Can you please explain- Why are stocks, bonds, the employment rate, and buying homes at a horrible level???

First, get your facts straight, then ask the question.





1. Stocks are at the highest level in history (actually they were 2 weeks ago, but have since pulled back about 4% to the levels of early June).





3. Bond interest rates are near their long-term traditional levels - they typically yield about 2-3% higher than inflation (as they are now, about 4.5 - 5.5% depending on term).





3. The unemplyment rate is at 4.6% - not 'horrible' unless you are one of the 1/20 who are looking for work and not found it yet. Anything les than 6% is considered 'normal' for the US economy.





4. The home-building sector is having extreme difficulties - that is the result of a huge home-building boom when interest rates ver very low (home loans going for 4-5%) and a of new people could qualify since their monthly paymetns were now low enough. Then in the past 2 years the Fed had to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check...this raised home loans to the 6.5% level and priced many low-income people out of the home market. So the home building sector have rough times for awhile.Can you please explain- Why are stocks, bonds, the employment rate, and buying homes at a horrible level???
Because everything changes. Few things in life are static. Like my baby - one day pleasant, the next day one long tantrum. Aren't you glad things are fluid? Makes things interesting.





By the way, I am in NYC and this place is burning hot, underground subway stations a roasting 140+ degrees. I wish I were someplace cold.Can you please explain- Why are stocks, bonds, the employment rate, and buying homes at a horrible level???
In my opinion it's because of how greed Americans have become. Our country is all about how much money we can get, what lavish things we can buy. The majority of people are so far in debt its unimaginable how they'll ever get out of it.





Theres also a thing called, CEO of a company. I was looking for an article I read recently, but I can't find it now. It was on MSN, and it was about the top ten perks for CEOs. One guy demanded that if he had to relocate, he wanted at least $250,000 to buy a new house or he wouldn't do it!! As if he doesn't make enough already!!! Do you know that in 1980, CEOs made about 42 times the average workers salary? In 1998, CEOs made 419 times the average worker. You can just imagine what it is today!





You can always blame the war for now. The U.S. is spending about $255 million dollars every single day on the war. Yes, per day! Thats unbelieveable! Where are they getting this money? We're in debt! Not only as consumers, as people trying to make it through our day, paying with credit cards, paying the minimum amount due, or hiding from collections agencies, are we in debt. but our leaders, our government, the ones who are responsible for the very ground we walk on each day, are in so much debt, who knows how they'll get out of it?





This country is currently based on greed, how much you have, how much you can show off- whether you can afford it or not, the sports cars, the fancy houses, whatever you can to be impressive. So we're in debt, we're a MESS! Not to mention, there are plenty of houses sitting on the market not even being sold.





The reason I got into the CEO topic was to show you that... Well, they're making a ton of money while doing virtually nothing. Sitting up in an office, trying to be impressive. But a small microscopic worker at the bottom of the food chain is working their hands to the bone in some coroded factory to barely make payments on the bills... Luckily, a law is supposedly being passed to put a cap on how much a CEO can grant themselves. Dont you think that money should be distributed more evenly? Of course! unless you're a CEO lol...





So... Thats pretty detailed right here. Thats a lot of information to handle, and you can only dream of how much is going on that we are being made unaware... I'm not sure how old you are, but I hope you get a good paying job. I'm only 21, and I know how important that is. Who knows if it'll even pay off???





Good luck in life!
Bernanke won't cut interest rates, I hope he does next week, if he does, you will see all of those (except for bonds which are good right now) turn around.
because you have spent trillions and trillions on a futile war trying to help people who hate your guts and always will - why dont you ever learn? why have gallons of US blood been spent in the desert sands propping up the oil billionaires and their cronies who supply weapons and hardware?? why is no-one doing anything about these people??
inflation, business cycle, and sub-prime lending