3 Wood: Slow Ride

FOGHAT ~ Slow Ride ~ 1978

The Federal Reserve is predicting slowing economic growth.

Economy slow no matter how you slice it, Fed

"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - There are a lot of words to describe a slow economy and all of them were apt in August, according to the latest reading of economic conditions released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.

"Many [Fed districts] described business conditions as 'weak,' 'soft,' or 'subdued,' the Fed's report, known as the Beige Book for the traditional color of its cover, found.

One recent bright spot for the economy - orders from overseas, showed hints of slowing. In response, firms are pulling back on their hiring plans, the report found. Good news was at a minimum.

The service sector was slowing and the factory sector was weak. The real estate sector shows no sign of bottoming out and lending activity was subdued, the Fed said. The report confirms the sense that the economy is on a downward path following the strong 3.3% growth rate in the April-June quarter."

Translation from Fed-speak: This is the Fed's way of signaling that there will be no further rate cuts in the near future, nor rate increases for that matter.

They will not sit back and watch what happens, sort of let the dust settle down a bit in the economy. Don't get too alarmed over the dire predictions of slowing growth. We had a 3.3% growth rate in the 2nd quarter.

Anything over 2% means an increasing standard of living (you need 2% growth to keep up with population growth), so things seem to be actually doing well. As I always say though, most of the results depends on the price of oil. If we have a stable or slightly dropping price of oil, the economy should rebound nicely.

~ 3 WOOD

Simple Plan - What If?

"If we have a stable or slightly dropping price of oil,
the economy should rebound nicely"

Mighty big IF ya got there, handsome....
Is that an IF in yer pocket
or are ya just glad to see me?