Things Are Tough All Over, But Really 'Horrific' in New York
Posted Dec 12, 2008 03:02pm EST by Aaron Task
Related: GM, C, JPM, BAC, F, FXI, ^DJI
The U.S. economy is in a recession. There's no denying that. But Diane Garnick, investment strategist at Invesco, who spends most of her time on the road, says people are feeling the downturn differently in different parts of the country.
Here's a sample of observations from her recent travels:
* San Francisco: The economy is slowing but at a very slow pace relative to other regions.
* Chicago: Being hit by by woes in both the auto industry and financial services.
* Midwest: Farmers are very worried because food prices have come down sharply from their record highs.
* The Carolinas/Georgia: The pace of the slowdown is starting to picking up.
"But no city is [feeling the downturn] as bad as New York," says Garnick.
Given the destruction on Wall Street this year, that's certainly understandable. But "the really bad part" is people are leaving New York because they can't afford it anymore and "they're bringing the horrific message about what's happening in New York back to their hometowns," which isn't helping anyone's mindset, she says.
On the international scene, Garnick spends a lot of time in China, which this week reported a big drop in exports, as well as other signs its economic juggernaut is slowing.
There's a lot of anger among ordinary Chinese, Garnick says, because what they see as "asymmetry" between how much they profited (personally) during the boom and how much they are suffering now.
But China's government is responding with a massive stimulus package, which is both helping the mindset of its citizens and, ironically, providing a template for America.
finance.yahoo.com,^DJI |
