nice gary! a steady, deliberate, frugal, and planned way is the one to prosperity(for most anyway).

if consumers knew how much tobacco, beer/alcohol(sorry clencher), lattes, car payments, big screen tvs, and the like REALLY affect savings and subsequent wealth, many would most certainly be shocked.

clark howard took a latte as an example on his radio program once. he considered the price of a latte for 5 working days and calculated a modest return in an investment accounting for compound interest over many years.

the amount was rediculous!!! how much more does the average consumer waste beyond the cost of a latte?

Actually, unemployment is a measure of people seeking benefits. If people are searching for a job and run out of benefits they aren't counted in that number even if they are still looking. It's possible that a large number of people have just run out of time to find a job and still get help.

Clark Howards example reminds me of a similar thing Dr. Phil did with an obese person....brought on stage, tables with the number of sodas that person drank in a year.....then pointed out that just eleminating them would cause a weight loss of over fourty pounds!

There was a story recently about Steven King tallying his TV time and being really shocked!

Little things matter.

Well the construction industry that I am referring to seeing turnarounds is more industrial and related to infrastructure, not commercial or residential building. Regardless, it seems every other week I hear some news commentator suggest that things may just be turning around, but I don't see that connecting with reality.

We still don't levy tarriffs on imports like we used to and jobs are still being sent overseas while the money supply has done nothing but increased and will just drive inflation against fewer jobs and lower domestic wages. Easy or difficult credit doesn't mean squat when the number of borrowers and amounts they can repay are on continuous decline. Those invested heavily in stocks and real estate should consider their holdings very carefully before the current rebound finally bursts - and it probably will.

i'm w/ ya on that. but lowering the corp tax rate would help as well.

the reality is that many corps are bound to fail either via poor management or lack of comsumer interest. as previously stated, non-necessities like convenience stores, tobacco, beauty salons, etc SHOULD be abandoned by the most informed consumers. will they? if things get worse...

Agreed 100%.

I'm lucky to be at a company (all private sector - no construction and no government contracts etc.) who is actually thriving right now, against some pretty steep odds. But we're the exception.

The economy is being artificially boosted by government spending (pork or stimulus, depending on your perspective) but we're living on borrowed time (and money). Even if the economy were to take off in a very real way, we'd still be burdened by the extreme debt. In fact, I think I heard the national debt will grow by a full trillion dollars this year alone.

Commercial real estate is a disaster, values are plummeting.

I'm a protectionist, sorry. More import levies = smaller trade deficit = more American jobs.

-BC

Maybe, maybe not. I'm still trying to figure how inflation will affect stock prices - it has the potential to go either way (high prices could mean high profits). Historically it's been a matter of timing, there is potential to make good money during inflationary periods. I'm thinking of getting out for a few months, letting the bubble burst, then riding the inflationary wave. We'll see...