MK, good points about the R/E market. Consider also Texas. Though not as energy dependent as in the past, oil in the low teens (some say $10 soon) has to hurt. Cutbacks in exploration and drilling, wells being capped because it is no longer profitable to pump oil out of them, refineries reducing production, can all have a rather depressing effect on a regional economy. It's called deflation.
BTW, you may be interested in an article in today's WSJ, page A14 in the eastern edition, about the Japan Finance Ministry's efforts to prop up the stock market. Several officials have even said publicly that their goal is to get the Nikkei back up to 18000 by 3/31, same level as 3/31/97, so that banks and other companies won't show losses on their year end reports. They have even gone so far as to make changes in accounting rules to minimize (read that "to hide") the effects.
Scary.
Bob |
