By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC The government’s latest plan (as of today, November 26, 2008) has the Fed buying mortgage-backed securities from Fannie, Freddie and the gang.  I’m OK with the program in general, but here’s a bit of hubris I cannot tolerate: the claim that it will […]

By Biz Reporter, ShopLocal reports a 21% increase in Black Friday deals compared to 2007.  Stores are scrambling to get the most out of a drop in consumer spending and a diminishing economy. Deals may be up, but freebies offered by stores appeared to be in decline in Oregon.  The […]

Best wishes and thankfulness from Oregon Report

BY AAA Oregon, “Oregon?s gas prices are at their lowest level since March 2006. The statewide average for regular unleaded drops another 16 cents this week to $2.22. The national average falls another 15 cents to $2.07 and is at its lowest level since March 18, 2005.”AAA Oregon Public Affairs […]

By Alyssa Williams, Biz Reporter With the recent announcement of Starbucks’ new evolution of card rewards that “takes the next step in putting money back in loyal customers’ wallets,” one may think Starbucks needs the money in its own back pocket after a 97 percent profit drop. However, Starbucks is […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC A reporter called yesterday for a retrospective on my forecast of a year ago.  I groaned, thinking the headline would be “Gotcha!”  Be the actual quotes he had weren’t so bad.  Apparently I said that we had overbuilt housing and that it would […]

Test your knowledge on what happened this week. 1. What economic index saw its largest single month fall since before World War II this week? 1) Consumer Confidence 2) Consumer Prices 3) Oil prices 2. Which Oregon museum announced 10% layoffs this week? A) OMSI B) Evergreen Aviation C) Portland […]

From Oregon Petroleum Association, PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For Oregonians who use home heating oil, the struggling economy has delivered at least one bright spot: heating bills are dropping along with the temperatures. Crude oil prices, which reached a record high of $145 a barrel in July, fell below $56 a barrel […]

By Moore Information, As economic conditions have continued to worsen throughout 2008, voters have grown more concerned about protecting jobs than protecting the environment. Asked which issue they are more concerned about today, 65% of U.S. voters say they are more concerned about protecting jobs, while only 27% are more […]

By Economist Dr. Eric Fruits, Econinternational The BBC reports that the European Commission has scrapped rules that prevent oddly-sized or misshapen fruit and vegetables being sold in Europe. The EU’s agriculture commissioner called it “a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot.” Proponents of the scrapped rules […]