This March’s economic outlook is going to be a look at some of the various states out there but also some of the people’s perspectives in those states. As you may have read in our earlier article about which states were recession proof, the world is very different based on which state you live in, the post effects of the recession vary, and the level of recovery will also be tremendously different.

So which states are best and what are people feeling?

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Its already mid month and we wanted to bring you the latest economic outlook prior to the month ending as many things are now on going in the economy and in the world of politics that are directly related to our economic future. Here is a brief outlook before we deep dive into the real breakdown of each: 1. The Feds will keep the prime rate low,  2. The Senate might be overturned to Republicans,  3. GDP and unemployment shows no real growth, and 4. Banks are paying back their bailout money.

So lets get started with the deep dive…

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The 2010 Economic outlook is here and its going to be a great year, it seemed like 2009 was never going to end but it finally has and despite the fact that most of us survived through it, it goes without saying that it was a tough year. For 2010, I am anticipating that the sun will not be shinning through just yet. The storm has passed but the roads are still wet and therefore we now have to drive a bit on wet roads before getting nice roads and sunshine ahead. For the 2010 economic outlook of January, we are going to look at 2009 and talk about the two programs that have helped us come out of this mess, but also look ahead at what is to come next.

Lets get straight in to the 2009 plans that have saved us or perhaps doomed us…

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In the past few months we have heard nothing but bad news from the radio and new channels. We tend to wonder:

“When will this get better?”

We are facing a national recession and a global recession with no signs of recovery. We are faced with the greatest housing depression ever and are now about to break records for unemployment. Can it get worst?

Many believe that the small jump we recently experienced in home sales of 6% is an indication that the market had hit rock bottom and recovery is well underway. Unfortunately, that is not the case, the home market is directly linked to the employment rate coupled with the accessibility of credit. As long as the credit markets remain frozen and the unemployment rate keeps rising, the tragedy will continue. There has however been great indications that the stock market is near bottom and that consumer confidence might be near that bottom as well.

So where will go now…

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First they pulled the plug on the Viper, now all the high performance V- Series line is on the brinks of extinction. GM needs to refocus their plans as they are truly struggling. They have made some terrible choices in the past build some terrible quality cars. Now its all about to change according to them. They are ready for a change and want to survive and so they are changing their priorities quickly. Good move or another disaster?

General Motors, focusing on mainstream products in a battle to survive, has scrapped a unit that produced high-performance vehicles.

GM on Wednesday disbanded High Performance Vehicle Operations, which is based at the company’s suburban Detroit technical center, and redeployed its engineers, spokesman Vince Muniga said.

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We have all witnessed Congress approve the $700 billion dollar bank bailout.

A few months ago, it was literally in the news every moment. The news was reporting that this bailout was of utmost importance and that it needed to be passed immediately especially after the $1 trillion loss the market took the day before.

The purpose of this bailout was to free up credit markets that were frozen and help American banks stay afloat. The Chinese and British were eager for us to pass the bill as well since they were highly invested in our banking system. The bill passed and was finalized a few days after but no news coverage? No website addressing the transparency promised? No accountability?

A few months have passed now and we are on the verge of another $800 billion recovery package but I think we forgot to ask whatever happened to that original $700 billion?

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For 6 months in a row consumer spending has been down and going even deeper into the negative but for the first time in 6 consecutive months, the price index for January shows a 1% positive gain. Yes, 1% is not much but this is a huge indicator usually a bottom out of the market is near.

Secondly, foreclosure rate were drastically lower in January compared to December, another great indicator of a small incoming turnaround.

We are going to have to monitor this very closely as we could see a market bottom out in mid 2009 and moderate growth towards the later half of 2009. The economic recovery plan will play a heavy weight on this potential turnaround and might be a necessary evil after all.

The lack of info available about the plan itself has left many disappointed but I look at this as a good sign, and look forward to hearing the detail and timing of the disbursement of $800 billion of our tax money.

These small signs are great indicators and will have to be followed closely in February and March, it is typical however that the real estate market picks up a bit in spring and will cause more cash to move through the economy, as well as boost consumer spending which ends up growing consumer confidence.