Thread: The strongest economy in the world

^ At least the recent spike in gasoline has more attention being paid to altnernative energy and fules sources.

Higher gas prices will prompt more investment in these areas.

I don't know much about Ehthanol but there are some positivies of just adding a small percentage to fuel.

Look at the different also, of the UK and Germany.

(As for the automakers, it seems that GM is really on death's door. Ford has been taking a pounding recently, also.)

There aren't many positives. Ethanol has less energy content, thus, you need more to go the same distance. Look at the drought conditions in the U.S. right now. You can't grow grain for livestock and expect to fuel our thirst for fuel.

We ought to conserve. The Japanese do it splendidly.

^

Yaeah, I know very little about Ethanol. On the drought topic, it seems that this drought is pretty bad in the U.S.

Another idea is to use switchgrass to wean ourselves off oil. The problem is that to replace gasoline with ethanol from switchgrass would require planting an area the size of California, Arizona, and Nevada with only switchgrass. Imagine that!

Biodiesel really is a better way as diesel has more BTUs per gallon than gasoline. This means better fuel economy as well.

Read it and weep liberals and losertarian:

The federal deficit will register $260 billion this year, the lowest in four years, reflecting a strong economy and resulting growth in tax revenue, congressional analysts said Friday. The estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is well below its earlier predictions and also below the $296 billion White House estimate less than a month ago.
Better-than-expected revenues are driving the deficit down from last year's $318 billion figure and far below the record $413 billion posted in 2004.
At $260 billion, it would be the lowest since the $158 billion figure in 2002, the first deficit following four years of surpluses.
The deficit picture is even better when measured against the size of the economy, which is the comparison economists think is most important.
"At 2 percent of gross domestic product, the 2006 deficit would be smaller than the deficit recorded in the past three years — 3.5 percent in 2003, 3.6 percent in 2004 and 2.6 percent in 2005," said the CBO report.

Anyone want to make book on what the FY 2007 deficif will be? Who wants to start taking bets that, provided a Democratic majority isn't elected this November, that the book balance by FY 2009?

Deficit Estimated Lowest in 4 Years

There was a surplus until GWB started wasting it on useless wars. Are we ever going to get back our 'investement' in Iraq? The bill so far is $2,000 for every person living in the U.S. and growing daily. I wonder what better uses we could have found for that money.

Speaking of oil, a major Alaskan pipeline is shutting down.

Major Alaskan oil field shutting down - Yahoo! News

Whoops, another $10 a barrel folks. Thanks, GWB for failing to take any leadership in mandating better efficiency.

Originally Posted by surasak

Thanks, GWB for failing to take any leadership in mandating better efficiency.

What type of SUV or 8 cylinder truck are you driving ? You don't have one of them hybrid cars now do you ?

I have neither, I have a Honda Civic CRX HF. Better than any new hybrid. If I have need for something larger I rent it.

Originally Posted by surasak

I have neither, I have a Honda Civic CRX HF. Better than any new hybrid. If I have need for something larger I rent it.

Then I applaud you for practising what you preach. You are to be commended.

Now, why did you ask me if I was a poof on my repo ?

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

Now, why did you ask me if I was a poof on my repo ?

I think it's because you're in touch with your feminine side.

In fact I just spent some free time today adjusting the time and valve lash to get some more performance out of it to increase mileage even more (I use a vacuum gauge to monitor my driving...the higher the vacuum, the better the efficiency). Usually I keep it in the 15-20in/Hg range which allows maximum mileage. I find that in most vehicles I can better the EPA estimate (which, sadly, tends to be as high as 30% over the actual mileage on many vehicles). The key is avoiding jack-rabbit starts and sudden braking.

Sales at American automakers crashing as gasoline increases.

Fewer Americans are keeping on truckin' - The Driver's Seat - MSNBC.com

'bout time something came along to affect America's driving habits. Now if only the government would do the right thing and tax gasoline even higher to the levels of Europe it might get people to stop wasting it. Perhaps if we cut back by a few million barrels per day the price of oil just might go down as well.

Americans are spending with plastic at a staggering rate. Consumer credit-card debt has almost tripled over the last two decades—from $238 billion in 1989 to $800 billion in 2005, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve Board data by Demos, a national research and consumer advocacy group. The average American family now owes more than $9,000 in credit debt, according to Gail Cunningham of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Dallas, a nonprofit financial-management group. And with credit companies mailing out a record 6 billion credit-card offers last year (according to Mail Monitor, a market research group), American families are averaging about seven cards. "It's a picture of America on the edge," says Cunningham.

Entire & Link: American Debt: Escaping the Credit-Card Quagmire - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com

Was just going to post that...more proof that the recent 'economic growth' is being fueled by debt and not real income.

$90 billion a year being sucked out of the economy by interest and penalties....thank God I have no debt.

Originally Posted by surasak

Was just going to post that...more proof that the recent 'economic growth' is being fueled by debt and not real income.

$90 billion a year being sucked out of the economy by interest and penalties....thank God I have no debt.

What I find strange about the numbers of the U.S. economy is this:

1. Wages are down every year, for the last 6 years. For everyone.

But property values has risen dramatically (interest rates, speculation, conversions, flipping, etc.)

2. Debt is at an all-time high.


Health care costs, taxes, and other 'fixed costs' have risen.

Oil and property. All pure speculation that's driving prices up for no good reason.

Gosh, I'd hate to have an ARM and have the real estate bubble pop. My parents got eaten for lunch and dinner when this happened back in the 1980s.

I guess I'm blind about what's really going on in the US since I'm surrounded mostly by success stories. People who have done quite well in mutual and stock funds as well as being smart enough to lock in, or refinance to lower mortgage rates.

I will admit that I'm flabbergasted when I see people retiring at 30 years with $500+ a month car payments on new vehicles.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

I guess I'm blind about what's really going on in the US since I'm surrounded mostly by success stories. People who have done quite well in mutual and stock funds as well as being smart enough to lock in, or refinance to lower mortgage rates.

Sure, there are some people who are doing smart things. Remember that most mutual funds are poor, and only seasoned investors should go into and out of stock.

Refinancing a mortgage is good. But the most important thing is the positive cash flow, IMO.

People in Kitsap have 1 owner-occupied house. But they claim they can't get the second house. Maybe this is true. Maybe not.

I know some success stories, too. But it's by people that own multiple dirt (raw land) and multiple single housing units and apartments.

Obviously if someone has good cash flow then they won't be behind in their CC payments will they?

Originally Posted by surasak

Obviously if someone has good cash flow then they won't be behind in their CC payments will they?

I believe that people that use CCs are at the lower end of the spectrum.

People that earn 100% of their income from the W-2 (employee status) jobs often have non-morgage consumer debt.

Car payment, mobile phone contracts, and Credit cards.


The few success stories I know of are people that bought and were able to get Capitalization Rates for positive cash flow quickly, or immeidately.

This is what separate the financially secure, and future financially secure, from 90% of the U.S. population that is:

living in owner-occupied housing.
has consumer debt
a 401K
mutual funds
will depend on the financial markets and welfare when they are old

Mutual funds are for people who basically don't know what they are doing. The recent reports for the last 20 years are absolutely awful. I have 11 funds that I've carefully chosen. But mutual funds are a poor man's game.

Mutual funds for guys like you and me then Snaffie are a waste of time. I told you before I'm bailing out ... I don't need them anyway. The only good thing, as it turns out, is that I've put enough in them to get me the deposit on a marriage visa and build a house. Mutual funds are a pain in the ass anyway. And unless you get lucky they produce chump change for us poor men.

So, you have the same idea as me? Leverage the strong U.S. dollar to give you a huge return by 'investing' it somewhere where the per capita income is very low?

MM, I believe more than just poor get stuck on credit card debt. My parents' combined income when I was in high school (1980s) was at least $80,000 per year. Yet, they had no money and a huge load of CC debt because it was simply too easy to buy things they really couldn't afford by charging it. Somehow the ability to use a piece of plastic takes away the real feeling that money is being spent.

I don't have a single CC and I really don't plan to. That way when I spend money I see the physical money being spent and it makes me very thrifty (only thing I really ever pay by check for is my rent or things that require large payments such as computer purchases).

I don't know what the fuck I'm talkin' about surasak ... I just wanna take a break and go hide in some remote province for a spell.

Get away from it all? It does have benefits. Relaxed easy lifestyle.

Imagine the leverage you get from converting $1 to 38-40 baht.

I hate coming back to the U.S. facing the fact that a simple meal at McFatty's is easily almost $10 for the two of us. To eat in Bangkok is less than $3.

Man, the best time I ever had was drinking beer on the beach of Koh Phi Phi. That was paradise and I'll do anything to get it back.

Originally Posted by Milkman

Mutual funds are for people who basically don't know what they are doing. The recent reports for the last 20 years are absolutely awful. I have 11 funds that I've carefully chosen. But mutual funds are a poor man's game.

I have been getting 10-12% return on most of my funds for years, thats plenty for me. Considering that there is absolutely no effort required this is not a bad return. Most other investments require significant time and energy, I don't have the time to get involved in business ventures when I am working full time.

Maybe this will change in the future but who knows. It is possible that my funds will go tits up someday but I am pretty well diversified and anything other than a global recession shouldn't hurt me too much. Currently I am over exposed to the Canadian economy but I will rectify that when my house sells and I move my non-RRSP investments offshore.

On the other hand if you have under $100k invested in mutual funds the returns will not be that significant and it will take many years before they grow to the point that they will support you. Opening a small business will return much more $ if it is successful but in most cases to make them successful you have to work your ass off.