Friday, August 15, 2008

An Economy In Distress

Ala. county faces biggest US municipal bankruptcy

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's largest county appears headed for the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, a $3.2 billion mess created by the nation's credit crunch and a colossal, corruption-riddled sewer project.

They aren't the only ones who ran out of dough though.

Mrs. Fields to file bittersweet bankruptcy

NEW YORK - Cookie retailer Mrs. Fields Famous Brands is running out of dough and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It is certainly food for thought.

Restaurant industry faces toughest market in two decades

“We’re not hitting the numbers that we would like to, but we’re not doing that anywhere,” added Lewis, whose other restaurants are on the South Side and in Canonsburg. “I don’t know any places that are, to tell you the truth.”

Telling the truth is certainly a good start.

OSI posts $176M loss in 2Q

Declining sales and increased losses are a result of intense competition in the casual dining segment, less advertising of the concepts and a severe downturn in the nation’s overall economy, said Dirk Montgomery, chief financial officer, in a conference call. Competitor advertising took its toll, as did OSI’s failure to offer lunch in its core concepts — Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, and Bonefish Grill, he said.

Other than the severe downturn in the nation's overall economy, things have never looked better though.

Tough economy awaits locals casino openings

Three locals casinos will take a leap of faith when they open their doors in the next eight months.

Leap of faith? Oh oh.

"It's never ideal to open in a down economic cycle," said Bill Lerner, a Las Vegas-based gaming analyst with Deutsche Bank. "But all of these projects are being built for the long haul, so even though it would be more favorable to open when times are good, they should be able to survive the short term and look ahead to the long term."

For what it is worth, the long term is what I'm most worried about.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't know why Mark but I have a feeling those Casinos may change hands a few times over the long haul.
Commodities are falling like a rock and Bucky is on a tear so who knows maybe I'm wrong. I think I'll stay hunkered down just in case though.

Kevin

Anonymous said...

A long term investment is a short term investment that's gone wrong.

I'm Not POTUS said...

Las Vegas, Arizona, Californias' central valley and inland empires have installed gigantic sewage and water treatment systems based upon pie in the sky population projections.
None of them have sustainable numbers of users to even keep 100% of the plants running at efficient volumes much less service the debt.
Mothballing will be needed in the near term.
Little tip for older municipalites with aging equipment. Wait for the fire sale on unused/underused equipment from these places. As an example the garbage trucks in Las Vegas have a lot of miles on them but the most important piece of equipment on the trucks is virtually unused.
A normal truck picks up bins every few feet of travel, but in vegas a truck can go half a block before finding a trash can to pick up.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Kevin,

I saw on CNBC today that the bear was dead. It was a headline. The market then proceeded to tank again, lol. At least one casino is apparently still open for business. ;)

dearieme,

Speaking of something going wrong, the nest eggs are starting to smell bad. Probably too late to cook them (assuming we could find the energy) and cooling them will simply delay the inevitable.

i'm not potus,

Las Vegas, Arizona, Californias' central valley and inland empires have installed gigantic sewage and water treatment systems based upon pie in the sky population projections.

Why doesn't that surprise me much.

I feel somewhat sorry for the first to move to the desert. You are pretty sure you've got enough water and then suddenly you've got a huge increase in the number of neighbors.

Global warming aside, fresh water dwindling
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2008/08/17/20080817vip-gober0817.html

Water stress in richer nations, and in places such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, means an inability to sustain a growth economy and support lavish oasis-style lifestyles featuring irrigated lawns, outdoor swimming pools, artificial waterfalls and urban lakes.

Go figure.