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Global Economy Bursting?

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who are having trouble making ends meet because of rising costs are being forced to raid their retirement accounts for non-retirement needs
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I know several people on farms who have pulled money from their 401k to cover the spread on their LTV when their property values fell. They've never been late on a payment but they were forced to cover the difference. Pretty sorry if you ask me.

I can name one that was put into business (a poultry farm) by the bank when they repo'd the place from another grower. The bank did a non-recourse loan. They lent nearly 100%. Fast forward 4 years and the bank is in trouble with the FDIC. The FDIC forced the bank to go to those people and tell them they now had to put up enough cash to cover the spread on an 80% loan...roughly $100,000. The choice was to devastate their IRAs or walk and keep the IRA. They walked. The bank will likely lose $300,000 or more as a result Thank you stupid FDIC.
 
Fiscal problems? "The problem is so severe at this stage that unless we come to terms with it in a large way, we are running into very serious trouble," said Dr. Greenspan.
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After his complete myopia on the bust, I don't know how credible he is, but the truth is that if deficit spending saves the world, we should be just OK. But it sounds like the good doctor thinks it is time to pick a path of reducing our deficits instead of full steam ahead like Paul Krugman suggests.
 
Retail Apocalypse: Why Are Major Retail Chains All Over America Collapsing?

http://investmentwatchblog.com/reta...se-hundreds-of-stores-before-the-end-of-2013/

A recent internal Wal-Mart memo that was leaked to Bloomberg described February sales as a “total disaster”. So why is this happening? Why are major retail chains all over America collapsing? Is the “retail apocalypse” upon us? Well, the truth is that this is just another sign that the U.S. economy is falling apart right in front of our eyes. Incomes are declining, taxes are going up, government dependence is at an all-time high, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed has been steadily falling since 2006. The top 10% of all income earners in the U.S. are still doing very well, but most U.S. consumers are either flat broke or are drowning in debt. The large disposable incomes that the big retail chains have depended upon in the past simply are not there anymore. So retail chains all over the United States are now closing up unprofitable stores. This is especially true in low income areas.

When you step back and take a look at the bigger picture, the rapid decline of some of our largest retail chains really is stunning.

It is happening already in some areas, but soon half empty malls and boarded up storefronts will litter the landscapes of cities all over America.

Just check out some of these store closing numbers for 2013. These numbers are from a recent Yahoo Finance article …

Best Buy

Forecast store closings: 200 to 250

Sears Holding Corp.

Forecast store closings: Kmart 175 to 225, Sears 100 to 125

J.C. Penney

Forecast store closings: 300 to 350

Office Depot

Forecast store closings: 125 to 150

Barnes & Noble

Forecast store closings: 190 to 240, per company comments

Gamestop

Forecast store closings: 500 to 600

OfficeMax

Forecast store closings: 150 to 175

RadioShack

Forecast store closings: 450 to 550


But the truth is that those store closings are not the entire story. When you dig deeper you find a lot more retailers that are in trouble.

For example, Blockbuster recently announced that this year they will be closing about 300 stores and eliminating about 3,000 jobs.

Toy manufacturer Hasbro recently announced that they will be reducing the size of their workforce by about 10 percent.

Even Wal-Mart is going through a tough stretch right now. According to documents that were leaked to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart is having an absolutely disastrous February.
 
I know one privately held C store that is "making it"...and doing so by having auto service, parts, and a restaurant as well. And they are drowning in debt. The family runs the show. Beer sales are helping as the county just recently went wet. One that was built about 10 years ago just folded its tent near the regional airport leaving an incorporated town without a single store.

We have as best I can tell regionally only 3 small privately held banks, the rest are part of holding companies. 2 have recently sold. My small town had 5 grocery stores and 6 gas stations in 1968. Now 4x the size it was then, the town has 2 places that sell gas and no grocery store. Wal-mart has one of their perfectly awful "mini-stores" that sux putty balls and it carries some veggies and packaged meats. The department stores in town are all gone. The lumber company is hanging on by a thread. The 2 feed stores...gone. Downtown is public buildings and flea markets...a small pizza place. The only really busy place seems to be a Mennonite eatry that is open for lunch 5 days a week and for supper one night a week...friday.

I was recently in W. Oklahoma far from the oil patch part and their towns are completely dead...centered around little more than a grocery or two and a couple of C stores.

A smaller town to the north has 3 stations and no grocery. A hispanic butcher recently opened shop and packs them in.
 
Randolph Kinney said:
Retail Apocalypse: Why Are Major Retail Chains All Over America Collapsing?

http://investmentwatchblog.com/reta...se-hundreds-of-stores-before-the-end-of-2013/

A recent internal Wal-Mart memo that was leaked to Bloomberg described February sales as a “total disaster”. So why is this happening? Why are major retail chains all over America collapsing? Is the “retail apocalypse” upon us? Well, the truth is that this is just another sign that the U.S. economy is falling apart right in front of our eyes. Incomes are declining, taxes are going up, government dependence is at an all-time high, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed has been steadily falling since 2006. The top 10% of all income earners in the U.S. are still doing very well, but most U.S. consumers are either flat broke or are drowning in debt. The large disposable incomes that the big retail chains have depended upon in the past simply are not there anymore. So retail chains all over the United States are now closing up unprofitable stores. This is especially true in low income areas.

When you step back and take a look at the bigger picture, the rapid decline of some of our largest retail chains really is stunning.

It is happening already in some areas, but soon half empty malls and boarded up storefronts will litter the landscapes of cities all over America.

Just check out some of these store closing numbers for 2013. These numbers are from a recent Yahoo Finance article …

Best Buy

Forecast store closings: 200 to 250

Sears Holding Corp.

Forecast store closings: Kmart 175 to 225, Sears 100 to 125

J.C. Penney

Forecast store closings: 300 to 350

Office Depot

Forecast store closings: 125 to 150

Barnes & Noble

Forecast store closings: 190 to 240, per company comments

Gamestop

Forecast store closings: 500 to 600

OfficeMax

Forecast store closings: 150 to 175

RadioShack

Forecast store closings: 450 to 550


But the truth is that those store closings are not the entire story. When you dig deeper you find a lot more retailers that are in trouble.

For example, Blockbuster recently announced that this year they will be closing about 300 stores and eliminating about 3,000 jobs.

Toy manufacturer Hasbro recently announced that they will be reducing the size of their workforce by about 10 percent.

Even Wal-Mart is going through a tough stretch right now. According to documents that were leaked to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart is having an absolutely disastrous February.
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Mostly this is just a reflection of changing times. Retail stores are just not in demand anymore. Even Walmart has too many locations for number of store shoppers. I can't remember the last time I bought something other than fresh produce, meat, or bread at a local retail outlet. I do go to "destination" stores such as Costco or large sporting goods retailer, but that is about it. Lately I've even been shopping Costco online since the Pacific Bold k-cups are not in the store. (Best k-cup taste and lowest price!)
 
California Companies Heading To Temple, TX

http://www.kcentv.com/story/21254440/california-companies-heading-to-temple

t's no secret Governor Rick Perry wants California businesses to set up shop in Texas. But you may not know that businesses from the Golden State are already heading to Temple.

Right now there are eight California companies in the early stages of moving their business to Temple. If you're wondering why, it's because the state of Texas is very businesses friendly. Low taxes, less regulation, the cost of doing businesses is less, and there are plenty of opportunities to grow your business in Texas.

And why Temple? It's right in the center of the Texas Triangle, only two hours from 3 major cities. Plus, it surrounds I-35 and has access to rail ways making it easy to transport goods.

Then, there's Fort Hood, where about 500 military personnel are transitioning out of the Army every month and they're looking for work.

Temple also has five Industry Parks for every type of business with plenty of available land.

In a paid radio advertisement, Gov. Perry said,"I have a message for California businesses. Come check out Texas. There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for 8 years running."

In the past five years, Temple has grown 30 percent. "At the end of the day, it's more jobs, more investment in the community and so it just creates more economy and so it's a big deal and we're excited about what's going to happen," said Charley Ayers, VP at Temple Economic Development Corp.

Ayers also expects businesses to expand throughout the region and into Belton, Harker Heights, and Killeen.
 
And why Temple? It's right in the center of the Texas Triangle, only two hours from 3 major cities. Plus, it surrounds I-35 and has access to rail ways making it easy to transport goods.
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Nice part of the state...I can almost smell the caliche now...
 
Since the "Unaffordable Care Act" defines full-time employment at 30 hours, many businesses are cutting back the number of hours employees can work to 25. In turn, this led to more hiring, all part-time jobs of course. Some medium-sized businesses reduced employment to under 50 workers and other businesses turned to consultants to get around the act.

Now businesses are investigating opting out of the plan even for full-time employees.

Labor unions that pushed Obamacare through want out

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/17/clancy-labor-unions-pushed-obamacare-through-want-/

Who knew Obamacare was bad for workers? Unions, or rather the professional class of union leaders, were vehement supporters of Obamacare’s federal takeover of health care. Now that they’ve had a chance to actually read the 2,801-page bill and “find out what is in it,” they are upset and want out.

Major unions like the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters are now demanding that they be allowed to stay on their current health care plans and receive government subsidies to cover the increased costs some of Obamacare’s provisions will impose on lower-income workers. They want to eat their government cake and have it too. What else is new? Who would foot the bill? You guessed it: We, the taxpayers.

The rank hypocrisy of Obamacare-backing unions began almost immediately after the passage of the bill three years ago, with hundreds of thousands of union workers being exempted from the law through waivers from the Obama administration.

In total, more than 1,200 entities were granted waivers from President Obama‘s signature legislation, the vast majority of them labor unions. In fact, unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers, while only 69,813 employees at private firms, many of them small businesses, managed to secure a waiver.

Readers will recall Mr. Obama’s constant mantra: “If you like your health care, you can keep it.” Not so. According to the Congressional Budget Office, more than 7 million Americans will lose their employer-based insurance thanks to Obamacare. Unintended consequences always come back to haunt us, and try though they might, government actors are incapable of overturning economic law by mere decree.

Instead of joining the majority of Americans who want this bill repealed, unions are seeking to use their political leverage to shield themselves from the harm Obamacare will impose on hundreds of millions of their fellow Americans.
 
It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/b...?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130220&_r=0

The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job.

Economists have referred to this phenomenon as “degree inflation,” and it has been steadily infiltrating America’s job market. Across industries and geographic areas, many other jobs that didn’t used to require a diploma — positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters — are increasingly requiring one, according to Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads from more than 20,000 online sources, including major job boards and small- to midsize-employer sites.

The risk with hiring college graduates for jobs they are supremely overqualified for is, of course, that they will leave as soon as they find something better, particularly as the economy improves.
 
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