04
Back in October of 2008, I sent an email to a few people I know, outlining things I thought would happen in 2009. Not prophecies, mind you. Just predictions, based on reading financial news and blogs, and just good old fashioned guessing. I have never claimed any special powers or clairvoyance. I just wanted to put my thoughts in writing. For fun.
Well, a tad over six months later, I would like to take a look back at what I predicted. Here are the list of 10 things I wrote down that would happen within 12 months. Over the next few days, I’ll go over them and see how close (or far) I’ve come.
1. Chrysler or GM file for bankruptcy, get a bailout from the government, or merge. One of the 3.
2. A LOT of car dealers go out of business. This will especially be true of the smaller dealers.
3. Many countries go broke. It’s already happened with Hungary, Ukraine, and Iceland. Also on my list: Pakistan, Dubai, Argentina, Iran.
4. Circuit City goes kaput.
5. The price of used cars drops by quite a bit.
6. Wells Fargo will need a Fed bailout.
7. The Federal Interest rate drops to 1%
8. Housing downturn turnaround doesn’t happen until late 2009.
9. Gas prices settle between $1.85 and $2.25/gal.
10. Europe goes into a DEEP recession. Led by Latvia, Estonia, Austria, maybe even Spain.
Written by Jean Valjean
