21 replies to this topic

[nimblebear]

[/quote] Agreed, I have a friend who is a nurse making $25 an hour and paid $300 on overdraft fees so far this year.....another friend who paid over $500 in overdraft fees.....People making over $70K does not have two nickles to rub together (drives a late model German car)....He owes me $20 for more than a month.....Yesterday I was at a supermarket, the lady in front of me told the casher she only had $30 in her debt account and she was buying a pack of diapher. After the purchase, she broke down and cried that she needed the money for the gas.....The manager felt sorry for her and gave her the diaphers....Now this is Cupertino....Average house is one million plus....Like SemiBuzz said, you guys should go out and kick the tires...... [/quote] CA is most certainly getting whacked, but thats where home prices increased the most. Around here in Chicago, stores looked busy to me. But then I rarely shop on a weekend - except for home repair stuff. I would have thought everyone was downtown at lalapolooza, or whatever its called. One might note that August is big for vacations. But with the volume we've had in the market everyone got to go on vacation except the traders. I'm skeptical this is a slowing economy. For another reference point, I was in Boston last week, and during the week, the streets and shops were crowded as can be. Big purchases should be slowing - houses, cars, appliances, etc. - but everything else is motoring along. Corp.'s are still still flush with cash, and it seems like they are spending now, on big ticket stuff.

[pdx5]

nb: so you live in fly over country I spent 35 years in Chicagoland myself so I can say from first hand knowledge, Chicago is always behind the coasts But on serious note, the first areas to get hit hard are and will be where real-estate prices went most crazy. I am in Vancouver, WA now and RE is humming along here. Slower sales for sure but prices holding. However I am noticing a slight reduction in traffic, malls and restaurants. The world's largest economy (USA) does not turn on a dime. Yes economy is also humming along. SPX 2nd quarter profits increased almost 10% from comparable quarter a year ago. But that is a lot slower than 2005 & 2006. No one knows if further slowdown is in the cards or how for how long. But you can rest assured that if the hard hit areas continue to decline, Chicago will be affected eventually.