It is all About Money

I got this fact from some friends through email. I think it is interesting, therefore, like to share it here…

Between 1930 and 1933, over 9,000 U.S. banks closed, causing a loss to depositors and shareholders of about $2.5 billion — equivalent to $340 billion today.
NEW YORK TIMES 

The IMF has about $260 billion available for loans to countries in crisis — an amount which pales when compared to recent banking bailouts in high-income countries. During the Asian financial crisis, the IMF itself lent about $36 billion — but much more came directly from countries, which may now be reluctant to contribute funds.
FINANCIAL TIMES

As of 2008, the annual rate of oil output decline is 9.1% — without additional investment to increase production. With investment, annual decline is projected at 6.4%.
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY

As of October 2008, over 80 emerging market economies have current account deficits of more than 5% of GDP.
THE ECONOMIST

Not long ago, I read a news, which some politician in Malaysia claim that Malaysia should not effect much from the financial turmoil.  If it is the case, then it is very good.

Today, I found a news in an online publication. I think it is a good way to prepare for the unpredictable economic situation. If the consumers itself prepare, it is better. However, will it have bad affect to the shop and later to the economy?

Malaysians put life on hold reducing ‘impulse’ purchases
By YEOW POOI LING

KUALA LUMPUR: More than half of Malaysians have reduced “impulse” purchases and postponed major life decisions.

They are delaying getting married, having children, moving house, changing jobs or furthering their education due to the current downbeat economic conditions, according to a recent poll by Synovate Research.

Nevertheless, 45% were optimistic that the weak economy would improve soon while only 22% thought the economy was going downhill and that the domestic economy would worsen before it recovers.

Synovate’s survey, conducted two months ago, reviewed the spending habits and perceptions of Malaysians on the economy over six months to August. The survey was also done in Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, the US, France, Russia, Turkey and South Africa.

Synovate Malaysia managing director Steve Murphy said Malaysians had a more positive outlook on the economy compared to developed countries.

For example, almost two-thirds of Americans (63%), Japanese (63%) and French (64%) felt their economy would get worse before rebounding, he said after a media briefing yesterday.

“Malaysians’ optimism is merited as the banking system is regulated,” Murphy said.

Nonetheless, given the barrage of negative news over the last two months, more Malaysians could feel more pessimistic by now, he added.

In the six months to August, 36% of Malaysians were saving less, 25% investing less and generally reducing their spending on basic necessities and especially luxury items.

This was attributed to the lower disposable income given that food and energy prices had increased while salary saw little difference, Murphy said.

Almost half the respondents were earning almost the same as before, 26% were taking home less salary while 15% saw a pay rise during the six-month period.

Top of the list of items that Malaysians were willing to give up were holidays and leisure travel (18%), branded items (13%), eating out (12%) and purchases of big-ticket items (12%) like houses and cars.

Murphy said instead of getting a new car, the average Malaysian was more likely to consider a second-hand, or a lower range, vehicle.

Some 31% of Malaysians deemed to be affluent, i.e, those with monthly income of RM4,000 and above, indicated they had the intention to buy a new car in the next 12 months.

Affluent Malaysians have continued to invest this year with investment in unit trusts and mutual funds increasing to 40% in first half of the year from 29% a year ago.

Investments in residential and commercial property investment rose to 29% from 21% in the same period.

Murphy said the affluent believed that they would be cushioned during tough times.

“But this is a small segment of society. The majority of people would tighten their belts,” he added.

Synovate surveyed 1,000 respondents from urban and rural areas, as well as major cities in the country.

Meanwhile, Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) managing director Datuk Syed Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar said the automaker had yet to feel the change in consumer sentiment, as sales numbers for its economical vehicles remained strong for September and October.

“October hasn’t ended yet but about 15,000 (units) have been booked so far,” he told StarBiz in a telephone interview.

Mutiara Goodyear Development Bhd, which develops mostly mid-range properties, had seen a take-up rate of over 70% for its Prima Avenue commercial project in Petaling Jaya since the launch in mid-August, said chief executive officer Kee Cheng Teik.

Prima Avenue comprises two towers of office suites and retail lots selling at RM170,000 onwards with a total gross development value of RM120mil.

Buyers were mainly property investors and young entrepreneurs starting their business, he said.

But health food company Hai-O Enterprise Bhd is seeing weaker demand from its Chinese customers.

Financial controller Hew Von Kin said Chinese medicated halls, which got their supplies from Hai-O, were stocking less in anticipation of slower demand.

“The Chinese are usually more sensitive and cautious during an economic slowdown,” he said, adding that its multi-level marketing business was still resilient.

Many people say Forex can make lots of money… I don’t doubt about that… it can make lots of money, but as other investment (with high risk), it can make someone lose money too… i think the most important thing about investment is study and master it first and don’t be greedy and we will able to make money on that.

Here in this news is one of the example…

IOI Corp first quarter forex loss at RM100m

KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd said its realised foreign exchange (forex) loss for the first quarter ended Sept 30 amounted to about RM100mil, compared with realised gain of RM7mil for the financial year ended June 30.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, IOI reiterated that the group had been utilising various methods of forward currency coverage and hedging to match the income streams and raw material purchase costs to minimise its exposure to the foreign currency risk and balance.

“The company wishes to further assure shareholders that the financial position of the group remains strong and it has no problem in meeting the cashflow requirements of its business operations,” it said.

Today I found this news from the internet… it seem like the lawsuits will and possibly become one of the threat that will hound blogger. I am not sure about the legal side of this, but will it will effect and discourage people to write to their blog? or will it make people become more responsible on their writing? I believe no one can tell as of now… just have to wait and see…

Here is the news:

Lawsuits tell a cautionary tale for bloggers

The freewheeling blogosphere is learning some harsh realities. Dan Margolies reports.

BLOGGER Dan Ryan has never been sued for his postings, although one commenter whose anti-Semitic ravings he deleted accused him of slander and threatened “to own my house”. Even so, Mr Ryan, whose daily musings about politics, homemade beer and whatever else strikes his fancy appear at gonemild.com, says he is not overly concerned about being sued.

“I have the benefit of being fundamentally judgement-proof - like most bloggers,” he jokes, referring to his relative lack of wealth. “I try to avoid anything slanderous or anything that would be actionable.”

Mr Ryan’s caution may stem from his training as a lawyer. Most bloggers, however, are less attuned to the niceties of the law and many are finding themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

The Citizen Media Law Project has tallied 280 legal actions against bloggers and other online publishers in the US. Compared with the millions of blogs out there, that might not seem like a lot but the numbers have been steadily increasing from a mere four lawsuits in 1997 to 89 last year.

Only a handful of cases have resulted in verdicts or settlements but a few have been eye-popping enough to give even the average blogger pause.

The largest was a $US11.3million defamation verdict in Florida against a woman who disparaged the head of an organisation she hired to remove her son from a Costa Rican boarding school on various internet bulletin boards.

It is only a matter of time, experts say, before bloggers provoke more lawsuits, whether for defamation, invasion of privacy or copyright infringement. “Every time someone publishes anything online, whether it’s a news article, blog post, podcast, video or even a user comment, they open themselves up to potential legal liability,” says David Ardia, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Centre for Internet & Society.

Mr Ardia, who also directs the Citizen Media Law Project, notes that “even the smallest blog or most esoteric discussion forum has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of people throughout the world”.

Mainstream news organisations have insurance policies that cover copyright and defamation risks. But until now, such insurance wasn’t available for individual bloggers.

In September, Kansas City, Missouri-based Media/Professional Insurance, which bills itself as the largest underwriter of media liability insurance in the world, launched BlogInsure, aimed at the ordinary citizen blogger, covering costs and damages for claims of defamation, invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.

Yesterday I watch a movie ‘arahant summer’. it is a Thai movie, about a group of boys which become monk. it is a funny and nice movie… good for kids and family.

There are one message that I like about the movie… it is about “everything that is happen to us, mostly because of us”… maybe because of the way we communicate with the environment, they way we think or the way we treat something.

I think In money making and money management also relate strongly to this value. well, there are some quotation that I read long time ago. I don’t remember exactly the phrases or the words, but it have meaning like “if you take all the money from a rich people, they will get it back because they themself rich“. From my understanding, they become rich because of the way they think and they way they do things… therefore, if we take all their money today, in not many years, they will become rich again as their habits and the way of thinking is like a ‘rich man’

Seem like google is going for new segment of the market… well, at the moment I didn’t think it will effect anything to many to non game site… but it is a good thing to be known.

Google adds computer games to online advertising kingdom

AFP - Thursday, October 9

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - - Google said Wednesday that it is expanding its advertising kingdom to include the booming online computer game market.

AdSense for Games software that lets website operators weave video, text, or picture advertisements into online games is being tested in the United States.

Industry statistics indicate that more than a quarter of Internet users, approximately 200 million people, play games online and that their ranks are growing at a rate of 17 percent annually.

“AdSense for Games gives game developers a new way to monetize their games and advertisers additional tools to reach their audiences,” Google said in a message announcing the software’s debut.

“With this program, advertisers can now reach the growing number of gamers who are engaged in online play.”

Ad revenue is split between Google and game developers or publishers.

Google said it is working with games from Konami, Playfish, Zynga and Mochi Media and lists advertisers including Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.

I found this article in yahoo this morning… When reading the article, I smile to myself… and think… this is interesting!

The economy turmoil start from ourself (people) and if people try to cope and adjust our lifestyle, the effect is not that bad… a thumb up to this restaurant.

Here below is the full article.

Spanish restaurant launches ‘anti-crisis’ lunch menu for one euro

MADRID (AFP) - - A restaurant in Gijon in northern Spain has started offering a lunch time “anti-crisis” menu for just one euro to help its customers in the industrial port face up to the sharp economic slowdown.

“We don’t make money but we are not losing money either,” one of the managers of Dario’s restaurant, Emilia Jimenez, told Spanish media, adding that business on weekends makes up for its budget-priced Thursday lunches.

The restaurant launched the offer earlier this month to try to attract customers at a time when consumer spending is contracting sharply in Spain, which is going through an abrupt economic slowdown.

Waiting times for a seat were long on Thursday as the 49-seat establishment served nearly 200 people.

For one euro (1.26 dollars) customers were served seafood soup, ribs with rice, chicken or anchovies with salad, along with bread, a drink and dessert.

Lunch time menus in Spain usually cost around 10 euros.

Spain is experiencing a rapid rise in unemployment as its economy, which just last year was one of the fastest-growing in the developed world, lurches towards a recession due to the end of a decade-long property boom.

The country’s unemployment rate rose to 11.3 percent in the third quarter, its highest level in more than four years and the highest rate in the 27-member European Union, from 10.4 percent in the second quarter.

The Washington-based International Monetary Fund predicts Spain’s unemployment rate will hit 14.7 percent next year while the economy will shrink by 0.2 percent that year. Spain’s economy expanded by 3.7 percent last year.

Corporate America’s stark message: Buckle up and hunker down for rough recession

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buckle up and hunker down, because we’re in for a rough recession.

The stark message has grown louder and clearer this month as more investors have fled the disintegrating stock market and corporate earnings reports have delivered a procession of disheartening results, bleak forecasts and mass layoffs likely to exacerbate the economic misery.

“We are starting to see wholesale capitulation,” said Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland. “We are headed for some very bad times.”

Although not everyone is quite as apocalyptic, the picture emerging from corporate America during the past few weeks has been unrelentingly gloomy.

If executives from some of the world’s largest companies are correct, here’s a few of the dreary things to expect in the next few months: Fewer — and cheaper — gifts under Christmas trees. Emptier restaurants because more people will be eating fast-food burgers when they do splurge on meals out. More unsold cars sitting in automobile lots. Longer unemployment lines as companies cut costs to offset their declining sales.

Even the bright spots aren’t exactly feel-good stories. Two of the largest tobacco companies stood by their profit projections while another raised its earnings outlook, largely because their cancer-causing products usually sell reasonably well even in tough times.

A recession hasn’t been declared by the national bureau of economists who look for two consecutive quarterly declines in the United States’ gross domestic product. That has yet to show up in government statistics.

But that’s an oversimplification that ignores other yardsticks used to identify a recession, including employment, household incomes, retail sales and business production. And business leaders aren’t waiting for the official proclamation.

“We are going into what is very clearly a recession mode,” Blake Jorgensen, Yahoo Inc.’s chief financial officer, told The Associated Press a few days ago after the Internet company disclosed plans to fire at least 1,500 workers — about 10 percent of the payroll — by the end of this year.

Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, cited the “recessionary conditions” in the United States in a forecast that envisions little sales growth next year.

Even companies seemingly in strong positions are treading more carefully. Internet search leader Google Inc. and software kingpin Microsoft Corp., which combined have $35 billion in the bank, are keeping a closer eye on expenses. Apple Inc. predicted its profits and sales during the holiday season will be well below analyst estimates even though the company sold a record number of Macintosh computers, iPhones and iPods during the quarter it just completed in September.

Executives typically remain cautious in the early stages of a downturn before they start cutting costs as the economy deteriorates.

By the time many companies finally get around to pruning the payroll, the worst is over, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for Charles Schwab & Co. “Layoffs are often a lagging economic indicator,” she said. “My only question sometimes (about corporate layoffs) is what took them so long to do it.”

This time, though, Sonders doesn’t think a turnaround is imminent. She believes the recession began late last year and probably won’t end until the middle of next year, at the earliest.

Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for Standard & Poor’s equity research, has a more precise timeline. He says the recession began in December 2007 and won’t end until May 2009.

That would be a 17-month recession — the longest since World War II. The United States suffered through 16-month recessions from July 1981-November 1982 and November 1973-March 1975.

The steep decline in the stock market this month is another indication of more trouble ahead, if you follow the rule of thumb that investors are typically making their decisions based on what things will look like in six to nine months.

That probably means even more people are going to lose their jobs during the next month, although few experts are predicting unemployment will approach 11 percent as it did in the last severe recession, during 1981-82. U.S. unemployment currently stands at 6.1 percent.

Once a few companies start to fire workers, it can have a snowball effect as other executives realize they need satisfy Wall Street’s desire for cost cuts or they have a chance to trim the dead wood from their work forces without looking too cold-hearted.

Many companies are wrestling with major losses or eroding earnings — distress signals giving them ample reason to retrench.

The combined operating profits of 1,500 companies tracked by Standard & Poor’s are expected to drop 13 percent by the time all the third-quarter results roll in. For all of 2008, the operating profits for the same 1,500 companies are expected to be down 26.5 percent.

It’s not difficult to understand why Chrysler Corp. announced plans during the past week to jettison nearly 7,000 jobs, including contractors. The struggling automaker said it lost $660 million in its last quarter.

Others, like Yahoo and Xerox Corp., aren’t losing money, but are trying to make more money off of lackluster revenue growth. By cutting 3,000 jobs in the next six months, Xerox thinks it will be able to boost its 2009 profit by at least 10 percent.

Companies typically have little incentive to raise their earnings projections during a recession because they don’t want to risk disappointing shareholders even more and exposing their already battered stocks to another beating.

If anything, it makes more sense to dim the outlook and even absorb large losses to write off bad investments or poorly performing business units.

“That just makes it a little easier to beat expectations the next year,” Stovall said, “when things might be getting a little better.”

source: AP

Few days ago I post an article about the job cut which may be next after the financial turmoil… now today I saw one more news about it… seem like it is slowly there…

Now, one need to worry, especially if the saving is not much… and I believe many still depend on the month on month salary to survive without any saving at all.

Here is the news.

Job cuts, auto woes deepen global recession fears

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bleak outlooks from world carmakers and more news of big job cuts at major companies on Thursday deepened fears in corporate boardrooms and trading floors around the world of an extended global recession.

Asian shares tumbled, hit by weaker-than-expected Japanese export data, European stocks closed slightly lower as losses in banks and automobiles eclipsed gains in oil and defensive shares, and emerging markets were pounded again.

But after hitting a five-year low on Wednesday, U.S. stocks rebounded, with a bounce in energy and health-care stocks leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI> to a gain of more than 2 percent and the S&P 500 .SPX> up more than 1 percent, although the Nasdaq was off 0.73 percent.

The interbank cost of borrowing longer-dated dollars rose for the first time since governments detailed a raft of bank bailout measures, hurt by recession fears.

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress he was “shocked” at the U.S. credit market breakdown and said he sees a jump in unemployment ahead. He also said he was “partially” wrong to resist regulation of some securities.

Despite past concerns that risks were being underestimated, “this crisis, however, has turned out to be much broader than anything I could have imagined,” he testified to Congress.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair, a top U.S. banking regulator, said regulators were working with the Bush administration to create a loan guarantee program to ease pressure on homeowners.

She said the government must do more to guarantee mortgage loans to persuade lenders to modify their terms and help ward off foreclosures.

Central banks around the world tried to shield economies from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Sweden, which joined the U.S. Federal Reserve and others in coordinated cuts two weeks ago, lowered its key interest rate 1/2 percentage point and signaled more to come.

New Zealand cut rates by a record one percentage point and hinted at more reductions, and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said Britain, too, was ready to lower interest rates again.

The central banks of Brazil, Turkey and Norway acted to boost liquidity, and Canada said the government would guarantee borrowing from banks as its central bank warned it expects the country’s economy to be pushed to the edge of a recession.

The International Monetary Fund was hurrying to approve by early November a package that would let some “top-tier” emerging market economies exchange local currencies for dollars to ease strains, officials familiar with the plan said.

So far, Hungary, Iceland, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia and Pakistan are in talks with the IMF on economic programs, backed by financing. But the IMF denied market speculation it is preparing a $1 trillion aid package.

U.S. workers lined up in unexpectedly large numbers last week to file new claims for jobless benefits and, in another bad sign, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said U.S. commercial real estate values may drop up to 30 percent from their peaks as financing options are pinched by the credit crunch and lenders demand higher returns.

SOME GOOD CORPORATE NEWS, AMID WOES

Drug makers provided some relief in an otherwise dismal earnings season, as Amgen Inc, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly & Co. posted better-than-expected results and relatively positive outlooks.

Software giant Microsoft Corp. reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and reduced its outlook less than many investors had feared. It was among a diverse group of technology companies whose results pleased investors.

But most major corporations continued a bleak parade of disappointing results, layoffs and negative outlooks, hurt by the effects of the crisis set off by a U.S. housing market collapse 15 months ago, even as credit flows have thawed somewhat and banks have begun lending to each other again.

Carmaker General Motors said it is planning involuntary cuts in its workforce starting this year, and was temporarily suspending the company match for its retirement savings program to preserve cash. Chrysler LLC said it had plans to cut 1,825 jobs.

New York-based bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to cut nearly 3,300 jobs, or around 10 percent of its staff, sources familiar with the matter said.

Among U.S. companies posting lower profits were Dow Chemical, Xerox and Starwood Hotels. Xerox and Starwood also said they would be cutting jobs.

“We will likely see a global recession through most of 2009,” Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris said.

Japanese exports grew only 1.5 percent in September from a year earlier, well short of forecasts, prompting worries that the world’s second-biggest economy is heading into recession and renewing speculation about a rate cut.

Sony Corp slashed its operating profit forecast, citing reduced demand for flat TVs and digital cameras.

Italy’s Fiat, Germany’s Daimler and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co added to the automaker gloom with bleak 2009 forecasts.

The dollar hit two-year highs against the euro and other currencies, but later fell after aggressive dollar selling by the Brazilian central bank helped lend some stability to emerging market currencies, analysts said. The low-yielding yen reached a six-year high against the euro.

“The Brazilian central bank intervened materially and bought reals against the dollar … that seems to have calmed the price action, not only in the G10, but global currencies as well,” said Dustin Reid, head of FX strategy at RBS Global Banking & Markets in Chicago.

Asian stocks hit a four-year low and the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3> index cut earlier losses and ended down 0.5 percent.

Emerging stocks continued recent sharp falls, debt spreads gaped, Russia’s credit default swaps moved into distressed territory and the Turkish lira tumbled again.

Led by energy and health-care stocks, the Dow rose 172.04 points, or 2.02 percent, to end at 8,691.25. The S&P gained 11.33 points, or 1.26 percent, to finish at 908.11.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 11.84 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 1.603.91.

Some politician said that their economy is good and their country will not effected by the economy turmoil… however, this news said that everyone seem to be nervous… I somehow feel nervous too…

People nervous now, but expect economy to improve

WASHINGTON – People are skittish about the economy’s immediate future. Ask how things will be in a year and you hear a different story — and a remarkable show of optimism despite economists’ widespread expectations that a serious recession is brewing.

Most expect the economy to generally be better and the stock market to be rising three months from now, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Thursday. But that’s mixed with gloom: Majorities also doubt unemployment will fall or home values will rise by then, and people are split over whether their personal finances will improve.

Extend the timeline to a year and the public’s mood about the economy grows cheerier. Most say they expect more jobs and higher real estate value. The also think their own financial situations will be better a year from now, the survey shows.

“A few months from now, I don’t see it,” said Claudette Davis, 61, a retired power company supervisor from Alpharetta, Ga. “A year from now, it may improve. With the $700 billion to bail out all those banks, maybe things will come around. And maybe the new president will have some input.”

That optimism seems to run counter to the beliefs of many economists that the U.S. is in, or about to enter, a recession. Democrats in Congress are looking at crafting the year’s second economic stimulus bill, an idea that’s been embraced by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and that the White House has said President Bush would consider.

Many said the upcoming presidential election will affect the economy’s performance. Forty-four percent said they think the economy will improve if Democrat Barack Obama is elected, while 34 percent said it would get better if Republican John McCain wins.

With widespread economic worries making the stock market lurch wildly almost daily, most in the survey were eager to keep their distance from it. By a 58 percent to 38 percent majority, people said this was a bad time to invest in stocks. However, by a more modest 53 percent to 43 percent, most said this is a good time to buy real estate.

“The stock market is obvious, it’s probably not bottomed out,” said attorney Anthony Venditti, 41, of Westchester, Pa. But assuming a person can get a loan — no easy feat these days — “It’s a great time to buy a house. There’s a huge inventory out there.”

About three quarters of active investors — people who changed their investment mix at least five times in the past year — said this is a good time to purchase real estate and invest in the stock market. Two-thirds of people earning at least $100,000 a year also said so. But fewer than half of those making under $50,000 said now’s the time to be buying stocks.

People were asked how they think seven aspects of the economy would be behaving in three months and a year from now. They gave mixed responses for the near-term, but in nearly each case foresaw stronger performance in a year.

Steven Wood, 30, a car salesman from Canton, Ga., said he doesn’t doubt that the economy will rebound. “I deal with customers every day, and as a whole, even though people are down about the economy, they’re very optimistic about what the future holds,” he said.

Just 38 percent said they think unemployment would go down in three months, but 62 percent said they thought it would improve in a year. That is counter to what many analysts expect: Unemployment is 6.1 percent nationally, and economists predict it could go as high as 7.5 percent in 2009.

“I have a job every now and then because I know what I’m doing,” said Pedro Garcia, 22, of Greeley, Colo., who finds work as a roofer, a butcher and a welder. “I have to look here and there all the time.”

Four in 10 people making less than $50,000 a year said unemployment won’t fall in three months or a year, making them less optimistic than the highest earners.

In other instances of growing public optimism, the poll found:

_While 53 percent said the economy would be better in three months, 75 percent said it would improve in a year.

_Only 31 percent said they expect their home’s value to be higher in three months; 55 percent said it should be better in a year.

_People were divided evenly over whether their personal finances would improve in three months, while two-thirds expected things to be better in a year.

_While 58 percent foresee a higher stock market in three months, 77 percent predict a stronger market in a year.

Blacks were a bit more optimistic than whites in the survey that home prices will rise in the short and long term, and that the economy will improve in a year.

Reflecting gasoline prices that have dropped to $3 or less per gallon, two-thirds expect even lower gas costs in three months. Fewer said they will still be sinking in a year.

Most don’t see a drop in other prices. Three in 10 expect the costs of everyday stuff to be lower in three months; that figure grows to four in 10 in a year.

“I’ve been around 41 years and I’ve never seen the price of milk go down,” said Venditti.

The AP-GfK poll involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,101 randomly chosen adults and was conducted from Oct. 16-20. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups.

___

AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.