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Sedans Luxury Lounge
21423 messages, Last post on Nov 28, 2009 at 10:00 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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It looks like Hyundai has outwitted Detroit again. While they stick to past incentives Hyundai trumps them again. First warranty and now this... "From the capital and credit standpoint, Washington has taken all the right actions," said Dave Zuchowski, vice president of sales for Hyundai of America. "But nobody was doing anything to address confidence. It doesn't matter if you're buying a refrigerator or whatever you're buying -- you're not going to do it if you're concerned about your job and your ability to make payments." And Hyundai has gone a big step further by launching Hyundai Assurance, a new incentive plan that allows buyers to break contracts and return vehicles if they lose their job or income. The program offers to cover up to $7,500 in negative equity on the lease or purchase of one of its cars or trucks. Winning Now one can feel confident to buy a Genesis and give it back if their income goes south. Interesting and effective. Regards, OW |
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everyone. I'm actually entering in to the road bike [bicycle] world. Coming from mountain bikes, it's a different world. I wonder if Howard would grace us with his presence and knowledge of all things bike. I'm looking at Carbon Fiber frames, and at least a 105 group. |
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Replying to: ljflx (Jan 07, 2009 7:34 pm) There will always be financial cheats in the future because there will alway be gullible people in the future. This idea was best expressed by someone who lived over two thousand years ago: There must be a vast fund of stupidity in human nature, or else men would not be caught as they are, a thousand times over, by the same snares . . . while they yet remember their past misfortunes, they go on to court and encourage the causes to what they were owing, and which will again produce them." Marcus Porcius Cato, 203 BC |
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Replying to: dhamilton (Jan 08, 2009 7:52 am)  I may have to replace my BMW with a BMX. |
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Replying to: garyh1 (Jan 05, 2009 1:01 am) Terrific to see your posts! I apologize for not replying sooner with the rest of the gang. I've been very busy in L.A. for the past week and just got back. Great news about your personal situation, and by all means the S-class is a great reward. Good luck with your choice on that. I'm certain you will love it. I have always been a fan of that car. I still believe that it is king of its segment. I see you noticed my F150 acquisition.... LOL. Rest assured that I still love great cars, and I still own a Porsche Carrera S, a BMW 135i convertible, and a Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas, in addition to the wife's and daughter's SUVs. Six vehicles is too many, so at this point the Porsche is the one on the chopping block because I dont' see the point of having that much money sit idle, when I prefer to drive the 135i. The 135i is my clear favorite. As Dewey points out, the engine is a ticket-generator, and I have been lucky so far, but I can't help but to go too fast in it. It begs to fly with such ease, it is ridiculous. The car is a darned hooligan. My Jag Vanden Plas has been awesome, and I actually like it more and more over time. Classic all the way, and the gas mileage it obtains is off the charts. Afterall, it only weights a little more than a BMW 3-Series, due to its aluminum body construction, and shares similar HP and torque figures as well. The Porsche is for sale, so I won't say anything good about it, or I'll want to keep it... LOL. No, I'm kidding... it's an awesome vehicle and I have been blessed to own it. Time for some housekeeping though, so it is bye-bye for the 911. The wife's MDX will need replacement in the not-too-distant future. Maybe a Mercedes GL, like Len's, but it's still too early to say, as there could be other vehicles that might hit the market before we pull that trigger. My daughter wanted to go the hybrid route, so she selected herself a Ford Escape Limited Hybrid. Let's just say that I was a supportive dad, and the vehicle is better than I thought it would be... way better. The F150... I don't expect to keep it very long, but in the meantime, it's a nice alternative and we treat it as a welcome member of our funky fleet. I hope to get a hybrid sporty vehicle in the future. Either the upcoming Prius Coupe hybrid, or the upcoming Honda CR-Z Coupe hybrid might do the trick. Business is challenging for the good TagMan at this point in time, but I expect to change our business model and get through this mess. We can't all be as fortunate as you were on your last business transaction. That was fantastic and I am so glad for you. I enjoyed some of the poster's predictions for the upcoming year. If we all knew the future, we wouldn't call it "predicting" the future, we'd call it "reporting" the future. Investors indulge in predicting the future more than most of us, as they try to determine just what will happen to the markets, the companies, the indexes, etc. And just when they think they've got it all figured out, something unexpected comes along and changes the whole game. Guys like Len are very good at reading all the signs that give feedback as to where things are headed. I am envious of that ability. I have typically made money the old-fashioned way, although I have made a few very good choices in real estate along my way. I kick myself, however, for letting a piece of Hawaii beachfront property go years ago that is now worth 12 million. Damn! Oh well... win some, lose some. And, lately it's been lose some. What goes up must come down? I figure it's time to go back up. Take care, and I'll be on the lookout for more of your posts, as well as try to stay in touch with all the other posters here as well. I've been delinquent, lately.  TM
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Replying to: tagman (Jan 08, 2009 10:22 am) During an errand I stopped off to fill up a 2.5 gallon gas jug for my snow blower because a storm may nail us this weekend and ruin my saturday dinner plans. I noticed that the local station by me upped his regular 10 cents a gallon to $1.59 but kept his 89 and 93 prices the same as before at 1.69 and 1.79. It was the owner that served me, and I know him a bit so I asked him the business reason for that. His answer was that he can't move the higher grades very well so why raise the price. So I replied that it will cost him later. He in turn said that they are calling him everyday and in the last few days started offering discounts and incentives to buy inventory so he wasn't at all concerned. Interesting.
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Replying to: ljflx (Jan 08, 2009 5:28 pm) $1.59 is just as out of whack as $4.59. Don't you think? And from what you posted, the pressure is towards even lower prices. Unnatural, IMO. And... How can the public invest with any confidence any more? What will fix it when market stability is in such short supply? TM |
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Replying to: dhamilton (Jan 08, 2009 7:52 am) I recommend you go to a serious bike shop or two and road test various bikes in your price range. As with mountain bikes, the good carbon fiber frame road bikes don't come cheap. I'd go with one of the Trek Madone models if I had to do it all over again. They go from around $2500 to $9000. Lance Armstrong rides them. My main problems have been with tires-leaking valves and bad tubes-as a result, I've had some long walks back home. Luckily, up to now, I have been able to feel tire problems starting to happen, quickly brake and get off the bike. This is no joke when traveling at 25 mph. I recently had my tires filled with an insulating material to prevent flats. So far, no problems. My new 328i came with 17" Bridgestone run-flats. Can't wait to change them out for non run-flat Michelin Pilot Sports. Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of road-biking!
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Replying to: tagman (Jan 08, 2009 6:24 pm) The problem with oil is that the capacity to pump is still far greater than demand. There are so many false Chinese factors (especially the olympics) that have to removed from the normal demand factors of the past 12-18 months that so many analysts used. Now you also have the lessening of large SUV's to deal with and the fact that the recent boom in prices caused auto mfrs and the public to adjust their whole thinking to buying cars. All that has to be factored in and of course you have an economic problem. On the supply side OPEC and others got used to pumping high volumes so how do they deal with cutting those volumes back while prices fall. That's a monstrous double hit. What has happened to oil is what the Saudi's always tried to prevent by keeping adequate supply. The problem is we had a massive hedge fund caused rally in oil when in fact we had more than adequate supply all along. So there should never have been a rally. In fact when oil hit the $80's it should have topped out there and fallen off to $55-65. If that had happened we'd have had stable prices all along and a pricepoint similar to the $55-65 range Dewey noted. In a local weather board I sometimes post on I started a thread titled it's time to short oil. That was in late 2007 when oil was at $90. I looked like a fool for 7 months but I kept posting that oil would fall under $65 and every price rise simply meant the fall would be all the more bigger. Now folks on that board think I'm some kind of a financial genius with a crystal ball. All I was doing was looking at usage dropping while prices rose and more oil got pumped. Logic 101 said inventories had to be rising somewhere. In all honesty I just apply logic, fundamentals and trade news (including tidbits like that 2 minute discussion tonite) to most things and if fundamentals don't add up I stay out. If fundamentals are lacking than you have anything from a ponzi scheme to irrational exhubearnce that will crash after it gets most to buy into what has become a gambling parlor rather than rational investing. IMO oil has a false bottom in the high 20's (I seriously doubt OPEC will ever adhere to its cuts) and then trades long-term in a $40-60 range. In reality it should never have gotten aove $65. I think the mistake most folks make in commodities is they forget everything has to go through the trade to be produced so ultimately no matter how you slice it commodities is about inventory management. Investing in inventory management is very different than investing in a stock or sector that you think is strategically well positioned. Finally I think as lending starts to resume a normal course (late February looks reasonable to me) and fundamentals get looked at properly I think you'll see a lot of folks jump back into stocks. Commodities - don't know. i think folks got badly burned by a complete mis-understanding of the manufacturing process and followed a handful of 30 year old commodity analysts that didn't have a clue about it either. But right now I agree that many folks think we have a lot of market manipulation but i also think many think Obama policies will help guard against that. In the end the perception of what Obama might do will IMO lbe a lot more important than the reality of what Obama does do. |
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Replying to: ljflx (Jan 08, 2009 8:01 pm) I think the perception will linger as more collusion gets washed out. Your post is fantastic regarding the oil markets and inventory management. When will markets learn balance? Very inefficient to me. The federal investigation that prompted Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico to withdraw his nomination as commerce secretary offers a rare glimpse into a long-simmering investigation of possible bid-rigging, tax evasion and other wrongdoing throughout the municipal bond business. Three federal agencies and a loose consortium of state attorneys general have for several years been gathering evidence of what appears to be collusion among the banks and other companies that have helped state and local governments take approximately $400 billion worth of municipal notes and bonds to market each year. Muni Bid Rigs Regards, OW |
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