Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by iofj 3605 days ago
Curiouser and curiouser.

Another luxury goods market that's reporting a significant decline. Private planes are also down a lot, real estate in Manhattan is dropping. SF real estate not dropping, but not increasing as it used to either. Spending on luxury goods down a lot. Let's go down the list:

Gold prices up ... check. Lots of money flowing (or attempting to) into government bonds ... check. Corporate profits down ... check. Corporate lending up by a LOT ... check. Energy down (demand-side problem) ... check. Goods shipping down (a lot) ... check. Lending standards tightening ... check (except for central bank lending). Spending down ... check. Bankruptcies up ... check. Luxury goods markets down ... check. Asset prices generally going donw ... check. "Sin" stocks rising (alcohol, gambling, ...) ... hmmm ... yes, sort of ... not yet totally pervasive (although CSH is doing almost suspiciously well)

We're in a recession ! Also : f*ck, I was looking at changing my job around.

And ... major wtf: stock prices ... all time high. That's weird.
2 comments
themartorana 3605 days ago
One of the weird things about the stock market is that its success is no longer in any sort of relationship with economic reality. The economy continues to hobble around, and economic growth is not only low, it may be permanently stunted.

But the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all closed at historic highs today - the first time all three have on the same day in 17 years. [0] Does the US economy and consumer confidence (and hell, general health of the middle class) feel at all like we should be seeing record market highs?

[0] http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN10M14R

link
zubat 3605 days ago
The way I would put it - a delicate framing - is that the market is honest, not correct. The situation is such that most people think they can stay in a little longer even as the analysts are pointing to all sorts of warning signs. There is always theater around the economy in election years, and they might succeed again in propping things up for the next president to handle.
link
khuey 3605 days ago
Corporate profits are quite high though.
link
zevets 3605 days ago
Helicopters are more industrial equipment than luxury goods. Most sales are military, medevac/police or offshore oil.
link