"The real recession is yet to start for most people who are now employed."

I agree. For about the last year, I've been paying attention to the callers and types of calls received by "talk radio" type financial programs. In just the last few weeks I've noticed a change. Suddenly I'm hearing callers for whom the walls have fallen in. Many times the callers are female. Often, they are next to tears or are in tears. Usually, the calls are similar: husband has lost his job, family income has been drastically slashed, etc. They will have two or three vehicles with outstanding notes far exceeding the market value of the vehicles. A quarter million dollar house will be in the mix, and they are as up-side-down on that as they are with the vehicles. The credit card debt is astronomical in most cases. Suddenly, they cannot even pay the electrical power bill, or even the water bill.

Right now, I'm hearing many whose income depended upon construction or renovation, but lately quite a few in the financial field.

You can tell that they are all completely shell shocked, and have no idea how they will make it even another month. No savings, no backup plan.

It's going to get real ugly. I don't think people yet realize just how ugly.

Good point.

The two largest Chevrolet dealers in Houston have gone bankrupt: Bill Heard Chevrolet (14 dealerships) and Landmark Chevrolet. Bill Heard was the largest Chevrolet dealership in the nation.

The consulting firm Grant Thornton says nearly one in every five car dealerships in the U.S. will close.

I'm pretty sure that the National Assoc. of Manufacturers has been outsourced to India.

Traffic: better than expected. Profit: we don't know yet.