[poorgradstudent]

The 20/80 theory makes tons of sense. I bet a lot of the current buyers are “bargain shoppers” who have been waiting for the past year for prices to fall. Collectively they’re all going after the reasonably priced stuff, and leaving the overpriced alone.

Sometimes the Invisible Hand does its job!

[poorgradstudent]

Since no one else has mentioned it, I will:

Who the hell would pay $550K to live in South Park???

Sure, gentrification is creeping in that general direction, but it’s still a fairly rough neighborhood on a block-by-block basis. I guess it must be a couple of DINKs, possibly hipsters who want to live as close to downtown as they can afford?

I’m not saying South Park is unlivable, but I’d definitely prefer to rent there than buy, but maybe that’s just personal preference. My friends wouldn’t touch Mira Mesa with a 20 foot pole, but I find it inoffensive.

[poorgradstudent]

1) Focus on the bad side of the relationship
When things end, it’s pretty natural to romanticize the relationship and look at it through rose-colored goggles, not unlike the NAR tends to look at the housing market. If you force yourself to think about the things that were wrong about the relationship that you’re NOT missing, rather than dwelling on what you are missing, it may help
2) Re-focus on friendships, hanging with “your boys”
There’s a good chance that there were things you like to do that you didn’t have time for while in the relationship. You want to spend time around single guys, who tend to have similar interests and time availability as each other. Good guy friends don’t let each other mope over relationships, and being social is important.
3) Cut off contact with the ex in the short run
You need space until you resolve your feelings. You may be able to be friends in the future, but now is not the time
4) Focus on other options
Your milage may vary depending on your own personal beliefs, but flirting with, making out, or … more with another woman is often the quickest way to wash the pallette clean. You want to look forward, not backwards.

It’s cliche, but there really are a lot of fish in the sea. She wasn’t the One, so why waste any more time on her?

[poorgradstudent]

HereWeGo- The price of big sceen TVs crashed largely thanks to aggressive pricing and marketing by WalMart. While I don’t always agree with their politics, Walmart certainly can lower the price of consumer goods.

Regardless of the overall market, there are always money making opportunities for smart, targeted approaches. If you bought Altria (MO) just before the tech bubble burst, you made a ton of money (it had been beat up during the bubble). The trick is just finding those opportunities.

As for Starbucks, I thought their music/movies foray has been regarded as a fiasco at best? Hard for me to really say, as I hate Starbucks coffee. I do agree with Cow_tipping that Starbucks likely is one of the canaries in the coal mine; if people’s wallets are feeling a pinch that $5 cup of coffee is one of the first things to go.

[poorgradstudent]

jg wrote: “Ah, typical day in the ‘new stock market’: weak job growth in April, job growth in February and March revised downward, creeping up of the unemployment rate.
Upward goes the market. Hilarious.”

You know, I’m no where near as bearish as you are, but I agree that right now the market seems to have a lot of “panic buying” that doesn’t pay much mind fo the data.

That said, earnings have been strong this quarter overall. Their sustainability is questionable, but earnings and mergers are a big art of what has been fueling the beast.

[poorgradstudent]

I think the moral of the story to me is that if the seller had taken your original advice and priced it to sell, he probably would have ended up better off.

[poorgradstudent]

I think kicksavedave nailed it. Who is going to favor a bailout? FBs. Who is going to be against it? Everyone else, including my rather sizable demographic, renters.

[poorgradstudent]

It’s weird that I read this so differently than a lot of you.

The letter doesn’t really say much of anything. My read is “There’s a problem, there was some predatory lending, we’re going to have a hearing and decide what to do.”

I suppose that’s dissapointing if you want to hear “No! No bailout!” But I don’t think being openminded at this point is a bad thing for a Senator. I like politicians that want to study issues, take in data, and are willing to change their minds, rather than being a “Decider” and then “Staying the Course” no matter what.

[poorgradstudent]

The chart is hilarious.

He projects the DIJA to hi an astonishing 26,000 by 2012! Yes, that’s more than double today’s level, in 5 years. Seriously… wow. The headline here is not the great bust… it’s he’s projecting the most incredible boom in the stock market ever.

Correlation does not equal causation. It’s a rule of logic a lot of people, even smart ones, sometimes forget.

[poorgradstudent]

Thanks for providing more evidence this market is no where near its bottom yet!

[poorgradstudent]

Basic rule of politics: Take credit for everything positive happening right now, blame everything negative on your predecessor.

Not saying Greenspan didn’t contribute, but it was a team effort.

[poorgradstudent]

I hope these trends continue.

With all the potential homebuyers and competition for jobs leavning, I should be able to actually afford a home in a few years!

[poorgradstudent]

I agree that the Fed is stuck. I don’t think we’re in stagflation yet, but the risk is definitely there. A slowing economy COULD slow inflation enough to give breathing room for a rate cut, but that’s far from certain.

Although I’m not complaining about the gains in my portfolio, today’s rally after the announcement looked like a Fool’s Rally to me. Considering I read the Fed’s statment to mean “The Economy isn’t great, but Inflation is too high to give a rate cut”, there really was nothing to celebrate. I guess some investors must have been fearing aggressive anti-inflation rhetoric.

I’m definitely watching closely and considering closing a position or two as we move back towards 1460 on the S&P 500, the previous breaking point back in Feb.

[poorgradstudent]

I won’t feel triumphant until we buy a home, 3-5 years from now when the market has bottomed. Until then, as someone who has only rented so far in his life, for me personally it’s all just paper ups and downs right now.

[poorgradstudent]

UPDATE:
Interestingly, the Venitian, one of the converted apartment complexes a friend of mine used to rent from, is now 90% sold (although it’s been over a year since they kicked everyone out). I wonder how much they had to come down?

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