It's Official!

Yes, we are officially in a recession! This was confirmed to us by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) yesterday. I know I feel better. Trouble is, it didn't make the stock market feel better as the markets lost 7-9% depending on which index you prefer to follow. Now was this really unexpected news that the stock markets received yesterday, or was the decline due more to sellers taking profits from a 5 day run up? I would think the later. So how are most "main street" Americans taking the news? By heading to their favorite shopping center and outlet mall and getting deals on their Christmas gift purchases. Yes, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that "Black Friday" sales were up 7.2% from a year ago! The "average" shopper spent nearly $375! Wow, that's a lot of cash for someone who should be buckling down and watching every penny they spend. As I mentioned in my November 13th blog (Recession, what recession?), there seem to be lines everywhere when you go out to restaurants and stores, as people I see anyway, either haven't been affected by the recession, or have chosen to ignore it. It's been said that a recession is when someone you know loses their job; a depression is when YOU lose your job! So, if you or your neighbor have not lost your jobs, then we must not be in a recession! Let get out there and charge more stuff on our credit cards. There are too many good deals to pass up. Let's buy some more stocks, Warren Buffet says it's time to buy. Go get that new TV, the digital age of television begins in less than 3 months! It's not so bad, gasoline prices are still going down and President Obama will help get this economy back on track! There's more bailout and stimulus money to print at the Treasury! I need to go to Starbucks and get me a $4 cup of coffee!