alstry (35.70)

This in not a Recession....it is a Depression

June 23, 2009 – Comments (4)

“‘This is not a normal recession,’ said Dan Hamilton, director of economics with the Thousand Oaks-based Center for Economic Research. ‘It is a recession that is accompanied by a financial meltdown. Unfortunately, those kinds of recessions last much longer than usual.’”

“The big problem for the economy: Consumers can no longer use big gains in stock prices or housing values as a sort of piggy bank for spending, said Jon Haveman, a partner with Beacon Economics. Those bulwarks of consumerism have toppled. ‘There is no ATM left for the consumer to tap,’ Haveman said.”

No kidding......THIS IN NOT A NORMAL RECESSION!!!!!!

Retailers' weekly sales fall from year ago: survey

“Shirley Breitmaier’s mortgage payment started out at $98 when she refinanced her three-bedroom home in Galt in 2007. The 73-year-old widow may see it jump to $3,500 a month in two years. Breitmaier took out a payment-option adjustable rate mortgage, a loan popular during the housing boom for their initially low minimum payments.”

“More than $750 billion of option ARMs were originated in the U.S. between 2004 and 2008, according to data from First American and Inside Mortgage Finance. California accounted for 58 percent of option ARMs, according to a report by T2 Partners LLC.”

“Breitmaier, who has been in the home for 45 years and lives with her daughter, now fears she will lose the off-white stucco house that’s a hub for her family. ‘I wish the government would bail us out like the banks and the car businesses,’ she said. ‘I’d like to go from here to the grave next to my husband.’”

http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_12630146

$750 BILLION is as much as the Obama stimulous....just on option arms.....

That is a good question...why is governmnet bailing out the banks?????????????  You think they will lend Shirley a dime these days????  How many millions of Shirley's are out there????