MNN - Mother Nature Network

When I read economic news I feel like I’m watching a yo-yo. Up and down and up and down, kind of like the stock market. If you’ve been keeping your head in the sand with regards to the economy this week then now is your chance to catch up with both the good and bad news from the past week.

 

Dow Jones closing up for the week

Although the trading day hasn’t quite ended, it does look as though the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be ending the week better than it started. Trading opened for the week right around 12,550 but on Tuesday it dropped down to 12,417 for a bit. Today, the market is poised to close above the 12,700 mark.

 

U.S. banks face downgrade concerns

Although this may have been a positive week for the Dow Jones, next week may not be in the green if the downgrade concerns facing American banks become a reality. One negative side effect of a downgrade is stricter lending criteria for both consumers and businesses.

 

Millionaires are making a comeback

The number of tax returns showing a $1 million annual income increased to 267,996 in 2010, up from 236,883 in 2009. Although the 2010 figure is just a preliminary number, there was a definite increase in millionaires over the earlier post-recession years.

 

Wealth plummets 40 percent

Although millionaires are on the upswing, overall wealth is on the downswing. The Federal Reserve reported that Americans saw a 40 percent decline in wealth between 2007 and 2010. This effectively erased two decades of growth with the middle class being affected the most.