Sunday, October 25, 2009

Is the recession REALLY over?

 Houses in my adopted home town of Burbank, Calif. are starting to sell for MORE than the listed price in some zip codes,..good news indeed for MY area, but there are still way too many "Bank Owned" signs even in higher income single-family-only zones. So it's a delight to see this item in Marketwatch:



The U.S. economy probably grew at a healthy pace in the third quarter of the year, the first economic growth in a year and a strong sign that the worst recession in the postwar era is over, economists say.
Helped by massive government stimulus that supported consumer spending and residential investments, U.S. gross national product probably rose at a an annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter after plunging by 3.8% in the past year, according to the median forecasts of economists surveyed by Marketwatch.
The GDP numbers will be released on Thursday. GDP will be the top headline in a fairly busy week for economic data.

We can only hope the Thursday stats validate this prediction.

Nice to see my former top boss Les Moonves finally coming around to the idea that older viewers ACTUALLY HAVE MORE BUYING POWER THAN the coveted 18-35 demographic.Maybe he should do his own field research: Go out and knock on some doors asking who purchased the brand new car, home theater system, or even those expensive  blue jeans that 20 year old is wearing? Check the latest in this Business Week article:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_44/b4153063914355.htm


Has your neighborhood multiplex stopped allowing outside food? Mine has.The once permissive AMC now has huge signs warning people they might be '86-ed if they get caught bringing in licorice from the 99 cent store that sells for $4 bucks at the concession stand.I believe in supporting the theater owners, don't get me wrong. Go ahead and buy a soda and popcorn from the pimply faced 20 year old who drove to work in his mom's new Lexus (see comments above).. then add the $12 per person ticket price, and you've already  paid the usher's minimum- wage salary for the day. So what's wrong with sneaking in a Hershey bar or some Costco bottled water? Also, this new policy could drive away big time business from the yogurt and candy stores that are steps away from the box office.

Many of my friends would argue this is all the more reason to get your movies from the $1 Red Box, and watch them at home with some Jiffy Pop. I'm cool with this most days, but at least once a week, I gotta have my filmed entertainment shown on a 200 foot screen with hundreds of other movie goers. And don't forget to sneak in a Snickers!

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