Stock Market And Credit Card Profits Suffer In A Recession

Credit cards are an extremely bad investment in the USA in 2008 for both small businesses and everyday consumers. There is a simple reason behind this. These two target markets are the life blood of credit card issuers. However during 2007 and in early 2008 the tell tale signs of the Dow Jones Stock Market winding down will impact heavily on these players.

The Dow Jones Index is indicating that the US is quickly reaching recession levels as companies lose profitability. However the average person has little or no idea what this will mean. The most devastating effect of a recession is unemployment levels. Non-Farm Payrolls (nonfarm payrolls) have been on the decline over the last year and this means that employment levels are falling and this can lead to one damaging effect.

With high unemployment levels come reduced family or household incomes. This means that less money to spend and greater demand on credit facilities in order to meet the basic amenities of every day life. This means that if you did apply for a credit card in 2007 or early 2008 then it’s not a good idea to activate that card.

As someone in your immediate or extended family/household could be in need of some additional resources in the near future due to unemployment the cash that you might spend to keep your credit in check might have to be used to assist a family member. This presents an immediate quagmire which all the fees attached such as late payment fees, cash advance fees, balance transfer fees, over the limit fees and others can inflate a credit card debt to unmanageable levels. Hence in order not to incur these fees you should avoid credit card debt at all costs.

Debt Managers will tell you that have 3 – 4 credit cards that you pay on time can really boost your credit score. However it’s best to use the bunker down strategy and pay off some of these cards and hold only one card during a recession. Otherwise you can attempt to get what is known as an interest free credit card.

These are credit cards with 0% interest in either the first six months or up to a year. These are really rewards for those with a high credit score as they are much less unlikely to become delinquent. The other interest free credit cards are to se such as prepaid credit cards like the Account Now credit card offer that reports to credit repositories even though it is a prepaid card.