Another Great Depression?

[Aggie_Ama]

In my work at the antique store I talk to a lot of folks. A dozen years ago when I started most of those were this "best generation". Coworkers would shake their heads "oh, I'm so sorry you have to talk to old people all day".

I'm having fun, these folks are great. I'm so impressed. And the stories? Impressive.

Are we up to a task like that? I don't think so

My favorite customer of all time at Lowe's was a man who came in and would tell me "I am A&M Class of 47. Would have been sooner but this little thing called World War II got in the way. I was going to go to Law School but I became a vet and I was okay at that. The dogs were nice co-workers." I always liked the elderly people at Lowe's a great deal more than the 30-50 crowd that is for sure.

I never get tired of hearing my 90 year old Mammaw and my husband's 80 year old Oma talk about being teens in rural hill country. Those two women could take care of cattle, kill a snake, skin a critter, grow an entire salad and mend your britches. I cannot do one of those things.

[Trek420]

My favorite customer of all time at Lowe's was a man who came in and would tell me "I am A&M Class of 47. Would have been sooner but this little thing called World War II got in the way. I was going to go to Law School but I became a vet and I was okay at that. The dogs were nice co-workers." I always liked the elderly people at Lowe's a great deal more than the 30-50 crowd that is for sure.

That's one of the things I noticed about this generation. Maybe it was the GI bill but they seem more educated. This is a generation that went to war, came back and went to school . Regardless of which socks you wear we are not doing right for our vets.

And the reward of the GI bill was a generation of veterenarians, etc. That was an investment that paid rich rewards as education always does.

[Zen]

I could actually afford T-Bills!
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bud...tash-Your-Cash
Hey, it's better than nothing.

[mimitabby]

Yes, when the European union began, I went to Italy and bought some euro's. They were 50 cents each. Now they are worth $1.50 each. Our money is worth less and less on a world level. Between that and the ridiculous prices we pay for medicine, it really is harder and harder for us to survive. Get healthy! ride your bike!! then you won't need as much medicine. That's our plan anyway!

[tulip]

Those two women could take care of cattle, kill a snake, skin a critter, grow an entire salad and mend your britches. I cannot do one of those things.

Well, I can do all that except skin a critter. That is, assuming cattle are similar to horses and goats. But my Joy of Cooking (1974 edition) has illustrated instructions on how to skin a squirrel, so I could probably learn if I had to. But I'd rather clean a fish.

[Zen]

I reckon I'd have to live in a commune and let someone else do the skinning

[Mr. Bloom]

Again, I want to add some perspective here relating to the original question.

In the last 30 years, 3,006 banks failed in America. Of course, the failures were clustered about the late 80's and early 90's. The median bank size in that period (not indexed for inflation) was about $56million. Big failures were rare...and will also be rare today. The failures then were caused by three primary things:
- fraud in the early 80's by a Tennessee banker named Jake Butcher
- the oil crash of the late 80's affecting Texas banks
- the real estate crash and recession caused by Desert Storm and the credit crunch.
But, the banking industry survived and came out stronger from the experience.

We may have a recession (depending on how you define that), we will have more bank failures, and we will have uncertainty.

BUT, we have a lot going right and there's no need for panic.

Back to a prediction that I made in a previous thread, our current circumstances, what I anticipate gov't policy response to our current situation, will breed a renewal of inflation pressures unlike what we've seen in nearly 30 years. If we can get out of the business of policing the world, balance the budget, and become productive again, then we have hope.


Finally, there are plenty of ways for people with more than $100,000 to have more FDIC insurance without having to spread it out over several banks. For instance, retire account deposits are insured for $250,000 (a fact that many people don't know....) and there are ways to title accounts that increase the effective amount of insurance coverage

[smilingcat]

Dear Mr. Silver,

Thank you for your link. It doesn't do me any good though.

Is this reasoning more or less accurate as to Wachovia's stock price activity today.

Wall street estimates had Wachovia to lose around $2-2.5 Billion for this quarter. Their earning came out with stated loss in excess of $8.0 Billion. A far cry from the expected. Also they've cut their divident down to 5cents (right move) and their stock jumped around 28% on the news.

So is my assumption correct to say that Wachovia decided to bundle their loss (write-downs) into shortest time span so as to not have a negative report for too many quarters. Meaning they decided to lump the losses together and limit the bad reporting to one or two quarter(s) so that subsequent quarter reports would look good. Reporting going forward then would make it look like Wachovia is over their financial trouble. And this aggressive move makes it a darling on wall street? 28% gain one day is one of the biggest I've ever seen. I just don't have the time to read the 10k reports.

And what about reports of federal regulators making un-announced visit to Wachovia headquarters. Or is this false information?

And what is the difference between Wachovia and WaMu. Besides Mooney threatening a downgrade of WaMu. WaMu reported a loss of only $3Billion or so. And their stock price is in a range where I don't want to touch all that much.

Your thoughts as a banker is of great interest to me.

Thank you,
Smilingcat

[Mr. Bloom]

The link simply shows that there is a way for normal people to achieve greater than $100,000 in FDIC insurance just in how they title their accounts.

I'll PM some responses to your other questions.

[tulip]

Gotta agree with Mr. Silver on this. Yes, it's an adjustment, but things were so far out of whack the other way for a while...remember? Did we get so comfy we thought that was normal? Shame on us!

[OakLeaf]

But my Joy of Cooking (1974 edition) has illustrated instructions on how to skin a squirrel, so I could probably learn if I had to. But I'd rather clean a fish.

See, that's why I had to hang onto my old Joy when I bought the new one (with a lot more vegetarian and ethnic recipes). They deleted the game recipes... and the bartender's guide.

I betcha skinning a squirrel isn't too different from skinning a catfish though. Except for the legs