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To: frankw1900 who wrote (1535)	10/31/2002 11:45:31 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6901

I beg to differ. The consumer confidence has been pretty good for the most part of this year because the little guys believed what their government AND the Street told them - i.e. we are out of the shortest recession known to men, etc. Right now, the consumption that is continuing is one-off items like where autos are being sold for 0% credit. That will not continue, because: 1) People need only so many cars and those are used for a few years 2) More jobs are cut every day and people began to fear that it might be their turn soon 3) Consumer confidence nosedived to troughs seen last in 1993, which to me suggests this is a development that cannot be classified in the "it hasn't been great for a while so what?" department. This means, for example, lower retail sales, especially high-ticket items like electronics. >Consumer credit is available and folk are stepping up I don't know if you noticed but the consumer is SO indebted that it is becoming scary. The US consumer is repeating the exact same mistake of bubble-time "let's invest because we can find debt!" craze of telecoms.

To: frankw1900 who wrote (1535)	10/31/2002 1:09:03 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6901

It is not a safe job to be a "Pollster" in Iran. From "Reason" Like It or Lump It (10/30) A poll of Iranians has revealed that 74 percent of those over 15 want the nation to engage in talks with the United States and 45.8 percent believe Washington's policy towards their government is "to some extent correct." How did the government react? The religious judiciary jailed the heads of the state polling agency, which conducted the survey, and the state news agency, which published it. They are charged with "publishing lies to excite public opinion." No action has been taken against parliament, which commissioned the poll.