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Recession Briefing 2.25

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Obama Assures Nation: ‘We Will Rebuild’ (NYT)
The Prez gives another command performance. President Obama urged the nation on Tuesday to see the economic crisis as reason to raise its ambitions, calling for expensive new efforts to address energy, health care and education even as he warned that government bailouts have not come to an end.

Dow: Triple-digit rally after rout (CNN Money)
Stocks bounced Tuesday, a day after falling to nearly 12-year lows, after comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that downplayed bank takeover fears helped to spark a big rally. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 236 points, or 3.3%, its best day on a point basis in over a month. The Dow ended Tuesday’s session at the lowest point since May 7, 1997.

Renters Lose Edge on Homeowners (WSJ)
The relative cost of owning versus renting is swinging back in favor of homeownership in some U.S. markets. At the height of the boom, as home prices surged, demand for rentals started to rise as the gap between owning and renting widened significantly. Now, after two years of rapid home-price depreciation, the relationship between the cost of rental payments versus after-tax mortgage payments is tilting toward ownership in a number of metropolitan areas.

“We Are Not Quitters” (Slate)
Barack Obama delivered a mixed message in his first address to Congress, so it was fitting that his call for sacrifice and hard choices fell on Mardi Gras, a day reserved for irresponsible revelry. The president tried to give an honest assessment of the current dire economic condition while rallying the country to its strongest traditions of optimism and perseverance. He did it.

Recession blurs outlook for 3-D movie expansion (Reuters)
Hollywood is turning to 3-D movies more than at any time since the 1950s to boost ticket sales, but the recession has created a distribution logjam that has blurred the current box office outlook for 3-D.

In Silicon Valley, Recruiters Are Sending Out Their Own Résumés (NYT)
The majority of approximately 90 Silicon Valley tech recruiters who attended a networking luncheon in Mountain View are unemployed. The monthly luncheon, now in its 11th year, has long been a source of job leads for countless recruiters. This year recruiters were hoping to hear of jobs for themselves.

Bernanke sees possible end to recession in 2009 (USA Today)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that it could take years for the economy to fully recover from the current “severe contraction,” even as new, dismal data on housing and consumer confidence underscored the depth of the historic recession.

U.S. Economy: Consumer Confidence, Home Prices Slump (Bloomberg)
U.S. consumer confidence collapsed this month and home values plunged in December, the latest evidence of a deepening economic slump that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke today warned may last into 2010.

Top Execs Take Pay Cuts, Buyouts Offered at Ford (Fox News)
Hourly workers at Ford Motor Co. will get yet another round of buyout and early retirement offers, and the company’s top two executives will take 30 percent pay cuts as Ford tries to find a way out of the worst auto sales slump in 26 years.

Yen Slips Beyond 96 Versus Dollar as Economy Erodes Haven Role (Bloomberg)
The yen weakened beyond 96 against the dollar for the first time since November as Japan’s deteriorating economy eroded the currency’s appeal as a refuge from the global financial crisis.

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