The Economic Downturn..

[BathTub]

Holy fuck I got bit hard. Turns out I missed the NZ/US exchange rate tanking like 20% in the past month or so and costs are going up fast! Enjoyed that 85 cent rate way to much.

[RVR II]

I made a mention in the Norman Groan thread that I was not selected for that Rural Carrier Associate/Relief position at the U.S. Post Office yesterday, despite them sending me for a drug test, background screening, and other stuff..
After 8 1/2 months of trying, this is the first response I've gotten out of 4 jobs I applied for and I realized that the U.S. Gov't is an expert on wasting time and money and perhaps I put too much faith into thinking I would be hired by them..
My age of 46 currently may be playing a factor in my employability though companies will never admit to that cause they would be violating the law (age discrimination)..
I saw that happen to a guy at my last job a couple years back; he was 58 and was working through a temporary staffing agency for 2 1/2 years hoping to be hired full-time but never was and I hope I don't end up in that situation when I get to that age..

So, I started looking for jobs on Monster.com and found 1 that I may still qualify for dealing with quality assurance in the Nuclear Electrical field called a Quality Assurance Specialist / Engineer..
Part of my nuclear submarine training (1988-92) dealt with nuclear electricity as well as quality assurance, and my old job from 1995-2006 was a Quality Assurance Auditor, so maybe I have a shot but again I've been away from both fields for many years so we'll see.. Bachelor's degree required though mine is in History
They required a Cover Letter along with my resume and I had no idea what that was until now so I found some samples online, put one together real quick to submit along with my resume and application.

Again, not waiting around, I will probably check out the local temporary staffing agencies myself (haven't used one of these places since 1995) to see what they have available for the next few months and hope I can still go to Mexico in December for the Goddaughter's 15 year party, but there is the real possibility that I may not be able to make it because work will take precedence now

[RVR II]

Here we go again..

Asia & Pacific
World markets lose ground amid ‘Black Monday’ for Shanghai index
Shanghai market sees largest one-day percentage fall in more than 8 years

The Shanghai Composite Index ended trade on Monday down 8.49 percent, after all of the yearly gains were wiped out of the market.The fall comes as investors were disappointed that policymakers announced no support for the markets over the weekend.

(Reuters)
August 24 at 9:05 AM

BEIJING — China’s state media called it “Black Monday” as the Chinese stock market recorded its biggest slump in eight years and jitters spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world.

The collapse in Chinese stocks was fueled by mounting concerns about an economic slowdown here, but it has fed into a wider sell-off in emerging markets. Asian shares hit a three-year low Monday, and the nervousness appeared likely to spread to Wall Street after last week’s sharp falls there.

“A lot of questions are being asked by investors,” said Chris Weston, chief markets strategist at IG in Melbourne. “This is a confidence game, and when you don’t have confidence, you press the sell button.”


Shanghai’s main share index closed down 8.49 percent, but trading in hundreds of shares was suspended after they lost 10 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen by nearly 40 percent since June, after rising more than 140 percent last year. Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 index recorded its biggest drop in more than two years, falling 4.6 percent to a six-month low, while the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sank 5.1 percent to a three-year low.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Stock Index lost more than 7 percent on Monday.

Overnight futures trading suggested further losses were in store for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index in the United States after last week’s 6 percent decline. S&P futures dropped 2.4 percent, with even favored stocks such as Apple and Netflix losing more than 4 percent in early New York trading, Bloomberg News reported.

In early afternoon trading in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 index was down 4.1 percent, Germany’s DAX index was losing nearly 3.9 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris was off 4.7 percent, and the Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 4.6 percent. The Dax has now fallen 20 percent from its peak in April. Companies in the FTSE 100 were on track to lose roughly 70 billion pounds ($110 billion) in value Monday, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Middle Eastern stocks also took a hit, with markets in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt and Israel down sharply.

“Markets are panicking,” Takako Masai, head of research at Shinsei Bank in Tokyo, told the Reuters news agency. “Things are starting to look like the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Speculators are selling assets that seem the most vulnerable.”

Over the weekend, China announced it would allow pension funds to buy shares for the first time, but the move failed to restore confidence. The state news agency Xinhua tweeted that it was “Black Monday!” as China’s shares joined the global panic.

Some traders said the authorities’ failure to step in to buy shares Friday — when the market fell 4.2 percent — generated a sense of panic and forced some funds to liquidate positions. Although pension funds have reported net assets of some $550 billion, experts said they might not want to buy aggressively in a falling market.

“The pension fund signal didn’t work, which proves that investors have entirely lost confidence in the market,” said Wu Xianfeng, president of Longteng Asset Management in Shenzhen. “The market has been in a panic since last week.”

Some brokers said the market was disappointed by the central bank’s failure to add liquidity by cutting banks’ reserve ratios on Monday, as many had expected. But others said even this move would now not be enough to restore confidence.

Ken Peng, Asia investment strategist at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong said the Chinese authorities were probably biding their time.

“They have a good understanding that they are not going to be able to reverse a global sell-off,” he said. “So they are not wasting their bullets at this point.”

Renewed concern about China’s economy emerged after Friday’s news that a key gauge of manufacturing activity, the Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index, showed the sector shrinking at the fastest pace since 2009.

The heavy-handed response of China’s authorities to the initial stock market sell-off also dented confidence among global investors about their commitment to free markets and their ability to manage an economic transition underway here.

This month’s surprise move to allow the Chinese currency to move in line with market forces — a move amounting to a surprise devaluation — only served to fan global fears about China’s economic slowdown.

Nor did the move to put the nation’s pension funds to work to shore up the markets meet with universal approval.

“Did you ever ask the opinion of people who paid into the pension fund?” asked one social media user.

“Who said today’s drop is the biggest in eight years, maybe tomorrow’s is,” user Y-MariaH wrote on the Weibo microblogging site. “Now I understand why people jump from high buildings. After investing into market, I’m having that kind of urge.”

Another poster, calling herself kou zi kou kou, wrote: “Stockmarket is like a cheating boyfriend. You forgive him over and over again and believe he would change. However he hurt you deeper over time.”

Weston said that after seven weeks of capital outflows from emerging markets, parallels were being drawn to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. But unlike 18 years ago, most countries in the region now have current account surpluses and significant foreign exchange reserves, he said.

“I think we will see stock markets continue to sell off, but we will get to a point where we do settle down,” he said, adding that the markets were looking for firm action by the authorities in China and the United States to stem the slide.

[Henry88]

so is it a Stock Market correction or is it a crash

[RVR II]

so is it a Stock Market correction or is it a crash

Everything I'm reading in the news is reporting 'Gloom and Doom'

I guess we'll see how tomorrow and the rest of the week goes for that answer

[Henry88]

and  now there is talk about a crash in march, i mean do people ever get tired of spreading fear and panic.

[RVR II]

http://qz.com/619281/oil-is-now-so-cheap-even-pirates-arent-stealing-it-any-more/?utm_source=parHuffPo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pubexchange_facebook

[RVR II]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

[BiteMe316]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

Job fairs are totally pointless, in my opinion.  I went to one a few weeks ago but never got anywhere.  Just a total waste of time.  Also, temp agencies suck.  They tell you they'll find you work, but then you call them asking for jobs, they always say they never have anything.  That's what I don't bother with them any more.

[RVR II]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

Job fairs are totally pointless, in my opinion.  I went to one a few weeks ago but never got anywhere.  Just a total waste of time.  Also, temp agencies suck.  They tell you they'll find you work, but then you call them asking for jobs, they always say they never have anything.  That's what I don't bother with them any more.

I tend to agree. This was the first job fair I had really been to and I agree that it was a waste of my time. The VA rep encouraged me to go because she thought it would be the perfect opportunity to meet prospective employers.. Yeah not much to prospect at my age unfortunately.
I'm beginning to think I'm wasting my time dealing with the VA rep as well.. I even inquired about how I could get a job like theirs and they weren't very forthcoming

[TheRealUncleDes]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

Job fairs are totally pointless, in my opinion.  I went to one a few weeks ago but never got anywhere.  Just a total waste of time.  Also, temp agencies suck.  They tell you they'll find you work, but then you call them asking for jobs, they always say they never have anything.  That's what I don't bother with them any more.

Not what you know: it's who you know.

What got me my current rather nifty job was an old acquaintance who I just asked how he was doing, and that I was between jobs.

[RVR II]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

Job fairs are totally pointless, in my opinion.  I went to one a few weeks ago but never got anywhere.  Just a total waste of time.  Also, temp agencies suck.  They tell you they'll find you work, but then you call them asking for jobs, they always say they never have anything.  That's what I don't bother with them any more.

Not what you know: it's who you know.

What got me my current rather nifty job was an old acquaintance who I just asked how he was doing, and that I was between jobs.

So.. Hey there ol friend. How are ya?
I'm in between jobs and ...

[RVR II]

Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue...

A follow-up to this..
There are 5 identical postings from the same temp agency posted from March 24 - 28. I call the rep I talked with on Tuesday twice already (once yesterday and once today) and have yet to get a return phone call..
I tried to apply for one of them online and it takes me to this 'Snagajob.com' website inquiring about continuing education I closed out of the website, then a rep called me not even 2 minutes afterwards asking the same damn questions about continuing my education! I've already got 2 degrees I told her.. Why would I want to continue racking up my student loans I'm still paying on
Finally I just called my Veterans rep and left her a message to see if she can inquire about the position(s) because I'm obviously getting nowhere

[RVR II]

Sears/Kmart are in trouble..
List of store closings here:
http://searsholdings.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=16310&item=137430

[Imrahil]

Went to a couple of job fairs today; 1 for Veterans and another at the local technical college..
First one I went to was for Veterans but was pretty small and was more for the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war. Found 1 possibility in my old field of Quality Assurance through a temp agency and pays between $16 - $18 per hour but being that I have been out of the QA field for over 10 years may be an issue, and temp agencies are known for looking out for themselves for commission instead of your best interest..
The second larger one at the Tech college I felt really out of place.. Most of the people looking for work were still students or about to graduate and the jobs were either low paying or specific to certain degrees or fields of study.. I roamed around overhearing conversations about age and pay and specific areas of study employers were looking for that I simply didn't have and basically left after only 20 minutes. Not much interest for someone like me that's run his own business for 15 years..
Pretty disheartening overall

Job fairs are totally pointless, in my opinion.  I went to one a few weeks ago but never got anywhere.  Just a total waste of time.  Also, temp agencies suck.  They tell you they'll find you work, but then you call them asking for jobs, they always say they never have anything.  That's what I don't bother with them any more.

Not what you know: it's who you know.

What got me my current rather nifty job was an old acquaintance who I just asked how he was doing, and that I was between jobs.

Yeah, I got hired here because my wife worked here, pretty much.  Turns out I'm not a terrible employee, so I think they're glad, but still.