Dealers lots are filling up

[Pbutler97]

Dealers lots around Ohio/western PA are filling up with certain models. Not many heavy duty trucks but I'm seeing a few Chevy and GMC 2500's sit for weeks before being sold and a lot in the pipeline. 1/2 tons are everywhere. Monitoring black book trade and used retail values, they're dropping like a stone. The Dealers I have recently talked to are holding at MSRP on new with one willing to go below MSRP on a 2500 that has been sitting for over 6 weeks. Expect them all to have to start dealing again. Sales are down and dropping. No wonder if you've seen the prices at the grocery store recently and follow the number of companies announcing layoffs or hiring freezes.

[JRscooby]

The last year I went to school one teacher was always telling me I would be good for nothing but digging ditches if I did not pay more attention in his class, spend time I could (would?) not spare doing homework.
About 20 years later, he called a plumbing co. for stopped up drain. They found collapsed pipe out in yard. All the company equipment was busy, so I was called, to dig up the line. When the locaters truck left, he saw the name on the door of truck pulling the back-hoe.
BTW, a lot of guys my age went so college, not for education, but to avoid the draft
Many post about if you make a promise, you should keep it, like pay back what you barrowed for your education. Yes, I can see that pretty well. But what I also see is we, as a society, promised them study hard for 16+ years, and you will get a job that will support a middle class lifestyle and pay back the loans. For very many, society has broke that promise. When you see ads where the employer expects a certain level of education in the form of a degree, and is offering less pay than what I paid for a driver in the same year I can see trouble coming.
Sure, collage might teach you to run the plumbing company, let you hire 50 plumbers. But doesn't that mean that somebody must decide what 2% of the 17-18 YOs get to run the world?

[shelbyfv]

😉 Haha-pretty much anything that involves facts. BTW, your wife's cousin's daughter seems to be taking up lots of space in your head. :h

[spoon059]

shelbyfv wrote:
FWIW, I'm old enough to remember when (pre-1980s?) the entire political spectrum respected and valued education. Folks ought to wonder why one end of it now prefers their followers to be less informed.

Informed about what, exactly?

[shelbyfv]

Let's be honest.... Despite all the recent disparagement of education, the stats are clear. College grads make more money than HS grads. About $30K a year more, depending where you look. Another source shows $900K more lifetime earnings for men, $630K for women. So all sorts of numbers but more is more, right? Yes the neighbor's cousin's plumber friend may be an exception and as they say "exceptions prove the rule." That's not to say every kid should go to college. There are other ways to come by a satisfying career, as posters here have shown. My wife started at a Jr college when she was in her 30s. She turned out to be an exceptionally good student (who knew?) and was recruited for a co-op program. Semesters of class work alternating with work work (paycheck!) and she ended up with a non traditional job that she really liked. FWIW, I'm old enough to remember when (pre-1980s?) the entire political spectrum respected and valued education. Folks ought to wonder why one end of it now prefers their followers to be less informed.

[spoon059]

time2roll wrote:
In college we are supposed to learn how to own the plumbing company more than become a plumber. If you are good there will be 25+ plumbers working for you and paying for your kids college.

Yea, lets be honest. A LOT of the people in college right now are working on their Genders degree, or psychology degree, or underwater basketweaving degree.

My wife's cousin went to a very prestigous private school in Upstate New York. She spent one semester learning abroad in Europe, studying Transgender issues in Shakesperean Culture. She absorbed a massive amount of debt. She could have gone to school in the State system for free, because her conservative father worked for the college down where they live... but she and her Women's Liberation Movement mother thought it wouldn't give her the experiences that a Lib college in a Lib state would.

Now she's a quarter million in debt with a degree that is mostly worthless and she is miserable with her life decisions... but she won't admit that the Liberal system that encouraged her to do these dumb things is to blame. She makes minimum wage working at a liberal non-profit somewhere and lives back with her mommy now.

Mommy divorced her husband and survives on alimony and her own dead end job. They sold their nice house in Southern Maryland and split the profits. The dad used his money and bought a nice house in NC. The mom blew through her money making poor decisions and lives in a lower end rental somewhere in southern PA.

There are a LOT of people out there just like this. Its ironic, the cousin is a vegetarian, but will most likely end up working at McDonalds...

None of them are owning the plumbing company...

And by the way, the guy that I was talking about, his father or uncle own the plumbing company. They aren't a college grad, they are lifetime plumbers that knew what needed to be done to run the company. Sometimes life experience is enough.

[time2roll]

spoon059 wrote:
After high school I went to college and a guy I knew became a plumber. 4 years later I ran into that guy and he was making more money than me as a plumber. 22 years later he's probably STILL making more money than me.

In college we are supposed to learn how to own the plumbing company more than become a plumber. If you are good there will be 25+ plumbers working for you and paying for your kids college.

[time2roll]

Housing prices are adjusting to the new and more realistic interest rates.

When there is a housing price drop due to large increase in foreclosures and related bad loans.... that is time to call recession. Right now I don't see it. Don't see it unfolding next year either. Time will tell.

[camperdave]

I went to college. Mechanical Engineering. I worked in that field for about 10 years, then I didn't. My job now (that I've had for the last 7 years and will probably stay in till I retire in 10 years) requires no college education. You never know where life will take you. That said, I learned so much more in college than Engineering. It was my first exposure to a world outside my bubble, and literally changed my life.

Both of my girls are in college right now. Neither knows what they want to do, but that's not important imo. They will graduate mostly debt free, cause I'm paying for it lol.

I'm no fan of inflation or the impending recession. We'll be more or less fine cause we've got a lot of financial backups in place. If the housing market truly crashes, I'll try to buy another rental home or two. Real estate (buy, hold, and rent, not flip) has by FAR been our best move in the last 20 years, and the main reason I will most likely be able to retire someday.

I'm sure not counting on my 401k, social security, or my non-existent pension!

[cptqueeg]

Pbutler97 wrote:


That's wonderful, I'm impressed. Enjoy!

Thanks. Gotta put your money were mouth is at some point.


But you dodged the question on inflation. Let me rephrase it for you. Is inflation bad for all commodities or just the ones that you need, but don't already own?

[shelbyfv]

Intellectual humility is an important lesson that's easy to learn on a college campus, can't avoid seeing our limitations. Maybe not so obvious in the every day world.

[Pbutler97]

cptqueeg wrote:

Pbutler97 wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
I am currently capitalizing on the continued growth in the economy. Best of luck for the long wait for a mild recession.

Southern California... yup, that checks out...

Yes it does because the mass corporate layoffs being announced almost daily, home values and sales dropping like a stone, runaway inflation not seen in about 30 years, and out of sight energy costs with potential shortages are all a sign of a robust growing economy. At least 401K's are doing great. lol.

Just seen a line at a local food bank in Cleveland on the news that was larger than the lines at the beginning of Covid. Those folks are capitalizing on bags of potatoes.

So inflated housing and stock prices are good, but inflated energy prices are bad?

Stocks are "on sale" at 23% off of last year's price, go get some. And TSLA is 1/2 off!!! Prob a good time to buy cause Elon is trashing Twatter as we speak and he'll leave well enough alone at TSLA.

Edit to add: just bought 50 TSLA at $178 in my YOLO (you only live once) account.:W

That's wonderful, I'm impressed. Enjoy!

[cptqueeg]

Pbutler97 wrote:

spoon059 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
I am currently capitalizing on the continued growth in the economy. Best of luck for the long wait for a mild recession.

Southern California... yup, that checks out...

Yes it does because the mass corporate layoffs being announced almost daily, home values and sales dropping like a stone, runaway inflation not seen in about 30 years, and out of sight energy costs with potential shortages are all a sign of a robust growing economy. At least 401K's are doing great. lol.

Just seen a line at a local food bank in Cleveland on the news that was larger than the lines at the beginning of Covid. Those folks are capitalizing on bags of potatoes.

So inflated housing and stock prices are good, but inflated energy prices are bad?

Stocks are "on sale" at 23% off of last year's price, go get some. And TSLA is 1/2 off!!! Prob a good time to buy cause Elon is trashing Twatter as we speak and he'll leave well enough alone at TSLA.

Edit to add: just bought 50 TSLA at $178 in my YOLO (you only live once) account.:W

[Me_Again]

I got an education in electronics in the USCG 1965-69. It served me well in all my working years. Retired at 62 as a senior data network design engineer at BofA. I had over 150 weeks, five days a week, 8 hours a day of technical training that only cost was my comment to the USCG, NCR, Department store with NCR POS registers, and the Bank.

[4x4ord]

My oldest daughter graduated university with zero debt and enough money saved up to put 20% down on a beautiful new custom built home. The youngest is in her third year ….. no debt and doing well. The two in between both finished their schooling with zero debt and own very nice homes. Two of them just bought new vehicles …. One paid cash for a 10 year old SUV where as the other bought a brand new $60k unit that the bank has a significant interest in. It will be interesting to see which vehicle ends up being more expensive.

[time2roll]

There is a lot to be learned in college besides the course work. Choosing the right college and paying for it can be complicated. The easy money of going into debt lets many pick a path that is not well suited to their circumstances. Unfortunately personal finance is not a subject that has a strong focus. Parents need to guide these kids better but they often don't know the best either.

And things have certainly changed since the old days. My first semester at state university was just under $100 (+books) for the semester. The state has curtailed the subsidies and that burden is now on the students. The student loans back then were zero interest until graduation.