Consumers forgo finer things as slump hits home

"CONSUMERS are already cutting back sharply on their spending and have turned away from high-priced luxury items as fear grows that Australia faces a deep and sustained economic downturn."

The economy needs to be based on primary and secondary industry in slower economic times. People will have less disposable income and will use their income to drive their life. They will cut back on luxury items and service industries will deplete. It'll be interesting because we have a lot of people who haven't experienced tough economic times and they are probably going to look upon it as deprivation. Things will have to be practical and functional and people will start looking for things which will last. That ought to be interesting in today's throw away economy.

Consumers forgo finer things as slump hits home | theage.com.au

S&P/ASX 200 and All Ords surge on decisive Obama win

"AUSTRALIAN shares surged alongside Asian markets today after Barack Obama won the US presidential election."

Woo-hoooo!!! Even the stocks are happy. Way more interesting than yet another old guy.

S&P/ASX 200 and All Ords surge on decisive Obama win | The Australian

Generation Y-worry still unfazed by credit woes

"They are not married, they don't have a mortgage, they don't have children, they're not too worried about their careers & So if they lose their job, that's fine. They'll just hunker down at home, watch the plasma telly and won't worry about the future."

If they are still spending and running up credit ,then eventually they will have to change. They are an ever optimistic age group who not only have had a lot, they have had to change a lot. Some of them have been driven to be high achievers with every waking moment supervised, every thought scrutinised and every idea challenged. Others have been in freefall like the market with no boundaries and no solid foundation. They have done as they have pleased and they have no idea what authority and limits mean. So it is an interesting mix of people and the article looks at quite a number of the issues with Gen Y. Some of them will survive extremely well because they are not fussed by outside influences and they can manipulate all sorts of circumstances and people quite well. Others will hit the wall. They are good at networking and very good at creating productive groups so it will be interesting to see how they manage. Those who have the wisdom of their families behind them will be all right. Those who survive boundary free living will be very inventive. They will change and maybe even bring some innovation to our consumer approach to life.

Generation Y-worry still unfazed by credit woes | theage.com.au

Job Losses

We can tread this path of doom and gloom and get sucked into the black hole of poorly managed global finances and the rewards we, as normal citizens, will reap form their hair brained schemes or we can hang onto our hats, our dignity and our self respect and think our way  out of this. It might mean we have to consider others. It might mean we have to share. It might mean we have to co operate as a group. There must be ways of managing this so we are not all pushed to the wall. There must be a way of getting through this so we can all manage. Maybe part time work will help. Maybe changing the work day will help. We need to look at our options. I am not going to put up with the fear fest that is for sure. It serves absolutely no useful purpose.

Financial Crisis

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AdelaideNow... Shares rebound on bail-out hopes

Leaders of the US Senate yesterday said they were scheduling a vote to be held last night on a revised financial system rescue package and if this was passed, it would raise pressure on the US Congress to also pass the plan, possibly tomorrow.

Our money situation just didn't happen just like that. It's important to respond and not react. It's going up, down and all over the place. The great outcome of this is that people are pooling their thinking resources and some really interesting views and explanations are being heard. Radio stations and the Net are coming into their own as they share news and views very quickly and effectively. We are really very fortunate to have an ageing population because they have a wealth of knowledge and experience on which to base some interpretations of this market. Then we have some real whizz kids out there who understand how the new terms and ideas work and can interpret that for us. The big plus of this situation is there is no generation gap. The ages are working together to bring some sense and sanity into all of this. Firstly it brings us information. Secondly it is bringing us strategies and thirdly it is getting so many people to think better about all of this. The whole world is online and we are able to share our views , knowledge and experience. We are able to get information quickly and then there are people who are showing us what to do with that information. Money crises are not a bit fun and people are tearing their hair out. We just need to have confidence in our connectivity so that international experts can help us sort through this in a more comfortable way.It really is a challenge and it's a test of whether we actually have sufficient knowledge and know how to competently steer the global markets!