[spdrun]

Maybe they actually IPO’ed it at a sensible price?

[spdrun]

I’ve never paid over $2500 for a car, and all cars were bought on Craigslist. Actually, a guy in the town that I grew up in was selling a late 90s 3-series for $2900 recently — didn’t buy it, but I did test-drive and it was a legit deal.

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4419603446.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4395795007.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4402809830.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4424940118.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4424796339.html

I’ve always been a bit of a bottom-feeder in that regard.

[spdrun]

Most leases also have pretty harsh mileage limitations, at least if you want to pay a reasonable price.

This being said: never got the idea of leasing. I can buy a decent used car for under $5000, drive it for a few years then dump it for $4000. Whatever tax savings I get for leasing won’t amount to the difference between $1000 and the cost of a lease.

[spdrun]

NASDAQ was down about 8% from peak earlier this week. Even dead cats bounce if dropped from a high enough height.

[spdrun]

Not much, though.

[spdrun]

Disagree. A 30% drop in the NASDAQ from peak will only take us back a year. Not tragic.

On the other hand, a 60-70% drop in a few years would be much nastier and people will be asking why the Fed permitted it.

NASDAQ valuations are an anomaly.
So is the run-up of San Diego housing, where other parts of the US went up 5-10% in the same time.

Having anomalies correct won’t destroy a slow, steady pace of growth.

[spdrun]

You’re assuming that the Fed gives a damn about the schmucks who bought into the NASDAQ bubble of the past year. IMHO, tapering is a deliberate step to prick the tech bubble before it becomes more harmful. Better a 30% drop in the NASDAQ to the low 3000s than a 50-60% drop after the index hits 7000.

You’re also underestimating the effect of collective sentiment, which the Fed can’t change. People tend to want to invest in new things, and the luster fades as time goes by and the numbers come out.

Lastly, Yellen aside (who may be more conservative than people thought — right after the March Fed meeting, she came across as more hawkish than the discussion at the meeting, and she’s not trying to sort of backtrack) we have a generally more conservative bunch of voting members, who are less willing to trade long term pain for short-term gain by pumping up asset bubbles.

[spdrun]

Unless something big international happens, I don’t see a crash coming, China seems to have figured out their conundrum.

Nothing to do with the Chinese or Russians, everything to do with stupid valuations for firms that have little revenue other than ads. Someone has to have real product to advertise, otherwise it’s a giant Ponzi scheme.

I’m less worried about Google that has pay-to-play services and is diversifying than firms that make apps, social networks, or “cloud” services that are subject to fad and popular whim.

[spdrun]

Here’s hoping for some misses soon. Watching dot.bomb 2.0 unfold would amuse me.

[spdrun]

We can’t have everyone going thrifty, otherwise the economy will go in the dumps. Spend, spend, spend.

Screw the economy. Another crash == another opportunity.

[spdrun]

^^^

That’s also true for a segment abroad — see also: Ryanair and friends. I’m comparing established US and European carriers, not Ryanair to (mean)Spirit(ed) Airways.

[spdrun]

^^^

Bulk mail isn’t illegal and I really doubt that you’ll get physically hurt over a mailing that isn’t even necessarily sent by you. Even if the shooters ignore it, their wives and kids (if any) may not and might have a positive influence there.

Don’t rely on cops to always solve problems that might be best dealt with in other ways.

[spdrun]

If the sheriff decides not to do anything, what about printing up official-sounding mailings yourself “GUN OWNERS: KNOW THE LAWS!” and mailing them out to people in the neighborhood? Stamps are cheap.

[spdrun]

That’s true, but still…. Some services can be privatized quite well.

The French privatized their water company a long time ago.
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GSZ:FP

SOME services. However, some services work better as public entities. Which is better-maintained? The French SNCF network, Deutsche Bahn, or the private freight railroad network of the US which Amtrak has to beg to run trains on?

I’ve had much better customer service from semi-public (though publicly held share is decreasing) European airlines than 100% private US airlines.

Municipal broadband can be GREAT as compared to crummy private offerings in the US. There is a place for public services. Perhaps the public services in the US are just in the WRONG places.

[spdrun]

Debts get paid off by the escrow firm, at closing or just before. Until they’re ready to close, earnest money does not get used.

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