The Economic Crisis: Let´s Be Honest For A Moment And Share

Manitoba, Canada here. Things are still on the up and up in the keystone province. Lots of jobs available, malls are packed, post secondary education facilities full. The only places I know that are down sizing is the place I used to work at building RV's because most of the market for those were in the states. But we have such a diversity of jobs available that many people have moved on instantly and more often than not have found better jobs. If you can't find a job here, it's because you are not looking.

There is one thing I would like to point out to the success of Manitoba right now and that is immigration. We have had a huge influx of Chineese, Russians, Germans, Japanese, Indians, Africans, Mexicans, Arabs leading to a continuing demand for new homes. Construction is still strong and we do not have enough electricians and plumbers to serve the demand. Construction is non stop here. We have so many jobs available that we are starving for more people to immigrate here. Many of the schools that have been built in the last two years have been classified as too small by the time they are finished building them. These people have also started many businesses themselves adding to the job pools.

Many foreign companies are looking to start building here too as they see the market is huge for them. This is nothing but good because that means more jobs, more products and more choices for us as consumers.

The only thing that is falling behind and that is our health care. With all these people coming in and the only option is the government option (it is currently illegal still in Manitoba to have a private hospital). Our representatives need to understand that they cannot keep up and stop forcing their monopoly upon us. Many people go to US (which is only an hour drive from Winnipeg pay for better care because they are fed up with this system. We also have a government monolopy car insurer. It is rediculous. Ok I'll stop there.... I went off topic.

My message to my neighbors down south is to don't close your borders. The only people you are keeping out is the future Teslas, Einsteins, Von Brauns, Henry Fords, Bill Gates etc.

Edit to add: America if you don't want mexicans immigrants there, we need them up here

[edit on 5-1-2009 by Cool Hand Luke]

I have been paying attention to the economy and while it has been both disturbing and worrying it didn't hit home, until this week. Two major employers for this area, Purcell Tire, and Doe Run(which are lead mines and smelters) have both done massive firings this first week of 2009. Purcell got rid of about 25% of it's work force(factory and office) and Doe Run got rid of about 45% of it's work force. Doesn't sound like much to some but for us in this small town and small surrounding towns this is devastating for both of these companies to do this in the same week. I work at neither of these places but do know many that do, and those many were a lot of the ones let go.

I just went back to school to make a career change but now I'm wondering if getting the loans for tuition was a good idea.


A few other things I've noticed but didn't think of right off.Prices have been going up.Things I normally buy have become more expensive. Barret Jenson Ford closed down a few weeks back. This car dealership has been in this town as long as I can remember. Dollar tree went under about a month ago if it has to do with the economy or if it was just because they sold crap I don't know. I have also noticed that many of the stores here including wal-mart have bare shelves in many aisles. Theft has also increased here. Cars and houses being broken into and storage places getting hit a lot.

[edit on 5-1-2009 by Simon_Boudreaux]

[edit on 5-1-2009 by Simon_Boudreaux]

[edit on 5-1-2009 by Simon_Boudreaux]

I'm in Chicago. Instead of giving my antedote. I'll provide this info.


It's from the transcript of Congress' hearing into Fannie Mae .. this panel was of critics of the companies.

You could watch it here

www.c-spanarchives.org...

(The audio is muted for the first 30 secs or so).

Anyway here is some info you may have never heard yet

there are a total of 25 million subprime and Alt-A loans outstanding in the United States

an unpaid principal balance of $4.5 trillion.

These 25 million default- prone loans constitute 44 percent of all mortgage loans by count in the United States

This is the largest percentage that has ever happened in our history

they are currently defaulting at unprecedented rates

They loosened credit standards for mortgages, which encouraged and extended the housing bubble

Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac trapped millions of people into loans they knew were unsustainable. And they destroyed the equity savings of tens of millions of homeowners spread throughout every congressional district in the United States.

permitted to operate at a 75-to-1 leverage ratio that makes Lehman Brothers look like they were operating conservatively

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may deny it, there could be no doubt that they now own or guarantee $1.6 trillion in subprime, Alt-A and other default-prone loans and securities

They were responsible for 34 percent of all the subprime loans made in the United States

59 percent of all the Alt-A loans made in the United States

These 10.5 million non-prime loans are experiencing a default rate that's eight times the level of their 20 million traditional quality loans

These 10.5 million loans include 5.7 million subprime, 3.3 million Alt-A, and 1.5 million loans with other high-risk characteristics

This 10.5 million total does not include FHA's obligations, which add another 3 million to the total and bring it to 13.5 million out of the 25 million subprime and other default-prone loans. That's more than half

I estimate that 1 million of the GSEs' Alt-A loans had no down payment.

If the default rates I predict actually occur, U.S. taxpayers will have to stand behind hundreds of billions of dollars of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac losses

in the years 2005 to 2007, they bought over $1 trillion of these junk loans that are still on their books. Their purchases were a major factor in the development of the housing bubble and in the huge number of defaulted mortgages, which are now causing massive declines in house prices


In late 2004, Richard Syron and Frank Raines both went to the meetings of the originator community and made clear that they were going to wrest back the subprime and Alt-A mortgage market from Wall Street.

Syron said, "Our success in the future depends on our ability to serve emerging markets, and they've become the surging markets."

Raines also said, "We have to push products and opportunities to people who have lesser credit quality."


And this stimulated an orgy of junk mortgage development. Fannie and Freddie used their automated underwriting systems to divert subprime and Alt-A loans from private-label securitizers, driving up the value of these loans and making mortgage brokers even more eager to find borrowers, regardless of their credit standing.


Why did Fannie and Freddie do this? First, they were trying to meet HUD's affordable housing goals, which by 2005 required 55 percent of all their loans that they purchased be affordable housing loans, including 28 percent to low-income and very low-income borrowers. Second, after their accounting scandals of 2003-2004, they were afraid of new and stricter regulation. By ramping up their affordable housing lending -- that trillion dollars I mentioned earlier -- they showed their supporters in Congress that they could be a major source, on a continuing basis, of affordable housing financing.
=====================

The United States Congress caused this whole thing.

I'm in antiques and I can say for sure that high dollar antiques and other objects d' art are not selling for near what they once did. This is a direct result of the bad econop0my, and I too am scrambling to pay store/car/living costs. So far no late pays, but in a few months who knows. It may be back to driving my 91 chevy instead of my 2008.5 Titan.

Hope it turns around for you.

Sydney, Australia here. It's not too bad here...yet. There's this dark feeling that things are going to go tits up at some stage soon. A few people have lost jobs and housing prices are dropping, but it seems like the quiet before the storm at the moment. We seem to be a little sheltered down here in little old Australia. I feel like we're just watching the rest of the world unfold.

I'm from Michigan as well. So far i've been lucky and i am still working..but that may change. It has slowed down dramatically the last 3 months to the point where on many days there is nothing to do. I've lost quite a few hours and have struggled to get 40 hours a week.

A few weeks ago the owner announced that there would be a pay freeze for this year and that we'd lose all personal time. (1 day a month paid off)

I'm afraid this is just the start though. My job may be the next cut. Hopefully that won't be the case.

I do know some who have been layed off or let go. My wife was recently spared on layoffs from her work. With a baby on the way...we need her insurance as mine sucks. Hopefully we are both able to keep working.

The first thing to go will be the internet. Then cable....then my truck. Meh...too depressing...i don't want to think about it..

There are houses for sale everywhere here as well...and they've been there for quite some time. No one is willing to risk buying a house when everything is slowing down. Why take a chance on buying something as expensive as a house when you could possibly lose your job?

Now I hear from someone working in the county clerk's office that our county is getting ready to let people go. Our county officials are pretty corrupt so this doesn't surprise me.

Originally posted by MoonMine
Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated.

It seems like the crisis is felt the hardest in the country side (where I am) as opposed to larger cities. I wonder if that is to be expected??...

Well, for now.

I live in Los Angeles and work for local government, in a courthouse, so unfortunately business is booming. BUT, the state of California, along with most others I imagine, is in the midst of a fiscal emergency. When the shtf here, it's gonna be REALLY ugly. Here in the urban area where I live, I think a lot of people aren't all that aware, or care to be, of how deep the financial crisis is.

I wish that I could move out of here but I'm a pay-check to pay-checker, an older female (widow), no family anywhere in the world, so I'm stuck here.

I wasn't trying to take the stage here but I just wanted to comment. I really, really hope and pray for the best for you and your family. You might even want to check out this survival thread - some stuff is pretty extreme but there is also some good information -

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I live in Connecticut. They're impacted and if they come in.. if they could.. they'd mess up the straight smile I have from braces awhile back. =(

Note- I'm from a relatively wealthy suburb area of NYC and there have been so many foreclosed houses around here. Houses like mine were worth upwards of 600k a few years ago and now their worth has been completely cut in half.

I am in south central Indiana. We live in a town of about 12000. That actually is for the county I believe. My husband thankfully is still employed. My parents closed the door on thier business Dec. 31st. So I lost my job. We knew it was coming though and had about 2 months to prepare for it.
My soon to be son in law lost his job the day before Thanksgiving. He and my daughter have a new baby. They have both been looking for work since and neither have been able to find anything. Dec. 30th his brother in law lost his job. He also has a wife and 2 kids one of which is only 4 months old. His wife worked in daycare but the daycare closed because the kids that went there was children whose parents worked at a local factory that shut down in June.
We have now had 3 families in this neighborhood lose thier homes. Sad thing is there is only 7 houses on this block! One was a very dear friend. He and his wife had been in their home 16 years. She lost her job when the factory shut down in June. He is employed but they were not able to hold onto thier home. They did however manage to sell it for pay off and saved themselves that.
Wal-mart was odd around here. It is one of the biggest shopping places here. Normally the shelves are cleared out right before closing on Christmas Eve. Not this past Christmas. You could tell people were being very careful with what they were buying. I saw quit a few who I spoke with that were buying household goods for other family members for Christmas instead of the normal fluff.
We are now supporting 8 people under our roof. We had daughter her boyfriend and baby move in with us so we could help until they get back on thier feet. It is hard with only one of 8 working. But we are getting by.
My sister is a waitress who normally made 500+ a week in tips. She is lucky now to make around 200. She said people are still coming to eat but are not leaving the tips they normally would. Her husband was laid off a week ago.
We no longer eat out. If we are going somewhere and there is a chance we might get hungry I pack pb&J's and water to take with us to hold us over until we get home. We are doing a lot of from scratch cooking which has saved us a bundle on food. We are slowly stocking up also just in case something was to happen.
We were going to the casino 4x a month now we only go when we win free money with them online to play at thier casino. It is a nice quick break from reality and only cost the gas to drive there. We are trying our best to make the smarter decisions compared to the stupid ones we had been making. We cut up our credit cards and we have reduced down to 1 vehicle. Our only luxury item now is the internet. We got rid of the cable as we were paying around 70 a month.
Times are hard for most around here but I believe with what we are teaching ourselves and the kids right now if something was to happen we would be prepared.
We also homeschool and normally spend a small fortune on textbooks but are currently researching cheaper ways to do that also. Between the lost income and added family member and on top of that the cost of everything going up we have to find everyway to make our dollars stretch now.

I live in Lafayette La. and work is still going on like usual. Now thats kind of loaded since no one wants my job because I might be gone from home 2 months at a time. I work in the offshore oil and gas industry so I might be sheltered a little bit but I really don't know. I am worried about the oil prices lately but my boss tells me We are still turning down jobs left and right. I was working offshore around galveston the other day and I counted over 30 oil tankers parked up doing nothing. I am worried because why would oil tankers stay parked offshore while full? I think We might see some fuel shortages in the future guys just my opinion though. I look around town and I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. Hell I sometimes think I am totally #ing insane because I have been stocking up on food, guns, ammo, seeds, & water storage for well since the primaries when I noticed the media manipulating the election. I am so totally in debt due to having a new family but I make decent money and hopefully will continue. I haven't had a missed payment yet and my mortage is still ahead of schedule but I can see things going south real quick. I don't plan to stick around if the crap does hit the fan and the food shipments stop. I have already talked to my father and I will be leaving the city and going to the country if I have to and take control of my own food production. I have learned one thing in life and that is to never trust the government so yes I am hopefully prepared to deal with this engineered crash.

Originally posted by jkm1864
I was working offshore around galveston the other day and I counted over 30 oil tankers parked up doing nothing. I am worried because why would oil tankers stay parked offshore while full?

This is exactly what my chartering friend told me: shipping freezes without explanation. Very worrisome.

Thanks for sharing and looks like you will be fine for the moment in the business.

Originally posted by mommy4life
We are now supporting 8 people under our roof. We had daughter her boyfriend and baby move in with us so we could help until they get back on thier feet. It is hard with only one of 8 working. But we are getting by.

I salute you

Thanks for sharing

Originally posted by lel1111
I wasn't trying to take the stage here but I just wanted to comment. I really, really hope and pray for the best for you and your family.

Thank you very much, and we wish you well this year.

I did hear that California was very fragile earlier; you have confirmed that

I was working in the Central Scotland area as a Recruitment Consultant in the construction industry.

Ive still been looking for a new job after my company went bust in September 08 which was a pain as I was still bringing in a profit at my part.

I cant even get a job in Mcdonalds for crying out loud never mind something thats paying half decent, I keep being told I have too much experience etc. Ive heard of around 15 people being paid off after me, some of which are in my family ranging from telesales, retail and nursing charities. (Marie Curie)

Im starting to get worried now as my partners industry is now being effected. (Pharmaceuticals)

Things are getting cheaper over here but whats the use when you have no money. Still seems plenty of shelves are filled in stores unlike some stories ive been reading elsewhere. Gas and Electricity is sky rocketing though and in my country its always freezing especially right now. Im paying about £15 a day to keep my house connected to both.

If it gets much worse ill just camp outside Mr Browns house and wait for him. Nothing like an angry Scotsman looking for revenge.



[edit on 6-1-2009 by XXXN3O]

Originally posted by David9176
The first thing to go will be the internet.

I hear you.

It is a frightening thought to see people disappear from the site one by one because they cannot afford an internet connection anymore. Never even thought of that because a connection has become so common that being without one is unthinkable.

We have a 6Mb/1Mb connection over here in the cafe and a 1Mb/1Mb at home. If anything we could stop the 1Mb connection at home, but this would be basically my end as an ATS poster.

No more nightly discussions...

Thanks for sharing, I figured Michigan would be bad because of the Automobile industry. I have a friend in Flint and another in Boyne (Mountain), both retired and still playing golf

Originally posted by XXXN3O
Im starting to get worried now as my partners industry is now being effected. (Pharmaceuticals)

Wow, I was not aware Pharma was taking a hit...

If it gets much worse ill just camp outside Mr Browns house and wait for him. Nothing like an angry Scotsman looking for revenge.

I do not think poor Gordon Brown has anything to do with this, being just another puppet. Still, it would be tempting to give him a William Wallace greeting:

FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOM

Great movie Braveheart...

reply to post by MoonMine


They arent getting hit right this minute but from what im hearing they will, very shortly and my partner works with one of the biggest.

Everything I have read years before this has happened tells me this is going to be 100 times worse than the great depression so im not expecting to find work anytime soon despite searching daily.

Its only going to get worse I reckon.

Yeah I liked Braveheart, I think its funny how a lot of people still think we roam the grass dressed in rags chasing haggis and Englishmen though.

[edit on 6-1-2009 by XXXN3O]

Originally posted by dingleberry77
Sydney, Australia here. It's not too bad here...yet. There's this dark feeling that things are going to go tits up at some stage soon. A few people have lost jobs and housing prices are dropping, but it seems like the quiet before the storm at the moment. We seem to be a little sheltered down here in little old Australia. I feel like we're just watching the rest of the world unfold.

We had a family from New Zealand over last year who stayed here for almost 11 months and were regulars in the cafe.

They were going back in November because the family back home had problems (brother went bankrupt - retail) so they needed to head back to help the rest out. Very, very kind people.

Now I know that that is still way off from Sydney, basically just the same hemisphere. It is like saying I know someone in France and saying to a dutman "hey you live closeby do you know them?"

I have never been down under but would love to. My favorite singer of all time came from there: Bon Scott (RIP), former lead singer of AC/DC.

Thanks