It's not all doom and gloom.

There seems to be a trend happening around here lately, everyone seems so negative and seem to be concentrating on the negatives, it's quite saddening to see really.

I thought I would throw in a little bit of positiveness, no doubt I'll get abused for doing it by some (those who relish being negative) but hopefully others will take a positive out of it...


www.detnews.com...

When Alan Mulally flew into town a little more than two years ago to take the top job at Ford Motor Co., many wondered what an aerospace executive from Seattle knew that Detroit's best and brightest did not.

Plenty, apparently.

Days before word that General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration as part of a plan to provide GM with more federal aid, Mulally sat in his corner office on the 12th floor of Ford headquarters with a grin on his face.



Asked why he was smiling, he did not hesitate: Ford has won all of the concessions it needs from labor and investors to weather the industry's crisis -- even if car and truck sales continue to decline.

Just three months ago, Ford said it might have to join GM and Chrysler LLC in asking Washington for help if auto sales did not bottom out by May or June.

But Ford has since reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers to reduce labor costs, and Ford bondholders snapped up an offer to swap debt for equity in the company, money-saving moves that put Ford on a more level playing field with Asian rivals.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Nice going. Star & flag. I hope everyone who has good news posts here!

(This might be the last post though. )

reply to post by pause4thought


You're probably right...

kinda proves a point then doesn't it?

reply to post by pause4thought


Not the last post!!

I hope that we bring back some vital infrastructure to this country to create more jobs. I feel a green industrial revolution would be good for this country. Not a violent revolution. I do not mean the cap and trade "green" carbon economy that is being pushed by international banksters, I mean a society that uses technology to it's benefit to reduce our need for fossil fuels in as many areas as possible. If Ford is saying they want to compete, then they should move money to the R&D and make this technology available as soon as possible.

reply to post by Chadwickus


The point it proves is that even those of us who'd love to be inundated with good news are resigned to the reality: positive economic news has been the exception to the rule for many months now. And it's easier to lose sight of the fact that much of the reality constitutes news that would have sounded like outrageous scare-mongering only a year ago:

*trillions in public spending to bail out banks, financial institutions and corporations (Freddie Mac, GM + literally countless others), banks around the world being bought out or even nationalized to save them from collapse, whole countries on the verge of defaulting, etc. - to say nothing of 'quantitive easing' in the US, UK & even by the IMF (-creating money out of thin air as a final last-gasp measure to keep the current order going until the 'new order' is the only alternative remaining).*

If you don't like doom & gloom that's totally laudable. But how many financial institutions have to fail, how many businesses/corporations have to implode, how many jobs have to be lost before you will accept that optimism regarding the economy of virtually any country you care to name is, if truth be told, itself bordering on outrageous?

reply to post by Chadwickus


*mod edit: Keep it civil thanks. Cheers -alien

[edit on 3-4-2009 by alien]

reply to post by Chadwickus


**friendly post**

Here's the figures you requested:

news.yahoo.com...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Mounting job losses and plans to lay off more workers continued to weigh on the U.S. economy in March, according to private reports that have analysts and investors bracing for more grim U.S. government labor market data from the government on Friday.

U.S. private sector job losses accelerated in March to 742,000, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday. February's number was revised up to 706,000 job losses from a previously reported 697,000.

Not good news.

Call it doom & gloom if you must. But it's a painful reality for many.

reply to post by pause4thought


I fully agree with you there and you're right there is a lot more bad news than good news.

But there is good news amongst it all and instead of saying "There goes thousands of jobs down the drain because GM and Chrysler are in trouble". You can say "Because Ford have managed their money better they have saved thousands of jobs"

reply to post by Chadwickus


If all you are doing is presenting positive news I can only repeat I applaud your attitude. I just felt it needed to be said that the reason so many threads/posts are gloomy is purely & simply a reflection of the terrible reality.

But please go ahead and continue to post positives. I'll not continue to put a dampener on it.

So THATS why Ford didn't get the aid.
And i thought unions were completely strict.

reply to post by eldard


What's with the attitude here? You're just trolling the thread. Go back and lay down in your corner.


And I think it's great to get some good news too. It's easy to get overwhelmed when all you read and hear is that everylthing is going down the drain. It makes people apathic. A little optimism may inspire people.
Star and flag to the OP.

reply to post by Chadwickus



When it comes to ATS it's a fresh breath of air when someone posts a postive article, just ignore the negative bottom feeders, there only goal in life is to drag you down to their level.

Thankfully most of us know better. Who gives a **** about capitalism anyway. There's more important things in life than material possessions.

[edit on 3-4-2009 by kindred]

There are lots of positive talk on this site, but the main reason I come here is to keep tabs on all the "doom and gloom" so we ( ATS folk ) can brainstorm and fix it or at least save ourselves. I am here to stay informed and want to be a part of fixing the problems. And by they way , I hope Ford , GM and Chrysler all fall flat on there face. They have screwed the American people for years and with our overwhelming disapproval they were still given our tax dollars , a reward for doing bad bussiness. Hausenfeffer !!

so i mostly lurk on these forums...been on here for over a year now...but im gonna say something about this

i believe that a lot of the current doom and gloom situation and the fact were in such a hole with economics rests on the medias shoulders...so many people are so locked into listening to the news channels, reading their morning papers etc etc and filling their brains with the flat out CRAP these mediums output that its scary

think about the last time you heard anything positive on the news...think about the last time you turned off the TV and really paid attention to the people around you

its nice to see that ford isnt begging for money and actually moving their butts to make sure they dont...im a big motorsports fan...ive been drifting for over 7 years now and building cars for just as long...and my PERSONAL OPINION with the trouble GM has gotten itself into is their own business...the fact they are begging for money is horrible...they came out a few weeks ago an acknowledge and openly admitted that they make inferior, unreliable and below the mark products...and they wonder why theyre in such turmoil

all that aside because i can go on for pages and pages about what a joke the american car manufacturers tend to be...the moral in this country would mroe than likely be A LOT higher in these hard times if more people stopped paying attention to the idiot box that fills their heads with such NEGATIVE crap...i personally never watch the news, never read the paper and really only look up alt news stories online if i hear something that peaks my interest...why...so i dont sit around all the time filling my head with negative thoughts that the idiot box and other media outputs like to fill our heads with

take 3-4 weeks out of your life and stop paying attention to the news (be it internet, TV or papers)...THEN...turn the TV back on and TRY to watch the news (either local or a news channel on cable)...you will be COMPLETELY appauled by the negativity your brain is intaking...it sickens me to even listen to the news channels because nothing positive EVER comes out of them

BEIJING, April 3 (Reuters) - A rebound in China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) in March shows that the Chinese economy may have bottomed out, China's chief statistics official said. China's official PMI, a measure of activity in the manufacturing sector, rose to 52.4 in March from 49.0 in February, marking the first time the index has been in expansionary territory since September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. [ID:nPEK365040]. "The continuous increase in PMI, along with positive signs I can witness from different places, showed that the Chinese economy may have started to warm up," Ma Jiantang, the head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, told the China Information Daily, the statistics bureau's mouthpiece. The March PMI also showed that China's economic stimulus measures had created demand and boosted growth, he said.

www.reuters.com...

Good news. I don't know why people on these forums wish for the worst

reply to post by Chadwickus


Nice thread Chadwickus. I guess these days doom and gloom is the norm. While it is important to be realistic and aware of what is going on in the world, people around the world will benefit far more from positive energy than all this negative energy.

Not saying people should be content and take it easy while things get tough, but you will more likely achieve something positive if you maintain an optimistic attitude. It's hard - believe me, I know - but you need to think of the things you DO have, and the people you DO have in your life.

Think of it this way - think negative, always get negative. Think positive, usually get positive. Change your thoughts, change your world.

Originally posted by daeoeste
reply to post by pause4thought

 

Not the last post!!

I hope that we bring back some vital infrastructure to this country to create more jobs. I feel a green industrial revolution would be good for this country. Not a violent revolution. I do not mean the cap and trade "green" carbon economy that is being pushed by international banksters, I mean a society that uses technology to it's benefit to reduce our need for fossil fuels in as many areas as possible. If Ford is saying they want to compete, then they should move money to the R&D and make this technology available as soon as possible.

America is not the world, and the point on this (starred and flagged) thread isn't solely about the world.

It's time to look beyond our borders, people!!

This is good news, especially since I have been buying Ford stock for the past 3 months. Things are starting to turn around. We will see more and more positive news coming out in the next few months. We will start to lose less and less jobs, I predict 200000 in June. We are already seeing better then expected earnings. This should be an especially good month for car sales with the job loss forgiveness plan and the fact the GMAC is starting to loan in the subprime market again. So for all the people who think it is the end of the USA or the start of the NWO sorry to dissappoint you, but it isnt going to happen.

reply to post by Chadwickus


This is a good post. We sure could use a little good news today.

As long as Ford can survive, they can call their vehicles whatever they want.

There is a real possibility that in 2010 we might see new vehicles from GM such as the Buick Pelosi. Better yet, how about the line of Chevy's latest SUV... The Obama! It comes with 2 DVD/Teleprompters in the back seat so that your toddler can gain the public speaking skills of the 44th US president!