Comments on: What recession?

By: Anja Howard, Virginia Beach, Va.

Anja Howard, Virginia Beach, Va. — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:44:32 +0000

Ok..so it is another holiday and is cyber space shopping the newest way of participating for Black Friday? It seems like consumers are looking to save this Christmas no matter which way they do it. I am interested in feedback from others since I have decided this year to make gifts from the heart instead of just convenience and obligation. My life has changed alot as have many others in the last year. So this Christmas I am going to the local Shelter to serve and bless others. Living life to the fullest does not always mean fancy gadgets and toys. After all, isn’t it supposed to be about those kind of things anyways?

By: Tom CPA, Lansing Michigan

Tom CPA, Lansing Michigan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:05:46 +0000

The shopping surge is supposed to start on Black Friday and finish on December 24th.

If what I have seen is any indication, the surge is dying quickly.

Deep discounts and bargain hunters rules the terrain.

By: Polina, Overland Park, Kansas

Polina, Overland Park, Kansas — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:26:21 +0000

People cannot change their behavior (including buying behavior) when they do not know or understand the meaning of or experienced a real recession. Until it hits them (i.e. loss of jobs/home, grandparents who lost their disposable income in GM stocks), Americans will continue to consume. And we are the best consumers in the world! We can prove it with our credit card debt, home equity loans, etc! Until a recession, depression or deflation parks in our living room, we will ignore it and resume with our status-quo lifestyle — sticking our heads in the sand — much like our unions, auto and wall street executives did … now we, as a nation of best consumers, have been warned to save and live within or below our means. We’ll soon find out if we’re good students … with the grades due out in the next 12-24 months … oops, Center for Education Statistics (U.S. Ed Dept) and OECD test results indicate we’re not very good students after all but hey that’s compared to other countries…. who cares… it’s not hurting anyone particularly ME… that’s our motto… so Bing you shouldn’t be suprised by traffic jam in stores…

By: John Gwong, Tampa FL

John Gwong, Tampa FL — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:55:36 +0000

We were at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino here in Tampa on Friday. The place was packed and the card tables were full with players gambling $50 & $100 minimum. It was busier than any Las Vegas hotel during the busiest summer season. It may be that the Seminoles are the only casino gambling in the whole state of Florida, but players were consistently gambling $100+ per hand. Where is all the money coming from, lol.

By: John J., St Petersburg, FL

John J., St Petersburg, FL — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:48:38 +0000

The “recession” was a sham created by the mainstream liberal media to scare everyone into voting for Obama. Even Bernanke said the economy was looking strong only a few months back, then all of a sudden the doom and gloom panic scare began as election day approached. It’s like a run on banks, if you scare enough people, it will happen.

By: Mike, Spokane, WA

Mike, Spokane, WA — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:28:32 +0000

Bing,…your comment about having to ‘knock over an old lady to get to a 50-pound bag of frozen shrimp’ at Costco fully demonstrates your egalitarian credentials. A fully landed member of the gentry would have sent a minion to conduct the despicable act. You faced your foe like a man. She had it coming.

By: Mike, Spokane, WA

Mike, Spokane, WA — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:19:11 +0000

I think there’s at least a couple of things at play here. There’s the issue with the media spinning these issues into a self-fulfilling mass frenzy (the same emotional tizzy the stock market manages to fall into, even in the absence of any rational analysis…hell, the terrorist acts in Mumbai ripple through the stock market, and heinous though they were, it’s really hard to fathom why they had a market effect except for abject panic). Dingbats have been killing decent people for millenia.

It would also be difficult to comprehend a society based on a deeply entrenched habit of massive consumption managing to restrain itself until it actually confronts ‘tap city’ on the readily available cash or credit. Maybe like Mark Twain’s death, the cash-flow situation has been greatly exaggerated.

There’s also the fundamental human trait of projecting whatever economic state we currently find ourselves in…..and for most of America the axe hasn’t really fallen yet (hopefully won’t ever fall) and if we’ve got any cash (or credit) then recession is something that’s happening to the other fellow. Those ‘fiddle while Rome burns’ Black-Friday shopping optimists may be the only thing buffering the economic debacle the RSG’s (really smart guys) tell us we’re having. Of course, these were the same RSG’s that said the housing bubble would never occur, resisted any attempts to impose banking regulations, and developed derivative and CDO instruments…..so their credibility is lower than whale shit right now.

I will venture one opinion, however, I believe the much heralded goal of early retirement (every damn brokerage firm has been pushing that delusion for quite a few years) has been dealt a death blow. We’ve seen our former coworkers go back to work (frequently at much reduced levels of compensation), and we’ve come to grips with the idea that perhaps working until we can’t (to acquire the trappings of the ‘good life’ such as medical coverage, keeping up with the CPI, providing a leg up for the grandchildren) isn’t such a bad thing. The dream of a carefree, and highly anticipated, extended retirement life has evaporated. Maybe the purchase of a flat-screen TV isn’t such a bad ‘be here now’ comfort. Though the purchase was probably made in China, it might keep the young’n at Best Buy out of the unemployment benefits line. If things get really bad, the geezers aren’t going to get a lot of sympathy.

By: Liberty, Seattle, Washington

Liberty, Seattle, Washington — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:19:33 +0000

Tony, right with you on that one.

I did some food shopping for Thanksgiving on Tuesday (fearing what the store would be like on Wedesday) and the store was insanely busy at 1pm. Either people took time off or all the unemployed professionals decided to hit the store before those who have jobs got off work.

I pretty much stayed home until today to avoid crowds and traffic.

By: David, Los Angeles CA

David, Los Angeles CA — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:30:54 +0000

It could be curiosity? Now that everyone has figured out exactly what you did, there are no real sales, shoppers will disperse.
For the holidays, I am giving pictures of my kids eating rice/oatmeal, in ripped clothes with a return envelope…”Help feed the children”

By: tony nj

tony nj — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:15:47 +0000

I spent Friday thinking about all the great stuff I’d buy if I had money to spend. I did notice that the internet was way slow…probably a lot of online shopping also.

By: More Leeroy

More Leeroy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:04:17 +0000

Plenty of people out there adding to the GDP of China. They’d probably buy American, if anyone could figure out what America still makes …

Bed’Bath’and’BeyondYourBudget (BBBY) has a market cap twice that of GM (GM) … so buy soap on a rope!

By: claude,fairfield,tx

claude,fairfield,tx — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:56:13 +0000

My wife is a school teacher,fixed income forever.When I went broke in 86, she never even acknowledged it,because she still had money every week.She still doesn’t understand what I suffered through for 22 years to rebuild.

By: Joshua, Tacoma, WA

Joshua, Tacoma, WA — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:52:54 +0000

I am actually someone who went to best buy and bought a flat screen tv. I saved 14% on the purchase by arriving at 5am. It was already the least expensive option for flat screens, the “store brand”. The line into the store was gone by 508am. I feel that everyone on this “sale” weekend is getting the savings they can now and planning to conserve overall. I expect only moderate retail results this quarter, not dismal but not stunning. People will squeeze every penny, but spend the pennies they have nonetheless

By: Leeroy

Leeroy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:51:12 +0000

Perhaps there’s hope. My children have so much plastic crap (courtesy of Grandma, who had to get by on playing with rocks, and then having them for dinner during the depression) that my house looks like terrorists detonated a 14 megaton toys’r'us in my living room. Cleaning up after themselves has become so stressful for my children that they’ve decided that they do not want any toys at all for Christmas, as more will add to their workload. If the up and coming generation renounces materialism, they’ll be better off, but the rest of us, who, I’m told, rely upon sales at walmart for our very existence, are screwed. Hope seems very relative. Happy Holidays!

By: Joe, Raritan NJ

Joe, Raritan NJ — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:43:27 +0000

people are taking advantage of the ‘loose money’ policy and plunging themselves deeper into debt. Hey!? Why not, we’ll just socialize the losses. “Obama’s going to pay for my mortgage. YES!”………

By: Shelly in Los Angeles

Shelly in Los Angeles — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:40:39 +0000

I have been wondering for awhile ‘what recession’? Restaurants are full, malls are busy, traffic is a nightmare. Was in the “People’s Republic of San Francisco” for the weekend and it was literally insane. You couldn’t walk into the stores let alone shop. Restaurants had 1 1/2 hour waits. But on the 7 hour drive back (apparently no one paid attention that car travel would be down this year) I finally got it! Why worry about how much you spend since the good old US government will help you with the house payments that you can’t afford and eventually will help you with the credit card payments you can’t make. The cycle of excess and bail out will continue.

By: Josh, Huntsville, AL

Josh, Huntsville, AL — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:38:54 +0000

My only guess is that, even though the GDP has decreased a bit, the number of Christmas presents the average person buys has not decreased. That sort of makes sense.

I also went to Best Buy and got some cheap DVD’s. I read on cnnmoney.com that the average consumer spent a little over $370 on Black Friday. One would think that can’t be too bad, but, alas, the stock market is spiraling down the crapper as we speak.

By: Anja Howard, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Anja Howard, Virginia Beach, Virginia — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:35:09 +0000

I like your honesty in regards to the trends that are still dominating us during the holidays..but I have to say I will speak as one of the masses that did NOT fight the mobs for black friday. I am going to take a different approach on how I spend my energy getting ready for Christmas. I am going to stay focused on working while most in my field are taking it easy..and procrastinate on the shopping till the real deals are in anyway..the week before Christmas. Things might not be as abundantly in stock but hey it’s the thought that counts anyway. Plus, how many people can look back and recall from last year what they actually got and from whom? I’d rather get a big fat paycheck while everyone else is scurrying around for that latest new gadget someone has to have..

By: Mark Edwards, St. Louis, MO

Mark Edwards, St. Louis, MO — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:04:27 +0000

I read your HuffPo story about the alleged recession and thought I’d share a thought from Flyover Country. I had to work on Black Friday, so I didn’t get out to the stores that day. I was, however out and around on Saturday and Sunday, and saw lots of choice parking spaces at the mall and the mega strip centers that dot St. Louis County.

In talking with clerks and some friends who own businesses, I heard often that Friday was insane but things got very quiet Friday night and over the weekend. Seems that people got whipped into a Black Friday tizzy, spent what they had to spend or left upon seeing that the ‘deals” were sold out, and stuck their wallets back in their pockets for the weekend.

We’ll see what the various chains report, but at least from here in the Breadbasket Of America, that seems to be the trend.

By: Bing

Bing — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:48:43 +0000

Jessica! Nice to hear from you!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.