Consumer Confidence: How do you feel about the current economy?

[BurtWorm]

[acmejack]

1. The quiet before the storm, IMO

Not a question of if but when. I still expect it will be when OPEC pegs the price to yuan...

[johnaries]

2. I've heard several economists say the housing bubble is the only

thing keeping us afloat. And if they raise interest rates again, bye-bye, bubble!

[MadHound]

3. Personally, right now, I'm doing good.

Wife and I are both employed, have been at the same jobs for a long while, and are both in jobs that, while they're not layoff proof, it would take some major shit for either one of us to be let go.

That said, I am still quite uneasy about the entire direction that not just the economy is taking, but where many things that factor into the economy. Oil is tracking up(Peak Oil!?), housing is on a bubble, markets are over hyped(P/E ratios still too high), massive debt, large trade defecit, entirely too much outstanding personal credit, etc. etc. down the line. It quite frankly looks like the Perfect Storm is just over the horizon, bearing down on us.

Thus, I'm using this time to prepare. Don't owe anything except for the mortage, preparing for alternative heating and energy use, working to manufacture my own biodiesel, building the soil for our garden, etc. etc. I want our own shelter to protect us from this storm. Otherwise everything could get swept away.

I would suggest that everybody also do as much as they can to prepare. Otherwise you will get swept overboard when the waves come crashing over the side. So get ready, we're about to see a fall that will make the Great Depression look like the Roaring Twenties.