Will this stock market madness affect cards?

[japhi]

No idea what will happen with cards but the next 4 weeks are going to be brutal. We are really only 3 weeks into layoffs and 6mm people have hit the dole, mostly front line workers. Next shoe to drop is workers who service these industries, including a significant amount of high paying jobs. Basically millions of layoffs each week for the next 6-12 weeks.

I also don’t see a quick turn around. A lot of these jobs aren’t coming back, corporations are going to have to right size. I suspect we see short term UE in the 20% range, mid term around 10% and it will take years to get back to full employment.

I am also betting that spending habits change. A lot of people are about to learn how risky it is to live cheque to cheque. Consumerism was out of control the past decade. Here in Canada we are bailing out travellers that don’t have the funds to extend their stays overseas for an extra few weeks due to flight changes. Who goes away on a vacation with no extra money in the bank? Apparently lots of people think it’s reasonable to spend your last dollars on a trip to Mexico - these people are going to get wiped out.