How do you feel?
 

We live in interesting times. Seems that every day another "something" happens to destabilize the economic and social world around us. In our consumer driven economy how we all "feel" has much to do with how tomorrow and the next day looks.

They say all politics are local, but I think each of us experiences the world economic system "locally" in our own community context as well. Prosperity is a complex concept when applied personally, it can be but a fleeting perception consisting mainly of hope, fueled by a goal of a better future, fragile and easily destroyed by doubt and fear.

Todays news tells us that tomorrow will not be as good. Not exactly the harbingers of hope the news folks are. However, sometimes individual reality is different then that is promoted to "sell" ads. Many folks are going through tough times. 6% are unemployed. Thinking about it though, that means that 94% are employed. How we feel and the choices those feelings lead us to have a big impact on what the future looks like.

So how do you feel?

Re: How do you feel?
 

I'm scared. These times are some of the most uncertain that I remember. :2

Re: How do you feel?
 

I feel like we have been through this before. In late 2001 we were faced with a similar economic crisis stemming from 9/11. The market tanked, and people got laid-off, myself included.

I moved back home, and went to work for the family business. I also met my wife during this time, which I wouldnt have if I were still living in Boston.

My life would be competely different if things hadnt gotten so bad for me in those few months, but in retrospect I would never change it. Every cloud has a silver lining.

This too shall pass.

Re: How do you feel?
 

:)

Got's enough things going on in life to keep me busy; cutting back where need be and making do. Been through enough to know that "Tough times don't last, tough people do"

Re: How do you feel?
 

While I am not afraid of jobs in my household (my wife nor I are concerned at this point) it has put things in somewhat of a holding pattern.

My concern is for the well being of many many people that I know who are having some level of difficulty. It seems that many people I know are suffering through bad news right now whether personal, financial or health. It just seems like a down time in humanity. Of course that could just be outlook, I am not normally a glass is half empty guy

Re: How do you feel?
 

The wife and I are tightening our belts but havn't really given up anything completly. We also have long term 10 year plans that we look forward to. I guess you can say we are looking twords the future without much trepidation.

If you get to live long enough, you'll get to see many ups and downs I'm sure.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Like someone is standing on my chest.

Re: How do you feel?
 

since i can't seem to find a job no matter what I try, not too good right about now

Re: How do you feel?
 

I was scared, but then I started thinking, "What's the WORST that could happen?"

Say, if I lost my job.

Unemployment would not even cover my monthly bills. So, I guess the first thing would be to back out of my apartment lease and move back in with Mom. :hn

I couldn't let my car get repo'd. How would I find another job?

With no rent/electricity/phone, I could scrape by with unemployment until I found another job.

What would absolutely SUCK would be living with my mom. That answers the question "What's the WORST that could happen?" :r

Re: How do you feel?
 

Scared...But I know that GOD is in control.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Pissed, frustrated and scared.

Working in a retail environment has meant over a 40% reduction in income this year. To make matters worse our company has decided to increase the sales crew from 12 to 16 people. Their attitude is we are free since we are on straight commission. They couldn't care less that they are going to further decrease our incomes causing severe financial stress. With the ever increasing ranks of unemployed it is near impossible to find a new job.

I have cut out all discretionary spending and watch every penny spent now. At least I have a job, my health and a good support base to help make it through this rough point.

Rant off :)

Re: How do you feel?
 

Though times may be tough economically in some areas of the country and for some industries, I still feel confident. Those of us who grew up in the 60's and the times of economic growth, also had the spectre of MAD hanging over our heads. The economy was good, but when you planned for a nuclear attack at elementary school, it kind of puts a damper on things. :2

Re: How do you feel?
 

"I'm Super! Thanks for asking...."

http://video.google.com/videosearch?...revision&cd=1#

In all seriousness, life has an amazing way of working itself out so I'm confident that whatever hardships we may come across will be worked out in relative short order.

Hang in there my brothers & sisters!

Re: How do you feel?
 

I think times are going to get better. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

The only thing that really is scary is that the corporations are looking so much at the books and Wall Street right now that they are losing sight of the big picture and making some bad business decisions. At least here they are.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I very nervous.
I feel secure in my job(working in fraud), my wife is a project manager working with mergers, so things are good there.

I don't know, my I just have a general overall sense of uneasiness.

I attribute it to the unstable economy, weather changing (less sunlight), and feeling like I can't make a proper opinion on current politcal situations due to lack of knowledge (not for lack of trying though).

I'd say I am valueing herfs more and more, seeing them less of a social gathering and more of a safe haven filled with extended family members.

Re: How do you feel?
 

It is a scary time with living in Detroit and having things related to the car business .My loving wife has more faith then I ever will and I am glad that she can make up the faith in good things considering my doom and gloom out look on things all the time' As others have said this day shall end whether I want it to or not so I need to make the most of it:)

Re: How do you feel?
 

I try not to think about it, there is nothing I can do. Wife and I both work for the same company and have been there for a while so if they have a lay off we should be okay, But what we did do is pay off all the Crdit Cards and put them is a jar of water and freezed them, going to try the debt free process.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I'm concerned about my financial health. I've lost about 40K in my retirement funds, my bank accounts are fluctuating in and out of the red and my credit limit had to be raised recently.

I'm trying to have compassion on those who have less than me. If I know of people in need, then I try to help somehow.

All in all, things are going well. I'm clinging to my bible and guns, lovin' on my family as much as I can, and enjoying an occasional cigar. I'm not buying any cigars, but I have enough to last about a year, at which time wee will all be paying for 30-yo "kids" health care through our cigar taxes. I wish I could stock up now, but there's just no funding.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I feel cautious at the moment having gone through somewhat of a tumultuous time lately but I'm generally hopeful.

As with everything the events of our lives are cyclical. The low end now will eventually lead to a rise in things in the future. I guess it just depends on what your personal reaction is to hard times. I'm trying to keep the optimist view in mind but it definitely is tough.

I guess when I start really getting down I just think of how fortunate I am to have what I have and be able to take care of my family.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Dave Ramsey..I did his plan and got rid of 17K of debt in 6 months.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I’ll feel better once all of the money that has been dumped into the financial system by the Fed and Treasury gains traction and helps reverse the course for the markets and economy. Until then, I’m keeping my seatbelt on because it’s going to be a bumpy ride. On the brighter side, I have faith that things will work out and there will be clearer weather on the other side of this storm. Just hang in there everyone.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Life is cyclical at best. No guarantees when you come into this world and there is only one guarantee when you leave,,,you come into this world with nothing you leave the same way. While you are here you should be preparing for eventualities that this life hands out. If you are a spiritual person who believes in a higher power then your faith sustains you. If you don't believe in a higher power then you are on your own to get thru this life as best you can with no hope of anything except what this life has to offer.

My wife and I are retired and slowly built and provided for our retirement days and didn't lead the extravegant lifestyle that a lot of people do. We lived without the "new" things that everyone else had to have,,,boats, big houses, new bigscreen TV's, big cars, jewelry,etc. Our parents taught us to live without over indulging in "things" and it worked for us. I tried to teach my kids the same thing but each generation has it's own hurdles and my kids are saving like crazy because they don't want to have to go thru what other generations are going thru,,credit crisis, foreclosures, loss of their jobs, etc.

I read the other posts here and it makes me sad that good people suffer,,,sometimes things are not their fault and bad things happen to good people. Tightening our belts, though not easy is sometimes the best thing to do in hard times and shows character to do the hard things. When was the last time you learned a lesson the easy way? Hard lessons toughen us and make us experience those times for the future.

Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. This isn't the first time we have all faced economic hardships and it certainly won't be the last. Remember to provide for the future and not live for the day. Good luck to us all.

Re: How do you feel?
 

What the old timer (like me ) said. :tuLucky ( In some ways ) to have a job that doesn't pay much but pays and have been in tough times since the oldest of the "4lp" was born. It is kinda like a Ironman. You start fresh in the swim, have highs and lows and some how keep moving thru each event no matter what happens. So carry on and keep your chin up.
Rob :dance:

Re: How do you feel?
 

Wisdom comes from the most unlikey of places. :D

The world our children inherit from us is much different than the one our parents left us. But it is there to inherit so we have that going for us.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I'm afraid of bad/rash decisions that we may make during these tougher times. An economic system is a natural thing, it runs in cycles like the weather. Sometimes it rains, sometimes its sunny. I just hope we don't start building financial levees that are sure to break at some point down the road...causing much more distress than we could ever have during this recession.

Its important to keep in mind that f'in with companies' business plans and profits is the reason that we entered into this mess. More of the same will not solve it. If we step back and let the market correct itself, we'll be OK in due time. If not, we'll prolong the BS.

Re: How do you feel?
 

When I first saw this thread I thought, oh no this is gonna be a downer. However after reading some posts I now I think it can be used to help each other.


Though I would share.

Last night I was watching a hockey game and the home team did a piece on the Make-A-Wish Foundation. When the guy was asked "what is the best wish you have ever granted?" he told the following story.

A two and a half year old boy wanted as his wish to ride the school bus. That's all, he could have whatever he wanted and he wanted to ride the school bus. Why? Because he wanted to know where his brothers went each day. So he got his wish. He rode the bus. His mom said she had never seen him so happy, ever. That little boy is no longer with us.

I think from now on when I'm thinking I'm having a bad day I'll just tell myself to, go ride the bus.

No matter how bad you think you have it, you don't have to look far to see your wrong.

Wishing each and everyone of you the best life has to offer.

Re: How do you feel?
 

In my short life, I've lost my father at a young age, my job, my life savings, I've lived out of the trunk of my car, survived a serious automaobile accident, and cancer...what's a little economic instability???

You can always make up for lost money, but you can't make up lost time. Spend time doing what you love with people you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life again.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I actually feel bad for the older people (baby boomers) whos retirement was based on the now market..Have a friend who's Dad was supposed to retire this year but cant and now he has to work another 5 years probably to retire. If you saw this guys, you would think he should have been retired 5 years ago. I think it sucks that people will had to see their 401k get crushed but at least they have one..most people dont even have a retirement plan but I still feel bad for them. As for people like me, I think this might be an opportunity of a life time.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I feel fine :)

Re: How do you feel?
 

I am just really grateful to be in school right now. I have about two years left until I have my BA and hopefully the market will have stabilized by then. I have friends who are just coming into the job market right now and are not having a good time of it.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Actually, I feel generally optomistic, but that is pretty normal for me. Other than having a job I am not too happy with and this being a difficult time to make a change, I am trudging along as normal. As far as I can tell, things go bad, then get good again. Just a matter of holding on until they turn around. Not only that, there will be some great opportunities for investing in the next couple of years as the markets turn back around.

Re: How do you feel?
 

If I had been asked this about three weeks ago an angry rant would have followed that would last about 3 pages. I got laid off about that time, watched my 401K get cut by 75%, my other investments do the same, and I have a second baby coming on Dec 11th. With all that said I feel great. i have seen this as an opportunity to seek out what I really want to do. I got lucky as my father is just starting a new company and needs my type of talents, i get to go back to school and I get the whole month of Dec off. I have been able to make a great herf and stay up late at nights talking and chatting with some of the best BOTL/SOTL around and have gotten to spend more time with my wife and son in the past 3 weeks then I have all year. Though the economy looks bleak I feel that the Lord has shut a few doors on me and opened all the windows. I am going to have to start a completely new career and leave the old one that I worked so hard at advancing in behind but all in all its for the better. I have great confidence that the upswing is coming and if its not oh well cause I have my health.

Re: How do you feel?
 

If I'm only tihnking of myself and my family, I'm in pretty good spirits. If the news weren't telling me that the sky is falling, I'd see home prices coming back down to reality, gas prices that are much more reasonable, and my 401k contributions are buying many more shares now than a few months ago... which'll come in handy when I retire in 40 yrs.

I can't imagine what the older generations are going through, especially those losing their pentions, postponing retirement, etc. Or those losing their jobs due to the recession. Hopefully we've got smart enough people in Washington who can find a way out of this mess...

Re: How do you feel?
 

how am I supposed to feel? I do what I can within my control.

Re: How do you feel?
 

6% unemployment doesn't sound bad until it's stated as the 2 million people it represents. Add .9 kids to each of those that suffer under the unemployment and a few spouses and it's affecting an incredible number of people directly.

We live in a backwood hick $8.00 an hour economy here.
Gas prices rising to $4.00 a gallon absolutely devastated household incomes. The recent drop has made all the difference in the world. There are twice as many cars buzzing around, stores are full, and there's a line at the ice cream stand again.
It may be hard to imagine something that that's simple, but that's what it's like here.
Most families here take home about $1600 a month.
They drive old junk cars because that's what they can afford. Putting gas in those cars at the rate of 40 bucks a week for two cars is $320. That's 20% of their income.
When gas prices doubled, it immediately took another 20%.
Imagine what would happen if 20% of your income disappeared tomorrow?
That's what happened to roughly 40% of the families in my county. Another 30% lost 10% of their income.
It ain't right.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I feel pretty good as I am in a career that does good in good times and unbelievably great in bad times. Business is up 35% and we have some large institutional deals coming in. I have been a Sr. Manager there for 5 years and things look good. I agree with someone in the past post as he said he feels bad for the older people. I am 32 and know I have time. I minimized my risk in the stock market and still have over $100K equity in my home. I flipped my parents 401 (k) money out of internationals and index funds and into bonds right before the 778 point drop in the Dow 2 months ago. My dad said his old fund dropped 22 % the next week and the one I put him in did + 4% so I guess he dodged a bullet. Hey could you imagine if gas was still at $4.25 per gallon?

Re: How do you feel?
 

I am nervous about the current situation...but when I think back on what my parents went through growing up in the Great Depression, and what my friend the watchmaker went through (being a slum kid in the Depression, dropping out of school to feed his family, and then going through five years of hell in the southwest Pacific), I realize that things could be one helluva lot worse.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I work in an industry that depends on consumers. I have been in retail for over 20 years. Consumer confidence or lack of is a nasty cycle. The more scared people get the less they spend, the less the spend the less that gets recycled into the economy. I have seen some tough retail years, this is turning out the be the worst. Even the big boxes are feeling the squeeze. There will be some names in retail we are all familiar with disappear after the holidays. Maybe the market is correcting itself, I think it is over correcting itself.
As a country we must cut back, but not shut down. I work for a very large discount retailer, that gives back 5% of its revenues to the communities we do business in, with revenues down 4% we give 4% less back, we have less labor, which means less jobs available. It will come back... when is the question!

Re: How do you feel?
 

On my own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone ...

Actually, although I have tenure and high degree of the job security that comes with that, they will have to cut programs here to keep up with the huge budget cuts we've gotten from the state, and they can fire tenured faculty if they eliminate programs.

We'll see ....

On a different note ... I just bought Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica CD ... and after listening to a couple of songs, I'm starting to wish I hadn't stopped smoking weed in 1984.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Maybe we can have a unique herf when we both retire, Sean. ;) :r

Re: How do you feel?
 

[I'm starting to wish I hadn't stopped smoking weed in 1984.[/quote]


It's never to late to start again!

Re: How do you feel?
 

Got up this morning and walked the lil dog. Lights were still on everywhere around us. Neighbors were heading out to work. Came back in and watched the news a bit. Such positive input.. :).

Drove to work. World seemed to still be rotating on it's axis, gravity is ok so the basics are still intact. Sun rose in the east as usual (hard to tell here in the winter due to cloud cover but there was a glow).

We seem to be getting much better deals on gas... saw $ 1.68 at the pump on the way by.

Noticed McDonalds is offering 2 egg Mcmuffins for $ 2. MMMM.

Sam came in and showed me that the bank is giving us a .61% on our money on deposit there. Last year it was 4.8%. Big change on a small part of our revenues. Banker just showed up to discuss, should be interesting.

Good time to have a job. Bad time to be living off of a short term interest based portfolio.

Noticed the market dropped again yesterday and for the first time in a while it's below 8000. We are getting to the levels where "the brave" can win in the long run. Now how to be brave is the challenge.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I feel primarily with my hand. Very little levity but thought some was needed.

I'm one of those who always believe that "when one door closes, another opens" as it has happened many times in my life. I'm currently self-employed and make a comfortable living (for my lifestyle) by design grocery circulars for 5 different groups of stores. Last week I started getting concerned because one group had to close two stores that were forced out of business by Wal-Mart. This week I had two potential new, non-grocery clients contact me out of the blue. If I land just one of those account, I will have to consider hiring a freelance to take some of the load. So, one door closed but another one is opening.

I look at the current situations with the banking and auto industry as basically the same thing. Those doors are slowly closing. The smart people will find the doors that are opening and continue on.

Re: How do you feel?
 

How do I feel?

I consider myself lucky in this day and age considering the high tech industry I am involved in.
In this day and age where many high tech corporations are shifting their manufacturing overseas due to lower operating costs, looming future layoffs, and uncertainty of the high tech industry overall, I'm lucky in the fact that 3 of my biggest clients are doing well and are actually looking at expanding operations. That, and the fact that my #1 client recently renewed my contract for another 5 years means I should be okay financially.

Gas has dropped from a high of $4.88/gal down to like $2.33/gal here in SoCal.
That helps a lot since I commute 63 miles each way to my clients Mon-Fri and have to fill up 18 gallons 3X a week of 91 octane.

Looking on TV the other night and on the internet today, I see there is a lot more places having some huge sales. 30%, 40%, 50%, and as high as 70% off at some places on certain items. Not bad considering how the holidays are just around the corner and its not even Black Friday yet.

I'm glad I started my own business when I did. Just heard yesterday through the grapevine that the company I used to be employed by, announced they will be laying off 22% of the workforce today and tomorrow.

All in all I have nothing to complain about, and I would be a fool to start.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Everytime I listen to the radio or watch the news I hear bad news. The government can't govern, the largest financial institutions and corporations failed or are failing, our money is being used to bail them out, Stock Market is down, lay offs, high prices, bad this, bad that, etc, etc.

Americans can seem to get through anything. We've had bad times before and we've sorted them out. In my lifetime, we've seen the late 60's assasinations, war, rioting in the streets, we got through that. Late 70's we had the attack on the Marines in Beirut, lost Americans in a rescue mission in desert, hostages in the Middle East, failed Presidency, lot's of and doom and gloom, we got through that. Early 90's economy sucked although not nearly as bad as today, we got through that. The 9/11 terrorist attack took out (2) World Trade Center towers and killed a lot of people, we got through that. I'm thinking that we'll get through this just fine.

Strap in It'll be a long and bumpy ride.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I am really worried about all the crap thats going on. Im trying to start a career and graduated in one of the worst economic times in our countries history. I would much rather have a job and be worried about losing it than have no job and try and find one.


Ive always wanted to start a business but now a days thats not going to happen. I send out resume after resume with no response, each day I watch the news the message is not good. Eventually the sun has got to come out but as of right now I don't see it happening in the near future.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Some probably call me a pessimistic, and say that my attitude only fuels the crisis. I say that I lived through the 1979-2001 recession, which was much worse than any since then. I was in the real estate appraisal business then, self employed, and had a handle on the economic issues. I recognized the coming recession a good 6 months before it was mentioned in the main stream press. With a pending marriage, and suspecting the probably extent of the coming recession, I took a position with the state's largest bank in 1980, with the responsibility of dealing with foreclosures and foreclosed properties.

Many of the same developer practices present then are present now. With the exception of negligible interest rates now, many of the same political and economic factors present the are present now. The historic low interest rates is actually a hindrance today, in that the FED loses lowering interest rates as a way to "warm" the market back up. Like it or not, the collapsed real estate market is at the heart of the current problems, and that collapse was evident (at least to me and others being realistic) as long as two years ago. At that time, I told my son and wife that we would be in a collapsed real estate market inside of two years, and that it would take at least two years to turn it around, and another 12 to 18 months to return to a positive real estate market that would support a growing economy.

We ARE in a recession. No heads hidden in the sand. Won't change the facts. I kinda stand by my predictions for 36 to 42 months to get back close to where we were a year ago. So, say Fall, 2010, but more probable Spring, 2011. Now, though, I'm wishy-washy. When the July and September NYSE numbers are removed from the rolling three month averages, we will see that the stock market has had MORE volitility than existed after the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. ALL the REAL economic numbers point to BAD, BAD times, not to cheery times ahead. And, the people in charge, and thos that will be in charge are all pursuing potential policies that are no more than band aides on an open chest wound.

God, Dave, I wish I was wrong. Hope I am wrong. Pray about being wrong. I am not one that has stopped spending, but I also have gotten myself in as good of a financial position as possible in this market.

I won't starve, the house is paid for, and I can bring the family back home and tough things out if things turn really ugly. I hope they don't turn ugly, but I WILL NOT bet my future on the failure of others to realistically look at all factors, not just the ones they are feed by those with ulterior motives. To many basic economic indicators are wrong at this time. And, consumer confidence is a reactive (or following) indicator, not a leading, controlling indicator. While feeling good is always best from a mental health standpoint, it cannot lead an economy out of failure unless there are realistic changes to the good that the Consumer confidence Index can react to.

Pessimistic or realistic?? I don't know about others. I do know that currently, and looking to the next 18 months, i see nothing to be Optimistic about.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I remember last summer when gas went over $4.00 a gallon, predictions were $5.00 was close behind and by this time of year $8.00 a gallon was possible. The speculators that drove up the price of gas hastened and possibly created this global financial disaster. Kind of a domino effect, people couldn't afford gas, stopped buying SUVs, cut back on other expenditures and so it began.

Re: How do you feel?
 

Quoted for truth.

Re: How do you feel?
 

I agree with Cliff from a Macro economic standpoint. (I'm and economist by training plus all those nights in the Holiday Inn express. :) )

My point in posting this thread had more to do with looking at things from personal perspectives. 94 out of 100 of us statistically have jobs today. How you say things has a big impact on the emotional reception. Sounds different than Unemployment went up by 12% to 6% this week. If things go as predicted this might bottom out in the 90-92 range before there is much improvement. We are probably headed into "the great depression of this century". But what does that mean in todays context as opposed to the 1930's? Unless we see 25-30% unemployment it's hardly the same. Not good news for many but not sleeping on the street with starving children. I see the current process as a massive redistribution of wealth with the homeowners and stockowners taking huge hits. Effective current income will actually go up for those with jobs due to recessionary pressure on all forms of prices and historic low interest rates. It's almost as if we are nationalizing wealth in the form of deficit spending to cover the sins of the past 10 years in the financial, housing and auto markets. If the rest of the mature industrialized world wasn't doing the same thing the value of the dollar would plummet. Since the world is now intertwined more economically than at any time in the past, we are in new territory.... the how you feel territory. Unwinding and deleveraging applies to more than just the financial institutions.