by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 02:46:00 PM

From Rex Nutting at MarketWatch: Budget deficit triples to $957 billion for year

The U.S. federal budget deficit rose to a record $956.8 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year ... the Treasury Department reported Friday.
...
In March, the deficit widened to $192.3 billion from $48.2 billion in March 2008. Outlays rose 41% to $321.2 billion from $227 billion, while receipts dropped 28% to $129 billion from $178.8 billion.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the year-over-year change in total Federal tax receipts.

For March 2009, receipts were off 27.9% compared to March 2008.

For individual income taxes, receipts were off 27.3%.

For corporate income taxes, receipts were off 89.6% (from $32.6 billion in March 2008 to $3.4 billion in March 2009).

For Social Security payroll taxes - Employment and General Retirement (off-budget) - receipts were flat.

The year-over-year decline in receipts is similar to the previous recession, but that decline was a combination of a weak economy and tax changes. This decline is all about the economy - especially the sharp decline in corporate tax receipts.

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 01:32:00 PM

From MarketWatch: Obama sees 'glimmers of hope' in the economy

"We're starting to see progress," Obama said ... However he added that the economy has a long way to go. "The economy is still under severe stress." Job losses are still creating lots of uncertainty and hardship, he said.

The WSJ has his remarks.

Q Sir, are you saying the recession is abating?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m saying we’re seeing progress.

Q You’re saying what?

THE PRESIDENT: I’ve said that we’re seeing progress.

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 10:08:00 AM

Bando: Someone who lives in an abandoned home.

From the NY Times: More Squatters Are Calling Foreclosures Home

When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.

What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.
...
Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes ...

So now we have organized bandos! And it sounds like the competition is fierce:

“At 10 o’clock in the morning, I went over to the house just to make sure everything was O.K., and squatters took over our squat. Then we went to another place nearby, and squatters were in that place also.”

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 02:02:00 AM

From Bloomberg: Fed Said to Order Banks to Stay Mum on ‘Stress Test’ Results (ht Justin)

The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession ...

The Fed wants to ensure that the report cards don’t leak during earnings conference calls scheduled for this month. ...

“If you allow banks to talk about it, people are just going to assume that the ones that don’t comment about it failed,” said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia.

What ever happened to transparency? This suggests the results are very ugly for some banks.

It's amusing that the article mentions Citi - I doubt Citi wants the results released!

by Calculated Risk on 4/09/2009 10:55:00 PM

The markets are closed on Friday.

CR will be open.

The following article is mostly about workers' pay, but there are some interesting stats on the New York hotel market.

From the NY Times: With More Rooms Empty, Hotels Seek to Cut Worker Pay

With the city’s hotels in the midst of a sudden slowdown in business, operators are seeking wage cuts and other concessions from the unions representing 27,500 bellhops, housekeepers and waiters.
...
The average occupancy rate at New York City hotels in the first two months of this year was 61.8 percent, down from 73.5 during the same period last year, according to Smith Travel Research, a national hotel research firm. At the same time, the average daily room rate dropped to $196.30, from $232.25.
...
The industry’s problems are compounded by the prospect of 10,000 new hotel rooms in 2009 and 2010.

“We’re in this classic economic model where we’ve got declining demand because of the economy and added supply,” said John Fox, a hotel consultant with PKF Consulting.