I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.)
Hate to be OT almost immediately but a friend sent me this over the long weekend & I was in the northwoods cross country skiing & out of touch... worth the read.
I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.) Spunkmeyer | 01.05.09 - 10:25 am | # I'm more expecting the specialty construction materials suppliers failures as the consequence of these two elephants dancing. They can do what Walmart did in the consumer space; compete on price until the competition is eliminated. We'll see lumber yards fold first.
Interesting how Oct was revised up so much. I wonder if there is "substitution" going on in mixed-use projects. Our local example is Riverpark in Oxnard. The residential components care slowing down even more while there is a big push to finish the commercial components.
I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.)
Spunkmeyer
Same here in Atlanta. Lowes started doing that about 5 yrs ago. The closet parcel to a HD they could find, buy build. New lowes appear to be stand alones whereas HD's are in the middle of upscale strip centers. Don't know who that helps. I can't see both of them surviving in tact.
You know Nemo, since the monkey has had to start competing with the pig your first posts have been shirnking in size and debth.
Yeah, I know. I blame the pig.
Back on topic for a moment... I have to say, these graphs do not look much like a "CRE crash" to me. (Especially next to RRE.) Not yet, anyway.
One of Doug Kass's "possible improbables for 2009" is "The nations commercial real estate markets experience only a shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009." I wonder whether he might be right.
"The nation's commercial real estate markets experience only a shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009." I wonder whether he might be right. Nemo | Homepage | 01.05.09 - 10:39 am | #
Here in the western burbs of Chicago, "Space for Rent" has replaced "Road Construction Ahead" as the Illinois state flower.
From dryfly's not so off topic link: "The bank was willing to fund (on the potential of) consolidation if we could describe a real business," Mack said. "In the end, we couldn't."
Is anyone working on a National Wealth Destruction Clock? I here the total is near ten trillion so far. A World Wealth Destruction Clock would be nice also.
Ukraine Natural-Gas Dispute Intensifies
BY ANDREW OSBORN
MOSCOW -- Russia's dispute with Ukraine over natural-gas prices descended into legal threats as five European Union countries and Turkey said they had begun to record slight supply disruptions.
Russia's OAO Gazprom halted deliveries to Ukraine -- a key transit country for Russia's lucrative gas trade with the EU -- on Jan. 1, after talks to negotiate a new supply contract for this year broke down amid a price dispute.
Since then, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Turkey have reported slightly reduced supply. Gazprom says it is pumping extra gas via Belarus and Turkey to ensure supply, while Ukraine says it is using its reserves to maintain transit volumes. The EU gets 80% of its Russian gas imports via Ukraine. Ukraine Natural-Gas Dispute Intensifies - WSJ.com
All this is prologue for me going out on a limb: I think the end of the recession is coming sooner rather than later. Specifically, I expect it before the second half of next year. I'm actually hedging my bets here - my gut tells me that it will come before the second quarter of next year.
Here's why... I pulled monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED, the invaluable database maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Data goes back to the murky depths of pre-history, specifically January 1948. Consider all ten previous recessions that have occurred since 1948 and before the current mess. If you look at the average reduction in the employment to population ratio from the high point within the twelve months preceding a recession and the end of a recession, you get a figure of 1.8. By contrast, the high point in the twelve months leading up the recession that began in December of 07 came in December of 06 - and employment to population ratio of 63.4%. November figures were at 61.4, so there's already been a drop of 2, a bit higher than the average.
Now, the employment to population ratio happens to be higher now than ever before, so a drop of 2 is easier to achieve. However, the percentage drop of 3.15% also exceeds the average percentage drop (3.11%) observed in previous recessions.
"shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009."
That all depends on what perspective one has. Liken it to the bloated Dow got and you start to see that it was already way over-priced in the first place. In June alot of Las Vegas CRE was still priced at $21/sq ft. in devs. that had 2-5 "openings". Can't imagine it's improved, On Saturday I counted 10 vacancies at the local supermarket mall. Up from 5 in a month. This is during the Xmas season where any idiot can buy some Xmas crap, rent a store for two months and at the very least break even. It's about to get MUCH worse.
In my area, HD and Lowes have already put local lumber yards out of business just as WalMart killed the mom and pop stores. But I wonder if there's enough demand for product to keep the stores local when there's another one 35-40 miles away.
In June alot of Las Vegas CRE was still priced at $21/sq ft. in devs. that had 2-5 "openings".
Help me out here MS. Is that $21/sf a lease agreement based on 12 months or what?
"monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED"
this methodology is infinitely better than U3 headline noise. that being said, I don't get why you assume that we're going to hit the brakes in a way that compares with previous slowdowns. seems like a big assumption.
I wonder if there's enough demand for product to keep the stores local when there's another one 35-40 miles away. - Spunkmeyer
I've talked about saturation presence business models before. BTW, I have 3 HDs within 8 miles. You are correct it won't leave many survivors. The unfortunate consequence of this impending cannibalism will be to set municipalities against each other as they "compete" for the remaining sales tax revenue.
Couldn't agree more. Absolute must read here, and a refreshing departure from the petulant pseudo-intellectual shrieking that seems to characterize the current economic consensus.
I googled wealth destruction clock and it pointed to my comment here on CR, so I guess I'm the first person to come up with the idea. wealth destruction clock - Google Search
I am self-employed in the building trades (decoratve arts) and many housing projects in Vail, Aspen, Beaver Creek, Telluride have been put on hold. Even the very wealthy are pulling back; the second or third home will have to wait. Unfortunately, when building finally does resume, many will choose not to have a hand-carved door, mantle, headboard, etc.
As the head of the dragon dives into the recessionary depths, the tail will follow. Likewise,the average tradesmen will only feel the positive effects of a recovery well after the rebound starts--lag time between owners finally mustering the courage to build again and architects developing plans.
"construction spending during November
2008 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,078.4 billion, 0.6 percent (±1.6%)* below the revised
October estimate of $1,085.3 billion.
Seems like a lot of booyah for a number that has an error bar nearly three times the headline number.
The "*" indicates that this is a 90% confidence number, and as evidence the October number was revised by 0.8% (in that case, in the positive direction).
the examples that I saw were on month to month. Of course they were more than willing to write long dated leases in those examples but I think the reality of it was just starting to set in.
dryfly: The bank was willing to fund (on the potential of)
consolidation if we could describe a real business,"
Mack said. "In the end, we couldn't."
Some years ago had a girlfriend, Sr VP at Ogilvy who paid a number of visits to Enron to pitch building a 'brand' around their services. She met with the top dogs Ken Lay, Jeff Skillng, etc.
After a few days she was still unsure of exactly what it was they did. She posed this very question to Skilling in his office and he said, "We rip the fckn jugular out of our competitors!", and with that he got up and stormed out of the room. (think Mamet)
"Here's why... I pulled monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED, the invaluable database maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis"
Anonymous: Have you been paying attention at all?? Please go back and read all comments to every post here over the last 2-3 years.
MS, I mentioned that last week when they released "seasonally adjusted" numbers. In our area they didn't do any holiday hiring so how does one account for letting seasonal help go that never existed to begin with?
Anonymous: Have you been paying attention at all?? Please go back and read all comments to every post here over the last 2-3 years.
Uncle Billy, Mental Widget
Hey! Copied and pasted for general consumption. Take a pill.
Here's another one like WIDC. I used to work for this company. Very similar to the WIDC case. I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot more like these.
Those looking for the end of a recession and the euphoric optimism of a rising stock market and asset prices should rethink the opinion of this stimulous plan.
We are at DOW 9000 with a decidedly different "mood" going through it on the way up than on the way down.
Apparently the rate and direction of change is what creates optimism and opportunity.
Anyone praying for a quick return to mediocre postive GDP will prevent the opportunity of rapid growth after a severe drop.
Every day we see talking heads lament a falling market..but imagine if their efforts to prop the market, slow the fall, prevent pricing collapse was effective and we were at 9500 on the DOW without having been to 7600 first...we simply ground down 10-40 points a day never overshooting to the downside. The sour mood would be overwhelming even though we'd be 5% higher than we are today.
If you want growth in GDP, then you want a collapse in GDP.
We need the collapse to clear out the fat and give those left standing some pricing power (like Bubba Gump Shrimp in Forrest Gump).
The current efforts by Obama, if effective, may insure that we have little upside change to celebrate and must remind ourselves that the cost of avoiding pain is the inability to enjoy the euphoria that comes from rapid growth.
We have decided to avoid the dips and ride the merry go round. Those thrills that come from choosing the roller coaster have been forgone in the interest of stability.
Hey! Copied and pasted for general consumption. Take a pill.
Anonymous
Copied and pasted without a link. Angry Bear is on the CR sidebar. It was already available.
No matter, when reading that all I could think was "Wright Model C?"
You know as well as I do the fallacy of anything reported by the gov't. We know holiday hiring didn't exist, for the most part, but that doesn't mean that the reason given for decline won't be that. People have short memories......anything that sounds remotely reasonable, wrong or right, is usually the reason given. Just like "investors shrugged off weak data"....or something like that.
It's maddening isn't it MS? I've said for years that people will ask for the truth but they really don't want to hear it...They'll take the lie every time...
Huge improvement in the A2/P2 spread today, now that end-of-year window dressing is over: 190 basis points. This would only suggest the worst post-WWII recession, and not a GD-level event.
Here's another one like WIDC. I used to work for this company. Very similar to the WIDC case. I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot more like these.
Don't know about that, Indianapolis paper had a story about a custom door being built for CEO in Indy for the paltry sum of $160,000. 160K for a door! Good thing we have the rich to trickle on us!
Anonymous writes:
I am self-employed in the building trades (decoratve arts) and many housing projects in Vail, Aspen, Beaver Creek, Telluride have been put on hold. Even the very wealthy are pulling back; the second or third home will have to wait. Unfortunately, when building finally does resume, many will choose not to have a hand-carved door, mantle, headboard, etc.
Some years ago had a girlfriend, Sr VP at Ogilvy who paid a number of visits to Enron to pitch building a 'brand' around their services. She met with the top dogs Ken Lay, Jeff Skillng, etc.
After a few days she was still unsure of exactly what it was they did. She posed this very question to Skilling in his office and he said, "We rip the fckn jugular out of our competitors!", and with that he got up and stormed out of the room. (think Mamet) Duke of Con Dao | 01.05.09 - 11:15 am | #
Love to have been in that strategy planning meeting... "Now make this mission 'actionable' by 5PM today."
Bottoming process.
2nd?
You know Nemo, since the monkey has had to start competing with the pig your first posts have been shirnking in size and debth.
I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.)
If you read one thing this year, read this . . .
FT.com | Willem Buiter's Maverecon | Can the US economy afford a Keynesian stimulus?
"Debth" - Quite possibly the new word of the year?
Fallacy, hummm...like that word. Yes, abandon all hope ye that enter the age of fallacy...."Can one desire too much of a good thing?". Apparently so.
"Debth" - isn't that pronounced "death"?
So CR, where does construction in schools and other stimulus related spending appear ? I would think that might push construction higher.
Hate to be OT almost immediately but a friend sent me this over the long weekend & I was in the northwoods cross country skiing & out of touch... worth the read.
Anatomy of a failed business... [warning - loads as a pdf]
It is all there: leverage, over-expansion, too much reliance on one sector [heck, one niche inside one sector].
"Quality was never an issue," Mack said.
"It was a $60 million-plus business less than six
months ago,"...
It's a freaking text book case study on how to position your business so it can auger into the ground HARD & FAST!
Be more like that going forward.
I'm thinking it's more like - What is your degree level of debth? I'm 9th degree debth belt. Not debth worthy. Something like that.
Kermit's warming up backstage..............
I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.)
Spunkmeyer | 01.05.09 - 10:25 am | #
I'm more expecting the specialty construction materials suppliers failures as the consequence of these two elephants dancing. They can do what Walmart did in the consumer space; compete on price until the competition is eliminated. We'll see lumber yards fold first.
Interesting how Oct was revised up so much. I wonder if there is "substitution" going on in mixed-use projects. Our local example is Riverpark in Oxnard. The residential components care slowing down even more while there is a big push to finish the commercial components.
too much reliance on one sector [heck, one niche inside one sector]
That's the definition of our economic system - specialization of work.
.
I'm wondering when the Lowes and Home Depots start to close a lot of stores. We have a Lowes right next to a Home Depot not too far away. Seems like a game of chicken (or mutually-assured destruction.)
Spunkmeyer
Same here in Atlanta. Lowes started doing that about 5 yrs ago. The closet parcel to a HD they could find, buy build. New lowes appear to be stand alones whereas HD's are in the middle of upscale strip centers. Don't know who that helps. I can't see both of them surviving in tact.
The Lowes and HD are across the street from each other in my town. I think they are competing to see who can have the crappiest service...
Jerry --
You know Nemo, since the monkey has had to start competing with the pig your first posts have been shirnking in size and debth.
Yeah, I know. I blame the pig.
Back on topic for a moment... I have to say, these graphs do not look much like a "CRE crash" to me. (Especially next to RRE.) Not yet, anyway.
One of Doug Kass's "possible improbables for 2009" is "The nations commercial real estate markets experience only a shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009." I wonder whether he might be right.
"The nation's commercial real estate markets experience only a shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009." I wonder whether he might be right.
Nemo | Homepage | 01.05.09 - 10:39 am | #
Here in the western burbs of Chicago, "Space for Rent" has replaced "Road Construction Ahead" as the Illinois state flower.
From dryfly's not so off topic link:
"The bank was willing to fund (on the potential of)
consolidation if we could describe a real business,"
Mack said. "In the end, we couldn't."
A sad Epitaph for America.
Is anyone working on a National Wealth Destruction Clock? I here the total is near ten trillion so far. A World Wealth Destruction Clock would be nice also.
SPX, singing that Kermit tune.
Ukraine Natural-Gas Dispute Intensifies
BY ANDREW OSBORN
MOSCOW -- Russia's dispute with Ukraine over natural-gas prices descended into legal threats as five European Union countries and Turkey said they had begun to record slight supply disruptions.
Russia's OAO Gazprom halted deliveries to Ukraine -- a key transit country for Russia's lucrative gas trade with the EU -- on Jan. 1, after talks to negotiate a new supply contract for this year broke down amid a price dispute.
Since then, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Turkey have reported slightly reduced supply. Gazprom says it is pumping extra gas via Belarus and Turkey to ensure supply, while Ukraine says it is using its reserves to maintain transit volumes. The EU gets 80% of its Russian gas imports via Ukraine.
Ukraine Natural-Gas Dispute Intensifies - WSJ.com
Angry Bear:
All this is prologue for me going out on a limb: I think the end of the recession is coming sooner rather than later. Specifically, I expect it before the second half of next year. I'm actually hedging my bets here - my gut tells me that it will come before the second quarter of next year.
Here's why... I pulled monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED, the invaluable database maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Data goes back to the murky depths of pre-history, specifically January 1948. Consider all ten previous recessions that have occurred since 1948 and before the current mess. If you look at the average reduction in the employment to population ratio from the high point within the twelve months preceding a recession and the end of a recession, you get a figure of 1.8. By contrast, the high point in the twelve months leading up the recession that began in December of 07 came in December of 06 - and employment to population ratio of 63.4%. November figures were at 61.4, so there's already been a drop of 2, a bit higher than the average.
Now, the employment to population ratio happens to be higher now than ever before, so a drop of 2 is easier to achieve. However, the percentage drop of 3.15% also exceeds the average percentage drop (3.11%) observed in previous recessions.
"shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009."
That all depends on what perspective one has. Liken it to the bloated Dow got and you start to see that it was already way over-priced in the first place. In June alot of Las Vegas CRE was still priced at $21/sq ft. in devs. that had 2-5 "openings". Can't imagine it's improved, On Saturday I counted 10 vacancies at the local supermarket mall. Up from 5 in a month. This is during the Xmas season where any idiot can buy some Xmas crap, rent a store for two months and at the very least break even. It's about to get MUCH worse.
Ciao
MS
Ciao
MS
goes back to the murky depths of pre-history, specifically January 1948
Your data is skewed, it records only recessions since the beginning of the current credit cycle.
I hope you're right but I think it's a low-percentage bet.
.
Rob Dawg,
In my area, HD and Lowes have already put local lumber yards out of business just as WalMart killed the mom and pop stores. But I wonder if there's enough demand for product to keep the stores local when there's another one 35-40 miles away.
"murky depths of pre-history, specifically January 1948"
Conveniently ignoring the two periods of time that are directly comparable to now.
Nice try though.
Ciao
MS
In June alot of Las Vegas CRE was still priced at $21/sq ft. in devs. that had 2-5 "openings".
Help me out here MS. Is that $21/sf a lease agreement based on 12 months or what?
"monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED"
this methodology is infinitely better than U3 headline noise. that being said, I don't get why you assume that we're going to hit the brakes in a way that compares with previous slowdowns. seems like a big assumption.
I wonder if there's enough demand for product to keep the stores local when there's another one 35-40 miles away. - Spunkmeyer
I've talked about saturation presence business models before. BTW, I have 3 HDs within 8 miles. You are correct it won't leave many survivors. The unfortunate consequence of this impending cannibalism will be to set municipalities against each other as they "compete" for the remaining sales tax revenue.
If you read one thing this year, read this . . .
http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/20...esian-stimulus/
Couldn't agree more. Absolute must read here, and a refreshing departure from the petulant pseudo-intellectual shrieking that seems to characterize the current economic consensus.
I don't get why you assume that we're going to hit the brakes in a way that compares with previous slowdowns. seems like a big assumption.
bgates
Not me, copied and paste from here:
The End of the Recession: A Prediction | Angry Bear
ac --
I think you messed up the link. Try here
.
Agree it's a good read. Krugman doesn't like it. (Surprise!)
I googled wealth destruction clock and it pointed to my comment here on CR, so I guess I'm the first person to come up with the idea.
wealth destruction clock - Google Search
ac --
I think you messed up the link. Try here.
Agree it's a good read. Krugman doesn't like it. (Surprise!)
Nemo | Homepage |
The irony is that Buiter's article reminded me of a paper written by Krugman a while back about the potential problems with the dollar.
I couldn't help thinking "this reminds me of when Krugman used to be smart".
I think political prominence and being face to face with an actual crisis screws your brain up.
I am self-employed in the building trades (decoratve arts) and many housing projects in Vail, Aspen, Beaver Creek, Telluride have been put on hold. Even the very wealthy are pulling back; the second or third home will have to wait. Unfortunately, when building finally does resume, many will choose not to have a hand-carved door, mantle, headboard, etc.
As the head of the dragon dives into the recessionary depths, the tail will follow. Likewise,the average tradesmen will only feel the positive effects of a recovery well after the rebound starts--lag time between owners finally mustering the courage to build again and architects developing plans.
Obama says "sobering" jobs report at the end of the week.
From the Census Bureau's report:
"construction spending during November
2008 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,078.4 billion, 0.6 percent (±1.6%)* below the revised
October estimate of $1,085.3 billion.
Seems like a lot of booyah for a number that has an error bar nearly three times the headline number.
The "*" indicates that this is a 90% confidence number, and as evidence the October number was revised by 0.8% (in that case, in the positive direction).
dawg-
the examples that I saw were on month to month. Of course they were more than willing to write long dated leases in those examples but I think the reality of it was just starting to set in.
Ciao
MS
Pelosi says stimulus will be "fiscally responsible" DOW dives. She's inherited that Bush magic touch
dryfly: The bank was willing to fund (on the potential of)
consolidation if we could describe a real business,"
Mack said. "In the end, we couldn't."
Some years ago had a girlfriend, Sr VP at Ogilvy who paid a number of visits to Enron to pitch building a 'brand' around their services. She met with the top dogs Ken Lay, Jeff Skillng, etc.
After a few days she was still unsure of exactly what it was they did. She posed this very question to Skilling in his office and he said, "We rip the fckn jugular out of our competitors!", and with that he got up and stormed out of the room. (think Mamet)
"Obama says "sobering" jobs report at the end of the week."
meaning that they will have already priced it in and any decline will be the result of letting all those 'seasonal workers'-that they didn't hire-go.
Truly casino mentality
Ciao
MS
"Here's why... I pulled monthly employment to population ratio figures from FRED, the invaluable database maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis"
Anonymous: Have you been paying attention at all?? Please go back and read all comments to every post here over the last 2-3 years.
picosec writes:
From the Census Bureau's report:
"construction spending during November
2008 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted
Seasonnaly adj. will be very deceptive this season. Xmas sales down to 1969 levels, no seasonal hiring, etc.
MS, I mentioned that last week when they released "seasonally adjusted" numbers. In our area they didn't do any holiday hiring so how does one account for letting seasonal help go that never existed to begin with?
Anonymous: Have you been paying attention at all?? Please go back and read all comments to every post here over the last 2-3 years.
Uncle Billy, Mental Widget
Hey! Copied and pasted for general consumption. Take a pill.
Take a pill
Send me one!
.
New thread.
Broward Horne writes:
Take a pill
Send me one!
Send me cash first!
Dryfly,
Here's another one like WIDC. I used to work for this company. Very similar to the WIDC case. I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot more like these.
Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Those looking for the end of a recession and the euphoric optimism of a rising stock market and asset prices should rethink the opinion of this stimulous plan.
We are at DOW 9000 with a decidedly different "mood" going through it on the way up than on the way down.
Apparently the rate and direction of change is what creates optimism and opportunity.
Anyone praying for a quick return to mediocre postive GDP will prevent the opportunity of rapid growth after a severe drop.
Every day we see talking heads lament a falling market..but imagine if their efforts to prop the market, slow the fall, prevent pricing collapse was effective and we were at 9500 on the DOW without having been to 7600 first...we simply ground down 10-40 points a day never overshooting to the downside. The sour mood would be overwhelming even though we'd be 5% higher than we are today.
If you want growth in GDP, then you want a collapse in GDP.
We need the collapse to clear out the fat and give those left standing some pricing power (like Bubba Gump Shrimp in Forrest Gump).
The current efforts by Obama, if effective, may insure that we have little upside change to celebrate and must remind ourselves that the cost of avoiding pain is the inability to enjoy the euphoria that comes from rapid growth.
We have decided to avoid the dips and ride the merry go round. Those thrills that come from choosing the roller coaster have been forgone in the interest of stability.
Hey! Copied and pasted for general consumption. Take a pill.
Anonymous
Copied and pasted without a link. Angry Bear is on the CR sidebar. It was already available.
No matter, when reading that all I could think was "Wright Model C?"
kristina-
You know as well as I do the fallacy of anything reported by the gov't. We know holiday hiring didn't exist, for the most part, but that doesn't mean that the reason given for decline won't be that. People have short memories......anything that sounds remotely reasonable, wrong or right, is usually the reason given. Just like "investors shrugged off weak data"....or something like that.
Ciao
MS
It's maddening isn't it MS? I've said for years that people will ask for the truth but they really don't want to hear it...They'll take the lie every time...
Send me cash first!
Charge it to my account!
http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/eesa/
.
OT: that article cited by DryFly was about an auto parts supplier whose plant was in Owensboro, KY... the home of my grandma Mary Lattie Owens...
and whose major supplier - Toyota's factory in Princeton, IN is the location of my boyhood home...
yes, thinks are in a big hurt back there!
Huge improvement in the A2/P2 spread today, now that end-of-year window dressing is over: 190 basis points
. This would only suggest the worst post-WWII recession, and not a GD-level event.
fair-
or what it likely suggests is that fake money has finally been put to work in that area as opposed to propping individual index(s) and equities.
Ciao
MS
Here's another one like WIDC. I used to work for this company. Very similar to the WIDC case. I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot more like these.
Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star protection
Comrade Dazed and Amused | 01.05.09 - 11:26 am | #
Is this a joke. The company described is owned by GWB USA, Inc
the only house listed on my block just fell out of escrow.
here's a protip: if you're selling a house with a value over 600K, price it 20% under what you think it is worth and only entertain cash offers.
YWIA
Don't know about that, Indianapolis paper had a story about a custom door being built for CEO in Indy for the paltry sum of $160,000. 160K for a door! Good thing we have the rich to trickle on us!
Anonymous writes:
I am self-employed in the building trades (decoratve arts) and many housing projects in Vail, Aspen, Beaver Creek, Telluride have been put on hold. Even the very wealthy are pulling back; the second or third home will have to wait. Unfortunately, when building finally does resume, many will choose not to have a hand-carved door, mantle, headboard, etc.
Some years ago had a girlfriend, Sr VP at Ogilvy who paid a number of visits to Enron to pitch building a 'brand' around their services. She met with the top dogs Ken Lay, Jeff Skillng, etc.
After a few days she was still unsure of exactly what it was they did. She posed this very question to Skilling in his office and he said, "We rip the fckn jugular out of our competitors!", and with that he got up and stormed out of the room. (think Mamet)
Duke of Con Dao | 01.05.09 - 11:15 am | #
Love to have been in that strategy planning meeting... "Now make this mission 'actionable' by 5PM today."