Collapse of U.S. economy?

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br><p align="justify">I think some of those seemingly-inflated prices are based on real purchases (i.e., what people were willing to pay), but those numbers weren't updated and not many purchases were made at those prices anymore. If you live near the coast or at a good neighborhood (for example: Newport Coast, Laguna Niguel, Irvine), you will still see houses that retained those seemingly-inflated prices. It's the more riskier prospects that lost half their value (Riverside, San Bernardino, cities near Vegas). The upside is that if you saved up enough money, you can buy a house in those areas for cheap. They will lose more value, but not that much. Then, prices will settle and it may or may not go up, BUT the gist of buying a house is to live in it!
[/quote]


Unfortunately, it has become increasingly more difficult to obtain financing, the most difficult in the last 25 years without question. When people can't qualify for a loan, sellers can't sell and there is a tipping point where it's easier to let it go back to the bank because there is no equity (or more likely negative equity). The number of people who actually [i]saved[/i] money is most likely very small, except for the fine people on internet forums who were extremely wise with their money and their home is in the small pocket of unaffected areas. [;)]

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]


Unfortunately, it has become increasingly more difficult to obtain financing...

[/quote]

Just asking...hasn't it been too easy to obtain financing in the past 10 years?

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[Terim]

For economic doom 'n gloom I've always enjoyed <a href="http://www.dailyreckoning.com/">The Daily Reckoning</a>.

They walk that fine line between "informed economic contrarianism" and "cranky old white guys who complain about everything". And they have certainly successfully predicted 7 of the last 2 recessions. Many excellent points buried in the rhetoric.

The one thing that I've never figured out though is how these guys (like a lot of financial sites/publications) preach critical thinking, removing emotion from your investment decisions, and thorough research, but they are supported by some of the cheesiest, most transparent, "come on" advertising that you will ever see. Interesting contrast.

[drsevrin]

Given this mess, I'm curious to hear where you would put any extra cash these days. With the dollar collapsing, real estate tanking, precious metals through the roof, and an uncertain stock market, what's left? Foreign currency? Shorting the market? Under the mattress? I'm thinking bullets, tp, and cigarettes myself.

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by drsevrin[/i]
<br>Given this mess, I'm curious to hear where you would put any extra cash these days. With the dollar collapsing, real estate tanking, precious metals through the roof, and an uncertain stock market, what's left? Foreign currency? Shorting the market? Under the mattress? I'm thinking bullets, tp, and cigarettes myself.
[/quote]

GO with the tp, you'll clean up.

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[Bitter Almonds]

[quote][i]Originally posted by eight6[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]


Unfortunately, it has become increasingly more difficult to obtain financing...

[/quote]

Just asking...hasn't it been too easy to obtain financing in the past 10 years?

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[/quote]

<p align="justify">It's because nobody was checking whether they could pay back the loans. A buncha deadbeat "homeowners" and unscrupulous "bankers" pretty much rigged this shit to happen. Now everyone is fucked for good and the US govt. (i.e., taxpayers) will most likely bail out all these dumbasses; meanwhile the dollar goes lower than the mexican peso[}:)]

With the extra money, it's best to pay off all the credit card debt. Putting it in the bank is stupid. You'll be getting 1% or less (at best) in a regular savings account while your credit card debt is charging you 9, 10, 11... 20% interest!

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]


<p align="justify">It's because nobody was checking whether they could pay back the loans. A buncha deadbeat "homeowners" and unscrupulous "bankers" pretty much rigged this shit to happen.
[/quote]


Shit, I ask to borrow $50.00 and the bank crawls up my ass and lives there for months. How is it these people got what amounts to a blank check?

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[Bitter Almonds]

<p align="justify">Dude, as a kid, I got a coupla credit cards, pr0n, beer, etc. As an adult (and a broke student to boot), I coulda gotten a loan to buy a house in Riverside or east San Diego. Of course, I'd have bailed by now, but I coulda...[}:)] It's so fucked up, it's laughable. I gotta laugh. People used to watch that dude Robert Kiyosaki talk about the promised land of real estate and flipping houses that the dumbasses forgot to ask what a "variable rate" entails - watch as that 1100USD payment quickly turns to over 3000 overnight (how the hell you gonna pay THAT with a 35K/year salary?[8D] ). MOVE YOU'RE DEAD[xx(]

[coop41]

Yes, ease of credit was the biggest factor.....you had people who were suddenly real estate "Investors" who were buying properties with zero down and no income verification. Do you know the difference between a wealthy investor and a poor investor? The Poor investor has a home in foreclosure. The wealthy investor has [i]two[/i] homes in foreclosure.


By the way, if anyone is looking to buy or rent a home in Gold Canyon, Arizona.......

[KYYX4ever]

[quote][i]Originally posted by drsevrin[/i]
<br>Given this mess, I'm curious to hear where you would put any extra cash these days. With the dollar collapsing, real estate tanking, precious metals through the roof, and an uncertain stock market, what's left? Foreign currency? Shorting the market? Under the mattress? I'm thinking bullets, tp, and cigarettes myself.
[/quote]

that sounds exactly like my husband thinks and says.[}:)]

(edit to add: except instead of cigarettes, another nice smokeable.[}:)])

Say, when stocks & the market in general are low and declining in value, isn't that a good time to buy more stocks ? Then, later when the market and economy starts back on the upswing, your stocks (that you have more of, 'cuz you bought a bunch cheap) will soar in value ? The market always rebounds after a fall....maybe in a year, maybe in 5 or 10 yrs. . I would think that's a good place to sock away extra cash you have right now. Or I am being naive ?

[Bitter Almonds]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by drsevrin[/i]
<br>Given this mess, I'm curious to hear where you would put any extra cash these days. With the dollar collapsing, real estate tanking, precious metals through the roof, and an uncertain stock market, what's left? Foreign currency? Shorting the market? Under the mattress? I'm thinking bullets, tp, and cigarettes myself.
[/quote]

that sounds exactly like my husband thinks and says.[}:)]

(edit to add: except instead of cigarettes, another nice smokeable.[}:)])

Say, when stocks & the market in general are low and declining in value, isn't that a good time to buy more stocks ? Then, later when the market and economy starts back on the upswing, your stocks (that you have more of, 'cuz you bought a bunch cheap) will soar in value ? The market always rebounds after a fall....maybe in a year, maybe in 5 or 10 yrs. . I would think that's a good place to sock away extra cash you have right now. Or I am being naive ?
[/quote]

<p align="justify">Unless you don't plan to touch that money for the next 5-10 years, then it doesn't sound like a bad plan. Thing is, sure bet stocks don't lose much of their value. How much are MicroSoft, Yahoo!, Google, McDonalds, Pfizer, Disney stocks? They're still pretty high. The only stocks that lose a significant amount of value (to buy a bunch) are the small, high-risk stuff. Too late to invest in foreign currency[}:)]

[eight6]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br><p align="justify">Dude, as a kid, I got a coupla credit cards, pr0n, beer, etc. As an adult (and a broke student to boot), I coulda gotten a loan to buy a house in Riverside or east San Diego. Of course, I'd have bailed by now, but I coulda...[}:)] It's so fucked up, it's laughable. I gotta laugh. People used to watch that dude Robert Kiyosaki talk about the promised land of real estate and flipping houses that the dumbasses forgot to ask what a "variable rate" entails - watch as that 1100USD payment quickly turns to over 3000 overnight (how the hell you gonna pay THAT with a 35K/year salary?[8D] ). MOVE YOU'RE DEAD[xx(]
[/quote]

My memory isn't what it used to be, but I'm sure I saw a TV show about a family trying to make ends meet. They had what I would consider to be a very large house (they had 5 or 6 kids), a couple of nice cars and the house was nicely furnished. The wife was a stay at home mom, and he worked nights as a custodian. I'm thinking, how in the hell could they afford that stuff on what he makes...I guess I have my answer now.

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[Bitter Almonds]

<p align="justify">Those assholes make about 80K/year in SoCal school districts and each kid is a big, fat deduction. If they couldn't make ends meet, they deserve to have the rug pulled from under them. The one thing that really got me goat was to read how the ceos of some of those "lending" companies had record bonuses in millions. These bastards are no better than the radical jizzlamists that seek out to destroy this country. They should be facing federal prison or to be shoved in Gitmo for an undetermined amount of time while being waterboarded, but instead they kick back in one of their many mansions[}:)]

[scramjet]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br><p align="justify">Dude, as a kid, I got a coupla credit cards, pr0n, beer, etc. As an adult (and a broke student to boot), I coulda gotten a loan to buy a house in Riverside or east San Diego. Of course, I'd have bailed by now, but I coulda...[}:)] It's so fucked up, it's laughable. I gotta laugh. People used to watch that dude Robert Kiyosaki talk about the promised land of real estate and flipping houses that the dumbasses forgot to ask what a "variable rate" entails - watch as that 1100USD payment quickly turns to over 3000 overnight (how the hell you gonna pay THAT with a 35K/year salary?[8D] ). MOVE YOU'RE DEAD[xx(]
[/quote]

Couldn't agree more on Kiyosaki. Here's a nice review of "Rich Dad Poor Dad":

http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html

I had some family members who thought that was the greatest book in the word. I read it and was one of the people the review mentions who were uneasy about the book, but couldn't put it into words.

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>

Of course, our stupid disconnected administration (not that they control this) appears to have no clue about what's going on, and continue to spend billions on this overseas occupation. Last week, when GW was at some press conference, and a reporter asked him about gas prices being $4.00 a gallon in some places, didja hear him when he responded "I wasn't aware of that" ?!? WTF ?

[/quote]


So, was the WTF directed at Bush???

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/09/markets ... 2008030917

[b][i](CNN) -- Gas prices rose more than 9 cents over the past two weeks, to a national average of $3.20 per gallon of self-serve regular, a survey said Sunday.

The Lundberg Survey, which compared prices tallied March 7 with those tallied February 22 at about 5,000 gas stations nationwide, found the highest prices in San Francisco ($3.58) and the lowest in Cheyenne, Wyo. ($2.99)....

Prices in California and other high-priced markets could reach $4 per gallon "in the next few months, if crude oil prices hold," she said....

The recent price surge has affected diesel fuel more than gasoline. Diesel drivers paid an average of $3.80 per gallon, up 21.52 cents from two weeks ago and up $1.02 from a year ago, she said. [/i][/b]