Investing? Here's the Safe Option
By EUGENE SILVER
Updated 9:12 AM PDT, Thu, Mar 5, 2009
Afraid that cash isn't secure even behind the thick walls of banks, more people are turning to something that has protected money since the days of Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde: safes.
The metal vaults are so popular in some part of the country that shopper are depleting store supplies as worries about the nation's economy spread.
During the three months that ended June 30, the latest period for which data is available, domestic bank deposits slipped nearly $40 billion, according to federal data.
And so far this year, market declines have erased $8.7 trillion in wealth. That's a figure so staggering that some people are cashing out assets and shifting to other investments in a no-holds-barred effort to stanch the bleeding.
Companies, such as SentrySafe and Lowe's, have seen a substantial increase in sales of safes. Honeywell, which makes them, and Home Depot, which sells them, also report similar increases.
First Published: Mar 4, 2009 11:32 PM PDT on NBC Los Angeles
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