RECORD HOME OWNERSHIP and JOB CUTS

BUT, this from 2001

THEN

Ownership hits record
February 6, 2004

The United States set a record for home ownership in 2003 with more than 72.6 million families
owning homes, according to a recent federal study.
The Census Bureau said the new home-ownership rate of 68.3 percent surpasses the previous record of 67.9 set in 2002.
Minorities also set a home-ownership record with a rate of 49.5 percent. This marked the first time the majority of minority households in America have owned homes.
The Midwest continues to lead the country with an overall home-ownership rate of 73.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to Joseph Galvan, HUD regional director for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The South region ranked second with 70.5 percent, followed by the Northeast with 64.7 percent and the West with 63.8 percent

HOME SWEET HOME ARTICLE now 70% own homes. THIS WAS DRIVING ECONOMY (Last year, Americans took out about $225 billion of their home equity, and even more in 2002 and 2003. Half of that was saved, and half was spent.)

ANd SPECULATION FEVER: Speculation. The purchase of second homes made up a record 36 percent of all home purchases last year, according to the National Association of Realtors--13 percent for vacation use and 23 percent for investment. That's three times the percentages just five years ago. Reflecting increased speculation, existing homes are turning over 50 percent faster than the average of the previous decade.

THAT'S a bubble!!

JOB CUTS

Ford white-collar job cuts planned?6:36aReport: Automaker may cut 10,000-plus salaried staff, about 30% of North American total. (more)

Kimberly-Clark to shed 6,000 jobs

HP's 15000 job cuts look imminent The Register15000 HP workers get nervous as analyst predicts massive job cuts. [Mail] [Print] [Mobile] [NewsAlerts]. Promote your Events and Training courses for free ... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/15/hp_job_cuts/

Employers announce 110996 job cuts in June: Challenger - Jul. 6, 2005Job cuts jumped 35 percent in June, with the number of layoff announcements pushing the monthly total to its highest level since January of last year, ... money.cnn.com/2005/07/06/news/economy/job_cuts/ - 36k - Jul 20, 2005 -

Employers announce 82283 job cuts in May: Challenger survey - Jun ...Planned job cuts soared in May after hitting a five-year low in April, but it's too early to worry about weakness in the economy, an employment firm said ...

money.cnn.com/2005/06/02/news/economy/job_cuts/ - 36k - Jul 20, 2005 -

Brighthand — PalmSource Reports Profitable Quarter, Job Cuts

News Results for 2005 job cuts
(AFX UK Focus) 2005-07-19 16:38 GMT: IBM now sees 14,500 job cuts, 70 pct of them in Europe UPDATE - Interactive Investor - Jul 19 8:58 AM