Going Going ...

Lunchtime on Wednesday

BBC: IMF slashes world growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the world economy will grow much more slowly in the next two years as a result of the credit crunch.

In its latest economic forecast, the IMF says that world economic growth will slow to 3.7% in 2008 and 2009, 1.25% lower than growth in 2007.

I was perusing stock prices and I was shocked to see Toyota down below $96 a share. The article explains it all. I wish I had a crystal ball and could know when the bottom is hit. That might be the time to buy.

By the way - "crunch" - sorry, we are way beyond crunch, we are at gnash and mangle.

"The financial market crisis that erupted in August 2007 has developed into the largest financial shock since the Great Depression," the report says.

Any questions?

Middle?

Breitbart: Middle-Class Progress Said to Be Limited

Growing numbers of middle-class Americans say they aren't better off than they were five years ago, reflecting economic pressures amid growing debt, a study released Wednesday shows. Their short-term assessment of personal progress, according to the study, is the worst it's been in nearly half a century.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based research organization, paints a mixed picture for the 53 percent of adults in the country who define themselves as "middle class," with household incomes ranging from below $40,000 to more than $100,000.

It found that a majority of Americans said they haven't progressed in the last five years. One in four, or 25 percent, said their economic situation had not improved, while 31 percent said they had fallen backward.