These Times Are Tough

ddenny

alex jones, aaron russo, money as debt,creature from jeckyl island. I thought I was yhe only one who listens to that stuff. here's another interesting one truthattack.org. he's an attorney who recently won "wilful failre to file" income tax case. he claims he couldn't find a law that required him to file. and the irs wasn't able to show him the law. hmmmmmmmmm; wonder why.

cnn msnbc and the rest of them don't tell you about the people who win. you only hear about willie nelson, leona helmsley and wesley snipes. fear factor.

google lloyd long. he won they have the transcripts of his trial on the internet.

Supply House Rick

Stores Are Closing Left And Right

The slowing economy and surging gas prices are taking their toll on consumers and retailers alike. Below is a list of recent store closings as merchants struggle to stay afloat.


Ann Taylor Stores Corp. will close 117 "underperforming stores" over the 2008-2010 period. The company will close 25 Ann Taylor stores in 2008 (with an additional 14 stores scheduled to close in 2009-2010) and 39 LOFT stores in 2008 (with 39 additional stores in 2009-2010).

Women's retailer, Cache, has announced 14 of its stores will close shop, 3 of which have already been shut down.

Charming Shoppes, Inc., owner of Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherine's Plus Sizes, and Lane Bryant Outlet, announced it will shutter approximately 150 stores and discontinue further development of its Petite Sophisticate retail stores.

Dell, Inc. announced it will discontinue its retail outlets and close 140 kiosks nationwide.

Dillard's, Inc. closed a distribution center and three stores in Kentucky, Virginia, and Colorado.

Disney has announced plans to shut down 98 of its Disney Store locations.

Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc. plans to consolidate 12 of its retail design centers and 2 service centers.

Foot Locker, Inc. plans to close approximately 140 stores in 2008.

Gap, Inc. expects to close 85 store locations this year, many of which are weighted toward the Gap brand.

Home Depot will close 15 underperforming stores in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Last year, Levitz Furniture closed all of its stores and went out of business.

Linens 'n Things has declared Chapter 11 and will close up to 120 stores.

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon has closed 27 restaurants, including 7 of its 8 Florida restaurants.

Department store Macy's is boarding up 9 stores in Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. announced its plans to close its remaining 154 demo stores.

Pep Boys has shuttered 31 stores including 6 in Texas, 3 in Georgia, and 3 in California.

Pier 1 Imports, Inc. closed 79 stores in the final quarter of 2007.

Sprint Nextel is looking to board up as many as 125 of its nationwide retail stores.

Starbucks Corp. will shutter 600 nationwide coffee houses this year. In addition, it will open fewer than 200 stores in 2009.

The Talbots, Inc., will close 66 Talbots Kids stores and 12 Talbots Mens stores by September.

Wickes Furniture, Inc. has declared bankruptcy and closed business in all locations.

The United States' largest jewelry chain, Zales Corp., expects to close a total of 105 stores in 2008 in an effort to save approximately $65 million annually.

joel_28

tough times

yup ok things aren't too rosy. BUT keep in mind that most of those stores are selling stuff that people do not really need. We on the other hand have the answers they are seeking. In my area they kept putting up stores and malls they drastically overbuilt even if things didn't slow down there simply was to many of them. High oil prices are good for us because we have the answers. It is the worst of times and the best of times oppertunity abounds go get some!!!!!

Tom Kane

times are tough..but........

congratulations on your new job.................

Supply House Rick

Thanks Tom for your help

I'm keeping a low profile. Will keep you posted...

Rick

Maine/Baltimore Doug

And keep in mind

that much of the US economy is based on things that people do not really need. Like GM is finding out now. The tax breaks were for stuff we do not need and the new stimilus check was thought to be for needless stuff so the administration told us. Go out and buy was the word.

We did a burial at sea on Saturday and got fuel afterwards as the price is going up. 170 gals at 5 bucks a gal. Next charter will have higher rates.

As they say, "You ain't seen nothing yet" with this economy. It is just the beginning.


>>>>BUT keep in mind that most of those stores are selling stuff that people do not really need.<<<<

Mad Dog_2

We are certainly in for rough times............................

But we will emerge much stronger when this all plays out...and it may be years...we are in the throes of advanced capitalism..we've been thru worse..we'll all eat and have a roof over our heads....don't panic. Mad Dog

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[Deleted User]

This is what happens to all fiat currency. It eventually collapses. The prices of things are increasing due to dollar devaluation. Government bailouts only decrease the value of the dollar more as more money is printed up and put into circulation. The forefathers of our nation knew the dangers of using a central bank. Read what Thomas Jefferson had to say about it.

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Unknown

Fiat currency...

Currency simply makes it more convenient to transact business. Instead of bringing a chicken to give the doctor for treatment I can give him some paper and he can go out and buy his own chicken if he wants to. Or maybe he doesn't need a chicken, so he can take the paper and buy something else. It's much easier to put in your pocket than a chicken. While your currency may not represent the same amount of gold it used to it can still be turned into other things. So, unless you want to either find a totally different solution for us or go back to the barter system, I don't think currency will be going anywhere anytime soon. If you don't want yours I'll be happy to take it off your hands! I might even give you a furnace or (OOPS) I mean a boiler for it.

mtfallsmikey

Rerun

Of the fluctuating economic conditions of the 70's and 80's, starting with the Arab oil embargo...I'm very thankful I have a good secure job right now..glad I planted a big garden, starting to do more canning/freezing. It's going to take a long time for this to shake out and correct. My hopes and prayers are with all of you who own your own businesses.

Jeff Lawrence_25

Interesting.

I was speaking to my neighbor the other day and he mentioned to me about some local stores closing. I responded that a lot of people thought the economic times were tough. His response? (You're gonna love it)

"Oh yeah, I've heard about that on the radio. I choose not to participate in these alleged tough times."

He meant it, too. AND, he's following through, about to buy a new car and getting a good bit of work done to his house.

Unknown

If,,,

You've educated yourself, and played your cards right, these aren't tough times at all. Challenging maybe.

Joannie_15

Competition

I wonder how many of those are feeling internet sales. Lots of people buy on line nowadays (including me). It beats having to spend the gas and time to go to lots of those stores on the list, and you don't have to be around a bunch of idiots that believe they are the only people in the world.

I also wonder how many are just feeling the pressure of new chains that have opened up? Zales Jewelry? You can't turn a corner around here without seeing new jewelery stores, epecially chains, opening up. They sell cheap cookie-cutter stuff, and people who don't care if they are getting an heirloom piece would rather buy the cheaper products. Same goes for women's clothing stores. People can get 10 times the items in a Target than they can get in a Macy's, and unless you're a fashionista, people can't tell the difference.

As for Starbucks, they opened up WAY too many places too fast. That seems like a no-brainer. Food establishments come and go all the time, especially chains like Lonestar.

I just don't know if that's such an alarming list, considering the competition they all face.

My two cents.....

Maine/Baltimore Doug

Currency will still be around

but its value against others has impact. Since you are buying oil in dollars and your dollars are less valuable, i.e., won't buy as many chickens, you have to come up with more of them to feed the hydrocarbon habit as well as desire for chickens.

At some point we may see oil traded in a currency other than US dollars. That will defeather a bunch of SUV chickens.

Unknown

Yup, agreed but,,,

as long as there are those around willing to accept your paper as just compensation for whatever it is that they have and you want, currency will hang in there. It's a just a convenience thing.

mike faust

with

All these lemons ("the economy") I best get out my recipe for lemonade! Was it Warren Buffet who said, " Only when there's blood in the streets can you make reeaall money!" Great monetary wealth will certainly change hands throughout these so called "tough economic times." Its only tough for those who are unprepared. For the rest, it is going to be an absolute feeding frenzy! Its scary, I may actually see an already a shrinking middle class all but disappear within my lifetime. I'm already executing my plan. 1. NO CONSUMER DEBT 2. MAKE LEMONADE ( energy efficiency solutuions for homes) 3. BUY ASSETS IN FALLEN MARKETS ( only things that directly pay me to own them.)

Ranger

Hindenburg Omen

Hindenburg Omen......(not the movie) watch and learn.

John R. Hall

Don't hit the panic button

I am willing to bet that if you lined up the same statistics for store closings from other years there wouldn't be a lot of difference. The poor economy just MAGNIFIES everything to the point that people are ready to jump out of windows because of perceived problems and not because of reality.

I wish I could say that I choose not to participate in the slump but my fuel and food bills keep drawing me into the fray.

michael_34

amero anyone?

Anyone ever heard of the Amero?

[Deleted User]

I've heard of the Amero and the North American Union. Also check out the stock market in 1907 - JP Morgan.

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ddenny

gold and silver coin

I agree with mike of pure heating and cooling. nothing wrong with currency. fiat currency is a problem.
"I believe the banking institutions are more dangerous
to our liberties than standing armies. already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. the issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs." thomas jefferson
are you aware that the "federal reserve bank" is a totally private corporation? started in 1913. no more federal than "federal express". since they took over ownership of the us dollar it has decreased in value to 4 cents.
here's another one if you care
I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. to preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. if we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necesities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy." thomas jefferson again
sounds like a prophet doesn't he?
of the 19 or 20 guys originally running for president ron paul was the only one who understood and advocated a government run according to the constitution.

joel_28

bingo!

Right on mike my point exactly. I know plenty of people taking on MORE debt right now they are buying Assests for the eventual turn around. 2 years ago there was a feeding frenzy on a commercial building in my town it was up to a million at one point. Just got a call from the agent it's now quietly back on the market at 525k!! as in HALF of what they wanted to sell it for in 05. "when the going gets tuff the tuff go shopping".

why do you think that all those little mid eastern goverments are buying everything they can here? Think it's because they figure we are going to collapse? Nope it's because everything is on sale and they know it will turn around here.They have seen the future and are trading their oil into realestate. oil runs out,people find new energy sources but God's not making any more land and their are no alternatives on the horizon.

GM does build what people do not need big trucks and SUV's. More importantly do to miss management that is where all there profit came from. They make virtually NO money on their cars. true of all Detroit. They whine about their higher pension and health care cost and that is a factor but mostly it is just whining. A Toyota sells for MORE than a comparble Ford or GM. If GM was better they could sell the car for MORE than the Toyota and Gm's higher production cost wouldn't matter. We know this is proven to be true people are quite happy to pay more for a better product. For instance Porsche has the highest profit per vehicle of any car company.

I do feel bad for the guys on the line it's not their fault. But going back 20 years ago people new that GM should drop 3 divisions. keeping them has squandered the development and advertising money. The best book i've read on the subject is "The end of Detroit" there are great lessons to be had by anyone in buisness of any kind in this book. if you headed for the beach pick this up instead of a spy novel (sorry Mr.Bond...)

michael_34

amero

If you google amero you get a plethora of info. Also Go to youtube and do the same.
Watch out folks things are really going to get more interesting.

Unknown

Money As Dept

I found this very interesting.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279

michael_34

reminds me of Alex Jones movie my friend had called I think,
The End Game. Not sure what is truth and what's not these days.

[Deleted User]

Don't take it from me. Here is some interesting media for you guys. Aaron Russo's "Freedom to Fascism" -documentary. G Edward Griffiths "The Creature From Jekyll Island" in print. Bob Chapman The International Forecaster website. Alex Jones has a website that has links to his daily radio show and documentaries.

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WV EGBERT_2

Some more

Here is a little of the creature drom Jekyll Island

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=638447372044116845


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Steve Ebels_3

And going to get tougher..........or at least different

This article pretty much sums up what the US economy has been built on over the last 60 years or so. It would be foolish to imagine that it can simply go on like this forever. The only two options that I can see are a major correction back to reality or socialism. Either will be very painful. Pay attention to the ratio of government to private debt in the 50's compared to now and ponder the ramifications of that number.


Welcome to the Keynesian Nightmare

British economist John Maynard Keynes was an advisor to the American government in the 1930s when it was struggling to restart the domestic economy. The Depression was tragic but, to put it in historical context, Keynes and his client were dealing with a cyclical problem that, by the 1930’s, had already happened regularly during US history.

Before World War II, the US had had many serious recessions or depressions, including 1807, 1837, 1873, 1882, 1893, 1907, 1920, 1933, and 1937. During the 1930s Depression, Keynes’ interpretation of the economic problem was that the US, indeed the world, was caught in what he described as a liquidity trap. A liquidity trap is defined as a time when institutions and consumers hoard money and refuse to spend, protecting their own financial assets for fear of losing them. He argued mightily for his solution to the problem, what we now call Keynesianism. To simplify, he wanted FDR to ‘prime the pump’ of the economy, to put so much money in people’s hands that the increased consumption would lead the way out of the liquidity trap, that the resulting improvement in consumer confidence and normalization of lending habits would reestablish the footing of the economy. The Roosevelt Administration and the economic community initially dismissed his ideas as too simplistic, but the New Deal came to look a lot like the Keynesian construct.

Ultimately, the US was dragged out of the Depression by the deficit spending of World War II, but Keynesianism got the credit, thus setting the course of economic policy for much of the post-war Western world. Keynes, who died in 1946, didn’t live to see the implementation of his theory in the real world.

Since WWII there have been ten recessions in the US, but unlike the pre-war recessions, none of them turned into a depression. I think this is because the Keynesian prescription of deficit spending and heavy government pump-priming has been engineered on a massive scale. Or, as Richard Nixon famously claimed in 1971, “I guess we are all Keynesians now.” Keynesianism had triumphed, and the result is that Keynesian spending provided the foundation for the greatest economic boom that the world had ever experienced. Capitalists throughout the world piled into the example of the US, and in the process turned Keynes’ dream into a nightmare: The nightmare of economies powered by huge amounts of debt and inescapable liquidity traps.

So here we are sixty years past America’s emergence as the world’s dominant superpower, and the perversity of Keynesian theory has grown like a weed. I think it is fair to say that the world we are in today is not the world Keynes foresaw when he wrote his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in 1936. The most pronounced change, to me, is to the amount of debt capital issued in the US and its changing composition. The US grew during the Cold War economic boom thanks to the issuance of the US Treasury’s full faith and credit notes and bonds,, and since then the rest of the US economy has followed suit as society has gotten more and more comfortable with credit risk— first corporate debt, then consumer debt, then junk bonds, then mortgage debt, then structured debt. As a result, today the dominant part of the total debt structure in the US, the part that has played the largest role in driving GDP growth over the last decade, has occurred outside of the government’s purview.

It is no secret that the US is a country driven by debt. It now takes approximately $3.25 of total debt in the US to generate $1 of GDP, a significant increase from 1952, when it took just $1.30 in debt to generate $1 of GDP. However, in 1952, government debt—federal, state and local— was $244 billion and accounted for 55.1% of the $443.6 billion in total debt outstanding in the US. Today, government debt stands at $7.2 trillion but accounts for just 15.7% of the $45 trillion in total debt. Household debt today has a much larger impact on economic growth than government debt— at $13.6 trillion, it is almost twice as much as government debt, while in 1952 it was just one-third of government debt.

The first part of the Keynesian nightmare is related to this change in the composition of debt in the US. If we are counting on deficit spending and the resulting debt capital creation to pull the economy out of recession, the non- governmental borrower who has driven economic growth over the last half decade won’t be there. Don’t count on him. That borrower marks to market and has to cover debt service out of earnings. His ability to borrow today is severely restricted by the asset deflation in house prices and on bank balance sheets. The government, on the other hand, doesn’t mark to market and owns a printing press. So we would be on the watch for much, much deeper government deficits and a surge in government debt issuance going forward.

The second part of the Keynesian nightmare is that we might be in the middle of one of the worst liquidity traps ever. Banks are hoarding liquidity not so much because they are afraid to lend to weak credits but because they are protecting their own capital ratios. Their massive writedowns and equally massive capital infusions—neither of which are done— aren’t working. So while the ECB and the Fed are trying to break the excess liquidity preference of financial institutions through extraordinary measures, the market is doing the opposite: While the Fed may be accommodative, the widening of credit spreads is restrictive. I suggest that this should offset the inflationary potential of the Fed’s actions. The struggling consumer will also likely start to pull in his horns and spend less and save more. We’ll see whether those election-year fiscal stimulus checks change consumer confidence, but my guess is that $600 or $800 or whatever the package provides to consumers will be a transient event for the economy.

In short, the Keynesian nightmare is that it won’t work. Maybe that’s why the Fed cut 125 basis points in just eight days. And maybe that’s why they have more to do.

Michael A.J. Farrell

Chairman, CEO and President of Annaly Capital Management, Inc.

Bob Sweet

\"Freedom to Facism\"

Thanks Mike!!

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michael_34

tough get tougher

Well I hope all you folks are not waiting for November to vote. I vote everyday. I start with my dollar. I try my best to buy local (no big box stores, food and otherwise). I vote with what i put into my body (no coke or pepsi or Mcdonald's). I hope this doesn't sound as preaching, I really believe we can't wait for politicians to make our lives better in this country. They are not looking out for us, only the corporate welfare. I don't care what side of the political craziness we are on. We as the people of this country have to claim our country back, by our own hands. Ok, it sounds preachy. I love the people and the land of this country. that's all.

mtfallsmikey

I guess

I'll keep canning food...28 qts. of green beans, 22 qts. of applesauce done last weekend. Next on the list; 'maters, sauerkraut, carrots, dill pickles.

Rick_78

Starbucks Closing 600 stores

Now I could care less about a Fruity-Frosty-Grande-Half-Caff-Vendi-Raspberry-Macchiato-Frappachino-Latte-Iced-Cinnamon Dolce-Java Chip-Blended Creme-Double Chocolatey Chip-Tazo Blend-Peppermint-White Chocolate-Soy-Spelt-Berry Espresso-Mocha Crap-A-Chino. Not to mention the 10,000 calories and enough fat to stop your heart...

I do feel sorry for the thousands trying to put food on their table during really tough times who are going to loses their jobs...

Unknown

I could care less about star-bucks and all the others like them as well, but sadly the independent retailers that made american main streets strong are largely gone. We now shop on the "strip". It's a longer drive to get there but gas was cheap and the low prices and selection seduced us away from local mom and pops.

Now that many of our local economies are so dependent on the myriad of low paying service jobs that the corporate retailers have provided what will happen when they close to protect their shareholders. As marginal as much of this service employment is there are many who depend on these jobs. Not to mention all of the higher paying jobs that were created building these stupid stores. There has been so much destructive capital injected into our economy in recent years, it was hard to complain when times were good, but in hindsight it's really sad the choices we made.

michael_34

well said.