What's holding back that surge in corporate spending?

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Sunday, April 20, 2003 | Rachel Beck - Associated Press

[11B3]

Business as usual, eh Willie? Have you ever considered putting a 'negative' sign in front of your name?

Come to think of it, that's what the left and your hero Pat have in common: Negativity. That's all they offer. No wonder they poll such high numbers.

[Celantro]

Lingering uncertainty?

[free from tyranny]

Joe and Jane America have had a hand in killing the goose too. Law suits, gov't regulation, and taxes are strangling American business.Consumers consumed while politicians regulated and the lawyers sued.

The public could have stopped this nonsense, but most feel entitled to other people's success.Where did they get that idea from?

[ricpic]

The tone of this thread is so down in the mouth that I just KNOW things are about to go BOING!!

[Willie Green]

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[discostu]

I ain't down, I make fun of these guys. It's all doom doooom doooooooom. They can find a dark cloud in every silver lining. It's funny, I've always been known as a pesimist but these guys take the cake.

[meatloaf]

Are those the same telcons that have been downsizing for decades?

[ContentiousObjector]

Companies are not buying much at the moment, because there isn't an awful lot we need to buy these days. The stuff we bought in the psycho-spending days of the 1990's is still working.

[meatloaf]

Putting this in the context of history, perhaps it's our destiny. No one stays on top forever. Eventually the rot sets in. Besides that jobs have always moved to the cheapest labor.

[Billy_bob_bob]

I'm one of those people parked on the sidelines. Have been for 2 1/2 years now. I've considered going long again, but the P/E ratios for mosts stocks are still too high. This is a bear market, the average P/E of the S&P 500 should be somewhere around 10/1 or less. Instead it is closer to 30/1. Stocks prices still have a ways to go down, IMHO.

[Billy_bob_bob]

mosts s/b most. Typo.

[Joe Hadenuf]

But I say this on all the economic threads to fellow freepers: consumer spending is the key, do your part, buy something, buy something made in the USA.

Good advice, we pulled our money out of the stock market years ago, and invested in real estate.

The stock market is like going to Vegas, most lose their butts.

Buy American, buy realestate, they just aint making anymore of it, and prime realestate, at a good price is becoming rare....

[Amalie]

You got it. The Dems are going to hit the ECONOMY HARD now; it is thier only hope and they know it. It worked in '92, and the-least-likely-to-succeed candidate won. It will be doom and gloom unless there is a big eco-bounce, and frankly we should NOT expect it. The polls will go negative on Bush in the next six months as the media will be merciless in making this the issue. SOOO...make the Dems explain WHAT they could (not would) do differently other than -not cut taxes, build a bogus lockbox for SS (which is going to be insolvent anyway), and stack the Supreme Court with socialists. Do not fear the negative reports themselves; follow the solutions and see who could do any better. Don't blame Bush; the economy was downhill before he got in, and, while I don't have a blanket agreement with everything he does, he is trying hard to get this fixed to stimulate growth. There are no quick fixes this time, it's going to be a little bumpy for a while...

[Fractal Trader]

Personally, I am more inclined to believe in the "animal spirits" mentality on credit. A fine book in this vain is "Money in Mind," by George Grant, of Grant's Interest Rate Observer.

Free Republic Stock Market/Economy Discussion List. Freep Mail me if you want on or off this list.

[BooBoo1000]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the Execs at American, after hearing the yelling from the Union members about their bonus plans, turned the bonuses back, and will not take them. Which seem only fair to me.

[plusone]

Love may make the world go round, but it's fear and greed that drive the markets. The 90's were fueled by greed. Now the fear side of the coin is dropped onto the table.

[Doctor Stochastic]

With the number of airline failures things just might go BOEING!

[Myrddin]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the Execs at American, after hearing the yelling from the Union members about their bonus plans, turned the bonuses back, and will not take them. Which seem only fair to me.

You didn't rain on my parade. The union doesn't care if the execs took it back. They have decided to rescind the prior vote and re-vote. American claims the favorable vote is binding, the union disagrees. The situation remains undecided.

[WRhine]

Send home the H1B's and other foreign workers, especially the illegals, and employment for American citizens will go up. American citizens spend more of their money here in the US, rather than sending it "back home"

Such Common Sense is totally lost on the politicians WE ELECT to represent US. They apparently have ANOTHER agenda and the only part of that agenda that includes American Citizens is the TAX PAYING PART.

[B. A. Conservative]

The surge is there. You aren't seeing it because you are looking in the wrong place. It is much easier to see in the statistics coming out of China.

And the folks lining up for the "capital surge" credit window here are the same ones who will be standing in the lines at the federal bankruptcy court this winter.