Silver Lining?

[Waxman]

Why is it that the only news stories the news programs/outlets deem newsworthy are negative, gloom and doom pieces?

I recently took a one week break from my NPR listening during my commute (33 min.)

The results were: I had a more positive attitude. I was less stressed and worried. My business improved! My phone bagan ringing again in earnest and the carwash picked up.

I also saw a news story where they said retail sales were up over 2007. Why wasn't that splashed across every paper headline in the country?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I am with you. The only thing I check anymore is Drudge. Beyond that, I like living in my own little bubble. I heard the same thing about sales being up from 2007 and no one I have talked to knows anything about it. It's like the media wants everyone to be scared and afraid. I have sworn off mainstream media as much as possible. I will take a cheeseball self-help book over Constantly Negative News (CNN).

Just my .02

 

[lag]

I just bought a new car. Hope it helps....foreign car though.

 

[Waxman]

People ARE out there spending money.

They'd spend more if they heard and watched less about how scared they should be.

 

[MEP001]

I just bought a new car. Hope it helps....foreign car though.

It almost seems like there are more foreign cars built in the US than there are American cars. A lot of Cadillacs are Saabs underneath. Saturn, that started as an independent American car company, is now mostly rebadged and reskinned other models.

I quit watching the local news some time ago after they ran a promo about an apartment fire "that left a four year old girl dead." Using that to attract viewers is despicable in my opinion. They know that bad news attracts viewers.

 

[pitzerwm]

Both Honda and Toyota build cars here and ship back to Japan. What a world.

 

[MEP001]

One of the funniest things about the Toyota Prius is that its "carbon footprint" is worse than almost any other car. The lead ore for the batteries is mined in Canada and shipped to Asia for processing and manufacture. The batteries are then shipped to the US to be installed in the cars, then a good number of the cars are shipped back to Asia and Europe. I've read that it would take over two million miles of driving a Prius instead of a Chevy Tahoe to counter the greenhouse gases produced by the manufacture and shipping for the supposedly green car.

 

[dclark3344]

Toyota build more cars in the USA than any car manufacture, so you can say I buy American and buy a Toyota. I was very disheartened when in the late 80s we bought a John Deere tractor and not one piece of it was made in the USA even the Firestone tires were Made in Taiwan.

 

[Ben's Car Wash]

Waxman, I don't know where you got that info from? "Black Friday sales" were up but looking at the growth predicted fell short. overall 2008 was a disaster for retailers, just look at their stock values. Here a link to an article on Holiday sales:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/economy/01retail.html?hp

The council said Tuesday that the recession, heavy discounting and winter storms “coalesced to produce the weakest holiday season since at least 1970” — not in absolute dollar sales, but in terms of sales growth. Only a few weeks ago, the group predicted that holiday retail sales would rise 1.7 percent.

But wait, it gets better:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1353883,CST-FIN-retail30.article

Davidowitz estimates retailers will shutter 12,000 money-losing stores in 2009; Beemer predicted that half of today's retailers will be in big trouble -- perhaps at risk of shutting down -- next year; Freed believes 20 to 40 retail chains will go out of business in the first three months of the new year, and Niemira predicts 73,000 retail locations will close in the first half of 2009.

 

[Waxman]

I got it from NPR's 'Marketplace' show.


When someone posts some links to positive stories with an uplifting message, I will look at them.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Has anyone ever heard of the phrase: 'self-fufilling prophecy'

Today I want you to think about how you are going to get into an arguement with your wife for a few hours while you up at the wash or wherever you may be. Think about it long and hard, then go home and see what happens. By reading and believing stories like the ones mentioned above, you are only perpetuating the doom and gloom that is being printed and talked about all over the media. They are making a forecast!

I am not a pie in the sky kinda guy (awesome rhyme), but I don't sit around and read, watch, listen to these people tell me how bad things are. I would prefer to be proactive instead of reactive which is what the majority of people are doing with these stories. They are reacting the way they think everyone else is. Panicked and scared. I would prefer to not be a lemming and follow them off the edge of the cliff.

End Rant

 

[MEP001]

Has anyone ever heard of the phrase: 'self-fufilling prophecy'

Exactly, everyone's so worried that the economy is going to tank that they're not spending money, and that's just going to make it worse.

Doug is one that loves to spread the gloom.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Doug is one that loves to spread the gloom.

Luckily, he spreads it here where no one takes him seriously!

 

[pitzerwm]

Without the government's interference in the marketplace there are always cycles. It clears out the weak and worthless. BUT in our perfect world the people running our government, most who have never earned a legitimate living in their life, think that they can iron out the cycles and make that perfect world. It doesn't work and about every 20 years or so their handy work blows up and the cycle is much worse. That is what we have now. How long it last will depend on how much more the government screws with it. Read about past recessions and the depression and you will understand what happened then and what might happen now. If you want to read Doug's rants knock yourself out. Personally, I have learned that his thought process usually has nothing to do with reality. Right now the stock prices have little to do with what is actually going on with a company. Everyone is scared and dumping everything. I don't sell short, but I made a nice bit of poker money with GM. I'm too old to give a crap, but now is the best opportunities that most of us will ever see, knowing which ones, is of course the trick.

If you have a positive attitude and learn as much as you can about the past, you will be just fine. Use the ugly times to get smarter and to take advantage of the opportunities that are around you. In the mid 80's here there was a crash. $30K building lots were selling for $2500, within 7 years they were back up at $30K. Here today they are still building houses and commercial. Apparently, no one is listening to the media.

 

[Greg Pack]

I will stick my foot in my mouth. Politically, I am much different from Doug. But I agree that we have a long term serious problem with the way our economy has been transformed in the past 15-20 years. We have gone from a nation of producers to a nation of consumers. Now, if our job is to consume, where do we get the money? We have collectively been extracting the equity from our rising asset prices. For the past ten eight years real estate values have risen artificially because of easy credit. Look how low cap rates had gotten on commercial real estate. Values rose because the credit was easy, and because credit is easy they rose some more. The Ponzi scheme of our consumer economy has been interrupted. This party has come to an end, and will not be easy to get kick started back. How do we fix it long term? Obama will not fix it- right now it looks like he's thinking new deal #2. We still have rough waters to travel through. People that made ill-informed business decisions based on the artificial prosperity we enjoyed the past eight years might pay the price this year. I know several in my area will. I am looking for business opportunities, but will be very selective. personally I believe now is not the time to stick your neck out too far. I think it will get worse before it gets better.

Ignore the news at your own peril. That new-age happy think works great, until reality puts a bullet in your back.

 

[pitzerwm]

I agree with cfcw, with a couple of "facts", believe it not we still out manufacture the world. Its hard to believe, but apparently the numbers bare this out. But it is true that easy credit has artificially inflated real estate prices which will be years to return if ever. I didn't meant to say that you need to stick your head in the sand. I just need to do your actual research on things that effect you, rather than take Fox or CNN's info as the truth.

 

[Waxman]

The news is what it is.

I am definitely one to take appropriate action as necessary and tighten my belt, streamline my operation and build business at the same time. I have learned in business at times to live on less. My area has never been a wealthy community and the local economy in my marketplace is strong. Manufacturing in my area is strong.

I believe that there are opportunities disguised as 'problems'. I have done many things to save money within my business and many more to earn extra at the same time. When the recession turns around, the long-term money-saving ideas and mindset I've created will reap even bigger profits.

To me, it is possible to heed warning signs and take appropriate action without running scared and feeding the fear. Turning off negative news isn't ignoring it. It isn't burying my head ion the sand. I get it, I'm educated, and I know the situation. By listening to negativity too often, I sometimes get into a negative/scarcity mindset, which does me no good.

Instead I prefer to see the opportunities within the 'problems'.

 

[Patrick H. Crowe]

I take him (Doug) seriously because he offers better documentation for his posts than nearly all other posters. Moreover, anyone who states something on behalf of all of us "no one takes him seriously" has exposed his meglomanical bias as well as his adolescent sophistry.

Patrich H. Crowe

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Uuuuuhhhhh......Really?

If I got as frustrated as you appear to be every time you make a post, I don't know that I would continue to visit this forum.

Waxman: I agree that you have to be cognizant of what is going on around you. My wife and I have sat down and looked at how we could control our expenses at both the wash and our personal lives. Being proactive rather than reactive is a far better strategy in my opinion. In spite of what some people say, it is nice to see the energy and positivity that you bring to your business and your posts.

Good Luck! 2009 will be a great year!

 

[Ben's Car Wash]

I could care less about being popular, or bieng a punching bag. And I'm sorry if you are annoyed by my post. But the fact remains that we are in a recession that began in December 2007 (now in it's 13 month) and It will likely contiune for the better part of 2009.

Information it to INFORM so you can make better decissions. Pie in the sky feeling about "it's not as bad as the news says it is" is just dreaming, emotional wishful thinking. I'm not talking about consumer confidence or spending my personal money, I'm talking about planning for your business with ACCURATE DATA that the government deliberatley misled us on by saying until Dec 1 that the economy was fine, just slow. It's these play on words, the manupulation, the "bright spots" that prevent YOU from making the best business decission: "should I get out", "should I sell off stock for cash", "should I buy commodity futures". This is what I have a problem with.

I've not changed my position since last Winter..... I said it then...."we are in a recession". You all said we weren't. Sounds familiar.