Thursday, October 23, 2008
Stuff is getting cheaper in a hurry, and that's the opportunity
Help is on the way, but Barack Obama is not the help you have been waiting for. Prices are the help you have been waiting for.
If you actually have money, lots of things are becoming inexpensive in a hurry.
If you are "short" a house, they are getting cheaper very fast. For example, if you need a decent five bedroom house in Princeton, New Jersey, we can put you in our "extra" one for a lot less than we would have wanted a year ago.
The price of oil is down 54% since July. Do you buy oil, or things made from oil?
The Euro is down from $1.60 to $1.28. That means that anything made or sold by Europeans is 20% cheaper than it was in the spring.
Even Google shares are getting cheaper, but not as fast as other companies. The market capitalization of Google, which has fallen by half in the last year, still exceeds Boeing, MMM, and American Express combined.
This is all so much cold comfort if you have lost your job and cannot get another one, or if you borrowed more money than you can afford to pay back even if you keep your job. If, though, you keep your job, live as far below your means as you can force yourself to do, pay off debt, save your money, and keep your eyes wide open to opportunity, the conditions necessary to build the next fortunes, large and small, are unfolding right now.
That's as inspirational as I am likely to get today.
6 Comments:
By 
Charlottesvillain, at
Thu Oct 23, 10:12:00 AM:
In my experience there is a considerable lag between declines in the Euro vs the dollar, and price cuts in the Single Malt Scotch aisle.
Another interesting phenomemon: spot gold and silver has been plummeting, but demand for physical gold has cleaned out the inventory of gold coins. The Mint has suspended Eagle and Buffalo sales, and dealers are charging well above spot, if they have inventory at all. An interesting disconnect.
By GreenmanTim, at
Thu Oct 23, 10:22:00 AM:
As a fellow lover of the water of life, I would have to observe that prices in the Single Malt Scotch aisle have rarely, if ever, adjusted down in my 20+ years of drinking...
When I can get 18-year-old Laphroaig for under $50, I'll know that we've really gone over the cliff...
By knighterrant, at
Thu Oct 23, 10:50:00 AM:
It's called "deflation." Stuff gets cheaper because people have stopped buying.
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu Oct 23, 10:59:00 AM:
What does all of this mean for someone interested in starting a business soon? (within, say, the next six months)
By SR, at
Thu Oct 23, 12:31:00 PM:
Shop for your supplies and material at the lowest possible price. Pay cash. Don't hire enough employees so they can unionize. Keep your income below $250K.
Hope you can hang on until the country figures out that socialism is not the answer.
By mythusmage, at
Fri Oct 24, 09:17:00 PM:
When food prices drop is when I'll be happy.
Well, as happy as a depressive can be, even on medication. :)
P.S.: If you find falling prices leaving you with an uncomfortable amount of money in your pocket---hip bruise uncomfortable that is, I do take donations. :eg:
