Doug MacGray’s Weekly Financial Update – Week of November 25th
John Thomas
November 25, 2007
Various economists and investment houses are now coming out with their “odds” as to whether we will move into a recession. Here is my wisdom: I don’t know. Of course, you should be prepared in case we do or if we don’t. Depending on your situation, you want to be appropriately defensive, but not so “safe” that you do not participate in market growth when it occurs. Make sure you know how you are invested, have a strategy and sleep well. If you are not sleeping well, you either don’t have a strategy, or you do but it is too aggressive. (Past performance is never a guarantee of future results.)
A GOOD START: I hate getting caught up in this, but holiday consumer spending is an obsession, so here I go: According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.
A SHORT TERM PLUS FOR THE FALLING DOLLAR: The falling dollar is rife with danger for this economy. For the moment, U.S. shopping outlets are benefiting from foreign visitors making trips to the U.S. for the specific purpose of doing their holiday shopping. For example, in my former hometown of Wrentham, Massachusetts: a record 1,000 international tourists have scheduled organized shopping trips as of yesterday to Wrentham Village Premium Outlets – more than double the number last year. Hundreds more were expected to come on their own, according to Beth Winbourne, the outlet’s general manager. Boston is projecting a 14 percent increase in overseas visitors this month compared with November of last year.
A BAD HOUSING OCTOBER: In October, new residential construction was higher than expected. But, all of the gains were in multi-family units, not single-family dwellings, which were down another -7.3%. New construction permits were down -5.9%.
FUEL COSTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL EXPENSE LEVELS: People in Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky spent more than 11% of their income to fuel their car, while residents of New York and New Jersey average less than 2%.
STATE TAX RATES: As a percentage of income, the state with the lowest tax burden is Alaska at 6.6%. Rounding out the top five were New Hampshire, Tennessee, Delaware, and Alabama. The state with the highest tax burden at 14.1% is Vermont. Rounding out the top five are Maine, New York, Rhode Island, and Ohio (between 14% and 12.1%). New Jersey is 10th at 11.6%. Connecticut is 8th at 12.2%. Maryland and Pennsylvania are virtually tied for 23rd at 10.8%.
If you would like to apply for a Mortgage Loan, you can APPLY ONLINE HERE, you can call John Thomas at 302-703-0727.
John R. Thomas – NMLS 38783
Certified Mortgage Planner – Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.
302-703-0727 DE Office / 610-906-3109 PA Office / 410-412-3319 MD Office
248 E Chestnut Hill Rd, Newark, DE 19713
