Thoughts on the Economy

For the last several weeks, many of my friends have asked me what my thoughts on the U.S. economy were...and what I thought 2008 will hold. In many respects, I think several of my friends were looking for me to cheer them up (I typically take a very upbeat outlook on the economy and try to see the brighter side of everything).

I am not sure what my overall thoughts are about 2008 and what the economy will hold for us all, but below are some predictions....

1) Toyota will go to #1 is US sales.

2) A democrat will be elected President.

3) We will see a continued downturn in housing prices in the areas that are over priced (like San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas, etc...)

4) Google's stock will continue to rise.

5) Twitter will become more mainstream and will have a huge effect on how we use facebook, blogger, etc..

6) We will see more consolidation in the banking sectors -- as mortgage defaults increase in the next two quarters you will see bigger banks snatching up the smaller community banks.

7) Credit Crunch will become a Credit Crisis.

8) The Celtics will win the NBA Championship.

9) Apple will release a new iPhone, only to be out-shadowed by a new Blackberry device.

10) The dollar will stabilize against the Euro.