The DEPRESSION OF 2008

Okay,

You may not have heard this "lame announcement" (I'm borrowing someone else's phrasing), but at 4:22pm CDT on-the-air at the All-New KZQZ, I announced what many Americans have known for months: The United States of America (and to the Republic for which it stands) is in an ECONOMIC DEPRESSION.

Why announce this today? Yesterday, the price of a gallon of UNLEADED REGULAR gasoline in St. Louis hit the benchmark 3.99_9 -- or the $4/GAL mark. This is the first time that on the MISSOURI side of the Bi-State region, the price was at that highwater mark. Enough to say, in certain terms, that it's finally OVER THE TOP. Just three years ago, in the summer of 2005, the price of a gallon of Unleaded was a mere $1.65, and by the end of the summer it was up to $1.77/Gallon and people were mired in thinking that it was going to drop "soon".
Ha! We were all fools, including those who control the oil reserves, the stock prices on the market (not the price of the barrel --- I am talking about those who trade on the stock exchanges such as NYSE).

Now, the thing that makes this that much easier to announce TODAY was the interview on CNBC in the midday EDT hour with Louise Yamada (25 years with Smith-Barney/Citigroup - now with her own group - Louise Yamada Technical Research Advisors LLC) who was asked to comment upon the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S & P 500, and the NASDAQ. She said all three markets are "near critical peak levels" with a "likely fall to 10000" on the DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL index. When she was asked about the future of OIL, she maintained that the price of a barrel of oil will not likely drop "appreciably", and added that "some statistics" see $200/barrel. Consider that the price at that moment had dropped to $137.50 and try the mathematics. Even a non-economist can see there is a problem with those figures for the common man/woman.
The CNBC questions continued a few minutes later with Thom Hall, Financial Strategies Institute, who said "I expect to see a very volatile market in the next year." And he added that he expects to see the DOW in the 11000 range.
Sure, two opinions, two outcomes. Or is that TWO outcomes? For, he didn't see the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a few minutes LATER speaking publicly. Secretary Paulson towed many a line of the president's administration, giving as positive a spin as he could give [without outright lying] about the economic conditions. In fact, a quote from Mr. Paulson: "I believe market conditions will improve...but not in a straight line."
An interesting way of circling the obvious. The markets ALWAYS improve ------ eventually. This is a real DEPRESSION...not even the RECESSION YOU AND THE REST of the government have all but ignored over the past 8 months. The real street-level indicators were there last fall, but the treasury - and those who sit insulated from the middle class and the lower-middle class and the poor - would not look at the way things have been (and remain) to those of us who already ride mass transit because we can't afford: insurance, car payments, gasoline. And that's just one example of how the sucking-the-wind-out-of-us economy has been working for "us" since late 2007. I know --- personally --- of people who have been trying to find a halfway decent wage (including food service, mind you) and can't GET a job. It's not simply a tough market for job seekers --- it's a nearly impossible job market for many.

Do you know of someone who works three jobs and cannot currently make ends meet?
Yes, you do.

Welcome to the DEPRESSION of 2008.

It is REAL. So, those of you in the U.S. Government...those of you who hold major stocks which are about to PLUMMET...and (dare I say it?) you CEO's who are thinking this is a great time to get another GOLDEN PARACHUTE ---- I hope you really feel this market "adjustment". It will be a TRUER THAN YOU THINK adjustment. In the next 9 months, it is my suggestion that you meet the poor person who hasn't worked in the PAST six months and tell him/her how far you've fallen.

Maybe they'll have more sympathy than you think...or you've had for them.

Why would I make this announcement?

Go look around the corner at someone who used to drive a nice car or pay a market rate mortgage or live in an apartment they could afford four years ago and tell him or her how sorry you are that they can't have those things anymore. Because, believe me, those people are real people. And you don't have to look far to see them in person.

Happy Summer!

JRJunior