[DannyTN]

Disposable income. You can't really see the disposable income impact in 2007. But you can see it now.

Oil Price: You can clearly see the oil price spike in 2007 and the one we're in now. But we have gotten some temporary relief.

Unemployment: You can see the rise in unemployment from Jan 2007 to Oct 2008. THAT is why mortgages failed. We're not seeing a rise in unemployment yet. But with oil prices up and disposable income down, and tech sector layoffs, it's certain to happen.

If you go to Fred and look at the chart, you can place your cursor on a spot and it will tell you the month and year and the value.

FRED: Unemployment Rate

[bagster]

I only clicked on this thread cause I thought maybe that Humble the Bumpkin finally had a breakthrough.

#NoJoy

[RoosterRedux]

See my previous post. I'm not saying that oil didn't contribute to the bursting of the Housing Bubble, but the Bubble was created by lenders and investment banks (encouraged by the Federal Gov't) and popped because it wasn't viable to begin with.

I don't know if you enjoy movies but Margin Call and The Big Short do a good job of portraying Wall Street's role in this matter.

[RoosterRedux]

Thx for that link to FRED. I put it in my toolbar!