Who is Really Preventing Job Growth in this Country?

Given all this market news....

"Large banks and corporations are thriving. Corporate profits have risen to pre-crisis levels, according to the Commerce Department. Company balance-sheets haven't been this strong since 1956, Fed data show. Firms with access to the capital markets are taking advantage of record-low interest rates and refinancing expensive debt, and pocketing the difference. Last month, IBM sold three-year notes to investors, offering 1 percent interest. On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. sold three-year notes at 0.875 percent interest to help fund share buybacks and increased dividends for shareholders. It's reportedly the lowest interest ever offered by a company looking to sell three-year debt."

Why no jobs????

 

I believe it is uncertainty.

Job creators are not certain about their taxes and costs in the future.
They are sitting on cash stockpiles, but are hesitant to spend. I am one of them.

Terry McCauliff, X head of the DNC and Virginia Gov candidate, said it well. On an apearance with Sean Hannity Tuesday, he told us about the green car company he bought in china. 4000 jobs for the southern states......BUT......even he stated, and I paraphrase:

" Now is not the time to hire, this administration makes hiring impossible. As a businessman, I need to project my labor costs, I cannot do that with current policy "

 

Reasonable assumption and if credit is too tight for small businesses (the real job creators) to be able to expand and add employees, it completely explains why the jobs have not come back yet even though the recession is "officially" over. You would think that uncertainty would also affect the Stock Market but for some reason it has gone up and up. So to sum it up, we have a small business market that can't get the credit from the big banks to grow and add jobs, we have large corporations that are flush with cash but too afraid to invest and add jobs, and we have a Stock Market that is red hot regardless of the uncertainty.

 

I think it is not only employers. Look around. Average income people don't have any confidence in what is happening either. Obviously, we all run in different socio-economic circles here but I can tell you that the average income people I know, including myself, have found ways to cut back on things over the last 2 years.

We still live well and aren't in any actual economic danger but we have, for instance, switched from $15 Pizza Hut weekends to $6 Kroger take home and bake deli pizza weekends. We have switched from $40 Showtime/HBO subscription movie nights to $9 Netflix Streaming subscription movie nights. We $1 Redbox instead of $3 Blockbuster. We buy a lot more store brand stuff instead of name brand. We travel less distance for entertainment which keeps our dollars more local. And on and on.

I don't see a lot of confidence in the $50-100K household income folks I mostly know. I think most people are doing what I have said before...preparing for and making themselves a new normal because they have little confidence in what they have seen over the last 2 years. And that kind of new consumer, I am sure, also has an effect on what businesses are willing to do as far as expansion.

 

I think Jack & Stu have both nailed it. Neither employers nor the people know what the landscape will look like 30, 60, 90 days from now. I feel secure but who knows, it could change tomorrow.. I know my employer is being a little more cautious even though the company is doing very well and it is all because of a lack of confidence...what BO says isn't always true.

 

Greed??

 

What stock market graph are you looking at?

10/2007: Dow reaches high over 14K
03/2009: Dow looses over 50% of it's value in 17 months and falls under 7K
09/2010: Dow is currently climbed back to almost 11K, still over 20% below it's high.

I would hardly call that red hot. But you are more interested in your making your point than presenting the truth so I guess we should expect that type of rhetoric from you!

 

I guess you're in another one of your attacking moods. Fine, you pick some obscure point and drill down to an absurd conclusion.

The fact is that by every indicator, the stock market is extremely bullish. I saw a story just last night saying exactly that and they said that the usual September flat market up more than any September since 1934. Here read it yourself: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-market-looks-to-best-september-in-decades-2010-09-26

Having jump on this one single point and doing so incorrectly, you have missed the entire point of my post. But what else is new?

 

What he said is correct Lehigh even by your own statement it hit a low in 03/09 but since that point it has climbed has it not? ok it might not have reached pre fall highs but it is not far off it and it has done it in just over a year and a half now that is some growth considering it was the worst crash since the great depression So ok possibly not red hot but thats simply semantics but the only way we got out of the great depression was to have a world war

 

When the stock market loses over 50% of it's value in less than 18 months, a severe correction in the opposite direction is expected. The fact is that the overall health of the stock market can't be evaluated by only looking at the last 18 months and ignoring the 18 months prior to that.

 

Obscure point, it was your only point. The whole theme of your post was defending the idea that the recession is over but jobs have not returned. Your only evidence that the recession is actually over is that the stock market is red hot. When view outside your little 15 month bubble, the stock market is not red hot. In addition, the volatility within the stock market over the last 15 months is indicative of an unstable economy.

There are outside factors in play right now that are affecting the stock market. The prediction about the Republicans regaining control of Congress are having a huge impact. If the November elections come and go and the Democrats are still in control, expect a big drop in the Dow.

But you are the genius here Dr. Moen. If you think the recession is over, then tell us what started the recession and give us an update if you will.

 

That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. You would have us believe that the entire market should be defined by a bubble that burst. You really shouldn't be speaking on this subject without learning something about it first.

 

I could tell you what my post was really about, I could point out that the stock market was only one of three different points in that posting, and I could listen to you ramble on providing no evidence but your opinion while I post quotes and links, but why bother? Thanks for the predictions but given your knowledge of the subject in general, I'd prefer to flip a coin.

 

What the hell are you talking about! I never said the bubble burst defines the stock market, but to ignore it and define the performance of the DOW since the collapse is in your words, dumb.

Listen you clown, declaring that I have no knowledge in order to save face isn't going to work. Why is that you an Tomclown engage in the same cowardly tactics on this forum when you are wrong? You have not proven anything in this thread. I ask you to identify what caused the recession and give us an update and you can't even do that. All you can do is proclaim yourself the expert on the subject and attack my credibility. You work at an unknown College with an unknown job. Is the place even accredited? You have stated on several occasions that you are not a professor. I guess that means your occupation falls somewhere between janitor and Admissions clerk. How does that make you an expert at anything? What are your credentials on this subject that we should automatically accept your opinion? If you had money in the stock market before the crash, you would certainly not be calling the stock market red hot. I guess that tells us you are broke as well. Let's see, you have no money, you don't have a job in the real world, and you are a self proclaimed expert on every subject. No wonder you are a democrat.

Stop blowing smoke and answer the ****ing question. If you think the recession is over, then tell us what started the recession and give us an update.

 

I'm "in the market" and it doesn't exactly feel red hot to me, in fact I'm still down from where it was a few years ago. One can look at trends or indicators or short term performance...it doesn't matter. Here, in the real world, when it's down it's down.

Everything has to do with confidence & confidence is what we are lacking as a country. People invest when they are confident. Manufacturers produce when they are confident. Employers hire when they are confident. Banks lend when they are confident. Consumers spend when they are confident. When all of this happens we do well as a country....well it ain't happening now is it?
Why? Because nobody has confidence in where this BO fella is taking us. Wake up & accept it, libs. Conditions will not improve while we have a novice, empty suit in the WH.

 

Yes everybody else is a "clown", your favorite insult. We get it.

I love the question Nazis in this forum. You answer their stupid questions or you're running away from them and they are right. They ask a dumb question and expect to jump all over you if you try and make sense out of their idiocy. Don't ask me questions and demand answers. If I ignore you it is because you are acting like an idiot. If that makes you right, you must be right a lot because you act like an idiot most of the time. At least you're right in your own mind. Stop jumping into conversations if you only have stupid opinions to offer. Nobody cares!

 

I think the market has been going up and down like there is no confidence in it. It is trending up again recently but isn't even back to where it was 6 months ago. It is about where it was at the beginning of the year, actually. So, if you look at it that way, there has been no gain at all this year. Not sure I would even call that warm.

 

I call you a clown when you act like one, which is most of the time. Now your new cowardly tactic is to refuse to answer questions because they are stupid. The real reason is you are a dumb ass and you either don't know the answer or answering truthfully would hurt your dumb ass argument. Question Nazis huh, what a ****ing clown you are!

So how does and dumb ass (you) make sense of idiocy? Furthermore, how does and dumb ass (you) identify something as idiocy? BTW, those are rhetorical questions, dumb ass.

What are you going to do Janitor Moen? Put me on your ignore list if I don't stop jumping into your conversations. I think we should create a reality show with the members of this forum called Top Clown. You would be right up there with Tom at the top.

BTW, why are you so scared to divulge your occupation and College name to the members of this forum?

 

....so long as I am on top...

 

OK to start with everyone calm down And cut out the personal attacks


Now to answer Lehigh's point no one has disregarded anything the market was on a artificial high that it coudnt hold up so it failed, the recovery was not expected to happen as quickley as it has Now if you care to dispute that fine but back it up with facts If you read the reports that were out at the time of the crash it was expected that a recovery would be very slow due to the world wide nature of the event markets do have a habit of adjusting themselfs in the normal course of events but this was not a normal event

On October 11, 2008, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the world financial system was teetering on the "brink of systemic meltdown now that is not normal

In the US alone 15 banks failed in 2008 that is not a normal trading event

I believe that nearly all the major trading hubs actualy closed there doors to stop a total meltdown from occuring again this is not a normal event and we are still feeling the effects now or have you forgoten what happend on May 6th of this year? well a quick reminder the US stock exchange fell by almost 1000 points
And I will just add that without TARP been in place this recovery woudnt have happend