Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: X Y Zebra who wrote (28448)	2/24/2003 6:48:29 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 57110

Feb 25 Amgen Analyst Meeting @ 11:30 Feb 28 Symantec Analyst Meeting @ 12:00 Goldman and Merrill having tech/comm comfs starting today /tomorrow

To: X Y Zebra who wrote (28448)	2/24/2003 10:06:27 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

sales tax receipts are probably the best gauge we have measuring consumer spending ....not only are people pulling in on spending....they are trying to sell the junk they have.. bizjournals.com Monday -- February 24, 2003 Signs of trouble abound Indications of economic trouble around the country arise far beyond standard signals such as manufacturing and unemployment reports. Pawnbrokers are seeing big jumps in business. "I see people taking TVs and things all the time," says one pawn shop customer in Greensboro, N.C. "It's bad. I've been out of work for six months and I can't find a job." Cash America International Inc. — the nation's largest chain of pawn shops — achieved the best earnings of its 18-year history last year. Profits were up 45 percent in 2002 over the year before. The rise reflects an increase in loans at Cash America stores like the one in Winston-Salem. There, short-term loans have risen 30 percent. Collection agencies are also seeing big growth. "We are sending more to the collection agency than we ever have," says a Florida business person. The number of licensed commercial collection agencies in the sunshine state has grown 165 percent in the past five years – from 43 to 114. Layoffs and a tight job market are creating a spike in employment discrimination claims. Earlier this month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's annual report noted a 4.5 percent increase last year in claims filed nationwide. "I've been with the agency for 30 years, and I can tell you that whenever we're in good times, we don't see large volumes of cases," says one agency official. Some local governments say the sales taxes they depend on for big chunks of revenue are eroding. In Cincinnati, which is using sales taxes to fund a new sports stadium, deficits are hitting hard. For the third year in a row, sales taxes have dipped, and experts are predicting a $5 million annual deficit in the stadium financing plan. "We've never had anything like this," says a county official. "We've had one-year dips, but we've never had three years like this."