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Strategies & Market Trends : Zeev's Turnips - No Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: limtex who wrote (75765)	6/7/2002 6:38:29 AM
From: Earlie	Respond to of 99280

Limtex: Says who? Right now, it is a well established fact that the U.S. economy is dependent on the consumer (corporations stopped buying a year ago). Most U.S. consumers are "up the ying yang in debt" and can buy new goods only to the degree that they can take on new debt. Keep on laying consumers off at the rate we have been doing this past 18 months and pretty soon, there aren't many consumers around who can qualify for, or afford, new debt/new purchases. It is also fairly well documented that each new lay-off affects the buying decisions of roughly 15 people in the newly-unemployed person's circle of friends/relatives/acquaintances. Initially, seeing friends receive the pink slip just leads to a general unease, but as it becomes more prevelent, most folks start pulling in their horns. Already, many consumers are starting to worry about their own personal "job security" and as that concern mounts, it leads to reduced consumer spending. Check out the recent results of the majority of retailers if you doubt this. The rate of lay-offs has not abated and in fact seems to be accelerating, especially in the high-pay territories. Good luck to any economy that is depending on the consumer to keep things going under such nasty circumstances. Best, Earlie