Six Signs That the Great Recession May Be Ending-- Part 2

BEAUTY SALONS--  Sales grew 5.4% in the last two years.  During downturns, Americans do away with the fancy hair stuff.  This puts us back to pre-recession levels.  I have my own hair cutting set so never go to the barbershop.

EATING OUT--  Annual sit-down restaurant sales up 8.7% in January over the same month in 2011.  But wow, the price of meals keeps going up.  Just try to get a breakfast with coffee and tip for under $10 anymore.

MOBILE HOMES--  In December, 3,800 units shipped, up 30% from the month before.  Strong trailer-park sales may signal strong home sales.

BUT, Some Bad News for the Kids:

THE TOOTH FAIRY--  Per-tooth payouts dropped 17% for last year.  This downturn does not bode well for kids.  I'd like to know how they figure these numbers?

--DaCoot

Six Surprising Signs That the Great Recession Is Over

From the April 9, 2012, Time Magazine.  "Recovery for Real?" by Josh Sanburn.

Well, as we all know, the Great Recession id over for the GRBs, but not the rest of us, but there are things other than job losses and stock performance that might point to its end.

Kind of an interesting list:

UNDERWEAR--  Yearly sales jumped 6.6% in 2011.  Evidently time to replace those extra well-worn shorts.

PAY TV--  Cable and satellite subscribers were up .2% in 2011.    Means Americans are getting some discretionary money.

GOLF--  Rounds played increased 21.4% in January over the same month in 2011.  Maybe it's not just the rich GRBs who can afford the sport.

When Are We Going to get a Break on Those Worthless CDs?  Hey, Government, Time to Take Care of the Vast Unanoited in Give Us a Cut of the GRB Dough.  --Cooter

That Bennigan's Restaurant Chain

From the July 30, 2008, Chicago Tribune.

I remember going to Bennigan's ion several different locations, especially because a lot of their places had NTN/Buzztime, a game we love to play. Most often, we went to the one in Lake Zurich, Illinois, for NTN, drink specials and those absolutely fantastic Monte Cristo sandwiches. We've never had better ones.

The Bennigan's in Springfield, Illinois, at the Hilton Hotel reopened, so we can still get our M.C.'s. I remember watching a great Illinois-Arizona basketball game resulting in an Illinois victory and a trip to the Final Four at the Bennigan's in Champaign-Urbana (home of the University of Illinois). We sure had a great time that night!!!

Bennigan's was/is a sports and Irish pub and famous for, like I said, its Monte Cristo sandwich. The chain started in 1976, not long after T.G.I. Friday's pioneered the bar-and-grill chain concept. Bennigan's grew along with the casual dining sector.

However, starting in the 1990s, Bennigan's became just another casual dining place as the market was flooded with similar-themed places and the casual dining market steadily diminished.

By 2008, the chain faced problems from food price inflation, increased minimum wage and a drop in consumer demand because of the economy. In 2008 the parent company declared bankruptcy and closed its 150 corporate locations, although some 31 have since reopened in 11 states.

Getting Hungry for a You-Know-What. --DaCoot

A Look Back at the Aughts-- Part 2

It's the economy, stupid

8. POST 9-11 TRAUMA

Scars us to today, but as an economic even, seems to have faded. Hurt the travel industry, sent markets reeling and caused a downturn. But nothing compared to today's debacle.


7. ENRON RUNAROUND


Largest corporate scandal ever and took down Chicago-based Arthur Anderson. It brought down the retirement funds of employees who put their stock in Enron stock.

It is too bad these folks still have most of the money they stole and only two were punished.


6. NO PITS, PLEASE

Chicago futures traders have lost the loud trading pits which defined it. That has been supplanted with computers. The Chicago Mercantile bought the Chicago Boart of Trade.

Not Finished Yet. --DaCoot

A Look Back at the Aughts-- Part 1

Or is it the Oh-Ohs, or Uh-Ohs?

These would be the Uh-Ohs.

Jan. 1, 2010, Chicago Sun-Times "Dot-bombs give way to real estate, jobs implosion" by David Roeder.

"Volatile Decade (Quite an understatement): What began with Y2k hysteria ends in 2009 with consumers worried about paychecks and mortgages."


Mr. Roeder gave his list of top ten stories of that decade.


10. AUTO INDUSTRY ROLLOVER: The Big Three couldn't build SUVs fast enough, then expensive gas hit. GM and Chrysler bankrupt, assembly line jobs gone, dealers gone. Well, there was that "Cash for Clunkers" deal.

I'm still mad about the billions we gave to GM to keep them from going bankrupt, and they still went bankrupt. Who got that money? Probably top execs. Better if the $30 billion given to consumers to buy GM cars. "Cash for Clunkers" sure didn't help me.


9. THE BANK GETS BOUGHT: One bank buy another bank buy another bank buy another bank. Then let's be really "stoopid" in our investments.

Way too many criminals running our investment banks that should be held more accountable and not getting lavish bonuses for the "good" jobs they're getting. Hey, even dumb old me could lose billions, AND, I'd work for a lot less and wouldn't expect those bonuses. And, I don't have a Harvard degree.

More to Come. --Cooter