The financial crash and Ebay

[Dale Roberts]

[The people who have money are not being affected by the credit crunch.

 

This is just so, so wrong, it's not even funny. People who have money are among the most affected by this downturn. I'm not telling people to feel sorry for them, but the numbers don't lie - more than a trillion dollars of market capitalization was wiped out in yesterday's stock market decline alone. Who do you think took that hit? Poor people? Plenty of people who have money have been choking on their real estate holdings, many of which are leveraged - how do you think Donald Trump almost went under in the early 1990s? How many "wealthy" people are in that position now do you think?

 

Anyway, my point was not to incite a class warfare debate, but rather to point out that everyone from Joe Sixpack to the richest Russian oligarch (and everyone in-between) is taking a beating from this economic downturn and credit crisis, not just the ones who use and need credit. Those investing in art and collectibles expecting these high-end buyers to maintain their same buying patterns in these tough times may find that that both their wallets and mindsets may have taken more of a hit lately than you think. Like I said, I already know of several BSDs who have taken a good beating and are scaling back; I suspect these stories will eventually make it into the public domain and will surprise a lot of people.

 

I completely disagree with you. I don't know what Brulato does every day and I don't really care. I am not talking about specific cases. I am talking about the general case. Most people who are in the market have really lost nothing, unless they sold what stocks they had. So the DOW went down 777 points. It went up 485 points yesterday. You can't look at the market in a short sighted manner. For people like myself who are investing long term , this is a hiccup. I would guess for people like Tom Brulato, it was a tremendous investment opportunity.

 

If the stock market remains volatile, I might expect even more money to go into other markets, such as real estate and yes, even into comics.

 

I feel bad for people who are living on credit and depend upon credit for their business and for the livelihood. I have no doubt that right now, they are having a hard time. But the fact is, for years now, people have been spending more money than they make, buying more house than they can afford, buying cars they can't afford and living beyond their means. And the government has been just as bad about it as the public. If you continue to loan money to people, who any sensible person could tell you that they won't be able to pay it back, situations like this are inevitable.

 

[Transplant]

Just one note. It isn't just about people or businesses borrowing b/c they have to. It's about business, big and small, not having access to short term credit lines that facilitate other investments. Example, I could keep enough cash on hand all month long waiting on a supplies bill to come in or I could use that cash to grow the business in that time period. Businesses usually know that short term lines of credit are less expensive (ex. 4%) than the returns on that money used for a business purpose (ex.9-12%). Problem is that businesses with good credit and no real worries to default are losing access to those credit lines as banks clamp down on debt.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

This is what happens when the majority of Americans the last decade care more about who wins American Idol then who the next President is.more people vote for the next American Idol winner then the President. This is what was also spawned from "I want my MTV" generation, the MTV generation was brainwashed into believing they all would grow up to be big rockstars and moviestars and were told to spend,spend spend just like them. America has lived in fantasy for the last 2 decades and now the reality of the credit is catching up to them. How about those dvd collections people spent thousands on? they are worthless toasters now.All that money that was given to Hollywood could have been in bank accounts. The American government is at fault but the majority of American people are also. charging a 1 dollar cup of coffee on your credit card is just stupid....

 

 

This is the first post you made I agree with. And it is true that people have been trying to live beyond their means for some time. Everyone wants to be "ballers" but they cant afford it. Just stinks for people like me who tried to just be comfortable, and got the shaft because everyone else screwed up so bad.

 

And also I would bet more people in the age group of 18-30 watch the VMA's every year,then any election coverage.

I am glad we finally agreed on something. now to try to get a AF 15 before they go up in price even more. my advice to everyone is buy ounces of gold and AF 15`s. sit on them for 5 to 10 years= profit.

[GermanFan]

what does BSD mean? (Big sugar Daddy is my guess)

[goldust40]

what does BSD mean? (Big sugar Daddy is my guess)

 

Good guess. It actually stands for Big Swinging D*ck.