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alstry (35.48)

You are worried about America?? You should worry about the WHOLE World!!!!

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January 19, 2009 – Comments (17)

We are ALL in this together!!!!!!!

Rioters Were Paid To Provoke the Police in Bulgaria

The provokers at yesterday's anti-government protest turned into riots were hired and paid 300 leva (EUR150) to start fights with the police and ruin the peaceful march, DeltaNews reports on Thursday, quoting rumors.

Standard & Poors stripped Spain of its AAA sovereign credit rating today.

Greece got downgraded on January 14th.

Ireland is on the watch list and - given its severe financial problems - might be next. Portugal is also on S&P's watch list.

Rioting in Lithuania  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMqgYBI0KeE

How about Latvia    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIRCiL7AaH8&eurl=http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=261387&feature=player_embedded

Don't forget Iceland, Italy, and Belgium.

And some Fools think the dollar is in trouble??????

 

17 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On January 19, 2009 at 5:51 PM, SideShowMel0329 (78.06) wrote:

If everyone falls down the same hole, then we'll all be on level ground again.

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#2) On January 19, 2009 at 5:55 PM, OtherOracleOfOMA (73.08) wrote:

I've been saying the same thing for months. The US is by no means in good shape, but is better off than most of the world.

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#3) On January 19, 2009 at 7:01 PM, lquadland10 (< 20) wrote:

http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?bpid=132043&t=01006952843786714939

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#4) On January 19, 2009 at 7:03 PM, lquadland10 (< 20) wrote:

They have no Idea do they? I forsee 10 million gone throught out the world in the next 6 mos.

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#5) On January 19, 2009 at 7:05 PM, lquadland10 (< 20) wrote:

The world population is the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of January 2009, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.7 billion.[1] According to population projections, this figure continues to grow; the 2008 rate of growth has almost halved since its peak of 2.2% per year, which was reached in 1963. World births have levelled off at about 134 million per year since the mid 1990's, and are expected to remain constant. However, deaths are only around 56 million per year, and are expected to increase to 90 million by the year 2050. Since births outnumber deaths, the world's population is expected to reach nearly 9 billion by the year 2042.[2][3] Please see World population estimates for more figures.

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#6) On January 19, 2009 at 8:55 PM, columbia1 wrote:

Alstry, the news(TV) always reports about the layoffs and the bleak economic condition here in the U.S., but I just find it amazing that they never mention the condition of the other countries in the world. Most people I talk to in everyday life have no idea that this is a world wide crisis, and just think this is confined to the US.

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#7) On January 19, 2009 at 8:59 PM, jeffduby (21.12) wrote:

I couldn't agree more, Europe, parts of asia, russia, and the middle east are all starting to fall off the cliff right now. A lot of the projects we are working on in dubai are "going on hold". Probably for ever.

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#8) On January 19, 2009 at 9:57 PM, AndreylikesMTL (98.64) wrote:

I think, this it is not just financial crisis, but crisis of the West itself.

US pronounced itself a sole Superpower, and instead of being gentle, and understanding to others, weaker ones, It started destroying other countries, and hang their presidents.

The world is no Fool; they may be getting tired of it. 

And please do not think that US is in a lot better shape then others, The emerging markets of course got hammered, but they are NOT falling of any cliff…. dose anybody else have 10 trillion dollar debt?

Andrey

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#9) On January 20, 2009 at 9:09 AM, saunafool (98.63) wrote:

Europe isn't so bad, but conditions vary greatly from country to country. The big difference: in most of mainland Europe, individuals do not have the same level of unsustainable debt that Americans do.

European countries in trouble: Ireland, U.K., Spain--housing bubble is bursting. Iceland--little country which developed a hugely leveraged banking sector which failed.

European countries that weren't doing so hot before the crisis and the crisis is just making things worse: Italy, Greece, Portugal

European countries which are in recession, but not in crisis: Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria.

Primarily because consumer debt is under control in Europe, I am much more positive about their prospects during the recession than I am about the U.S. That said, the European banks are in trouble. They took more leverage to buy even more of the American garbage CDS and MBS paper than the American banks did.

The low rates also created a housing bubble across the continent, but there are big differences between the European bubble and the American bubble. First, most European countries still require down payments on the order of 20%. Second, Europeans do not use home equity loans, unless they are doing a major renovation. Third, lending was generally contained to people who could afford to pay the mortgage. Finally, Europeans don't move every 4 years like Americans. They buy a house and intend to keep it their entire lives. Outside of the U.K., no one uses the terms "starter home" or "property ladder."

Finally, Europeans don't have credit cards. Here in Luxembourg (and it is the same in Belgium, Germany, and France to the best of my knowledge), I have a MasterCard, but it needs to be paid off at the end of every month. Furthermore, I have to have the full value of the credit limit in a blocked savings account.

Add it all up and European consumers are in WAY better condition than American consumers. The exceptions are the U.K. and Ireland where they adopted American house buying and lending practices. They are hosed.

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#10) On January 20, 2009 at 9:11 AM, saunafool (98.63) wrote:

To give an indication of the health of the European consumer, ski stations all across the continent are having a record year. I was skiing in France over Christmas and my friends said they have never seen the lines so long for the ski lifts.

Why? Record snowfall.

(Sorry, I can't find a link for this, but it has been all over the TV news for the past month.)

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#11) On January 20, 2009 at 9:25 AM, alstry (35.48) wrote:

Do you think it is because so many people are getting hours cut back so there is a lot of free time in Europe these days??

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#12) On January 20, 2009 at 9:28 AM, oversea (< 20) wrote:

Saunafool, I agree entirely with what you wrote, in most Euro countries the crisis is hardly felt since it is at its very beginning.

So far the crisis has had its worst effects in Eastern European countries, and above all in Russia, because of their fragile economies.  

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#13) On January 20, 2009 at 9:30 AM, oversea (< 20) wrote:

Alstry, your idea sounds extremely funny to me. Nobody's really working less these days, may be harder, but less? Nooo!  

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#14) On January 20, 2009 at 10:09 AM, alstry (35.48) wrote:

Oversea...

Looks like 26,000 Germans may be hitting the slopes soon....

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest maker of luxury cars, is reducing hours for 26,000 workers to rein in production by 10 percent as the global recession deflates demand for vehicles.

This is just one company.....there are many many more.....

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#15) On January 20, 2009 at 11:04 AM, abitare (99.31) wrote:

I smell war.

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#16) On January 20, 2009 at 10:32 PM, eldemonio (98.81) wrote:

whoever smelt it, delt it.

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#17) On January 21, 2009 at 5:14 AM, saunafool (98.63) wrote:

alstry,

Really, it's more the record snow. Europeans always have plenty of leisure time.

You are right, however, that there are a lot of factories idling capacity for a few weeks, and reducing the work week so they can keep their workforce instead of firing people. So, if I still had a job, but an extra few weeks of time off, and there was record snow in the Alps, I'd probably go skiing too.

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