Reader comments
Main Street: Some Utahns are taking cautious approach

Your false hopes will only bring sorrow.
That of which you have today will be gone tommorrow.
Watch...........

The economy if full of red flags and the warnings are being ignored. Why are businesses having to borrow money to meet the payroll of its workers? This seems like very bad business and they shouldn't be in business. This should be a blazing red flag to any bank or lender that to borrow to meet payroll means the company is insolvent. Consumers buying food and paying bills by borrowing money means they are living beyond their means. A company's payroll should be coming out of profits on sales and service. So what are they doing with their profits if they can't meet payroll? Shouldn't payroll needs be going in to a trust account and maybe earn interest for the company? Instead of paying interest to borrow it could be earning interest for the company and add to their profit margin. With this method of payroll accounting its no wonder companies are complaining about labor cost as they themselves are causing the problem, adding to the cost of labor with interest fees on loans for its workers. How can consumers and workers have any faith in the economy when a company can't even pay its workers without borrowing?

Yes, all well and good, but before the great depression, the DOW was at around 381, and it settled down to around 41 during the great depression and it didn't reach the same robust activity until the early 60's. "Those that do not study history are destined to repeat it".

The current economic environment promulgated by the "free market" crowd is one of "every man for themselves". We each have to become experts on individual finance. Our Depression era parents had it right with no consumer debt, paid for real estate, cash in the bank, and a dollar cost averaging, diversified, stock portfolio.

My parents are Boomers, and like the rest of their idiot contemporaries, learned nothing about finances from their Depression era parents. Good thing I listened to Grandma instead.

Perhaps now that none of us are going to retire until we're well over 70 years old because of the devestation to our stock values the social security system won't be under-funded after all.

I hope every one who has lost a lot of their 401K will do some research to find out who is responsible for this mess. It boiles down to Democrats and there liberal polices. Carter signed legislation to make housing availiable to low income people. Obama trained ACORN how to picket,intimidate and threaten banks in Chicago to give subprime loans to people that couldn't qualifiy for a regular loan. This tactic was repeated by ACORN through out the USA. ACORN is a radical group that has been sponsored and funded by the Democrats. In fact the first Wall Street bail out bill had millions in it for ACORN before the Republicans removed it from the bill. Obama and the Democrats have blocked many attempts to stop the subprime loans, that led to this mess. A lot of people should be thrown out of congress, starting with Chriss Dodd, Barney Frank and the list goes on. The Demoncrats shouldn't be put in charge of cleaning up the mess they created.

"There's never been a bear market that didn't turn around" Ask someone who lived through the great depression how long it took to turn around. As a small businessman I was interested how easily the article mentioned the fact that small businesses were having trouble getting short term loans to cover their payroll. Good honk, those businesses are out of business and don't even know it. As I write this my wife and I are on a mission in the middle of the Pacific. We'll be home in April and I must admit at being just a tad concerned about what is going on at home. We're so isolated we weren't able to get a write in ballot and won't be able to vote for the first time since we voted for Dwight Eisenhower. My dad always told me "what goes around comes around" We didn't think that would ever happen did we? Oh well, our home is paid for and we have no debt. I didn't listen to the smart boys who wanted to show me how to make money. Maybe I could have made more but I'm happy I still have what I made myself.

Investments in the market should be used with money you don't need today for expected expenses or in the short term. The closer you are to retirement the less money you should have in the market.

We had to a some point stop using homes at ATM's. We also had to learn than adjustable mortgage means the mortgage payment will go higher.

The article is right about the fear factor. Would this have come down the same way had it happened after the election?

I just got off from the Spectrum web site in St.George and I do this because I have a retirement home there, and to my bewilderment they had local gas prices down ther, and they are as low as 3.26 gal at a Phillips station in Hurricane where I so happen to live. I have a summer mobile home up here in Cache Valley and will be glad to get beack to Hurricane next week. All of their gas is trucked from SLC or loaded off the Las Vegas pipeline, which is Calif refined gas and hauled to Washington Co. I know because I used to haul fuel out of the SLC refineries and have talked with the transport drivers unloading at several stations in Wash Co recently.

You're wrong. Flat out. It started with Reagan. It is no doubt the fault of both Republicans and Demcrats since it's the fault of politicians. However, blaming Democrats is just completely off-the-mark. To pinpoint the one particular moment it went wrong would be hard, though many economists are pointing to deregulation. The subprime mortgage crisis is just one part of the big picture-and it's not even the main part. Whether you like it or not, your Republicans need to take some blame.
And this bailout bill, the second one, has more pork in it than Tony Roma's ribs. You can thank McCain, and many others, for that.
Your comments about ACORN just show the "elitest" attitude that has been take by the rich Republican right. The sad thing is, you're wrong about many things, but I doubt you care.

A business taking out a short term loan to cover expenses such as pay roll is necessary. Even in the best of times this is normal. It�s a matter of cash flow. Employees get paid twice a month and vendors don�t like to wait. But clients usually don�t pay until it�s absolutely due. So any given business is paying employees and vendors for work and expenses today but not getting paid for a month or so. The difference is paid for by a low interest short term loan. Employers complain about employment taxes because it�s a huge hit out of profit. Employers pay employees pay and taxes and then they also have to match the employee�s tax out of their own pocket. So every employee gets taxed twice. Then they have to buy unemployment insurance for each employee in case the employee gets fired or laid off. A business would love to be in the position you describe, they would just have to ask the employees and vendors to wait until they get paid in a couple of months. I don�t think that is going to fly.

Yeah, when Carter was President gas was high and gas stations were out of it completely and few could get a mortgage with 18% interest.

People are responsible, not government. No one made anyone buy a house or take out credit they couldn't afford to pay back. Where is the personal responsibility? If we just blame government and CEO's we won't have learned a thing.