US household wealth regains pre-recession peak

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) - It took 5 1/2 years.

Surging stock prices and steady home-price increases have finally allowed Americans to regain the $16 trillion in wealth they lost to the Great Recession. The gains are helping support the economy and could lead to further spending and growth.

The recovered wealth - most of it from higher stock prices - has been flowing mainly to richer Americans. By contrast, middle class wealth is mostly in the form of home equity, which has risen much less.

Household wealth amounted to $66.1 trillion at the end of 2012, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. That was $1.2 trillion more than three months earlier and 98 percent of the pre-recession peak.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130307/DA4SI5780.html

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Does everybody feel caught up?



In this March 1, 2013 file photo, a pair of specialists work at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Surging stock prices and steady home-price increases have finally allowed Americans to regain the $16 trillion in wealth they lost to the Great Recession. The gains are helping support the economy and could lead to further spending and growth. Household wealth amounted to $66.1 trillion at the end of 2012, the Federal Reserve said Thursday, March 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

[msongs]

1. averaging the billionaires and millionaires to make the stats lie - nt

[sendero]

22. Exactly......

... this horseshit propaganda has one goal and one goal only, to entice the "retail" investor (that would be you if your net worth is less than $50 million dollars or so) back into the stock market.

They need to get enough dumb money in it so they can crash it AGAIN and leave the "retail" investor holding the bag.

The Fed cannot continue its ZIRP / bond-buys forever and when that party is over so is the stock market party.

If you are thinking about jumping in at the top, please do not unless you like being fleeced.

[MrSlayer]

2. Yay! 20 months out of work here.

Oh yeah, it's all back baby!

I'm going to kill the next person that tells me how great everything is with the economy.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Yeah. Barely.

But I've had it hard. In 2010, my dad died and that left my mom in a very big bind. The next two years were touch and go with her house until she was able to refinance her mortgage through Obama's program. This is really the first time she hasn't had to worry about losing her house - which certainly helps my stress level.

[LiberalEsto]

4. Yes, we're simply rolling in it.

Oh wait.
I thought you were talking about BS.

[LibDemAlways]

5. My bullshit meter is off the charts. n/t

[n2doc]

6. Not for me

My house is still 30+% down from when we bought it in 06. My IRA's have barely returned to those levels, and are below late 07 levels. And I'm one of the lucky ones who has the same job and who hasn't been downsized.

[BobbyBoring]

7. What a sick joke!

we're still WAY worse off that we were a few years ago. In fact, our net worth has declined by about 500K~

[Warpy]

8. Only when the billionaires are averaged in

Ordinary homeowners who bought after about 2003 are still underwater and many are drowning in student loan and credit card debt, negative household worth being more the norm than positive numbers.

[reteachinwi]

9. Fed

How many trillions of 0% interest dollars did the fed print to make this happen? How much is a 2013 dollar worth compared to a 2007 dollar? That said, it could be worse.

[kickysnana]

11. As the old fellow downstairs says, everything at the grocery costs $3. n/t

[kickysnana]

10. Bullshit. That is all.

[Angry Dragon]

12. I think this article is a big 'ol BULLSHIT

[Munificence]

13. Bursting Bubble

Just some smoke and mirrors to get you to jump on board the market so they can fleece more money in the crash.

[madville]

14. White wealth they mean

While the wealth gap beween Whites and African-Americans continues to widen.

[Bully Taw]

25. not sure where race fits in here...

I think everyone but the 1%ers are getting hit hard. I don't think money has an aversion to one race over another.

[Solly Mack]

15. Whatthefuckever.

"The recovered wealth - most of it from higher stock prices - has been flowing mainly to richer Americans."

[hobbit709]

16. A big steaming pile of taurine metabolic byproducts there.

[the_chinuk]

17. One more reminder …

… that when the newsies celebrate economic recovery, they aren't really talking to US.

[olddots]

18. The Great Reseeion

No dip shit its a bad depression for everyone who works for a living.
So do I go lease an Audi A7 now because of this good news ?

[Purplehazed]

19. It should start trickling any moment now nt

[Selatius]

20. The article is--I believe--truthful. It's just the top 1% controls a greater share of that wealth.

The sum total wealth may actually have regained pre-2007 levels.

The difference is a greater percentage of that wealth probably belongs to the top 10%, most definitely top 1%, compared to before the Great Recession.

If true, the wealthiest have gained at the expense of the middle class and the poorest among us.

There is class warfare in America. It's just not called class warfare when the rich are winning.

[Skittles]

21. this is their cue for everyone to start spending again

[daleo]

23. Sounds like a billionaire recovery

This precious natural resource has recovered their numbers, and can be found grazing in five star restaurants once more.

[malthaussen]

24. And all that "wealth" is illusion.

"Stock market prices and home equity." Yeah, real tangible stuff, there.

But oh, the pundits will have a field day with this. As with life expectancy, it's just amazing how much definition is lost when you average the whole population.

-- Mal

[aaaaaa5a]

26. I'm still waiting for it to trickled down to me. nt

[AnneD]

27. Great...

we're back to the past. Some improvement. I got out of the market in 2006 and haven't been back since.

The markets are rigged just like the tables at Vegas. At least in Vegas you get a nice show and a few drinks as they pick your pocket.