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[quote=flu]

Paramount: just one question…. Did your gain on PHOT so far exceed the loss you took on your BMW, after listening to nutjobs like me ranting and raving about BMW’s? If so, sell….And cut even… Then I can sleep better knowing I didn’t totally screw you over….[/quote]

No, not even close (yet…).

I have to say I do miss driving my BMW, don’t think I’d buy one again though. At least not for a daily commuter. I have had my eye on a Jaquar XJ8 Supercharged VanDen Plas.

And then on occasion my thoughts and dreams do turn to a 2014 335i 6 speed in metallic Red with Dark Burl Walnut real wood trim.

[paramount]

Most know when to buy, selling is then the harder part IMO. I’ll sell on momentum.

Better yet, I’ll sell when flu gives the signal if flu is so obliged. If it weren’t for flu, I would not even have known about phot.

[paramount]

March 2014 – Consumers are Tapped Out!

#1 Real disposable income per capita continues to fall. In the fourth quarter of 2012, it was sitting at $37,265. By the time that the fourth quarter of 2013 had come around, it had dropped to $36,941. That means that average Americans have less money to go shopping with than they did previously.

#2 In January, real disposable income in the U.S. experienced the largest year over year decline that we have seen since 1974.

#3 As disposable income decreases, major retailers are closing thousands of stores all over the country. Some are even calling this “a retail apocalypse“.

#4 From September 2013 to January 2014, the personal saving rate in the United States dropped by a staggering 16 percent.

#5 During the fourth quarter of 2013, we witnessed the largest increase in consumer debt in this country that we have seen since 2007.

#6 Fewer Americans are applying for mortgages these days. In fact, the MBA Purchase Applications Index is now the lowest that it has been since 1995.

#7 Overall, the rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen for eight years in a row.

#8 Many Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a new car or truck. The following comes from a recent CNBC article…
A new study shows the average household in 24 of America’s 25 largest metropolitan areas cannot afford to pay for the average priced new car or truck.
“Just because you can manage the monthly payment doesn’t mean you should let a $30,000 or $40,000 ride gobble up such a huge share of your paycheck,” said Mike Sante, managing editor of Interest.com. “Many people are spending money on a car payment that they could be saving.”

#9 Incredibly, 56 percent of all Americans now have “subprime credit” at this point.

#10 Total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.

#11 In the third quarter of 2007, the student loan delinquency rate was 7.6 percent. Today, it is up to 11.5 percent.

#12 Overall, U.S. consumers are $11,360,000,000,000 in debt.

#13 While Barack Obama has been in the White House, median household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row.

#14 U.S. workers are taking home the smallest share of the income pie that has ever been recorded.

#15 One recent study found that about 60 percent of the jobs that have been “created” since the end of the last recession pay $13.83 or less an hour.

#16 Middle-wage jobs accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession, but they have accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs created since then.

#17 According to one recent survey, only 35 percent of all Americans say that they are better off financially than they were a year ago.

#18 In 2008, 25 percent of all Americans in the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket considered themselves to be “lower class”. In 2014, an astounding 49 percent of them do.

#19 The poverty rate in America has been at 15 percent or above for 3 consecutive years. That is the first time that has happened since 1965.

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Reminder: It’s better to be judged by 12, than carried by 6.

[paramount]

Wow CAR that is incredible and excellent commentary as well.

I just don’t know what to think anymore: I’ve been anticipating a crash like many others (primarily based on analysis by people a lot smarter than myself…), and I thought it would have happened by now. On the other hand, big crashes happen fast and most will never see it coming.

Market manipulation is heavy.

Here’s the latest from ECRI:

Price Signals of Global Slack

Some key economies, including the U.S., have been enjoying increased export growth by certain measures. Yet, as discussed in ECRI’s U.S. Cyclical Outlook in January, “the U.S. is able to boost exports only by cutting prices, because exporters simply lack pricing power.”

In fact, year-over-year growth in world trade prices remains in a cyclical downturn, and dropped deeper into negative territory, hitting an eight-month low in December. Indeed, this measure has exhibited almost continuous price deflation since early 2012, barring a couple of abortive forays into positive territory.

As the chart shows, this measure has rarely been so consistently negative, the last occasion being in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. Before that, it had turned negative around the 2001 U.S. recession.

The other extended period of deflation seen in this measure was for nearly four years in the late 1990s, when a massive once-in-a-lifetime deflationary shock resulted from the integration of China, India, and the ex-Soviet economies into the global economy. This period also included the Asian crisis.

Today, there is no such crisis or structural deflationary shock comparable to that experienced in the late 1990s. Thus, the mounting deflation in world trade prices is signaling growing slack in the global economy.

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[quote=Blogstar][quote=scaredyclassic]Pinned by vehicles with gun display is a crime in CA.

Why did you not call the cops?[/quote]

The police do not care what people say or do if you don’t have proof. [/quote]

I think there’s an app for that…

You do have a smart phone, right?

[paramount]

It seems Russia is preparing to dump US debt:

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/03/14/did-russia-just-dump-its-treasury-holdings/

Sort of like a fed bank run.

I know, it doesn’t matter, nothing matters.

The market will rally on this news since it may mean more fed printing.

[paramount]

flu: If I understand you correctly, are you bearish on the stock market right now? And if so, wouldn’t that translate into the overall economy? And then housing?

[paramount]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Maybe these zen Asians need a leg up. Affirmative inaction for zen practitioners and their offspring or disciples![/quote]

Affirmative action not needed, don’t these zen Asians live in good neighborhoods where plenty of AP classes are offered?

They already have a leg up.

[paramount]

[quote=flu]Orcas and their rights are more important than yours…..

[/quote]

There are approx. 4.5 billion “Asians” in the world, and approx. 1000 Killer Whales along the Pacific Coast.

Your statement is probably true, and also applies to humans in general.

[paramount]

Pigg Poll (I was like 3 months ahead of my time…)

58% Keeping Orca’s in Captivity for Amusement is Cruel

42% Orca’s Draw crowds/educates, makes money and creates job/tax dollars

[paramount]

I think I saw that place on the Devil’s Ride.

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[quote=svelte][quote=paramount][quote=svelte]I’m going to go out on a limb and make some guesses about you, paramount.

[/quote]

Sounds like you fell off that limb and bumped your head…you’re not even close.[/quote]

Where did you get your degree?[/quote]

UMCP

[paramount]

To be honest flu, thanks to you I’ve done very well with phot. Thanks.

[paramount]

[quote=svelte]I’m going to go out on a limb and make some guesses about you, paramount.

[/quote]

Sounds like you fell off that limb and bumped your head…you’re not even close.

[Author]

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