Saturday, March 14, 2009

Economic crisis 2008 2009

With job layoff downsizing and closures, America is being hit hard the number of unemployed people is rising daily and there seems to be no end in site. Life is a little different here in Alaska. In our local paper there was a article of Fairbanks being the second most likely city to escape the "Economic Downturn" unscathed.

I will admit that the stocks that I have held over the last year have dropped in value, about 47% respectively. All the stocks are for long term gains and for my kids so I don't plan on selling them for another 10-15 years and they pay a dividend every quarter so I still feel safe (fingers crossed).

Home values around the country have been declining sense the housing bubble burst I was kinda worried about my personal residence, but my worrying was wasted in 2008 my home lose $12.00 in value and is unmoved in 2009 holding fast around $200,000. I still do owe money on my home but this amount is small compared to it's value $19,000 on a $200,000 home is nothing to fret about as long as the pay checks keep clearing.

The local housing market is a little different matter there are many of homes on the market moving rather slowly. Most aren't there because of foreclosure but because homeowners are still trying to cash in on home appreciation values. There have been very few risky loans given by local and large banks. Wells Fargo and First National Bank Alaska have a large basis in Alaska for banking and financing. Although Wells Fargo's stock has been hammered there still in relative great shape compared to others. First National Bank Alaska stock has been halved to around $1600.00 a share they also still deliver a comparable dividend if $100.00 per year per share.

JOBS

Local papers and business's are still advertising help needed and still some having a lag in fill time. Although I have been recently turned down for a $60,000-$80,000 per year job I remain optimistic, and have been eyeing other employers. The State of Alaska has received some federal funding for re-training people to fill better or good paying jobs readily available to those who qualify and are willing to sit through the orientation and more importantly go back to school.

I have been looking but unable to find one business of any reasonable size that has shut it's doors or rolled back operations. This doesn't include Palins order to freeze hiring state employees that don't have a permanent position. Best of all summer is approaching at it's regular pace and brings with it construction, state, local, and tourist jobs (first come first served).

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