The Economic Turmoil, Recession, Depression... Air it out!

[LongBeachCoupe]

I created this thread for "us" (the altis) to discuss our views on the economy and how it is affecting you, your area, and your life.

Feel free to chime in and "tell it how it is"...

The greatest economic and financial minds in the world are trying to figure out how to "stop the bleeding" and its not something thats going to be able to be accomplished in the short term, but over years of revised regulations and programs.

A little about LBC's experiences...

I graduated with a BBA in finance in 04, and before that I had worked in credit for Citibank... Upon graduation I became a retail stockbroker for International accounts (I worked from 3am-5pm calling europe and latin america from 04-06). From there I moved onto Investment Banking (06-08)in a time period where things were tapering off and then began to fall apart.

Now I am unemployed along with thousands of other financial minds, in a time where there is no where to go, there arent jobs available in finance for the most part and each day more and more qualified financial minds join the unemployment line.

As a result it has put me in a position where replacing my lost income isnt really possible anymore because of the way the world has changed, and I am not alone.

My thoughts on the economy....As an Ibanker I was in a position to obtain growth/startup capital for a variety of businesses in a variety of stages.... Millions, tens of millions.... This capital was provided by "funds" (mutual, pension, hedge, private equity, PIPE) which use leverage (borrowing essentially) to create immense risk, while also freeing up capital to invest elsewhere.... I had a little over 1,000 funds that I dealt with, and as things went on, that number dwindled to around 300, and the cash was hard to come by.

IMO what has caused all of this turmoil is the credit market (all aspects, credit cards, refinancing, home equity loans, margin accounts) people borrowing to obtain things they cant afford, and using leverage to invest that borrowed money elsewhere, or worst case spending it!

Penny for your thoughts guys?

[kerrton]

You're right, without getting into details, the cause of this recession can be summed up simply: people were too greedy, lived beyond their means, and the banks encouraged this and provided a false sense of security that really added to the problem. And you know what? Those people living beyond their means with huge houses, motor homes, trailers, boats, HUGE gas guzzling vehicles, and 5 kids were no happier with all that junk than they would've been if they just kept things realistic and lived within their means. Now everything has crumbled - Greed is a terrible thing.

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

wow im very happy i didn't switch to finance in college now. I am now in accounting. My father knows the hiring rep for the FBI and once i have my CPA certification"passing the test" i will have a greater chance to get a job as an accountant for the FBI.

Its defiantly scary though knowing if this doesn't work out that it will be very hard to obtain another job. I actually lost my job working at a restaurant over christmas break freshman year. Since then i have been working at sears seasonally at home and Movie Gallery in pa by school. Over the past summer it was damn near impossible to find a job in the restaurants. They all didn't need help "this is the best job for seasonal when you are in college" so it took me 2 months to find a job and now im at sears which has such s***ty pay. Once summer comes i will be searching for a new restaurant job and now its making me think i should just stay in PA at my soon to be apartment instead of going home. I may have a better chance of getting a job.

I feel bad for those of you who are out of school and paying off loans when you can't even get a job. This economy is so bad and its so dumb because some people think its going to get better in a month. My accounting teacher and a fellow student said by the end of the 4th quarter the stock market should be better and now was a good time to buy stocks. Since this tim stocks have gone down even more and i was right when i said that it was a dumb move to invest at thi time.

I truly think this economy isn't going to go anywhere but down for the next few years. Too many people have taken loans and arent paying them. Once this gets figured out THEN it will gt better. I just hope this will happen sooner than later and i am wrong with the couple years statement

oh and idk if i wrote this already but LBC good luck on the job search ad i hope things get better for you and all the other jobless people out there

[jungleboogie]

i'm a traffic engineer, i have a BS in civil engineering as well as certification as an FE (aka EIT), hopefully soon to be PE. i work at a private consulting firm located in newport beach, ca and a large majority of our work has been tied in with land development. my job mostly entails traffic surveys, impact studies, parking surveys, as well as roadway and intersection design including traffic signal and signing & stripin. you can imagine what a toll this current economy (after getting so heavily "rocked" by the housing crisis) would be having on my field.

now aside from enjoying the thought process and meticulous focus involved in analysis, i chose engineering because for the most part, definitely for the most part, it is recession-proof. of course, this isn't definitely always the case but typically the civil engineering field has been late to get hit by the recession and usually one of the first to turn around once it begins to pick up. however, i find myself hearing about how my fellow engineers are either A) being laid off or B) having difficulty finding a job and suffice it to say, it's quite discouraging. i can only imagine what it's like to be ever-so-qualified for numerous positions (the very same positions that you know you could've easily attained during a better economic situation) but now have to meet with the fact that you have to overcome great odds to get. if i were to present an understatement, it would be that it simply f-ing sucks.

nor does it feel great knowing that other professionals in the field, who have been doing similar lines of work for 30+ years, who sigh and state that "even then during XXXXX, it wasn't this bad" is most certainly not very reassuring. and it also doesn't help that not only are the jobs not coming in like they used to, but clients are having more and more difficulty paying what they owe with banks who are not able to release any more money (which they do not have).

i wish the best for those that are struggling, i feel blessed for at least having a job, and i hope this economy can get jump started and begin to pick up real soon.

[Rob.Vegan]

I didn't mean for it to sound like he was the only one I was talking to, both my parents have been in the banking business for well before I was born. My mom is no longer working (self choice not by being laid off) and my father was with CB Bank but has now switched to City Natl. I have had countless conversations with them about economics and future plans. My father is very good with money and knows how to spend it in a reasonable sense. I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and every week it seems to be a path getting narrower and narrower, soon as my last resort I feel like I am going to be FORCED into joining the armed forces. Don't get me wrong I appreciate what they do (my uncle has been with the Air Force for about 35years) But I have very strict pacifistic beliefs and would not want to support any type of fight, or war for that matter. I have had plenty of friends join the military because of financial insecurity and I am afraid that something really bad is going to happen once more and more people are joining the armed forces just to have a stable income.

On the vegan thing, I'm sorry I brought it up, it's a whole other story and I didn't present myself in a respectable fashion. I have my beliefs and you have yours, I don't look down upon anyone (especially for a choice in diet). However this thread is on economy and not food so...

When I was a sophomore in High School, I was dead set on being a freelance photo journalist. I wanted to document the world and show the horrors that are in it, along with the beauties that can be found. I excelled in Photography and graduated with an Academy of the Arts Certificate and with 7 separate photography classes under my belt (in 3 years). Soon before graduation and in the middle of building my portfolio my cameras (digital and film) were stolen at school. I don't have money to buy new ones and has therefore made me somewhat change my mind on my career path. I am in my second semester of college and photography still really interests me it's just that I can't express myself the way I used to. I am currently enrolled in an advanced photoshop class, screenprinting, and a media aesthetics class. I know that our economy won't be back to "normal" for years and years to come. We have been put in such a deep hole that I don't know what to expect or what to plan for in my future.

-Rob.Vegan

[LongBeachCoupe]

RV, if someone stealing your camera is enough to change your direction... you didnt want it that bad anyways. You would have sacrificed other things to get the stuff you needed to move forward with your dream (imo)... I can get you deals on some cameras if you are interested (i love my d40)

Doing something you dont like is just a big waste of time and will cause mental despair. From what I know of you, I laughed out loud when I saw you mention the armed forces... dude that is NOT for you IMO.

GryStorm (no longer active here) is a freelance photog and has contracts with the Daily News here in NY... but is an engineer (or something like it) as his 9-5.

It used to be you were KING if you were able to work doing something you love, now your just lucky to be working and making a living.

Flikr and the internet provide a great medium for someone to showcase their "Feelings" and pictures to the masses... Blogging is BIG, and if you get a crowd, you have a living right there.

Sometimes I ask myself why I wasnt the guy who came up with GGW!

[Rob.Vegan]

I can definitely showcase on the internet, there's no doubt. However I used to help my uncle out when he was setting up shows for himself (painter) and it was tons of fun.

I have not changed my mind at all about photography, I still love it and enjoy taking long trips to get the pics I want, but with the current times I doubt I can survive on that alone. Which is why I am looking to take up something else. You mentioned GryStorm as an engineer, and that's what I'm looking to pursue right now (not an engineer just a full time day job).

As for the camera I would love your help in finding one but right now (still jobless) I don't have the money for it. and my financial habits have turned to my car, I recycle for gas $$$ and do household chores for my parents for keeping up with the mods, most mod help has been from parents though I'm more of a Canon guy myself, when I was a photographer for the yearbook my senior year we got 5 BRAND NEW 30D's... OMG were those things amazing, I had so much fun. Hopefully soon I'll have the money for a new camera but until then it's going to be about me getting what I can get and being thankful that it's possible for me to live so comfortably

[toxik]

I'm in accounting, and luckily no matter what the economic situation is.... accountants are always needed. The only real direct effect I had from this recession is my Amex credit limit was reduced by 5K.... I see a lot of friends struggling right now, I really hope things start to pick up, especially since it's been better in the last couple of days.

BTW, LBC what are you up to these days, job wise?

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

I'm in accounting, and luckily no matter what the economic situation is.... accountants are always needed. The only real direct effect I had from this recession is my Amex credit limit was reduced by 5K.... I see a lot of friends struggling right now, I really hope things start to pick up, especially since it's been better in the last couple of days.

BTW, LBC what are you up to these days, job wise?

do you have your CPA ??? How hard was it??

just trying to get a lil help on knowing what im in for when the time comes....

[toxik]

do you have your CPA ??? How hard was it??

just trying to get a lil help on knowing what im in for when the time comes....

Nope, no CPA. I'm not doing my masters right now since an MBA is only available for Public Accounting, which means either Auditing or Tax.... which I dont want to have anything to do with. I'm doing Corporate Finance right now with a Bachelor's degree in Financial Accounting. I'm gonna have to take get my Masters and take the CPA sometime in the future if I ever want to become the CFO or CEO of a company... but thats a good 5 or so years from now, at least.

And yeah the CPA is a hard f***ing test, I have a lot of friends taking it... good luck, thats all I can say. If you have to take it 13 times, thats not out of the ordinary, thats all I'll say lol.

[Rev_D21]

Right now the trucking industry is hurting. Some companies are making it while other have 3/4 of their fleet idled. For me that can be a bad thing as an outside parts rep for Peterbilt. As of right now I am making it and making a decent wage. I have some debts, ie Car and credit cards, that I am paying down and have been for some time now. I pay cash for everything and I never overspend. One thing I have noticed is people who are buying trucks are buying Peterbilts before Volvos and even Freightshakers. The reason, quality, if they have to spend the money they would rather spend it on something that will last and hold resale value over something cheap and easy to get. People are holding on to their trucks longer too. With new pollution rules on the horizon my company will make some money supplying mechanical parts for vehicles out of warranty so I have that to look forward to. It's still pretty quiet these days though, lots of belt tightening going on.