Consumer confidence. It’s hard to spot a can-do, upbeat attitude among many shoppers these days.
Gas prices. Never has $1.99 looked so good.
Approval ratings. For presidents, for Congress, for both parties.
Dow Jones Industrial Average. It’s down 600. No wait — it’s up 800. Now it’s down again.
Leaves. I feel like a princess in a fairy tale driving down the Parkway with the leaves falling on an autumn morning.
The chances of the St. Joseph School District passing a school bond issue this spring. The way this economy is going, not many voters are going to add to the burden.
Gross domestic product. It was down 0.3 percent during the third quarter, a mathematical representation of what we have known for some time.
Personal consumption. At the worst rate since the spring of 1980. Say, that was an election year, too.
401(K) balances. I got my latest statement and didn’t think it was too bad. Then I realized the statement closed on Sept. 30. October was, shall we say, a little bumpy.
Temperatures. Despite a few beautiful days last week, cold weather is definitely on its way.
Natural gas rates. Hurricanes didn’t do as many damage as feared, so gas prices came down from peaks this summer. But prices are still higher than last winter.
Jobs. The nation has lost 780,000 positions this year. Besides that, one quarter of employers are expected to trim jobs within the next 12 months.
Interest rates. The Fed cut the overnight lending rate to the lowest level since 1958. Not an election year.
The belief that either presidential candidate can rescue the economy. This year, voters are showing an uncanny ability to see through rosy campaign promises.
Jeans. Joe the Plumber is not the only one revealing a little too much.
Miles driven. Drivers have changed their habits for real.
The nature of man. That’s been going on since the beginning of time.
Aluminum can prices. The price has dropped by a third in just a few months. Other scrap metal prices are following the trend.
The restaurants you have to drive to Kansas City to visit. St. Joe has lined up an impressive list of restaurants.
The sky. No, despite this dire list, there’s no reason to think it’s the end of the world.
