Tulsans Keeping An Eye On The Economy

The U.S. took another economic shockwave over the weekend.  Bear Stearns, one of the biggest investment banks in the world, was bought out for pennies on the dollar to avoid bankruptcy.  The U.S. government is backing the buyout, because the bankruptcy of such a large bank would be so damaging to the economy.  The News On 6's Steve Berg reports some in Tulsa have concerns about the economy.

Oil prices are rising.  The dollar is falling.  And, the sub-prime mortgage mess is in a meltdown.  There's a lot to worry about.

"I am concerned.  My 401-K is down 10% since January 1^st," said Tulsan Morris Miller.

"Anytime the markets are down 13, 14% to start the year, I think there's a lot of reality in the fear," said Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management.

It might not be fair, but investment manager Jake Dollarhide says the people who'll be hurt worst are the people that happen to be nearing retirement right now, because their stocks are losing value just when they need to tap into them.

"The money that is in fixed income or is in CD's or is in a bank, that's the money they should be using now and not necessarily pulling money out of the stock market to live on.  They should use their CD and fixed income money first," said Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management.

"I don't have a retirement date set right now, and that's probably one of the reasons," said Tulsan Morris Miller.

For young people, Dollarhide says the only thing to fear is fear itself.  He says the bad economy might discourage them from investing as much as they should toward retirement if at all.

"The biggest fear is that they don't save," said Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management.

"You don't want to go back to the old days where you're hiding money under seats and couches," said Tulsan David Mack.

David Mack says he stick with it.

"Ride it out and see what happens.  That's all you can do," said David Mack.

Dollarhide says the recession could be a nasty one.

"It could be three, four, five years to come back," said Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management.

The good news is that, while close, we're technically not in a recession yet.  And, Dollarhide says a full-fledged depression, which is a prolonged recession, is virtual impossible in a modern, globalized economy.

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