Boaters Jumping Ship in Troubled Times

Recession isn't over as far as consumers are concerned

(NEWSER) - If the recession is indeed waning, nobody told consumers. Retailers of every kind reported lousy sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports. Target’s same-store sales fell 6.2%, Home Depot’s dropped 9.1% and Saks’ plummeted a whopping 15.5%. And with unemployment, stagnant wages, and tight credit squeezing shoppers, executives don’t expect to see improvement until next spring. More»

(NEWSER) - If you’re the glass-half-full type, recent economic indicators look good: Unemployment fell last month, the savings rate is up, and productivity hit a 6-year high. But that same data proves that ordinary people aren’t likely to feel the good vibrations anytime soon, the Washington Post reports. “It's going to be a recovery only a statistician can love,” said a Wells Fargo economist. More»

Maybe money men were hopped up on anti-depressants

(NEWSER) - Peggy Noonan has a novel explanation for the crash (“or the great recession, or the collapse—it’s time it got its name”): What if the bankers were all hopped up on happy pills? Antidepressant use became widespread in New York after 9/11, she notes in the Wall Street Journal. “I wonder if Xanax, Zoloft and Klonopin, when taken by investment bankers, lessened what might have been normal, prudent anxiety,” she writes. “Maybe Wall Street was high as a kite.” More»

Residents who have gained a new town wall aren't pleased

(NEWSER) - Miles of boxcars that used to rumble through rural US communities now sit idle—and though quieter, towns are finding them much more obtrusive, reports the Wall Street Journal. With shipping down across the world, 30% of America’s boxcars have nothing to transport, and rail yards just can’t hold some 200,000 extra cars. They’ve found new homes, but aren’t very welcome there. More»

Home-improvement giant having rough time in slow housing market

(AP) - Home Depot says it's cutting 7,000 jobs and closing its smaller Expo chain as the recession continues to batter the nation's housing market. The nation's largest home-improvement retailer says the cuts announced this morning will affect about 2% of its workforce. Its core Home Depot stores won't be affected. More»