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[Harley Guy 5]

 They say the economy is on it's way up
What do you see?

[Keats]

Getting worse

[ice6900]

the earthquake in Japan is now gonna have a knock-on effect, so for me the economy will be more of the same for a while yet!

[Chains]

Getting worse

I agree

[2k]

23% of the houses in FLA are empty. Friend of mine bought a $230,000 house 4 mi from the Gulf for $98,000

[Chains]

23% of the houses in FLA are empty. Friend of mine bought a $230,000 house 4 mi from the Gulf for $98,000

You are absolutely right, Florida houses are super cheap at this time.  The problem you have to watch for is how vacant is the neighborhood you are buying in.  We have been looking for a place in the Fort Myers/Naples area and the problem we have seen is cheap homes equal tons of repos and that leads to empty houses and in many cases meth labs/crack in the vacant ones, I am talking about homes that sold for 300 to 500 K when built going for 20K or less.  In Lehigh Acres there are so many empty homes it is like the worst place to be due to violence thefts and drugs. IA friend of mine has a buddy that made a living building and selling those homes and he is stuck with two now that he can't even get a offer on.  We are thinking of looking on the East coast due to all the issues on the west.

I hope your friend did some checking before he bought.

[Wrongway]

 MUCH worse here, even more bleak when your two incomes are "Public Sector" school district backed. Takes a couple years for the tax base to recover after the real economy does. Last year we only had 8 to 12 furlough days, this year our garages are the ONLY unit in the district not on 10 months with 12 furlough days, YET, I'll know for sure by June
 Broke now, wait until they give me 2 extra months off

[dlaws01]

We are headed on the same path as ancient Rome just prior to it's fall.

[cvobiker]

Whoever's saying it's getting better,, i want some of the same stuff they smoke.. 

[Spiderman]

Like most things in life your opinion of this depends on your perspective. A person looking for a solid middle class job with benefits would most likely say the economy sucks. A Wall St trader would tell you everything is roses (with the exception being that the Japanese kept their stock market open all week triggering massive sell offs in all of the world's financial markets) If you're an average Joe with a 401K or IRA you're most likely trying to figure things out. People say beware the bond market as bonds are headed for a fall. True and False - - -again depends on what type of bonds you're referring to. A typical mutual bond fund is tied to interest rates via an inverse relationship. Muni Bonds ? Again, depends on the issue. The worse a city, county or state's finances, the more they have to pay to borrow money so as long as that form of government is not in danger of defaulting (think Orange County CA a few years ago) buying into bonds being sold to A or B credit cities/counties/states is a good investement. Like anything else, you have to do your homework and pay attention. You also have to decide whether to invest in single issue vehicles or mutuals. Single issues you can buy and sell at will during market hours. Mutuals have differing rules on sales but most expect you to put in a sales order in time for it to be issued at COB (earliest the day you ask to sell) and that order will be executed at the opening bell the next day. Bottom line is you can't play day trader if your money is in mutuals. And if it's not then you most likely have enough money that none of this really matters a whole lot to you.

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     As a caveat, I am very well aware we have Wall St types on this website who've forgotten more than I'll ever know. This post is my perspective as a layman trying to manage not only my own but my family's investments.

[SBB]

They say the economy is on it's way up
What do you see?

To answer the original question I see the economy being flat.
Some people and businesses are doing fine and some are not.
I'm trying to help with my latest purchase.
Not sure how that's working but I feel better.

 

SBB

[Fired00d]

They say the economy is on it's way up
What do you see?

I don't see it, however I'm not going to complain... my personal experience...

No performance based raises this year (haven't had them for several years now)... we did get a COLA of 2%, however employee's cost of health insurance went up 12% which means I got a -10% increase. Bottom line is I get to still bring home 90% of my salary, and most importantly I still have a job.... for that I'm Thankful and Blessed... it could be a lot worse as many have heard/know.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[willymax4]

the economy here in north dakota is booming due to the oil boom that's going on right now , however we're having our share of growing pains.
for example our city's populations are on the rise and the infrastructure is not keeping up, schools are crowded, roads are in terrible shape, crime's is on it's way up, housing is extremely tight,prices are going up to reflect wages in the oil patch and if you don't work in the oil industry,well you're slowly going broke.
oil money is filling up state coffers but it'll take time to fix all the problems that come with all the prosperity.
my little home on the range ain't nothing like it used to be.
oh well i guess that's progress.

 

[guppytrash]

I agree with it is all perspective.  I think there are some definite positives, GM looked as if it was going out of business and now has payed off the government loans.  That had to save a ton of jobs and a huge negative impact on the folks in Michigan. 

[Spiderman]

hey willymax4
                  I heard somewhere that sometimes if there's oil under your property and the oil companies have a lease near you, they will drill at an angle to get your oil for free. Any truth to that ?


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