Browsing Category: "Financial News"
Big surprise, car sales will be down in the coming months
So the government had a great idea to help boost the economy and eliminate some pollution by offering the “cash for clunkers” program. As you may know from a previous post Once again screwed by government stimulus plan I wasn’t a big fan of the program. Today it was reported that auto sales were up 1.3 million in August, a roughly 30 percent increase from July.
Guess what? The program is over and there are no more rebates to hand out. Car sales are expected to drop in the coming months leaving many dealerships struggling to make sales goals. Will the government have to spend even more money for another bailout program or will the auto industry be able to lure more buyers with great incentives and low interest rate financing.
No matter how you feel about the “cash for clunkers” program or if you didn’t get to take advantage of the program there will probably still be some good deals on new cars in the coming months. For the first time ever that I can remember Toyota is offering 0% interest on the new Camry. If you are in the market for a new, dependable, family car it’s almost too good of a deal to pass up.
I’m not a big fan of purchasing new cars, but with some of the deals that may be coming in the following months you may want to consider a new purchase. So, because of the hard times that hit the auto industry you may be able to take advantage of a struggling market.
The FDIC going broke?
We could always rest assured that our money was safe if it was placed in the bank. Even if the bank got robbed or if the bank failed your money was still safe. The basic insurance amount covered by the FDIC is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank. This is probably more than enough to cover most peoples basic savings and checking accounts.
Today it was reported that the FDIC may now need a bailout. Because of all the failed banks the FDIC may need to draw cash from banks or the federal government.
During the early 1990’s a similar event occured. It was called the savings and loan crisis and the FDIC was forced to borrow $15 billion from the US Treasury to cover the peoples money.
Don’t worry too much, your money is still covered by the government up to $250,000 so don’t head to the bank and withdraw your savings account and put it under your mattress. Your money is still more safe in the bank than in your home. Remember, this has happened before and everything worked out alright.
