"Good" News: 3Q 2011 GDP +2.5%...

BAD NEWS: CNNMoney economists predict 4Q will slow to 2.2%; then 2.3% thru 2012. If this were true it would be abysmal; in fact, I expect the economy to contract again in 2012, and enter the long-pooh-pooh'd double-dip recession. We'll see who's right...(BTW U.S. unemployment still "officially" 9.1%)

SUPRISE: bankers don't want to lose money

Europe's tightrope walk above Greece default reaches center-rope between now and Oct. 23rd: big banks are resisting cutting Greek debt in a controlled fashion to avoid outright default and CDO chaos. German bankers are making noise about maybe not making as many loans if they lose too much on the deal. Either way this goes, Europe is facing another financial crisis and an almost guaranteed second recession.

This just in...'no recession' (BS)

Joseph Tanious of JPMorgan Chase Asset Management:
"Recent economic data reinforces our belief that U.S. economy is not in a recession...The consumer is in fact coming back and starting to spend."

Reuters: "Consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell in October"

Geez, who writes these headlines??? Why would anyone expect consumer sentiment to rise??! RETAIL SALES ARE UP BECAUSE PRICES ARE UP!! Dumasses!

These Guys Should Know, Right? (Would they lie to you?)

General Electric, ExxonMobil and FedEx CEOs all say our economy may slow down but will likely avoid an outright double-dip recession.

Meanwhile, sole-proprietor Deef Fourjay GUARANTEES a "new" recession!

Who you gonna believe?

You Might Be a Recession; if...

Found NASDAQ site article with 4 signs that
"You might be a recession":

-If your S&P 500 average falls below 950...
Hit "floor" of 1100 Oct 4th;
-If your oil futures fall below $70/bbl...
Closed Oct 4th at $75.67; over $78.
-If your Copper price falls below $2.50/lb...
Oct 5th just above lowest 2.99 at 3.10/lb
-If your Cotton falls below 60 cents a pound...
Oct 5th up from low 94 cents to over a dollar.

This appears to be a very conservative assessment; I believe we'll be in a recession again by summer, due to sluggish sales, flat-to-worse housing market, and of course double-digit unemployment.