post reported that Fifth Avenue steak joint Morton's was charging $2.50 extra for a cocktail ordered with ice.
Like WTF!!! You get LESS ALCOHOL and they charge you $2.50 to drop a couple cubes in a glass? This one amazes me the most.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DaveT This is how bad things are getting... Restaraunts are starting to be sneaky with fees... In New York, but if it's being done there sure it'll spread... http://www.nypost.com/seven/0427200...ly___166426.htm * A $1-per-person charge for water at West Village restaurant Bobo -- noted on the menu but not mentioned by waiters. The drink is filtered tap water. So it takes $1 PER PERSON to filter water? * $3 for bread and another $2 for butter at Company, in Chelsea. These two things were free before! * A 10 percent charge for takeout food at the sushi hot spot Nobu Next Door in TriBeCa. I've heard of takeout tax (whic are laws), but that's just stupid. Last week, The Post reported that Fifth Avenue steak joint Morton's was charging $2.50 extra for a cocktail ordered with ice. Like WTF!!! You get LESS ALCOHOL and they charge you $2.50 to drop a couple cubes in a glass? This one amazes me the most. |
I am sure that the federal supreme court ruled that restaraunts cannot force tips on you. If you refuse to pay the extra tip, the restaraunt has to honor you.
It's also against the law for places to requirement minimum amounts before you can use your Visa/MC/etc. Well, there's no law, but every Visa/MC/Amex/etc contract explicitely says that yuo cannot require a minimum. It's been a couple years since I last heard about the policies, but at the time it was still a direct violation of all the contracts with no exceptions that any merchant that accepted their cards unless the same minimum was required for all tenders accepted (cach/checks/etc). I am gonna try to find it, but there was some simple thing you could print out yto take to the merchant, then also send to Visa/MC/Amex etc and they would stop the merchant from accepting their cards unless they removed the minimum.
There was a big uproar over it like five years back. Why a lot of cab companies actually stopped accepting credit cards, at least for a long while. Because they had their $10 or $20 minimums and they are obviously bigger companies compared to some corner store and are more exposed to complaints.
Anyhow, all useless info there because it's not worth the hassle....but just saying, lol
The tap water laws vary from state to state. In a lot of places, it's only if they serve alcohol and even with that in other places you only have to go as far as offer free ice lol.
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