Jayhawk1, SImon and Fisherman, I am a realtor and have made more money in the last three years than ever even though I have always had good jobs, But that doesn't matter. I agree with you. I see what the housing boom has done, there is a lot of unspoken panic in my business. Foreclosere are rampant and there is 3 Trillion dollars worth the ARM products coming due this year compard to 400 Billion last year. People are at an all time high in debt, taxes are rising faster then people can deal with it because the govt from the local, to the state to the federal is Broke. People have over spent and it is showing. Three National Lenders this week closed their doors, once the first domino falls, hold on, the difference is people wont be as friendly as they were in the 30's during the depression, imagine a New Orleans senerio everywhere.
The Chinese and Indian economy are growing in certain sectors faster then they can handle them, they are now sending out their work to other countries for even lower wages, while they have textiles stocked to the nines. Many leading economists have stated their economies will have an impact on us, they are already saying their economies are going to derail in the near future as close as 2009 according to Forbes Magazine. Oil prices are expected to raise over $100 a barrel by the beginning of 2008 and that is if Saudi Arabia doesn't flood the market as they have stated to the US; if they dont get the Iraq situation under control soon in defiance to Iran. It will be the biggest deflation since the Depression, if done it would cause a world wide economic collapse.
No things are not good, I dont care how much money you make or how much you have in the bank, the world economy is hanging by a thread. Too many things happening now that are an exact mirror of the late 1920's and especially 28+29, I prefer not to put my head in the sand and I have a huge portfolio and made a lot of money the last couple of years. When money one day is worth less than toilet paper, it wont matter how much of it we have stocked piled. No I am not a pestimist but a realist. I see it in my business and it is coming, trust me.
abr