CHESSNOID

The news that came out today is not surprising.  They were all negative and reflect the state of the economy.  It is a new year but nothing has changed from yesterday to today.  These were the headlines that dominated the business news today:

Wall Street Deflates 3% on Jobs Data, Profit Warnings

Stocks tumble as companies warn of weak results

Intel again lowers earnings forecast for fourth quarter

EMC to cut 2400 jobs

Lenovo Will Cut 11% of Workforce; Sees Quarterly Loss

I believe all this was expected and probably priced into the markets.  The way the investors reacted really was surprising.  They sold off like this is the first time they were aware of the way the economy is.  We had some rallies the past few days based really on nothing except we have a new year and a new president coming in a couple of weeks.  The numbers ended down:

We are in a recession and nothing has changed the state of our economy. When I first started blogging my observations of where I thought the economy was going over a year ago, I actually received emails about being too negative. I criticized the bad decisions Bush, Bernanke, and Paulson have made over the past 2 years and watched the negative effects of those choices cripple our economy.
There were definitely excesses in the economy especially in the housing area caused by the artificial rates the Federal Reserve pushed. After all the years of artificial growth, a contraction was in order. This recession didn’t have to be severe, which seems to literally get worse day after day. I do hope the new administration takes us into the right direction.
My concern right now is that Obama wants to do another stimulus package which requires spending. Unfortunately, that is what the Bush administration had been doing with a strong economy. He and his administration are making promises that none of this money will be wasted, but when you are talking about a trillion dollars on top of the trillions they just wasted on the fraudulent bailouts this past year, it is hard to have confidence in them. Those bailouts were passed by a Democratic House and Senate which both Senators Obama and Biden were a part of.