Boat Market

[thoward]

I guess it depends on where you live and work. My office is in a small country town with mostly blue collar workers. The real estate bust has caused lots of problems out here. We have many familes moving away to find work. I know quite a few middle and lower mgt. people who have lost their jobs also. I see it working its way up. My office started seeing the down trend well over a year ago and is now down 50%. My wifes business started seeing the down trend over the last 3-4 months but nothing like mine. Honestly, I do not personally know any locally established small business owners who have not slowed down. You can say the economy is great but for those of us who are running small business's in it, well I say BULLSHEET! Bankruptcys are way up and ARMs are going to be a thorn in the side for another 3-5 years. Florida reported 11,709 new foreclosure filings during the month, which is the third highest total among the states and a 40 percent increase from the previous month. I foresee some tough times ahead....

[labrador]

Capt Bill where in N.C. do you have those slips? Are they rented and if not how much do you want? I'm in New Bern and I've been told I may have to leave due to new condo's and the marina selling the slips. Don't know if thats the case however was thginking of taking the boat to Beaufort or somewhere on the beach anyway.

[rswirtz]

Capt Bill where in N.C. do you have those slips? Are they rented and if not how much do you want? I'm in New Bern and I've been told I may have to leave due to new condo's and the marina selling the slips. Don't know if thats the case however was thginking of taking the boat to Beaufort or somewhere on the beach anyway.

I would be interested in moving my boat from Charleston Resort Marina as well. I pay $500 plus metered electric. I'm told this is a pretty average price, but a nice mom and pop place on a coastal river would appeal to me if there are any such places anymore. Thanks, Rick

[Genesis]

I guess it depends on where you live and work. My office is in a small country town with mostly blue collar workers. The real estate bust has caused lots of problems out here. We have many familes moving away to find work. I know quite a few middle and lower mgt. people who have lost their jobs also. I see it working its way up. My office started seeing the down trend well over a year ago and is now down 50%. My wifes business started seeing the down trend over the last 3-4 months but nothing like mine. Honestly, I do not personally know any locally established small business owners who have not slowed down. You can say the economy is great but for those of us who are running small business's in it, well I say BULLSHEET! Bankruptcys are way up and ARMs are going to be a thorn in the side for another 3-5 years. Florida reported 11,709 new foreclosure filings during the month, which is the third highest total among the states and a 40 percent increase from the previous month. I foresee some tough times ahead....

Ok, let's examine this one a bit.

ARMs.... hmmmmm.... bankruptcies.... hmmmmmm.....

Where's the problem here? Your office started seeing a downtrend? Yep. I believe that.

But is that an indictment of the economy, as you allege? Nope! It is an indictment of people and their money management practices, much of which has been fueled by the real estate, financial and yes, boat firms!

The real estate "bust" was fueled by a speculative bubble which those very people who are crying now PROFITED FROM IMMENSELY AT THE EXPENSE OF THOSE WHO ARE NOW BEING FORECLOSED UPON! Those people had their financial future compromised so that those who are not crying could make their profit.

Pardon me while I go cry a river for someone who raped their neighbor and now, when BOTH of them end up paying for it, the rapist is the one doing the complaining!

[thoward]

Oh, the guy swinging the hammer "raped their neighbor"? Please!

"Economy (from Greek οικονομία, oikonomia, household) refers to the human activities related with the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services."

When business's see substantial decreases in the consumption of goods and services it means something IS wrong with the economy.

[johngalt]

FWIW here's my 2 cents.I live in a little corner of the NE that is not a true indicator of the country as a whole. The Hamptons is the rich man's playground. Here the boat market is full of potential purchases and I think that the reasons are many: most of which have already been touched upon. Fuel price increases alone accounted for many many boats never being launched last year in this area but one must also factor in the incredible lack of suitable dockage.The one thing I have yet to see anybody bring up as a contributing cause for the dearth of slips is enviromental regulations. Here in my neighborhood there is an absolute prohibition on the construction of new docks. Hell, just trying to get the permits necessary to maintain an existing dock is a bureaucratic nightmare that can take months or even years . Just to replace a piling lost to the ice can cost a fortune in time and cash.As to the state of the economy , again I live and work in a Fantasy land which does not reflect the reality of the country as a whole but I tend to side with Genesis on this one. I think a great deal of people have made it a practice to live beyond their means. One tends to blame Madison Ave. and the popular culture for the endless desire for more,more,more but as a firm believer in personal responsibility I blame the individual for their own personal choices. No one makes anyone buy a new car every couple years.

[johngalt]

What happened? before anyone says it I typed that last post in paragraphs but when it posted they disappeared.

[Trojan]

The economy SUCKS BIG TIME. I don't care how you perfume it. It stinks. As long as we have this one way free trade it will continue to rot and degrade. Quote:" US will become a service country", but who will have money to pay for the services. Until the poor suckers in the foreign countries start seeing the money and start asking for a fair wage it will continue. With China supplying so much of the goods it will be a long time before the economy starts to change. It won't be a little recession this time. It will be a full blown DEPRESSION. WE HAVE SEEN THE BEST OF TIMES. I sure hope I'm wrong. But I have seen this picture before. So has everyone over 60. Right now the FAT CATS are in charge. There is no middle class any more. Your useless politicians have seen to that. If there was not money being spent on the war there would be a lot of missing jobs. Look who's doing all the smoke blowing your president. When things were down the wars have kept us going. If he can finish his term with the war ending at the beginning of the next president term. He won't be blamed for the state of the economy. Enjoy!!!! I'm stocking up on ammo.


BILL

[Genesis]

Oh, the guy swinging the hammer "raped their neighbor"? Please!

"Economy (from Greek οικονομία, oikonomia, household) refers to the human activities related with the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services."

When business's see substantial decreases in the consumption of goods and services it means something IS wrong with the economy.

The guy swinging the hammer made his money because his neighbor was sold an unsuitable house - something he couldn't afford. He didn't directly do it but he sure as hell profited from it!

When businesses saw "substantial decreases of goods and services" it doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong with the economy.

Witness the farrier industry after the introduction of the motor vehicle. Boy were they pissed. But there was nothing wrong with the economy.

Witness the thousands of businesses that went bust after the '00 tech bubble. There was nothing wrong with the economy - the correction was not only late it was necessary, and all the screaming about how we were headed for another Depression proved to be a bunch of diesel soot.

This time around is no different. The speculative bubble moved to housing. Those people made outsize profits for a few years, and now the correction has come. But housing has not collapsed. Yes, the pace has radically slowed down, but if you take a 5 year moving average - including the "bust" right now - the trend is still upward!

Your thinking is a prime example of what I referred to in my blog posting on this myth of the "Disappearing Middle Class". Go back and read it. There is a permanent wealth effect - if you made $50,000 for the past 10 years up until three years ago, two years ago you started to make $100k, and THIS YEAR you make zero, are you ahead or behind?

You're ahead! WAY ahead! You've got FOUR YEARS of income in two years! What the hell are you complaining about? If you make nothing for the next two years, you're even.

But no, you're poor! That's because instead of doing the smart thing, you took that $100k income and you spent it. You bought a new Lexus, you got rid of the 2,000 square foot house and bought a 4,000 square foot one, then you took an interest-only loan on it!

Who's fault is that? The "economy" went bad?

Nope.

You got greedy, and now you're paying for it.

Happens in every walk of life, and has predictable results.

The economy, as a whole, is doing just fine. The GDP - the definitive measure of the economy - continues to grow at a measured, stable, and sustainable rate.

There are long-term economic problems on the horizon. They stem directly from the idea of the government providing entitlements that have no foundation in our Constitution. Those promises cannot be kept - no matter the political will - and when that finally is forced upon us things will get quite ugly.

What this means is that the wise man does not count on any government entitlement program existing beyond the next 10-20 years. If you structure your life in that fashion, you'll make it.

[Pascal]

our GDP is the envy of the western world and so is our record low unemployment rate (almost half of ole europe).

the only problem is the media brainwashing the public and pushing their political agenda.

the economy as whole is doing just fine. there might be some corrections going on at the local level but that's about it.