The economy in the internet world

I keep hearing how bad it is and how long it is going to be before we see a recovery. It is a world-wide crisis and all the banks and car companies failed. Don't believe me, watch CNN.

Just this morning on the news we were seeing this heart wrenching story about a guy who lost his job and can't find work. He was laid off in October 2008. Yes you read that right.

If the economy is so bad why is my line at Starbucks just as long?

What about oil down over 50% from the high which we were told was only going higher, and gas almost under $2 a gallon? The last time that happened was before Katrina.

How come many marathons and triathlons sell out a year before in minutes at $100+ entry fees (not to mention travel costs)?

Please understand , I am not saying we are not in a recession nor that there are not any issues in our economy. There are challenges and there are problems in many sectors. However, this is not 1934 and the great depression. In the paper today their was a story about EMC and the $8 Billion (yes with a B) in cash it had to weather the storm.

We live in a world where everything is compressed. Information is instantaneous to our phones and computer screens. What in the past would have taken months to understand can be googled with 1000 expert opinions in seconds.

Wild swings in the market are an example. People have access to information and make changes in their 401K's and IRA's every day exaggerating every up and down day. Companies have been shedding jobs but we are still at a 6.5% unemployment rate. A pretty good distance from the 10+% it was in the 1980's.

It is going to get worse. In the 4th quarter of this year companies will aggressively write-off lay-offs, bad debts, inventory reductions. Why? Because it is a lost quarter. The market isn't paying attention to it. It has discounted everything. Public companies will make themselves look as bad as they possibly can. The challenge is figuring out which companies are really in trouble and which ones are just trying to make it look like it. Don't believe me, go all the way back to 2001 -2002 and take a look. The tech bubble burst, dot-com companies were failing left and right, announcing layoffs, merging in order to survive, the market was way down and interest rates were dropping. Sound familiar....