Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Trying to Sell Your House? Good luck, you will need it!


So have you seen all the for sale signs around town, got one in front of my house. Not many sold sign on those for sale signs, are there? Maybe the reason there are not many sold signs going up is because existing home sales dropped to their lowest levels in February. The Associated Press reported the National Association of Realtors says pending U.S. home sales fell to the lowest reading on record in February, signaling the housing market distress is not yet over.

The Chicago-based group's seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell to 84.6, which was 21% below year-ago levels.

Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would inch higher.

An index reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001, when the index started.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

What is the difference between a Recession and Depression?


I was sort of watching the morning news as I was getting ready to come into the office this morning. As a tease right before commercial break the news program put the front page of a newspaper on the screen that stated the U.S. economy was going into a depression not a recession. While I did not get to see the actual segment to see what they said, I wanted to try and explain the difference between a recession and a depression.

This is not an easily answerable question, because there is not a single definition that is universally agreed upon amongst economists. Ask 10 different economists the definition of a recession or depression and you will get 10 or more different answers. An old saying among economists is that a recession is when your neighbor is laid off from his job, and a depression is when you are laid off from your job. This is probably the way most Americans feel and define the difference.

Probably the most widely used definition of a recession is a decline of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. However, some economists feel other economic indicators should be taken into account such as consumer confidence, wholesale and retail sales, unemployment and other economic indicators. Also, some economists feel by defining a recession by two consecutive quarters of decline it is hard to determine exactly when a recession begins.

A depression prior to the Great Depression, was any downturn in economic activity. Thus, now a days a depression is a recession that lasts longer, has a larger decline in business activity than a recession. If the GDP declines more than 10 percent it is probably a depression and not a recession. So basically if it is real bad economic times for a real long time you can stop calling it a recession and call it a depression.

Well, I hope the above is somewhat helpful in sorting out what our economy may or may not be doing. I guess in the end if it feels like bad economic times to you, it really does not matter what label an economist puts on it. Tough times are tough times no matter what the times are called.

Bankruptcy Attorney Erich M. Niederlehner, of Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola Florida & Fort Walton Beach, Florida provides qualitiy legal Bankruptcy services to the citizens of Escambia County Florida, Santa Rosa County Florida, Okaloosa County Florida, Walton County Florida, Mobile County Alabama, Baldwin County Alabama which includes but is not limited to the following cities:
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113 N. Palafox Street, Pensacola, Florida 32502 - Main Office
16 Ferry Road, S.E., Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548 | 401 Church Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602

Toll Free: 877-607-2228
Pensacola: 850-607-2222
Alabama and Florida Bankruptcy Attorneys offer Affordable Bankruptcy, Debt Relief & Debt Consolidation in Alabama and Florida. Bankruptcy Attorneys provide Low Cost Bankruptcy & Discount Rates on Bankruptcy Attorney Fees serving Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola Florida & Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Alabama and Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer – Attorney Erich M. Niederlehner Chapter 7 &13, Affordable Debt Relief & Bill Consolidation in Alabama and Florida.