Boring Market

Oil

Crude oil prices have more then doubled in the past year, and we have all felt this increase at the pump. Financial pundits report the same story over and over again with our dependence on oil, prices reaching new high records and alternative energy. Five dollar, six dollar a gallon gas are the shock tactic headlines and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better.

Housing market

The housing bubble has officially popped. Foreclosures have increased 65% last year. House values have plummeted and people have resorted to new tactics to sell houses such as, buy one house get one house free and switching houses with buyers. Some would say the underlining cause of this downfall was due to risky subprime mortgages where lenders offered larger mortgages with higher fees (most of which were adjustable rate and not fixed) to borrowers who had less then perfect credit.

Credit Crunch

When the root of the housing market fallout was pinned pointed on faulty and risky subprime mortgages (along with other factors) the availability to lines of credits tightened. With this tightening of credit came lack of growth for businesses which fueled the trend of slower consumer spending which in turn cut the demand for businesses. If a companies can not grow to meet demand, or consumers do not have the available money to purchase goods the entire flow of domestic commerce slows.

Stock Market

One point up and two points down, two points up and one down; the same series of events happening on a daily basis.. With each sector doing their own nosedive based on oil, the housing market, credit crunch, and a possible looming recession. The story Americans hear the most is how domestic business are suffering due to our current economic downturn which causes domestic stocks to plummet, in turn causes investors to shift their portfolios international which causes even further sell offs.

Recession

A recession has nothing with the ‘decline in a country’s real gross domestic product’, but rather with the mental anguish an individual feels with the other four economic downfalls listed here. An individual gauges if the economic ship is truly sinking by things that hit closer to home such as unemployment, neighborhood housing costs and rising cost of goods. Consumers care less about the true definition of a recession; instead they care about how it will personally affect Main Street not Wall Street.

Tags: Credit·Crunch·Housing·Market·Recession·Stock