Doom and gloom are in the best interests of the Democratic Party. We cannot be doing well in spite of the numbers because that would mean a plus for the GOP. The Left has a vested interest in the failure of America. They'd rather be "right" than successful. They'd rather be Left than Victorius.

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Most of the world's crises can be tracked back to the fact that WE HAVE TOO MANY LAWYERS.
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Without women, money would have no meaning......Aristotle Onassis.

U.S. Home Sales Will Drop 4.6 Percent This Year (Update1)

By Kathleen M. Howley

June 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home sales and price declines in 2007 are going to be steeper than earlier forecast, slowing economic growth, the National Association of Realtors said.

Sales of previously owned homes probably will tumble 4.6 percent to 6.18 million and the U.S. median home price likely will fall 1.3 percent to $219,100, the Chicago-based trade group said in a report today. A month ago, the association said it expected 2007 home sales to decline 2.9 percent and home prices to slide 1 percent in the first price drop on record.

A 14-year high in the number of homes for sale in April is sapping consumer confidence during a time of year that traditionally is the strongest for real estate purchases, said Lawrence Yun, an economist for the trade group. The ``sluggish'' spring market will help to shave more than a percentage point off U.S. economic growth in 2007, he said.

``People are looking, but they're not buying,'' Yun said in an interview. Real estate agents who are members of the trade group report ``an increase in traffic at open houses, but people are taking their time because inventory is so plentiful.''

The inventory of homes for sale in April, measured by the estimated time it would take to sell them all, was 8.4 months. That was the highest since August 1992 when it was 8.6 months, Yun said.

The U.S. economy probably will expand at a 2 percent pace this year, compared with 3.3 percent in 2006, Yun said. Unemployment probably will match last year's rate, at 4.6 percent, according to the forecast.

``Because of reductions in home sales and new home construction, the economy will expand at a subpar pace in 2007,'' the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kathleen M. Howley in Boston at kmhowley@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: June 6, 2007 10:51 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...PSzU&refer=news

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AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE HOME OF THE BRAVE--BECAUSE OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

U.S. Consumers at the Tipping Point? Retail Sales Down in April for the First Time Since 2003

Nouriel Roubini | May 01, 2007

The key to the soft landing argument - after housing, non-residential investment, net exports have being so weak recently - has been the US consumer: with 71% of GDP being private consumption the US cannot tip over into a hard landing unless the savingless US consumer falters. For a while this blog has argued that the US consumer would be the last shoe to drop. Last week it was pointed out here that the growth deceleration would worsens in Q2 relative to Q1 as private consumption would weaken:

"March stole consumption from April and Q2: the early Easter this year pushed Easter spending from April to March; and the good weather in March stole spring clothing and other spending that usually occurs in April and spring. Indeed major retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart are now predicting falling sales in April. Also, as discussed in previous blogs here the five main determinants of private consumption - labor/income generation, effective interest rates, wealth, debt and debt-servicing ratios, and consumer confidence - are all showing signs consistent with consumption weakness."

There is now first evidence that consumption has started to weaken in April. According to Redbook Research's latest indicator of national retail sales released Tuesday U.S. chain store sales fell 4.1% - on a seasonally undajusted basis - in the first three weeks of April compared with the previous month. Also, on a year over year % basis this is the first such drop since March 2003 when worries about the start of the war in Iraq led to a consumption retrenchment. And the previous time when such year over year % measure of retail sales became negative was in November 2001 when the US was in a recession.

Of course a month does not make a trend - even if this is the first outright drop since 2003. But the fundamental factors leading to a consumption slowdown - identified above - are here to stay and get worse. So this is the first signal that after housing, auto, manufacturing, non residential investment, capex investment by firms, and services that have all shown some signs of weakness and growth slowdown in the last few months there is now evidence that even the only factor that prevented Q1 growth from becoming negative - consumption that grew at a 3.8% rate in Q1 - is now showing serious signs of weakness in the first month of Q2.

http://http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/192394/

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AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE HOME OF THE BRAVE--BECAUSE OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

And, the forecasters are ALWAYS wrong....ALWAYS....My livelihood is tied directly to realtors and business is booming. Have more work than I can handle and have had to farm out quite a bit lately. New home sales, old home sales and massive remodeling is going on to the point that Home Depot cannot keep drywall stocked.

Sorry, Rasta, but the economy is doing great and I know that really burns you, but it is a fact. The only thing hurting my business right now is the cost of gasoline, but that's another thread.

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Most of the world's crises can be tracked back to the fact that WE HAVE TOO MANY LAWYERS.
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Without women, money would have no meaning......Aristotle Onassis.

Please look at the article for may please... your worried articel is trupmed by the may conumer condifence and actual sales....

sorry rasta the economy is on fire....

Okay Gix and Sydney and any other conservative just going crazy over our economy, here's why I don't share in your Fiscal Joy of Happeness over the U.S. Economy. Although this article is 5 years old, the same problems stated back then on the economic health and future of our country has not changed!

Influential Conservative Lackey's who are crowing about the Bush economy will have us believe there is light at the end of the tunnel concerning our out of control spending, trade deficets and our TRILLION dollar debt......however, what we are not being told is that the light at the end of the tunnel in regards to our fiscal economic health is actually "AN ON COMING OUT OF CONTROL TRAIN".

Just b/c Gix post comments/threads about earnings in retail sells or the DOW/stock market is cooking or is on FIRE! Anyone looking at the BIG PICTURE, knows that the propganda Gix is spewing on behalf of the Bush Admin., will be unsustainable in the long run and here's why:

The US Economy Is In BIG Trouble

http://The US Economy Is In BIG Trouble

NOTE: This document is not an attempt to promote or discredit any particular Political Party. Our present economic situation is a bi-partisan problem and will continue to be a problem requiring immediate attention regardless of who is in the White House or which Party is dominant in Congress.

(Further Note - Rense.com does not necessarily endorse the purchase of the materials offered at the end of this article and are passing it along as part of the primary article as received -ed)


CONTINENTAL HERITAGE SECURITY REPORT

This report will be one of the most important and timely pieces of information you have ever read. It is alarming, but not speculative nor intentionally sensational for the purpose of selling.

When I returned to the States a year ago after being overseas for two years, I noticed an escalation of debt in this country. The danger signs present today are nothing short of incredible. After a lot of research on my part, I found that not only were my personal fears correct, but there are a lot of finance wise people who see the same thing coming -- people who are getting out of harm's way. Our economy is in DEEP DEEP TROUBLE, and that means your investments, your pensions, and your savings are exposed to incredible risk.

I. THE OVERALL ECONOMIC PICTURE

The Forerunner

Early Tuesday morning Oct. 29, 1929, the stock market opened as usual. The only difference on this particular day was that all the trading activity on the floor was to sell, not buy. Not only did the "crash" that followed affect multitudes of Americans, it affected people and economies all over the world. Thousand of people lost their jobs; their homes; and their life savings. The middle class was wiped out. By the end of the year, commodity markets lost an unbelievable sum of 40 billion dollars in equity. Four years later, at the depth of the depression, the national income fell by 50% and 5000 banks had closed their doors.

>From the very beginning, our founding fathers had always advocated that the federal government should not interfere with the free enterprise system. However, due to the suffering induced by the depression, the American people wanted relief and allowed the new President Roosevelt to take action with programs that had been considered illegal up to that time. The President boldly initiated his socialistic "New Deal", and for the first time in history, the U.S. government intervened in the affairs of private business with helps called "entitlements." The stage was set for the federal government to dominate American business, banking, commerce, and the economy as a whole.

Not only did this "New Deal" allow for more government control in private enterprise, it also was the beginning of the cancerous government debt that will eventually be financially perilous to our economy. This country saw a great depression in 1929. We are dangerously close to repeating history but with much more devastation.

The America that you and I grew up to know and appreciate is a thing of the past. The upcoming crash is going to make the crash of 1929 look like a mild recession in comparison. Your job, your company and your industry is much more dependent on other industries today than it was in 1929. If our government continues to spend more than it takes in, with 100 percent certainty, it will go broke. A time of rectification is certain, it's only a matter of when.

The Problem Defined

Our government has the ability to generate $1.2 Trillion in taxes. It spends $1.4 to $1.5 Trillion per year. The U.S. government is spending more money each year than it raises in taxes. How does it do that? It borrows the money to make up the difference. In 1992, it had to borrow about a quarter of all the money it spent. This amount borrowed is called the deficit. The government has been operating this way since the 1960's. The accumulation of yearly deficits is called the National Debt. By 1992, the National debt was estimated at over 4 Trillion dollars.

The government has given up on trying to pay back the national debt and is struggling to just keep up with the interest payments. Right now, interest payments is one of the top three expenditures in the National budget each year. In just a few years, it will be the largest expenditure. In 1980 the percentage of income tax used to pay the interest of the debt was about 30%. In 1992, just 12 years later, that had doubled to 60%. Experts project that within just a few years, the interest payments alone will absorb all of the taxes collected. At this point, there will be no money to run the country and America will be bankrupt.

Even if our budget was balanced, we would still be in trouble because we don't have the cash flow left over to pay the interest on our existing debt. This means we borrow to pay the interest which means the existing debt is compounding. It doesn't take an expert to realize the eventual results of that. If we continue to spend more than we take in, the U.S. government is heading for an eventual collapse.

In the beginning of our country, the only time it borrowed money was during time of war. This changed in the 1960's. When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President, federal revenues and spending was less than $100 Billion per year. The deficit was $3 Billion per year. After 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated, President Johnson made some drastic changes in this country's economic policies. Johnson declared war on poverty, war on Viet Nam and began borrowing money to achieve these goals at record rates.

By 1981, Federal spending had increased to $500 Billion. By the time Ronald Reagan left office, federal spending was up to about $1 Trillion per year. Federal debt, which was $914 Billion in 1981, had increased to 2.8 Trillion in 1989. By the end of the Bush presidency, the debt was 4.2 Trillion.

The total federal debt today is around $6 Trillion (including off budget debt which with unfunded retirement liabilities is another $2.5 Trillion). Consumer debt was $794 Billion in 1990. Business debt was $700 Billion. Only 2 percent of Americans own their home. Banks now hold nearly $2 Trillion in first mortgages. In addition, they hold $80 Billion in home equity loans. The average household debt is 84 % of their income. Both federal and state health care costs are escalating out of control. Medicare now costs $104 Billion. It is estimated that federally supported health care costs will be more than $1.3 Trillion by the year 2000.

America owes (on-budget) 4 Trillion dollars. It must borrow 1 Billion, 100 Million dollars every day in order to maintain the pretense of prosperity. For a number of years, the U.S. has not only been using up its capital -- that's all gone now -- but it has also been using up its borrowing power. When its borrowing power is all gone; when no one like Japan, Germany, etc., will be willing to invest into the American economy, then that will be the "breaking point" -- and the breaking point is upon us.

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AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE HOME OF THE BRAVE--BECAUSE OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

1.4% is hardly a surge.

BTW: If consumers spend more money because prices have gone up, how do the higher prices figure into the sales figures? If you have to buy a gallon of gas and it is $2 one month but it goes up to $2.50 the next month and you have to buy another gallon, you have increased your spending by 50% from one month to the next, but you have not consumed any increased amount of product. How is this good for the economy?