Pulse on the economy / Micro - enterprises

[midwayer]

Any micro enterprises having problems out there?

Big boys trying to gobble you up? Consolidation and Monopoly?

Personally and Locally we are starting to feel the effects and I am within a considered "insulated" local economy

Tradesmen? Pricing power pressures due to what specifics?

Concrete?
Carpenters?

Other Subcontractors?

[midwayer]

1. I was really bashed tonight

for expressing my discontent

[midwayer]

2. Home Owners Rush to Sell as Boom Cools Off

Home Owners Rush to Sell as Boom Cools Off
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040721/us_nm/p...

By Ilaina Jonas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Is the bloom off the boom?

The U.S. housing market, a pillar of economic strength that propped up the sagging U.S. economy last year, may be showing some cracks, experts said.

From Laguna Hills, California, to Lexington, Massachusetts, Realtors said home-buying dynamics have changed from just a few months ago.

It's no longer a seller's game, they said.

Power has shifted to buyers who are taking longer to make up their minds, looking at more homes and demanding price breaks.

"We're seeing houses staying on the market a lot longer if they're not priced below the so-called 'current market,"' said Nita Desai, a Realtor with Prudential California Realty.

The culprit is not a lack of buyers, but a surge in the number of homes for sale. Desai said the number of available homes between $550,000 and $750,000, the largest chunk of her market in Orange County, California, now is 964 -- up from 248 in March, according to Multiple Listing Service.

[midwayer]

3. The downward cycle begins:

The downward cycle begins:

Countrywide Misses 2Q Expectations on Refinancing Decline, Increase in Bad Debt Provisions
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040722/earns_countrywide_1.html

Washington Mutual Cuts 2,500 More Jobs
Thursday July 22, 12:30 pm ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040722/financial_washingtonmutual_1.html

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE:WM - News), the largest U.S. savings and loan, will cut an additional 2,500 jobs this year on top of 7,700 previously announced layoffs, a spokesman said on Thursday.
The job cuts are part of the company's effort to improve profitability in its mortgage lending business as interest rates rise and demand for home loan refinancings declines.


Free Registration | Previous | Next

Bookmark this Subject Ignore this Person Report a TOU violation View SubjectMarks

[midwayer]

4. fleck tonight

fleck tonight:

One of the key issues that I have talked about from a micro standpoint, i.e., the buildup of inventories in technology, is also likely to be a problem across the economy, especially if companies like General Motors, Ford, and Caterpillar are any indication. When you have a lot of inventory building and then demand slows, you have a real problem, as the next thing that tends to happen is a cut in production. I believe that we are just "one bad data point in July (or August)" from shattering the "blip" thesis and getting people to understand that we are about to experience the "next time down," the scenario that I outlined in my New York speech and repeatedly in the Rap. I think that it's time to be on red alert, because any sign of weakness could turn what has been an orderly stock market decline into an all-out rout.