Financial Forecast

I am constantly scanning the media, looking for signs about which direction our economy is going, and wondering how that will affect the housing market. They say that Economics is "the dismal science" but I find it exciting--especially when you translate all the numbers, graphs, and trends into cold, hard cash. It's all about the Benjamin's (as in Benjamin Franklin, the face on the $100).

Here are a few articles I have found, and not all the news is bad.

Playing the Housing Slump:
Is It Time to Make Your Move?

The article in the Wall Street Journal actually says that NOW is a good time to buy a house. But not so good to sell a house. It is a buyer's market, but if you must first sell your current house before you can buy, then it is a little harder to take advantage of the housing slump. But if you want to trade up to a bigger and better house, now is still a good time. Though you would lose a bit on the sale of your current house, you would make up for it on the other end. Or if you want to buy a second house as a vacation home, now is also good. Finally, if you want to help your kids get their first home, now would be a great time.

UCLA experts don't buy recession

Those whacky, contrarian economists over at UCLA are saying that 2008 will be disappointing, but not a recession. They claim that they predicted the last recession, when the conventional wisdom was that we weren't headed for one. If they are right again, that could be good news. Read all about it in the LA Times.
Bernanke Seeks to Avert Deeper Slump by Accepting Mortgage Debt

Bloomberg reports on that other Benjamin, Bernanke, and his vigorous efforts to shore up our economy. Again, it's all about the Benjamins.

Stocks Rise on Fed Lifeline to Wall St.

This is a related story about the same thing, the Benjamins, i.e. Bernanke and the feds. This time it is from NPR (National Public Radio) instead of Bloomberg.

Credit Proves Tough Even for Good Borrowers

For people who don't like to read that much, this is a pod cast from NPR's Morning Edition of March 11th, 2008: Renee Montagne gets a firsthand account of the paralysis in the credit markets with Hugh Johnson, chief investment strategist at Johnson Illington Advisors. Johnson says borrowers are reluctant to make loans these days even to people with good credit.