Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

He has the whole of the Sunbury tip at his disposal

Well let's see- Circuit City is selling off their inventory so they can close by May. Gottschalks filed bankruptcy and if they can't find a buyer by May, they'll be gone too- that will directly impact my daughter as she works for them. My tenants have been giving me problems with the rent and one has already been served. The economy hasn't affected my fiance's business- in fact, he just got his contractor's license to do trees and he picked up another mobile home park account as a manager so he's almost ready to jump into the next business stage- employees.
Milk is down to $11 per ctw and the dairy farmers are losing money at that price- if they make over their base, they're expected to dump their excess milk. It's estimated that 10%, possibly 20% of the dairies in my area will close, including, for sure, one mega-dairy. It's also been planned to ramp up the dairy cow retirement program so milk will be forced back up but they don't want to dump the cows into the auction barn because that will drive the price of beef down, so I don't know what they plan to do with them- it would be a shame if they just killed them and put them in a landfill but not surprising. The dairies already have their hand out for government money but I haven't heard if they have received anything yet.
A few stores have closed but there are houses for sale everywhere- some at prices lower than $50,000. Ag land prices haven't been impacted yet but it is expected to be another thing that gets hit soon with 15 to 20% drop in value across the nation.

you won't see the full force of this recession until june - remember people can delay paying bills for 6 months or more before actual action is taken against them.
right now i'd advise people to really buckle down and help their respective employers survive, if you can hold onto your job all you will see out of this is falling prices and your retirement fund shrinking a bit. retirement funds should only concern you if you are planning to retire in the next 10 years, since you'll recoup those losses in future booms.
if you lose your job, bummer, i'd take anywork that comes your way because it's not a market you can be picky in.

I agree- 2009 is going to be rougher for the middle class than 2008. Even business news is suggesting getting any kind of job you can find, even part time, while you still look for something that you want to do.
I have predicted, from the start of this mess, that the stock market will hit between 5,000 and 6,000 before a true bottom will be found and we start to see recovery. We haven't hit that yet but I'm expecting more problems in the future that haven't really been addressed, such as credit card defaults and more personal bankruptcies. Also, those who are losing their jobs right now have not had their homes repossessed yet but they are more than likely maxed out to their previous income, so it is a matter of time.
One of the things that I liked about doing taxes is that I saw how small businesses were fairing- profit or loss wise and what trends were happening. When the lending on housing was easy, I saw a lot of my clients take out mostly ARM mortgages, sometimes even 2nds and revolving credit, to buy upgraded houses, cars, remodel and purchase new furniture and vacations. Unfortunately, I saw my clients only once a year and there was little I could do for them at that point. I didn't do taxes last year because I was busy upgrading my rentals but I can bet that it is not a pretty year for them.