good thing for senator Notbush tonight's debate isn't on the economy... http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=6370260 -- Reuters By Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy grew faster in the second quarter than previously thought as business inventories rose at the strongest rate in four years, the government said on Wednesday, a sign the soft patch was not as soft as feared. U.S. gross domestic product -- the measure of total output within the nation's borders -- expanded at a revised 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June second quarter. That was up from a 2.8 percent rate the government estimated a month ago but still slower than the first quarter's 4.5 percent rate, and the most sluggish rate of GDP advance since the first quarter of 2003. With the economy looming large as a factor in November presidential elections, the GDP report comes as positive news for President Bush before a debate on Thursday with Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry. Treasury Secretary John Snow, who is hosting fellow Group of Seven finance chiefs in Washington this week, hailed the upgrade as a sign Bush's policies work and said it "underscored the fact that the fundamentals of the economy are solid and we are in a period of rising prosperity and strong growth." Kerry has been sharply critical of weak job creation and record budget deficits that have dogged the Bush administration since it took power in January 2001. The GDP figure was the second and final revision to second-quarter performance and handily outpaced Wall Street economists' forecasts for a 3 percent rate of growth. Though well down from the first-quarter rate of expansion, it left the economy in better shape than anticipated for a widely forecast pickup in the second half of the year. NOT SO BAD, REALLY "It looks like the economy wasn't all that soft in the second quarter," said economist Gary Thayer of A.G. Edwards and Sons Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. "Generally, it shows the economy healthy and seeing growth in most categories." Inflation also was muted, with a favorite price gauge cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan -- the index of personal consumption expenditures excluding volatile food and energy -- slowing to a 1.7 percent annual rate of increase from 2.1 percent in the first quarter. The main culprit behind the second-quarter GDP falloff after a vigorous first quarter was weaker consumer spending, which eased to an increase at an annual rate of 1.6 percent -- the softest since 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2001 -- from 4.1 percent in the first quarter. But businesses kept building inventories strongly, adding to them at a $61.1 billion rate in the second quarter after a $40 billion increase in the first three months of the year. Financial markets showed a muted reaction to the data, which is considered backward-looking at this stage. Official figures on third-quarter GDP performance will not be available for another month. The dollar was slightly softer against the yen after gaining moderately after the report. LOOKING FOR PROFITS Prices for Treasury debt securities dropped, with the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond off 1-5/32 points to yield 4.87 percent, partly because of the stronger-than-expected GDP data but also because oil prices eased on news of increased U.S. crude stocks in the latest week. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 58.84 points, or 0.6 percent, at 10,136. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 24 points, or 1.3 percent, at 1,893. A stronger GDP performance may mean increased corporate profits in future, making stocks relatively more attractive to investors. During the second quarter, however, after-tax corporate profits fell at a $6.4 billion annual rate after climbing $32.3 billion in the first three months of the year. Commerce Department officials said the pace of inventory-building in the second quarter was the strongest since a $99.3-billion rate of buildup in the second quarter of 2000. Inventory accumulation can signal potential economic weakness when it is caused by weaker consumption but it can also presage strength if companies are loading up on goods because they believe spending likely will snap back. A substantial part of the inventory buildup has occurred in the auto sector and the big carmakers already are gearing up for rebates and financing incentives to thin out the stocks on dealer lots.
The economy is fantastic....if you make all of your money from stock dividends. The truth of the matter is that $50/barrel oil is making whatever "recovery" we are going through completely moot. Couple that with the fact that we are still in the hole as far as job creation goes, and you just might get the picture....the economy is great right now if you are rich....if you are not rich, the economy sucks donkey balls.
Oil is over $50 per barrel. I would argue that the invasion of Iraq has meant HUGE profits for the oil companies. BTW, nobody but conspiracy theorists have seriously mounted a war-for-oil charge. Kerry sure hasn't ever said anything even remotely approaching that, but it is very true that the oil conglomerates are profiting MASSIVELY from the invasion of Iraq and the resultant uncertainties in crude supplies. I don't think that Bush actually started the war to enrich his oil buddies, but it has had that ancilliary effect.
Wrong. Look up the price. Do you have to lie and exaggerate to make your position look better? Desperate times for the lefties call for desperate measures, I guess.
http://www.wtrg.com/daily/crudeoilprice.html Wednesday, September 29, 2004: NYMEX West Texas Intermediate for November delivery closed down $0.39 at_ $49.51 per barrel.
“I want Kerry to win…We’re aligning ourselves with Kerry. Our alliance will be for peace, against war, no more deaths for oil.” --Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain "no American, boy or girl, should have to go to war and lose their lives because of our gluttonous need for oil.” --Theresa Heinz Kerry
3.3 is still not as good as the 4%+ that was expected for the year. This quarter could get ugly 4 hurricanes and $40 -50 oil prices.
OK, so the price is $49.50 (like that is so far from $50 to make my statement an example of having to "lie and exaggerate"). Still FAR above where it was before the war and still providing a TON of expanded profits for the oil companies. Do you have to deflect and change the subject to make YOUR position look better?
Sorry, dude, but it is the Bush camp that comes up with the "rampant lies and distortions," not the "lefties" you decry.
I thought we didn't need to consider what anyone outside America thought. This is not saying at all that we went to war FOR oil, but it can easily be argued that our "gluttonous need for oil” is a MAJOR cause of the Iraq war and even the War on Terror. If we did not rely on oil from the ME, we wouldn't need a presence there with the exception of Israel. Without American presence in the ME, AQ would never have attacked us in the first place.
You might want to read the ENTIRE quote from THK, not just your RNC talking point quote. She was commenting on how we could extricate ourselves from most of the conflicts in the ME if we reduced our need for oil through renewable energy sources. Your out of context quotes are truly revealing.
how utterly fatuous to suggest that if we only didn't need oil, al queda would never have attacked us. our support for israel is reason enough for al queda and any other terrorist to attack us. are you suggesting we abondon israel? is kerry?
Sadly the high price of oil is another price we pay for the Iraqi debacle. High oil, high deficits and higher tuitions the Bush legacy. Oh I know he was president when 9/11 happened and he at least for a while really tried to find Bin Laden. What more can you ask for?
In the long term this economy isn't growing and is mearly keeping it's head above water. What concerns me is when will the economy grow and prosper if not now? Interest rates are still near historic lows and have been for some time.. Just about everyone I know got a check in the mail from Mr. Bush and his tax cuts, but where is the boom? We're running in the red, and not growing economically and I can't fathom why other Republicans aren't pissed at the fiscal responsibility of this administration. We love to bash the Dems for Taxing and Spending... but how the hell can you NOT tax when you are spending and spending and not growing? I understand the economy is doing better... but I'm considering the next two decades. The deficit spending helps in the short term but are we going to swim when the RED INK looms too large to continue? I understand that we are at war, and money must be spent... but you can't do that and continue to keep a tax cut that hasn't jumpstarted the economy enough to justify the cuts. To me, it's like this... The tax cuts put money back in the hands of the rich (and poor alike to an arguable degree) but the rich have little incentive to put the money back into the economy. Oil is high and could explode in price, depending on what the Chinese economy does in the next few years, security concerns (terrorism insurance?), rising healthcare costs. I'm not indicting anyone. I'm simply saying that if I were a rich man and had more money in my hands.. I take a look what is going on in the world and I play ultra concervative... I sit on my money try to wait this funk out. I'm not saying Bush has failed and the economy is his failure or that Kerry has all the answers. Many factors and policies and ideas and assumptions are all likely to blame to a point That's not the question I ask you smarty smart Clutch.bbs guys to answer Not who will lead us to the Great Treasure Room of the afterlife (if you make enough profit) but Where does the economy go from here? Where is there room to grow and prosper? Will a switch to a alternate energies produce new industries and services make a difference? Am I an idiot when I think that the U.S. MUST export more and import less in order to restore our previous economic status? thoughts on the longterm future?
How come I read the higher prices are from higher consumption. The higher consumption is coming from the improved american economy and from China. The problems in Venezula also having an effect. Iraq is clear down on the list for reasons of the high oil prices.
