Further evidence that the economy is weakening can be seen as Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK/A) rental furniture unit saw a slowing of demand from business clients in the second quarter. Businesses are reluctant to invest in growth because of a lack of confidence in the overall economy. While the Federal Reserve has been extremely loose, the government has not been supportive of business and true job creation. A witch hunt against the banks and having them horde capital like never before when governments are deleveraging is extremely harmful as well. It will be interesting to see what happens in November as the economy is not likely to get much better before then.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/berkshire-s-pederson-says-u-s-businesses-scaling-back.html