Sentiment: It is back to the lows of 2008?

[Murcielago_Boy]

I'm in business and I am of the opinion that a LOT of people are really 5hitting themselves right now with respect to the economy and economic prospects.
I don't want to debate the state of the economy itself - forget underlying drivers, indicators - forget that- I don't think anything is as important as sentiment - as feeling. I want to know how people are FEELING here? You chaps putting your money away deferring consumption? Scared about your jobs etc?

Do you FEEL that things are as bad as they were 3 years ago when many people thought that the world was about to come to an end?

[CHIEF]

Murcielago_Boy said:

Do you FEEL that things are as bad as they were 3 years ago when many people thought that the world was about to come to an end?

I think it could be worse but i hope not.

[Jimslips]

Oil activity is very high at the moment so not for this industry, nope. Sorry to hear you are struggling.

[mike13]

For me personally i am worse off now than then,frozen pay,cost of living etc.On a wider scale i hear more people now saying they are cutting back than i did in 08,i feel it is getting worse and am becoming more pessimistic by the day.

[Ozzie Osmond]

"The darkest hour is just before the dawn."

[Cyder]

Car industry is far better than 2008, and I bloody hope it stays this way!

[Murcielago_Boy]

Jimslips said:

Oil activity is very high at the moment so not for this industry, nope. Sorry to hear you are struggling.

Thanks for the concern mate - thankfully no need. Business is OK (for now!)

Unlike 2008, I'm sort of, an outsider looking at others. Also a bit of experience from 2008 means I'm less prone to the panic hysteria of what was then my first recession as a grown-up.
Wondering whether this "calm experience" is going to help others from talking themselves down and nations talking themselves into recessions.

[turbobloke]

Steady state and OK state here, but it feels fragile still.

[hornet]

Can't comment from a business point of view, but from a consumer point of view I've certainly changed my habits. Very worried about job security, so pretty much all "spare" income is getting piled into overpaying the mortgage. Haven't made any major purchases in the last few years, and holidays have tended to be a few days here and there in the UK rather than flyaway. I've actually found doing less and owning less has changed my outlook somewhat, so I'm not sure I'd revert to previous levels of spending even if things recovered fully. Purely anecdotal, but quite a few friends feel the same way. The talk of austerity and various ongoing crises has made them take a step back and reassess what they find important. Beneficial for personal wellbeing, but f*ck awful for GDP, which nicely sums up the pickle we find ourselves in.

[chris_w]

hornet said:

Very worried about job security, so pretty much all "spare" income is getting piled into overpaying the mortgage.

How does this help - if you lose your job, your overpayments won't reduce your ongoing payments (unless you've obviously paid your mortgage off early)?? Why not just save as much money as an emergency fund that can extend the preiod you can cover your mortgage whilst looking for work?

[turbobloke]

chris_w said:

hornet said:

Very worried about job security, so pretty much all "spare" income is getting piled into overpaying the mortgage.

How does this help - if you lose your job, your overpayments won't reduce your ongoing payments (unless you've obviously paid your mortgage off early)?? Why not just save as much money as an emergency fund that can extend the preiod you can cover your mortgage whilst looking for work?

With some mortgages that 'reset' button can be pressed so that monthly repayments do reduce after a period of significant overpayment. Can't say about hornet's case obviously!

[bga]

Our FTSE100 clients are still commissioning (and de-mothballing) projects. I take that s a sign that they are cautiously optimistic.

[RYH64E]

2011 has been our best year to date, and I am pretty confident for 2012. We are running close to full capacity, I'll probably have to recruit again in 2012, as I did in 2011.

[Randy Winkman]

chris_w said:

hornet said:

Very worried about job security, so pretty much all "spare" income is getting piled into overpaying the mortgage.

How does this help - if you lose your job, your overpayments won't reduce your ongoing payments (unless you've obviously paid your mortgage off early)?? Why not just save as much money as an emergency fund that can extend the preiod you can cover your mortgage whilst looking for work?

I'm not sure this really addresses the point - but I've always found paying off the mortgage more satisfying than saving.

[Bing o]

Was chatting to our regional CFO the other day (very large German Bank). He certainly thinks that things are as bad as 2008, if not worse. There seems to be a party line amongst our execs that the euro will survive, but I think that that is based on hope rather than certainty.

Oddly, being in Asia, we haven't seen much impact yet. However, my fear is that the contagion of a euro zone collapse will damage the manufacturing and shipping businesses out here.

Personally, and unlike some of my peers, I am investing about 30% of my income, and using the rest to overpay the mortgage back home whilst the FX rate is still in my favour. One of the drivers behind me leaving was the economy, and I don't see any reason to return any time soon.

[hornet]

chris_w said:

How does this help - if you lose your job, your overpayments won't reduce your ongoing payments (unless you've obviously paid your mortgage off early)?? Why not just save as much money as an emergency fund that can extend the preiod you can cover your mortgage whilst looking for work?

I probably phrased that badly. I have an amount of "buffer" savings held back for exactly the reason you state. The overpayments I'm making are on top of that reserve, the intention being to nibble away at the mortgage from both ends (fnarr) while the going is good in order to minimise any problems should personal circumstances take a turn for the worse. I'm on a fixed deal rather than a tracker, and my mortgage rate is currently +1.5% over the best savings rates. Given I'm already ISA'd up for the tax year, it seemed like the best place for it. The gist of my post was that rather than using this spare "after savings" cash for "stuff", I'm being pretty defensive, even though there is no immediate threat to my job. Hopefully that makes more sense

[DJRC]

Spent more this year than any other year.

Bicester village last weekend was just as busy as any other weekend. People are going about their business as normal and letting the Powers That Be panic whilst they get on with stuff.

Same as 2008 really.

[jeff m2]

2008 was more of a shock.
2011 I think people and certainly corporations were sitting in a better position.
Corp bal sheets are strong, corp debt, the B to BBB lot is not a bad place to be as not too much of it is up soon.

So why am I broke

[toppstuff]

Very black and white. it seems to me.

For many people its frankly st.

For other it is business as usual - either because they are doing genuinely well or because they are in denial.

I think there is more of the former than there was maybe in 2008 unfortunately.

We will turn the corner, but we won't realise when we have done it. At some stage in the future we will look back and realise that the worst is behind us. I don't think that will be soon.

I think we are only part way through the debt crisis. There is worse to come.

[Engineer1]

For me personally it is better than 2008, my savings are in a stter position but I am in a good job this time in 2008 I was being driven insane in an impossible position trying to pass a PGCE. I think in some industries employment opportunities are improving and people are moving on opening new opportunities to others, but other industries are still shrinking and may still have lay offs in their futures.