Where Are We Headed?

See if you can piece together the near-term future of the US economy based on the following recent headlines:

Plastic Is Fantastic - Visa and Mastercard benefit from consumers' lack of liquid funds during the recession.

Late Payments on Credit Cards Reach Record Levels - Growing signs of trouble in the credit card debt sector are documented in Fitch ratings’ latest monthly Credit Card Movers & Shakers report.

Prediction: Great Depression Ahead - Harry S. Dent Jr., author of the best-selling book The Great Depression Ahead, says gold and oil prices will rise as the economy and the stock market crash in the second half of 2009.

Jobs Contract 13th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Soars to 7.6% - This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the January Employment Report. Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent...

‘Real’ unemployment rate hits a record 13.9% in January - The Big Picture (blog).

This Is Not Your Garden-Variety Downturn - If the recession now underway was a "normal" contraction, the near-term investment outlook might look quite a bit better.

Cumulative Job Losses: Getting Worse with Time - While they say things get better with time, the jobs picture is at least one exception.

Peter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to "Unmitigated Disaster" - The fiscal stimulus bill being debated in Congress not only won't help the economy, it will make the recession much worse, says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

States Can't Afford To Pay Jobless Benefits - States are running out of cash to pay unemployment benefits.

Unemployed Workers Flood Calif. Job Centers - California furloughed more than 20,000 workers Friday in an effort to save the state money.

Three more bank closings brings this year's total to nine. - These three will cost FDIC $452M.

A White House official confirms talks are underway for more auto industry aid - A White House official confirms talks are underway for more auto industry aid...

He (Geithner) did say that some institutions are so frail that they would not survive - The Treasury Secretary told House Democrats the U.S. financial system is 'badly damaged,' adding, "It's clearly going to get worse..."

A growing number of states are running out of funds to pay unemployment benefits. - Seven are already borrowing money from Washington. Another 11 states could deplete their reserves by the end of the year.

Jobless Claims Soar To 626K, Factory Orders Plunge - It's a double shot of bad news today as jobless claims soar while factory orders sink.

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem." -Milton Friedman