CEOs, Wall Street warn of recession

Source: Reuters

Corporate chiefs and Wall Street investors warned of recession and rising costs in the United States on Friday, as a clutch of leading companies reported mixed quarterly results.

The comments struck the most pessimistic note in recent months as CEOs assessed the damage on the U.S. economy from a tumbling housing market and continuing problems in the debt market.

The U.S. economy will be "near to, or even in, recession" next year, according to Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's top maker of earth-moving equipment, in its earnings report on Friday.

"So we've put (the chance of a) recession in probably a 50-50 type range," Caterpillar's Chief Financial Officer Dave Burritt told Reuters in an interview.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1933582620071019

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When CEO's and Wall Street start saying things like that, you know things are a lot worse than some believe.

I mean, offshoring millions of jobs overseas can't possibly be a negligible factor, surely?

will stave off economic disaster. Cut the American working stiffs loose & go for Asian labor & consumers.

What's your point?

:sarcasm:

The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican party. Mrs Clinton has also emerged as Wall Street's favourite. Investment bankers have opened their wallets in unprecedented numbers for the New York senator over the past three months and, in the process, dumped their earlier favourite, Barack Obama.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3075691.ece

So does that mean they think she will continue the war and is enough like Bush that they can back her?

Yes.

v. labor and how they view any candidate doing what they want v. what the voter wants.

But he also said Iraq had WMD and the Taliban was destroyed.

:shrug:

See one of his (many) definitions of "progress" there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2078515

Iraq: Hundreds forced to scavenge for food in garbage bins

Plus: the little king's definition of "compasionate conservatism" :puke: is "veto health-care for poor children here" also... :mad:

no, not a recession. One more reason to trust nothing "they" say.

I ever heard.

The Chimp n Grandpa Fred n Julieani n all the rest sez the e-con-omy is great, never been better.

Could the leaders of the party of business be wrong?

Could their stewardship be leading the country into disaster. Our first 'MBA' Chimp . . err . . President.

I just saw an ad tonight for a huge sale at a major furniture retail chain. The reason for the "biggest sale ever" was "the current housing and credit crisis", according to the three inch type on the TV. At least someone is willing to admit that there's a problem!

Forget about getting a raise, people are lucky if they have a job, and everything is getting so expensive.

I think the Dem's are getting sucked into the Rep's game of war and campaigning on that issue. Especially when you consider that they have little new to offer on that front.

It's the economy stupid!

More significantly, one of the hedge fund legends says we are headed for a "doozy" of a recession.

What gives? Corporate taxes made up 20% of all taxes collected when Bush assumed office. Today it is 10%. Apparently lower taxes cause recession. (The mechanism is complex, but in this case, arguably true. Lower taxes created the Bush deficit which has ballooned in an unprecedented way, which has created worries that the government will simply erase the debt by devaluing the dollar, which has caused people to dump dollar-denominated assets, a situation not helped by the real estate bubble, which itself was fueled by a Fed that kept rates too low for too long, which wound up inflating prices of homes so much on the coasts that they bear no relationship to what middle class families can actually afford to pay.) Whatever the complicated series of events, it is clear now that Republican economic policies have failed.

We should make this point as often as we can.

My wife and I took our retirement money out of equities at the beginning of the month, and that seems to have been prescient. I'd advise other folks to follow suit--this isn't a buying opportunity, it's a global financial collapse. I wonder who was doing all that selling this week. Not insiders, surely.

The article failed to mention that the reason why the CEO's in question were talking in the first place is because they are in charge of companies that tanked this week. Funny how, when a corporation's stock rises, it is because wise management has created shareholder value, but when it falls, it's always due to some completely unforeseen, completely unforeseeable macroeconomic disequilibrium.

The Dow was down 4.1% this week, the NASDAQ lost 2.9%, and the S&P 500 3.9%. These are the only number Republicans care about, so, even by their standards, their policies have been a failure. And there's more to come: the trade and budget deficits will continue to be horrible, the dollar's plunge will get worse, oil will be pricey so long as the occupation of Iraq continues, more banks will discover they have made bad loans, etc. No matter what happens, we need to continually remind people that this has been the result of Republican economic policy.

I saw the markets drop this morning and started making preparations for a complete bailout. Then the DOW recovered to 180. That seemed to stick, so I thought I'd let it ride. Now I wish I hadn't. But if things go bad on Monday, I'm going to go flat on my portfolio and see if I can by EURO's. I don't consider that panic, because if I can buy Euro's, then obviously I can buy back dollars and US equities later. Or who knows,,, maybe gold.

But you nailed it. Bush's shoddy house of termites is beginning to crumble.

I also think our Democratic candidates are off track too in campaigning on republican issues...

Remember the old saying?

"It's the economy stupid"

Time for Obama and company to put down the books about islamic tribal history and learn some new words, GPD, GAAP, unemployemnt rate, market panic, hyper-inflation.

Just like the war, we need to lay the blame where blame is due, making it clear that the economic decline of the US is attributable to the policies of Bush and his Republican cronies in Congress. This cannot be said enough, and we must continue to make the point about taxes--Bush has cut taxes on the rich more than anyone, and yet the economy stumbles.

A good economy actually decreases inequality. Policies that increase inequality actually destabilize the economy. Most people who are not economists know this.

I like the Euro idea. The trouble is there's hardly anywhere safe to put your money--even Asian currencies could tank if the US economy collapses, just based on their trade with us. I don't like gold for now, not unless we see more evidence of impending (hyper)inflation, in which case smart folks such as yourself will have plenty of time to act. Right now, we have everything in government securities, on the theory that T-bills will go up. We'll re-evaluate at the end of the month.

:sarcasm:

Before the 2009 inauguration, or it'll get hung on the Democrats

"As soon as they got into power, the whole economy fell apart!"

...and we'll be sure to trickle-down more tricklings for you little peons to feast upon.