A second wave in the real estate crisis?

Interesting post from Jon Talton in his Sound Economy blog. He pegs his story on Amazon's decision to close three distribution warehouses but what is really revealing is the looming problems in commercial real estate.

But now the delinquency rate on securitized loans for office buildings, retail developments, stores and other investment property has more than doubled since last September, to 1.8 percent. We're talking about $700 billion... There's concern that hundreds of banks with heavy exposure to commercial real estate could fail.

While the Northwest largely escaped some of the more devastating declines in 2008, we are seeing vacancy rates increase in areas like downtown Seattle that binged on commercial development in the run up to this economic decline.

Are we in line for wave of commercial real estate defaults that fuels further economic decline? Let's hope not.

You know times are tough when...

It's almost the end of winter (although it doesn't feel like it) and personally one of my favorite times of the year is when I head to my local supermarket only to discover the Girl Scouts are out front slangin cookies. My favorite are the Tagalongs.

This year though, select Girl Scout cookies will contain less cookies in the box than in years past according to The Dallas Morning News. What's the reasoning? As with everything else these days, a struggling economy paired with rising cost of operation. Other options included raising the price of the cookies or to use lower quality ingredients.

So, as you buy your Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs (Don't worry Samoa lovers, your cookies contain as many as there ever were), do so knowing you're still donating toward a great cause, which is the spirit in which the Girl Scout cookies were intended.