Have you seen signs the recession is easing up?

Have you seen signs the recession is easing up?

  • Yes, I have seen signs, things are getting better.

    Votes: 7 30.4%
  • No I have not seen signs, things are the same.

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • No, I think things are becoming worse.

    Votes: 10 43.5%
  • The economy is in a death spiral. We have not hit bottom yet.

    Votes: 3 13.0%

  • Total voters
    23
  • Poll closed .

Principessa

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Have you or any of your peers with whom you've spoken seen signs that the economic recession might be easing? :confused:

I'm still looking and other than gas prices hovering around the $2.00 mark I haven't seen signs that the recession is easing up. Maybe I don' know what to look for? :confused:
 

B_625girth

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I am in the midwest, and the effects of the recession are not that noticeable here. some manufacturing layoffs, but with a lot of our local economy based on agriculture, it is just not as noticeable. we lag behind the current trends, and that means slow down and up turns. crops get planted good times or bad.
 
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deleted15807

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Put it this way the bottom seems to have been hit. Things are not getting much better but things have stopped falling through the floor. Though I have a friend how owns several restaurants with an entertainment focus and his business since the recession started has been incredibily good. He doesn't want the recession to end. Every table is booked on the weekends for three seatings on two floors at the main restaurant.
 

midlifebear

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I've received offers on several vacant building lots I purchased in Elko County and I've actually accepted the offers. The only change in my original asking prices is that there hasn't been a change. It's just taken longer for them to remain on the market.
 

javyn

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I was going to type out a lengthy economic based response....but why bother. If you honestly think this economy is getting better, or even CAN get better by piling new debt onto old debt, well, keep drinking the Kool Aid.
 

FuzzyKen

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I think that what we are seeing depends totally on what geographic location we are in.

Property values in Southwestern New Mexico have not taken a landslide crash as in some parts of the country. In fact some types of property are in fact escalating and at higher percentage rates than I would have expected.

The problem is that properties for sale are remaining on the market a great deal longer because under current banking rules, financing of home purchases is difficult even with better than average credit.

The main thing that makes me wonder on the economy however is the monstrous numbers of Recreational Vehicles on the road. Here in Deming, New Mexico both the Wal-Mart and Big-K parking lots have tons of RV's on them at night. Seniors and others are traveling and this is taking place in numbers that have really surprised me.

People who live on fixed incomes tend to be extremely conservative in their travels when the economy is bad. Travel is in fact one of the first things cut from the budget.

The local RV parks are totally full for this season and the "snowbirds" who travel from colder climates down here for the Winter are here in record numbers. Only one park in this area has shown a drop in traffic. This same park instituted a considerable raise in their seasonal rates this year, so that may be the one and only reason.

I do see improvement, but the improvement here is offset by additional damage taking place in some other locations. The Palm Springs area of Southern California is being totally destroyed. The City of Desert Hot Springs has a foreclosure rate that is totally incredible and the homes have in many cases lost more than 50% of their peak value. We have friends who owned multiple rentals and they are no longer able to obtain rents for those properties that equal or exceed the payments because of the value loss. The rentals they owned were view properties which were all renting for $1,500 per month or more. They are now unable to get $650 and have a tenant stay and actually pay the rent.

I also understand that Michigan is really bad. Other friends in parts of Arizona are doing OK. Some parts have hit bottom and are in recovery, but it is sadly not Nation wide yet. Any area that depends on luxury resort money is way off and it will be a challenge to see if these high end resorts are able to survive and recover.

I really do not think that we can consider what we are seeing the beginning of a full recovery yet. I think that I see the seeds of a "turn-around", but seeds are not yet a real nationwide marker.............
 

B_starinvestor

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It was discouraging to see jobless claims increase last week and new home sales slip again. From my perspective - being in the finance industry, I don't believe that the recession is easing up in any way, shape or form.

Credit markets are still frozen, earnings are still poor, people are still holding onto cash, and spending is weak.

The S&P 500 is up roughly 25% from its low, which shows a little more confidence in the investment community, but not an intrinsic improvement in economic activity.
 

javyn

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Yeah star. You are pretty much right on. People also need to realize that the great depression only lasted around 30 months, which is the longest any recessionary period has lasted. Now...the time it takes after the recession/depression ends before there is a recovery is a different story!

Our "recession" can end tomorrow technically, but that doesn't mean things will be better off for anyone. And the way it looks now, our market isn't poised to recover quickly...or EVER after this recession ends. We are just completely tapped out.

All we can do is wait for the government to get our debt up so high that the interest accrued become greater than our GDP. Then our dollar will collapse as well as our entire economy and government.
 

midlifebear

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To be fair, my part of Nevada isn't suffering terribly primarily because of the intense and renewed mining industry. Everyone hears about it, but nobody sees it unless you take one of Neumont Mining's or Rio Tinto's public relation tours. And the population isn't expanding. Most high school graduates are taking advantage of mining certification courses administered and taught by the mines. But the minute gold and silver drop enough that the current mining techniques are not cost effective, there will lots of young unemployed miners hoping for a position at the Super Wal Mart.
 
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deleted15807

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The issue is you only know you're out of a recession in hindsight. We actually might be out of it right now Virginia but you won't know until you are months down the road.
 

Drifterwood

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Very low interest rates are cushioning the effects to most, but there is a great danger that in countries whose currency has been devallued, there could be severe inflation.

I look at these things like turning an oil tanker. I think things have been done to turn things round and those at the helm can probably see things turning, but those on board can't and won't for some time.

Some are saying that it will take a generation to repay the debts that we have incurred to hold up the failed Banks, that sounds fairly long term to this middle ageing person; short term, countries like Spain are close to 20% unemployment and medium term, your house could take ten years to be worth what it was in '07.
 

B_starinvestor

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I look at these things like turning an oil tanker. I think things have been done to turn things round and those at the helm can probably see things turning, but those on board can't and won't for some time.

Brings up another sign of bad times. The cargo/freight ships aren't leaving the ports - one of the best indicators of a recession.
 

Elmer Gantry

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Recessions all end, and this one will end sooner than later. It's all a healthy part of capitalism.

But it isn't a healthy dose of capitalism at all. It's a weird socialist/capitalist hybrid working at the moment that is delivering the worst of either camp.

The inflation bomb is well and truly primed and will gradually go off over the next couple of years. Toxic assets still blight bank balance sheets. From this, prices will rise, CPI numbers will jump, Carbon trading will boom and the econo-whizzes will pat themselves on the back and tell all and sundry how right they were now that the economy is "growing" again because people are spending money.

The greatest tragedy is we haven't learnt one thing from this. The mistakes of 1989, 1976, etc, etc will continue to be handed to another generation.
 
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deleted15807

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The greatest tragedy is we haven't learnt one thing from this. The mistakes of 1989, 1976, etc, etc will continue to be handed to another generation.

That shouldn't be a surprise. Mankind's fatal flaw is that in spite of all this we've achieved mankind must repeat the mistakes of the past. There is nothing new under the sun.