Sunday meanderings, a few warnings and whatnot

Hello everybody,

Don’t forget it’s daylight savings time today.  I’m never sure at what exact time it starts, but we turned the clocks back last night before we went to bed just in case.  That way we’ll be ready for Monday. 

I used to be really excited when we hit the fall-back portion of daylight savings.  An extra hour of sleep before I had to crawl out of bed, but now, with this menopausal waking up in the wee hours of the morning.  Who cares?  I woke up a little after three (four by yesterdays time) and lay in bed for a while, trying to sleep, but then I had a sneezing fit and that woke my brain up, so here I am. 

It’s dark outside. 

It has been for quite some time. 

I’ve eaten a nice wedge of the pecan coffee crumble cake I made yesterday, and I might have to get myself another.

I caught up on the latest Investment Postcards From Cape Town posting.

Read an email from a neighbour/friend who was sad to find out that we’ve put our seaside cabin in the woods up for sale and I tried to feel practical about it.  Look to the future, that kind of thing.  I know that I made the right decision, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.

Now, on another topic entirely, I don’t want to be all gloom and doom, but there are certain things that I feel it’s important for you to know.  I’ve always found that if I am aware of the worst case scenario that I can try to look ahead and find a way to circumvent the disaster and try to take the steps that will hopefully protect me and my loved ones.  So, with that in mind I felt the need to post the following quote from Richard Russell’s (Dow Theory Letters) latest remarks .

“Remember, I wrote that following the crash of 1929, it was a full year later before the Great Depression started. I’m afraid that following the crash of 2008, the full brunt of the economic mess will hit next year in 2009. At that point, the Fed and the Treasury will pull out all the stops and resort to every trick and gimmick in the book to try to stem the recessionary tide. My advice to subscribers, hang on to your day job, try to get rid of debt, and save where ever you can. Cash will be king.“

I feel this way as well.  So, please, be careful.  I have read various reports that put the expected unemployment figures for next year at 8-10%.  A million job in the U.S. lost last year, another million expected to be lost in 2009.  EVEN if it feels impossible to do, you need to put aside whatever you can possibly spare for a safety net.  Every day I hear of another big corporation cutting or making plans to cut thousands of jobs. 

I walk past stores and often the only people inside are the people who work there.  How long will they keep all these people employed when there are no customers?

Restaurants that a year ago, required reservations at least a week in advance, I can now walk into at any time, without a reservation and they are only half full.

One in five houses in America owe more on their mortgage now than their houses are worth.  And the housing market continues to slide.

Times are changing.  I feel like when we look back, many years from now, we will shake our heads and wonder.

Of course things always feel a little bit more scary when I am the only one up, with no one to talk to, the world dark outside.  But just in case, be careful, do what you have to do to get your finances in order, to keep your roof over your head and your family safe. 

Posted by Meg Tilly on Sunday, November 02, 2008 in Chewing the Fat