Are you spending every penny that you make?  Or more than you make?  According to this survey it doesn't appear that very many people are saving for retirement and plan on working longer.  Check it out here. 
 
 
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Sales of previously occupied homes rose in 2009 for the first time in four years, despite a December slump that was due to a tax credit that led many buyers to complete sales earlier.

Still, prices plunged more than 12 percent last year -- the sharpest fall since the Great Depression. The price drop for 2009 -- to a median of $173,500 -- showed the housing market remains too weak to help fuel a sustained economic recovery.

Read more here.
 
 
Companies worried about losing their all-star employees have good reason to be... Some savvy firms are already trying secure their cream of the crop employees, and when the job market improves, more workers will gratefully seize the opportunity to jump ship.

A recent survey from The Conference Board shows that 22% of workers want to switch jobs as soon as they can—not a comforting prospect. Recruiting and training a replacement plus the loss of productivity can cost up to three times a wage earner’s annual pay.

Read more here.
 
Super Bowl 01/11/2010
 
The economic slump has even taken a toll on Super Bowl ads, pushing the price down for only the second time in the game's history... but they're still the most expensive on television, narrowly beating out ads for Jersey Shore.
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Have you seen any businesses closing lately?  Headed to Circuit City?  I don't think so.  Need something at Mervyn's?  Nice try.  If you think it’s bad now, it’s only going to get worse.  When times were good retailers were buying inventory like it was never going to end... now they're paying for it... with bankruptcy.

These once successful companies had no clue how big the recession was going to be, leaving them with way too much inventory. However, this means the liquidation business is making a killing.  Overstock.com, redtag.com, and ubid.com anyone?  Check them out.

This also means great deals for consumers... don't pay retail for anything.  Wait for it to go on sale or move on.  The days of paying MSRP are over... for now.

 
GM minus 4000 06/23/2009
 
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Around 4,000 more salaried workers at General Motors Corp. will lose their jobs by the end of the year as the automaker continues to downsize.  Michigan is in trouble.  Things aren't getting any better.  Can you tell me one company that is hiring?  Anywhere?

GM notified its more than 27,000 U.S. white-collar workers by e-mail Tuesday that that it will offer standard severance packages, and employees near retirement age will have the opportunity to retire early.  How nice of you GM... you might as well have Tweeted it to everyone.  You're officially the worst run business of all time.

Some involuntary cuts will be necessary as well... GM is trying to shrink its U.S. salaried work force to around 23,500 by the end of the year.  Only 23,500 salaried workers at General Motors!  Now that's insane.

The automaker is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has received about $20 billion in loans from the U.S. government. The Treasury Department's auto task force is overseeing its plans to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy as a leaner, more competitive company.  Good luck... and I guess GM is the worst run business... but our government is much worse with money!  We're in debt, what should we do?  Get into more debt.  Real smart.

 
 
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Apple Inc. sold more than a million units of its latest iPhone model in the first three days, making it the most successful debut for a smart phone yet.  

The iPhone 3G S has a faster processor and a better camera than the 3G, among other differences. The 3G is still on sale, for $99. The 3G S costs $199 or $299 depending on the memory capacity.

 
 
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Major stock indexes got worked on Monday.  They fell by more than 2 percent... the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 201 points, after the World Bank estimated the global economy will shrink 2.9 percent in 2009. It previously predicted a 1.7 percent contraction.  How can you be that off on your previous prediction.  I've been saying this is going to happen the whole time.  Take a look at my Twitter from 32 days ago!  I had to take a break until the correction finally came because the market was going up for no reason.

People are blogging, writing, and talking about how this has eroded hopes that the economy was starting to emerge from recession... there was never any sign of recovery.  It was all smoke and mirrors during earnings season in the first quarter.  People were just sick of negative news, so they started to buy and pushed the market up without the performance to back it.  Things weren't improving... they were going from absolutely terrible to pretty damn bad.

 
 
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Sony is set to cut their suppliers by half... That's a big time cut and the effects will be far reaching.  It will have a domino effect - the suppliers will have to cut jobs due to Sony's cost-saving measures, then that supplier's supplier will have to cut jobs and so on.  Companies are hitting their number by cutting costs (jobs)... there's no actual growth.  The only good thing coming out of this is maybe they'll finally cut the price of a ps3.

Read more here.

 
 

Yes, 600 mid-sized banks would fail the stress test!  That's a lot of banks.  And the biggest problem is commercial real estate... which is the next piece of the bailout puzzle.  How long are we going to throw money at these black holes?  The most inefficient parts of our economy?  Why don't we let it get worse on its own before it gets better... let the free market work itself out.

Read more here.