The Recession’s Silent Killer…

by Robert Williams, Publisher

A year later, the fallout from Wall Street’s meltdown and the ensuing recession is obvious in some instances – tighter lending standards, historically low interest rates, affordable gasoline, a wrecked housing market.

But the impact of the crisis – although every bit as troubling – is not as obvious elsewhere.

Regrettably, companies are being forced to rob the future in order to keep the lights on…

According to BusinessWeek, “Over the past year, U.S. employment of scientists and engineers – the people who create the next generation of products and make America more competitive over the long term – has fallen by 6.3%. Yet overall employment has fallen only 4%.”

• In other words, these well-educated, highly specialized innovators – increasingly popping up in places like malls, Wal-Mart stores and chain restaurants – are the sacrificial lambs of the financial crisis.

• And the long-term economic effects – although largely unreported – could prove more costly than the obliteration of wealth (in the trillions) we’ve already experienced.

• Payrolls only fell by 120,000 workers this month – the smallest drop in almost two years, which offers some promise that we can get our innovators innovating again.

But while we wait for our economic engine to fire again, I’ll use this as an opportunity to thank Wall Street once more… This time for helping usher in a period of creative destruction.

If you want to get even with Wall Street, and missed the big rally, Karim Rahemtulla has an ingenious way to virtually name your own price for stocks through the strategy of deep-in-the-money investing.

Ahead of the tape,

Robert Williams

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