July 2009 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on July 10th, 2009:

Asset	June 2009	July 2009	Change
Checking	561	595	34
Money Market	25,477	27,252	1,775
Savings Bonds	20,383	20,445	62
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	119,249	119,721	472
Brokerage	82,125	80,403	-1,722
401k	70,491	66,452	-4,039
Roth IRA	28,796	27,556	-1,240
SEP IRA	167,056	159,224	-7,832
529 Savings	34,400	33,730	-670
Total Assets	$548,538	$535,378	-$13,160
			(-2.40%)

The gains from the previous month have pretty much evaporated as the S&P 500 index is down 6.39% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

Unemployment is now up to 9.5% (a new 26 year high) and I wonder how long it will take for that trend to reverse. When the tech bubble burst in 2000 the resulting recession officially began and ended in 2001, but by my recollection the IT job market didn't perk up again until 2003. Since we've already been in this recession for about a year and a half and counting, I worry that it will be quite some time before we see sustained job growth again.

One small bonus for consumers has been the recent fall in crude oil to below $60 per barrel. If prices continue to fall, I wonder if another position in the The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) could be in order? If nothing else, hopefully it will help cut the price for the new layer of asphalt I'm planning on adding to my driveway this year.

With savings rates so depressing, my lack of money moves has continued over the past month. I'm also pretty bummed out that my first Penfed 6% APY CD will be maturing in two months and I don't have any attractive destinations for that cash at this point.