The Economy

[Rothko]

i hate to hear that rothko, and i wish you all the best.... hopefully you were able to pocket away a nice chunk of change during the boom years to help get you through.... i think if you can make it until this time next year you will be alright.... maybe these $1200 checks will bring out some customers as well....

Definitely hope so! I am fortunate that I have saved over the years! I know there are some out there less fortunate than myself! I want everyone to prosper!

Thanks for the well wishes and support! This place is a hell of a lot cheaper than a shrink! LOL! I think you're right Skins...this time next year will be better! It's a weird trend how retail suffers in an election year!

[Skinsfan]

i hate to hear that rothko, and i wish you all the best.... hopefully you were able to pocket away a nice chunk of change during the boom years to help get you through.... i think if you can make it until this time next year you will be alright.... maybe these $1200 checks will bring out some customers as well....

[dananderson32]

Wow, this thread really took off! Great points all around! :thumbs:

I guess my question now is this...

What do we do now??

My business is all but dead! It's a fact people are spending money on food and gas and nothing else! Where does that leave us in retail??

I advertise! I have lowered prices to better accomodate a declining economy! I offer gas cards, pay the sales tax and deliver free and all these strategies still come up short! (for those who don't know I own a furniture store)

...and I hear the worst is yet to come! I have owned my store for 20 years and now I'm faced with losing it all together! I just can't see working through the summer!

your not the only story out there like this in this country......keep your head up tho rothko....

[Rothko]

Wow, this thread really took off! Great points all around! :thumbs:

I guess my question now is this...

What do we do now??

My business is all but dead! It's a fact people are spending money on food and gas and nothing else! Where does that leave us in retail??

I advertise! I have lowered prices to better accomodate a declining economy! I offer gas cards, pay the sales tax and deliver free and all these strategies still come up short! (for those who don't know I own a furniture store)

...and I hear the worst is yet to come! I have owned my store for 20 years and now I'm faced with losing it all together! I just can't see working through the summer!

[Fish2006]

BB:

I understand what you are saying.... from a moral standard point of view... but regarding the banks... they are heavily dependant upon each other (all these Credit-Default-Swaps and other financial mechanisms would break down if one bank fell)... they hedge their risks with each other... if one falls, then many other banks have billions of un-protected assets out there because their hedges are now bankrupt.... the net effect would be the banking industry would start selling off these newly unhedged assets to get their risk profile in line.... that sell off would most likely destroy our economy.

Sadly, this is right on the money.

The deleveraging process (i.e. gracefully bailing out the 100-1 risks 5 billion at a time) is going to be very painful. The issue is a little like being forced to sell your house fast vs having time to sell your house well - bad pun in know. When you do a forced sale, you dont get what you can do when you can stage and prepare.

What is going on with CDOs and the Credit Default Swaps which alledgedly hedge against CDOs is a little like that. The process is actually starting to work - CDOs are actually trading again, albiet at vastly reduced levels. The smart money I hear is actually buying the damn things at highly distressed prices.

Money (for the house) is almost always made when fear is at it's height. A site full of gamblers probably realizes this :)

[Skinsfan]

BB:

I understand what you are saying.... from a moral standard point of view... but regarding the banks... they are heavily dependant upon each other (all these Credit-Default-Swaps and other financial mechanisms would break down if one bank fell)... they hedge their risks with each other... if one falls, then many other banks have billions of un-protected assets out there because their hedges are now bankrupt.... the net effect would be the banking industry would start selling off these newly unhedged assets to get their risk profile in line.... that sell off would most likely destroy our economy.

[BoilerBacker]

As for a gov't bailout.... it is good for everyone, as weird as it seems.... it will stabilize prizes, stabilize interest rates, and prevent entire neighborhoods from being run down due to neglect.

Skins:

I agree with 99% of what you said except for this. Main reason I am against a bailout....I am tired of bailing people out for freaking everything, whether it is because they did not leave New Orleans or they live in a flood plain or they are too stupid to balance a personal budget. All that results is more bailouts in the future. I am not big on bailing out banks either.... let them die like crappy airlines do. (saying this, I do understand that this could be very detrimental to the economy so there has to be some heavy thinking here....)

Oil is very high due to 3 things...

1. China and India (adding lots of demand)

2. US and OPEC not drilling for more.

3. US dollar stinks. Oil in Europe has not gone up nearly as much as here, due to the weakness in the dollar.

[Q-Unit]

this is the last time I try to act like a know it all :beer2:

yes in a closed system, gas evaporation will be minimal. Could have used better wording. Point is, yes if you don't keep up with you car, the amount of unnecessary trips you take, etc.. Did not intend to point out that that was the only viable reason gas is wasted. But also important is when, especially when its night or morning. The car may be a closed system, but from the pump to your car isn't airtight, if one pumps in nominal times of the day, this results in less evaporation of gasoline as you pump. Gas pumps measure volume of gasoline, not the density of fuel concentration, and gas is most dense during these times.

I can't ignore the difference monetarily I see when I stopped filling up and instead fill only what I know I will need for a given week, maybe its mainly because I only take the car out to work, and when I run errands I do it all at once even when I head to the gym.

My car's a 98, has 170k miles on it, I do keep up with it, and theres nothing in it except for a basketball and some autoshades. I'm not cool enough for a 3 million watt sound system, after ten years it still runs great and probably for another ten years since I'm freaking cheap. and I could use some more weight rather than lose what chicken arms flap from my shoulders

Besides, commercial airlines don't fill up why should we? LOL yeah its slightly different as its somewhat safer not to carry a tank-full of explosive substance in a tinderbox 10,000 feet in the air.

[homedawg]

An evaporative emissions system is generally designed to route fuel vapors from the fuel tank into a carbon filter inside the canister. The canister is then routed into the engine intake where the vapors are merged with the normal fuel intake and burned in the cylinders.

[homedawg]

Gas does evaporate and that is exactly the reason you should keep a full tank. A full tank leaves less air and then the gas can not evaporate.

:thumbs: The amount of evaporation is far less then he was making it appear.

[beermantm]

I agree. Somewhat. The more unnecessary tripe you make, the more fuel you use, the more you use you car, the fatter your fatass will become hence the often overlooked epidemic of fatass Americans and (gasp!) rising healthcare costs, people wasting money on pills to lose weight, fast weight loss equipment that walking would be still better in terms of cost and health, more cases of diabetes, heart problems, knee problems from supporting that weight, etc...

but filling up is somewhat unnecessary IMO. Gas evaporates, and filling up, leaving that **** in your garage when you don't use it as much as you need to is a waste of money. Plus the heavier your car, the less fuel efficient it is, imagine how much 15-20 gallons of gas weighs.

but thats personal preference, not something THAT important, personally I don't fill up to the line anymore unless I'm driving a long distance. I've tracked this the last two months.

I drive a normal Honda Civic, its a 98 model so its not "advanced" in terms of todays "efficient" fuel economy cars, but it gets 35 mpg highway, 29 city easy.

and before even with high gas, I would fill up maybe twice to 3 times a month this is for someone who drives 7 miles to work and 7 miles back and occasionally takes a small trip to another town 40 miles away. When I did that, I paid a total of 75-80 bucks a month!

Now that I don't fill up the tank, instead I do 2 gallons/5-7 bucks at a time.

that means I fill up twice a week now instead of 3 times a month. My gas is now about 40-50 bucks a month, and thats NOW when I'm paying $3.30 a gallon instead of $2.80 last year when I was doing the fill the whole tank deal.

sure its only what 30 bucks and you waste more time (not that much) running around getting gas, but 30 bucks pays my water bill.

just personal preference!

Gas does evaporate and that is exactly the reason you should keep a full tank. A full tank leaves less air and then the gas can not evaporate. Also like homedawg said the fuel pump is better off also keeping the tank full. Full tank equals better gas mileage and little if any evaporation.

[homedawg]

besides your civic only holds 12gallons= 96lbs full.
Clean out the car, and lose a few pounds, then you can fill it up, and save $$$$ :beer2:

[homedawg]

I agree. Somewhat. The more unnecessary tripe you make, the more fuel you use, the more you use you car, the fatter your fatass will become hence the often overlooked epidemic of fatass Americans and (gasp!) rising healthcare costs, people wasting money on pills to lose weight, fast weight loss equipment that walking would be still better in terms of cost and health, more cases of diabetes, heart problems, knee problems from supporting that weight, etc...

but filling up is somewhat unnecessary IMO. Gas evaporates, and filling up, leaving that **** in your garage when you don't use it as much as you need to is a waste of money. Plus the heavier your car, the less fuel efficient it is, imagine how much 15-20 gallons of gas weighs.

but thats personal preference, not something THAT important, personally I don't fill up to the line anymore unless I'm driving a long distance. I've tracked this the last two months.

I drive a normal Honda Civic, its a 98 model so its not "advanced" in terms of todays "efficient" fuel economy cars, but it gets 35 mpg highway, 29 city easy.

and before even with high gas, I would fill up maybe twice to 3 times a month this is for someone who drives 7 miles to work and 7 miles back and occasionally takes a small trip to another town 40 miles away. When I did that, I paid a total of 75-80 bucks a month!

Now that I don't fill up the tank, instead I do 2 gallons/5-7 bucks at a time.

that means I fill up twice a week now instead of 3 times a month. My gas is now about 40-50 bucks a month, and thats NOW when I'm paying $3.30 a gallon instead of $2.80 last year when I was doing the fill the whole tank deal.

sure its only what 30 bucks and you waste more time (not that much) running around getting gas, but 30 bucks pays my water bill.

just personal preference!

I cant believe I took the time to read this crap. :bang:

Gas evaporates? Put a cap on it!:boog:
weight of gas, lower fuel economy? Take your 3million watt sound system, and all the extra crap you carry around out of the car!
People drive around lookin' for the cheapest price on gas, and will wait to get to the pump, and wait to get out of the station. in the meantime, you are burning fuel!
Besides, the best thing on the fuel pump, is to keep it covered in fuel. Have you ever had a fuel pump gone bad on you?
Keep up with the maintenance, change filters, clean the injectors, & you will get your premium fuel economy.
My original point was, DON'T DRIVE AS MUCH! :thumbs:

[Q-Unit]

Same goes when you buy gas, Fill it up!!! The more unecessary trips you make, the more fuel you will use!
Drive less, the price increase wont affect you, so you can stop Bitching! :drunk:

I agree. Somewhat. The more unnecessary tripe you make, the more fuel you use, the more you use you car, the fatter your fatass will become hence the often overlooked epidemic of fatass Americans and (gasp!) rising healthcare costs, people wasting money on pills to lose weight, fast weight loss equipment that walking would be still better in terms of cost and health, more cases of diabetes, heart problems, knee problems from supporting that weight, etc...

but filling up is somewhat unnecessary IMO. Gas evaporates, and filling up, leaving that **** in your garage when you don't use it as much as you need to is a waste of money. Plus the heavier your car, the less fuel efficient it is, imagine how much 15-20 gallons of gas weighs.

but thats personal preference, not something THAT important, personally I don't fill up to the line anymore unless I'm driving a long distance. I've tracked this the last two months.

I drive a normal Honda Civic, its a 98 model so its not "advanced" in terms of todays "efficient" fuel economy cars, but it gets 35 mpg highway, 29 city easy.

and before even with high gas, I would fill up maybe twice to 3 times a month this is for someone who drives 7 miles to work and 7 miles back and occasionally takes a small trip to another town 40 miles away. When I did that, I paid a total of 75-80 bucks a month!

Now that I don't fill up the tank, instead I do 2 gallons/5-7 bucks at a time.

that means I fill up twice a week now instead of 3 times a month. My gas is now about 40-50 bucks a month, and thats NOW when I'm paying $3.30 a gallon instead of $2.80 last year when I was doing the fill the whole tank deal.

sure its only what 30 bucks and you waste more time (not that much) running around getting gas, but 30 bucks pays my water bill.

just personal preference!

[beermantm]

beerman - educate me please ( I'm not up to surfing to find the answers right now). Where are these locations of all of these reserves? Are they located on US soil?

http://www.predictem.com/forums/politics-government-religion-world-events-forum/21781-bakken-oil-field-oil-find-trumps-saudis-biggest-oil-field.html