Economic Doom is getting Worse!

The following laundry list puts the US Economy halfway between the Intensive Care Ward and the National Morgue:

- Endless War spending could subsidize every household in America with $1000 per year
- Income is trending down in the United States, England, and Japan
- US banks loan loss reserves are at a 20-year low while profound losses continue
- Of the nearly 9000 US banks, 1575 of them posted a Q1 loss
- Bernanke claims $2 trillion is needed by the big US banks, but they pass the Stress Test
- Municipal bonds and state finances are disasters, as they each appeal for USGovt aid
- A shocking 20% of US homeowners have loan balances greater than their home values
- Half of modified loans result in foreclosure within several months
- Jobs report for April revealed jobless level at 8.9% (massaged) and 15.8% (actual)
- Jobs Report for April included 66k worse revised job losses for March and February
- Continuing jobless claims at 6.56 million, grew 220k just last week
- CALPERS pension fund is insolvent, USGovt pension PBGC guarantee fund in deep deficit
- FDIC requested $500 billion in additional funds to cover bank failures (giant failure coming)
- Car sales still down 40% annually, with steep Japanese car sales declines also
- Detroit carmakers are closing down plants, with huge ripples through entire supply chain
- GM & Chrysler restructures are extremely likely to result in Chapter 7 liquidation in time
- GM burned $1.3B in Q1, burns $113 million per day, unable to transition to green cars
- Business investment down 38% in Q1, a RELIABLE LEADING INDICATOR
- Durable goods up 9% in Q1, but only after Q4 was pushed down from bank shock
- Inventory reduction not key, but rather inventory/sales ratio, since sales way down
- Economic contraction despite lower energy costs from crude oil, natural gas, gasoline
- Housing was false foundation since 2002, now in stubborn decline, the Giant Albatross
- Distress sales make up 40% of all housing sales, led by underwater sales and foreclosures
- Cramdown Law rejection means open season on foreclosures, more huge bank losses
- Banks admit that home loan are not modified after all, a revolving door to foreclosure
- Option ARMs, Jumbos, and Commercial mortgage defaults are ramping up fast
- Commercial mortgage bonds have $70-100 billion that cannot be refinanced, sure to default
- Staggering decline in consumer credit, -80% in Q3, minus $31.7B in Q4/Q1

Note that final line item. Never in modern US Economic history has consumer credit gone negative. Its growth fell sharply in 3Q2008, but it contracted (reduced, shrunk) by $31.7 billion on an aggregate basis in 4Q2008 and 1Q2009. For a debt-based economy, such is a death knell.
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