Tuesday, December 16, 2008

cold comfort



From the Gloom and Mentira
Canada's stock market plunge... contributed to a 3.2 per cent drop in household net worth in the third quarter of this year, equivalent to ...$191-billion, Stats Can said Tuesday.

Stock prices were down by 18 per cent in the third quarter,...

“The...loss in... equities, combined with the related loss in the value of pension and life insurance assets..., was the principal factor “Also contributing were slower growth in residential real estate values and continued household borrowing. Total household assets fell 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.”
(slower growth? Hah!)
...the largest percentage drop in household net worth (in ten years)...

The numbers for the final quarter will almost certainly be worse, Patricia Croft... said....
Gosh! It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

I heard some bobble-head or another say last night that Vancouver RE prices will decline by 15%-20% in 2009. That would be on top of the ~15% haircut in 2008, I presume. Another fella said that price retreats will be in the same % as sales declines. That would be about 70% for Vancouver. 2010 will see another 30% off RE, and 2011, another 12%. Dare to Dream!

It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

Our fearless leader, who was so nonchalant about the economy until last week some time, had this to say today -
PM's economic flip: 'I've never seen such uncertainty'

Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper has delivered his bleakest forecast yet for the Canadian economy, warning yesterday the future is increasingly hard to read and conceding the possibility of a depression.

"I'm very worried about the Canadian economy."

When asked whether a depression might be possible,...‘The truth is, I've never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future,’ ...Harper says.

"It could be, but I think we've learned enough about depression; we've learned enough from the 1930s to avoid some of the mistakes that caused a recession in 1929 to become a depression in the 1930s." (emboldening mine)
This guy is so full of CRAP. Are you not thankful that it is his "hand on the tiller"? Garf. I really don't think that any lessons have been learned from the Depression - except how to better swindle people.

It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

Are you ready? Things are melting down faster than the Arctic.

Meanwhile, some Antarctic snow birds are having problems of their own. It seems that someone decided that two penguins are gay, and protested that they be given eggs of their own to hatch, as they have been stealing eggs of other penguins at the zoo in China.



Gay penguins... Who'da thunk it?

Oh, and I almost forgot, the Fed cut interest rates to between 0%-.25% today. The only route to kick-starting the economy now is lots and lots of overtime for the printers. Free money for everyone! (except in Delaware, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, Omaha, and The Big Island, and anywhere prohibited by local statute. Some restrictions may apply.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The conservatives are going to go from "Everything is Grand" to "We're Shocked by the Irresponsible Decisions Made Elsewhere" in record time. Unfortunately, the public memory is so short and the popular misconception that the Conservatives are a safe place to turn in times of trouble will persist...

Anonymous said...

You turn to conservatives when you want to conserve the disasters they and their "conservatism" always inevitably cause, for as long as inhumanly possible.

Unknown said...

Interesting about the gay penguins ...

solipsist said...

From the Gurus of Manipulation today - Harper's pessimistic talk making a bad situation worse, critics say

The PM's evolving views

Oct. 7: "I think there are probably some great buying opportunities emerging in the stock market as a consequence of all this panic."

Asked whether he would unequivocally rule out a deficit under his government: "Yes. ... Yesterday I think I was asked one question about whether we would run a deficit and I said, 'No.' That's my answer."

Oct. 11: "The fact of the matter is independent analysts, including the International Monetary Fund, say that Canada is not going to go into recession with the current world environment and its current set of domestic policies. We're the one country that's going to continue to show some growth."

Nov. 23: "The most recent private-sector forecasts suggest the strong possibility of a technical recession the end of this year, the beginning of next.

"I am surprised at this. I am also further surprised, more importantly, by deflationary pressure that we're seeing around the world. This is a worrying development, one of the reasons why it may well be necessary to take unprecedented fiscal stimulus."

Dec. 15: "The truth is, I've never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future. .... I'm very worried about the Canadian economy."


This guy is clueless. I warned y'all not to vote Conservative. Mind you, the alternatives were/are not much better. Harper is the biggest problem. He's got to go. The Harris retreads have to go too.

Anonymous said...

Gay penguins rule. Too bad Harper isn't a gay penguin, he'd be smarter. A LOT smarter.