[poorgradstudent]

I’m no lawyer, but I’d imagine it would be difficult suit to win. “I bought a house I couldn’t afford at the peak, and now I want someone else to pay for it.”

I guess their arguement hinges on the claim that the builder knew the appraisal was too high. Even if it’s true, it sounds very difficult to prove in a court of law.

Of course, it might be more cost-effective for the builder to settle rather than go to court.

[poorgradstudent]

I find Starbucks to be more of a stress inducer than “escape”. But I dislike busy stores.

The same goes with PF Chang… I like the food, the atmosphere and the price. But I refuse to go to the one in UTC except during the week. It’s just too busy, and the wait is too long.

[poorgradstudent]

It is indeed a sore subject for some people, especially those who foolishly acted as if the “good times” would never end.

Studies have shown that people get irrational and emotional when their investments lose money.

[poorgradstudent]

I’ll grant that many “alternative” fuels do have potential, although most aren’t anywhere near being cost effective.

The United States has vast quantities of Oil Shale deposits. The extraction process is expensive, but if oil gets up to $100/barrel, it would become cost-effective. My point on this is that the rising cost of energy is likely to be incremental rather than sudden, as there are sources that can pick up the slack as the price of energy rises, at least in the short term.

I’m extremely skeptical of the “car that runs on water”. Somewhere you need a chemical reaction that gives off energy, usually by breaking bonds. My guess is they’d be trying to create Hydrogen gas (H2) and then break the hydrogen-hydrogen bond (which gives off energy – hydrogen gas’s flammability is why the Hindenburg exploded). But you’d have to put energy into the system to turn the water into hydrogen gas.

Also, it’s not like water is an unlimited resource… remember, we have a SHORTAGE of water here in Southern California.

[poorgradstudent]

“What will happen to Suburbia when oil prices climb again? How will our life change?”

There will be demand for mass transit, and people will use it.

People with families will always like the suburbs and be willing to commute to live away from the city.

[poorgradstudent]

I think it’s important to separate high end full service salons from the smaller places with names like “Turbo Nails 2000”, staffed mainly by recent immigrants (usually Vietnamese?). Your lower end places may actually do BETTER in a mild recession, as when people are forced to tighten their belts they more often scale back in level rather than cutting things out entirely.

Also, when people can’t afford big expensive things, they tend to spend more on small luxuries. Think of it as relative vs. absolute cost. This is why I’m unsure on the future of Starbucks. I already can’t understand why people buy their $6 drinks (I sometimes buy a regular coffee and add sugar and creme, which totals around $2). But clearly there are a lot of people who disagree with me.

[poorgradstudent]

Some interesting ideas here, some I agree with, some I partially agree and would love to see, and others I would be surprised to see.

People will cut back on “luxuries” and continue buying “necessities”. Of course, my necessity may not be the same as yours.

A lot of people view their $4 cup of coffee as a necessity, to the point of rearranging other spending to keep getting it. A lot of women view nail services as essential, although there could be a swing towards do it yourself. The nail industry is already pretty cheap, which could help it (relatively cheap) or hurt it (doesn’t have much leeway to price adjust downward)

Teenagers not working in California is a cultural thing that I don’t see changing. For one thing, teenage employment is generally highest in good times, and lowest in weak job markets. Buisinesses would generally rather hire young adults over teenagers. In a weaker job market wages are lower, giving teens less incentive to work rather than study, play sports, or video games.

I totally agree with an increase in beer consumption, especially cheap beer. I should buy some BUD stock soon…

I think we’ll see a lot less “junk” purchased… fad items, novelties, expensive gifts that people may want but not really need. People will keep buying flat screen televisions as the price of the technology keeps falling.

People that get laid off will dine out a lot less. People that keep their jobs probably won’t change much.

[poorgradstudent]

Yep, the market is overbought right now, by roughly 1-2%, but the specific companies listed are much more so. Google is WAY overvalued (classic great company, bad investment situation), Microsoft is coming off of a hot run, and by my valuations Kohls is also overpriced relative to the market as whole.

[poorgradstudent]

“assume that in inflationary times, it will be used 100% for money”

The price of gold will have to get a LOT higher before people stop using it for jewlery/industrial purposes.

[poorgradstudent]

Good idea or not, I agree that we’re not going to see an increase by the Fed until after the coming recession, whenever it hits.

[poorgradstudent]

Even if (and it’s a pretty big if) the worst is over nationally in terms of housing, SoCal still has a ways to fall, since the bubble was bigger here than nationally due to more speculation.

That said, if you love the house and the price is right, it’s worth considering. But now is not the time to stretch your finances just to buy.

[poorgradstudent]

I’m still interested to hear if people think that traffic penalties should be punative, a deterrant, a revenue source, or some combination therein?

I think people dislike traffic cameras because of the “Big Brother” nature, and they’re always present. At least with live police officers it’s a bit like a game. “Oh, you caught me!”. Alternatively, in the case of an officer, you can direct your anger towards the cop, rather than towards society as a whole, or at the person driving the car.

[poorgradstudent]

Good question.

“Don’t really care for” is pretty vague. I’ve had co-workers I didn’t really care for but had perfectly functioning professional relationships with. You couldn’t have gotten me to go have a drink with them for less than say $1,000, but we were able to function at work.

On the other hand, there are people you just don’t get along with at all. There’s no reason you should feel obligated to pay someone so you have to be around them. I don’t personally think you’d be out of line switching agents if your dislike of the first one is more of an extreme distaste rather than mild annoyance.

[poorgradstudent]

anotherf@ckedborrower is a pretty interesting blog. Thanks for suggesting it, PS.

[poorgradstudent]

I’d like to diversify into foreign currency, but am concerned about transaction fees wiping out any potential benefit. What’s the cheapest way to exchange currencies, especially in relatively small (Several thousand rather than tens of thousands) of dollars?

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