According to Trim Tabs Investment Research firm, the United States shed another 284,000 jobs for the month of October.

The results came out today from the research firm. While it is less than the 358,000 jobs that were lost in September, it still makes the total number of jobs lost 5.9 million in the last 12 months. Not only are the jobs being lost, but people are also having a hard time making the amount of money they once were.

The research firm made another note in its research that salaries are still falling. The level of salaries from September 2008 to September 2009 dropped 5.3% and from October 2008 to October 2009 4.6%.

The firm obtains its information from analysis of daily income tax deposits to the Treasury from the amount of salaried United States employees.

The unemployment figures for the month of October should be coming out in the next week or so. The official report will tell us just how bad we did for the month. I don’t think that October will be as bad as September was, however, there is an issue regarding how many jobs were created versus jobs lost. Also, like I always say when I write a post about unemployment, the only people who are counted in unemployment figures are those who are actively seeking work.

There are a lot of people out there who have given up on the job hunt for right now. I would like to see a report on those people, honestly. I believe that a report like that would give people a real idea as to how many people do not have a job right now. It should be broken up into categories such as “stopped looking” or “not interested” just so everyone can tell the categories apart. If everyone was lopped into a “don’t have a job and not looking” category, that would include everyone from exasperated ex-business executives to new moms (or dads) who want to stay at home and take care of the baby.

Would you start your own business if you couldn’t find work?

Question:

If you are one of the millions of unemployed people in the United States (or anywhere else in the world) would you try to start your own business in order to make work for yourself?

Answer:

While this website didn’t exactly start out that way, since I finished college and had a hard time finding a job this has become my full time job. I even realized that I was worth more writing for the site than I was working full time at the department store. That basically means it would cost more for us to hire someone to write as much as I do a week than I was making working there.

I really enjoy working on this site and really hope it can go on for awhile.

While summer officially began just a couple of weeks ago, many retailers are already putting their summer merchandise on sale and to the clearance racks dismissing this summer as a complete wash.

Department stores like Macy’s have discounted summer clothing and swimwear down 50%. Other retailers have slashed the prices of barbecue grills, tents, gardening tools, and piles of clothing. Some of those items are going straight to liquidation rather than to the retail stores.

This is good for people trying to save some money, but it is a bad sign for retailers as it shows that retail sales have been weakening since the end of May.

Consumer confidence increased in April and May, but is predicted to level off for the month of June. The figures, which come out later today, won’t be helped by the major retailers releasing June sales results next week. Consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy and if consumers are worried about the economic condition, chances are that spending won’t increase too much in the near future.

Fall merchandise will start hitting shelves in August, so these retailers are trying to move summer merchandise to make room. This could mean that we’ll see more discounts like we did last year for clothing.

Some are blaming the weather, which has been particularly rainy for parts of the country. The rain has led to unseasonable weather. However, where I live, it has been unbearably hot with little rain to help. Then again, when I go through the “summer” section of any local stores, the shelves have been nearly picked clean.

Some are still worried about the economy and think it’s to blame for the lack of consumer spending. Employers are still cutting jobs (even if it is at a slower rate than the beginning of the year) and the average price for a home is still falling.

The average home price fell 35% in Phoenix from February 2008 to February 2009 according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index. Phoenix homes are also down 51% from the city’s peak.

The report showed that out of the 20 cities indexed, the average home price fell 18.6% for February 2009 when compared to February 2008, continuing a 31 month consecutive decline.

This came on the heels of Bernanke coming out to say that the economy will turn around by the end of 2009. Well, I hope so. With the way the news is going, it seems like you’ll have to pay someone to take possession of your house by the time we’re finished with the recession rather than getting anything for it.

It is still a good thing to be a home owner, people are just having a hard time getting loans because of tightening credit at banks. It’s a vicious cycle, and today, I am blaming lenders.

Is Online Banking Really the Way to Go?

Question:

With identity theft as well as bank systems having a hard time surviving in the current economy, is online banking really the most efficient and safe way to go?

Answer:

Banking systems are safe. There are rumors going around the internet that banks are unsafe and aren’t the place you should put your money, but you have to realize that the FDIC has your best interests at heart and unless you carry a balance of over $250,000 in one bank account at a time, you’re fine.

That being said, online banking is also safe as long as you double and triple check the website address before you enter your personal information in the site.

While I know this wasn’t an attempt to grab my bank account information, it was still an attempt to take some of my personal information: I was on MySpace.com and a friend had posted a bulletin about something that had a link in it. The link was to rnyspace.com…Notice the RN makes the “m” in myspace.com…This has to be watched carefully to make sure you aren’t being “phished” for information.

When you’re careful, online banking is safe and efficient.

Well, it turns out many customers are having a hard time redeeming these coupons. Quiznos is a franchised chain and the stores have to buy all their food from corporate, but corporate makes the store pay  for all the food used in promotions.

This has led many people to be messed over by the promotion, both in store and customers. Stores are flat out refusing to allow the coupon or are offing discounts in place of a free sandwich.

The Consumerist reported several people not being able to redeem their coupons and many are still commenting on the site about how they are unable to redeem their coupons.

Here is the text of the speech:

“My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers … our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world … that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).”

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.”

Source

The resignation was expected. President Obama nominated Mary Schapiro to lead the SEC and is waiting for her to be confirmed by the Senate. Until then, he is expected to name one of the four remaining commissioners to head the SEC.

This is a hard time to be in any public office. The SEC chairperson will have a lot of weight on his or her shoulders and will be blamed for things that may or may not be his or her fault.

Today’s reports were, not surprisingly, dismal, and accompanied by at least a dozen profit warnings, including Macy’s and Target.

Overall same-store sales dropped 1.7 percent in December and 2.2 percent for the whole November-December season, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported, marking the worst holiday since at least 1969, when the ICSC started keeping track. – CNBC.com

It goes on to say:

The biggest surprise came from Wal-Mart, which reported its same-store sales rose 1.7 percent last month, well shy of the expected 2.8-percent increase, and slashed its forecast. – CNBC.com

So, you’d think because of these problems, prices would fall, but I’m seeing the opposite at my local Wal-Mart. About a month ago, prices were falling, but now they’re on their way back up…

Source

Not to mention, the United States auto industry having such a hard time. Democrats are expecting executives of the companies to explain why they deserve to get a bailout. It sounds more like a parent trying to get their child to explain why they should get to go to the movies on Friday night than a $25 billion loan…

The markets hit 11 year lows last week and aren’t expected to do better this week…it could be a tough Thanksgiving for some.

I have blogged about GM and Chrysler trying to merge to help keep their heads above water during these hard times. Ford’s stocks are trading around $2 a share, or less. They are all in a lot of trouble. So much trouble that the democrats in congress are trying to get the Bush administration to help “bail out” the companies.

I was just wondering when something will be done to help out the companies…Like with the bank bailouts, I think there should be some kind of rules with helping them out. Perhaps job creation or implementing renewable energy technology…

Both companies have been seeing hard times due to global economic conditions.

Walt Disney Co. said today that bookings for its theme parks have declined “considerably.”

When thousands, if not millions, of people are losing their jobs…I don’t think “going to Disney World” is on the top of the list anymore. Even with specials and promotions, the parks are still expensive. If you wanted a ticket (plus Park Hopper) for admission to Disney World for one day, it would be $125 a person!

I guess that’s why I haven’t been…

The company said that it plans to scale down marketing, development, and technology advancements to help with the budget cut. As a result, most of the 7,000 employees to be laid off will be management.

Here’s another big company that has to reduce their workforce to cut the budget. It seems like this scenerio is happening more and more. With retail sales down and people more focused on not using their credit cards, American Express is likely not to be the only company to resort to huge layoffs.

The group’s president, Chakib Khelil, said that the cut must be significant so the market demand and supply will be balanced. He said the target price for a barrel of oil is between $90 and $70. He cited countries where it wouldn’t be feasible to pump oil if the price were to fall below $70 a barrel…Canada was one of those countries.

Of course OPEC wants to cut production. Who wants to see their profits fall 50% in 3 months? I just don’t think this will work out. Consumers are already having a hard time paying for food and gas has become something some can get around.

Mervyns filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July and announced today that it will be liquidating its remaining 149 stores.

Liquidation will happen before the holidays so families can receive the benefits of the sales.

The company has been seeing harder times because of a lack in retail sales and also it was having a difficult time finding its niche in competing with low cost retailers as well as department stores.

Goodbye Mervyn’s.

GM is hurting not only because consumers are looking for more fuel efficient cars, but are also looking for quality. Last night Chris and I were watching a special called "Saving GM" on CNBC and one of the head researchers said that the quality of the cars has improved, but that won’t change the minds of thousands of previous GM owners (like me) who were burned by a poor GM vehicle. However, when someone pulled off a lot in China with a new Chevy Aveo, it still sounded like a Chevy…puttering right off the lot.

I believe they have a lot of ground to make up and really need to appeal to their "burned" customer base.

Thousands of jobs being lost is definitely not good for any local economy either. Hopefully those who are losing their jobs will find something.

I have a hard time understanding who is in charge of spending the money in some of these corporations. I have still seen WaMu commercials on TV. WooHoo? Maybe not…even when you go on the banking website for Washington Mutual it says “Welcome to JPMorgan Chase”

Sometimes it doesn’t seem like these banks have gone under at all.

First, I would like to say that I am a warm-natured person and like to have the house cool.

In the middle of the day, it is highly doubtful that a 1300 sq. ft house will ever reach 72 degrees. So here’s something we do, we turn up the air to between 77 and 75 and sometimes the air conditioner actually gets the house cool and cuts off during the day. If somewhere between 75 and 77 is too warm, ceiling fans really help cool the room. I prefer to sleep cold and have a hard time sleeping when it’s warm. I keep a fan on at night and don’t have to move the thermostat and am able to sleep very comfortably.

We also don’t use the oven at all until dinner time, and dinner comes later than in the winter. We have a toaster oven and microwave that do the job during the day. Not only does it save energy, but it also keeps the kitchen cooler.

These tips have kept us from sweating it out through these extremely hot days. Keep cool!!