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Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

bbc.com

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Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#41

Post by SantalBlush »

bojo wrote: post #34
neilv wrote: post #23

How do individuals/families batten down the hatches, wrt investments?

I'm no financial expert, but lower your spend (kill useless subscriptions, live frugal), shop smarter (cheaper brands, less indulging in things like eating out), invest only if you feel like dollar cost averaging will pay off in the long run (blue chip companies). Honestly, we should do this anyways in order to become the millionaire next door, assuming accumulating wealth is a long term goal regardless of the econom…

These are the sort of austere cutbacks that CEOs are trying to induce. They are trying to create economic panic and raise the unemployment rate. They are desperate to raise the unemployment rate.

In case anyone wasn't paying attention in the past fifteen years, execs have been saying "Times are tough" ever since 2008. Whether or not it's true doesn't matter to them; they just don't want to pay you more.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#43

Post by bee_rider »

015a wrote: post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

I'd also imagine that Amazon must be quite exposed to the current mismatch between the US demand and China's supply given their business model (I mean so's all of retail, but Amazon really amps it up to 11).

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#44

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

s0sa wrote: post #22

Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve been reading a lot more about how we’re headed into a recession (since March 2020) than I’ve actually been feeling it, or even seeing it. I’m starting to think people just want one. “It’s not my failure, it’s the economy!”

I sense this is another one of those “Slowly, then suddenly” kinds of things. My grocery bills have slowly crept up, but remain manageable.

That being said, I have noticed a few shocking things this last month. The contract on my electricity service is due to renew and the rate has increased by 30%. My insurance premium has gone up by 45%, and I haven’t gotten into any accents or made any claims - I’m told this isn’t unique to me and the industry is seeing 30-50% increases as common this year.

Truth be told, I think things are continuing to build up and we haven’t had a Lehman Brothers moment yet.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#45

Post by riffic »

wingworks wrote: post #25
riffic wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

all recessions are inevitable. It's a feature of the business cycle for a trough-shaped period of time to occur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cycle

Ray Dalio does a great video on it too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0

really interesting! thank you for sharing.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#46

Post by theGnuMe »

meltyness wrote: post #36
015a wrote: post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

That or fluffing up hedge funds looking to exit bearish positions where Mr. Bezos may or may not have some of his massive wealth parked. At some point the only way to continue growth is to buy a 24 hour news outlet and start letting the air out of everyone else's tires. Ask Microsoft.

To me msnbc felt like it was a play to get ahead of the antitrust narrative.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#47

Post by baryphonic »

bern4444 wrote: post #10
mc32 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any other Chief executive and they would be getting roasted and hit in the news with Recession news and articles. But the current one for some reason, has less stickiness than "the Teflon Don." Imagine Bush (shudder) or Clinton or Obama or Trump not getting roasted with Recessionary news... They all would have been at the receiving end of the bad news.

At least with Clinton the budget was balanced and even ran at a surplus.

The "Clinton surplus" was an accounting gimmick where money stored in various government "trust funds" was loaned to the Treasury in exchange for Treasuries, but was counted as normal revenue. If "intragovernmental debt" were properly accounted for, Clinton never had a surplus (indeed, the national debt increased every year of his presidency, just like his predecessors and successors).

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#48

Post by theGnuMe »

civilized wrote: post #24
rr808 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When there is no winning move That is the interesting thing, yes all assets are falling in value, but wages are rising. Its bringing back equality after years where hoarding assets was a great move.

Is it increasing equality, or is it just making everyone poorer while preserving relative inequality?

It makes you poorer and increases inequality.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#49

Post by theGnuMe »

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #44
s0sa wrote: post #22

Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve been reading a lot more about how we’re headed into a recession (since March 2020) than I’ve actually been feeling it, or even seeing it. I’m starting to think people just want one. “It’s not my failure, it’s the economy!”

I sense this is another one of those “Slowly, then suddenly” kinds of things. My grocery bills have slowly crept up, but remain manageable. That being said, I have noticed a few shocking things this last month. The contract on my electricity service is due to renew and the rate has increased by 30%. My insurance premium has gone up by 45%, and I haven’t gotten into any accents or made any claims - I’m told this isn’t…

Corps are boiling the frog slowly. The counter narrative is that this inflation is about corporate profiteering. Wages haven’t grown to increase demand to justify prices.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#50

Post by digianarchist »

ddlutz wrote: post #11
bigyikes wrote: post #4

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. I’m losing money by keeping it in a brokerage account. I don’t want to change jobs to get a higher salary because I fear getting laid off. When there is no winning move, it definitely feels like a recession.

Ally saving account rates are > 2%. You are not "losing money" in that your total account value is going up, but your purchasing power is going down as it's lower than inflation.

If only Ally allowed non-citizens and non-Green Card holders to open accounts. I've got my emergency fund in Robin Hood. They pay 3% on cash in the brokerage account.
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