81–90 of 95 posts
Emphasis mine: > Most of the loans on recently repossessed cars originated during 2020 and 2021, whereas origination dates are normally scattered because people fall on hard times at different times; *loan-to-value ratios, or the amount financed relative to the value of the vehicle, are around 140%, versus a more normal 80%*; and many of the loans were extended to buyers who had temporary pops in income during the pa…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I almost used the more PC term, 'executive recruiting'. But many/most people I know refer to them as 'headhunters'. At least some in the industry object to this term, but it is still widely used by people at large.
Correct. It's not even a pejorative, it's so standard. At least I'm not a "heavy user" at a fast food chain (also real).
"Cash Cows: Burger Joints Call Them 'Heavy Users' -- but Not to Their Faces"
By Jennifer Ordonez Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Jan. 12, 2000 12:20 am ET
That’s an interesting data point. makes me wonder what other unconventional metrics could be considered to get a temperature on our economy.
Utility shutoffs are a big one.
Steve Cicala (2021)
That’s an interesting data point. makes me wonder what other unconventional metrics could be considered to get a temperature on our economy.
Every answer you will get in this thread is wrong because once something becomes well known enough to be tracked, it stops being a “naive indicator” The warden buffet underwear thing being a prime example. Every Walmart merchandiser now knows that “rule of thumb” and prices underwear against that “common knowledge”
Emphasis mine: > Most of the loans on recently repossessed cars originated during 2020 and 2021, whereas origination dates are normally scattered because people fall on hard times at different times; *loan-to-value ratios, or the amount financed relative to the value of the vehicle, are around 140%, versus a more normal 80%*; and many of the loans were extended to buyers who had temporary pops in income during the pa…
even if that is the case, market will rebalance itself. it always does.
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A friend used to work for Korn Ferry, a publicly-traded headhunting firm. She said that their stock was a leading indicator of economic trends because firms halt executive recruiting efforts as they can see warning signs for their business. This happens before the clients issue quarterly revenue guidance that makes their expectations explicit.
good lord. do they refer to themselves as a “headhunting” company, or is that your wording? it’s sort of terrifying, to be completely honest.
Similarly nonexecutive tech talent recruiting firms are often referred to as "body shops".
Ironic terminology is pervasive in business. Recent trends toward sensitivity are shifting patterns somewhat, but the old terms still find use.
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Yeah, I’m not buying it. It’s not a choice between having a tricked out 2022 Lexus that costs $70k and no car at all. It’s the choice between a 2005 beater Toyota with 200k miles on it and no car. Once you have that beater, you can start saving for something nicer. Find a make and model with decent reliability history that has hail damage or minor collision damage. It’s not hard to do. If you can’t scrape together $2…
I don't think this advice really applies anymore. 10 years ago when the equivalent car was a 1995 you could plausibly do something like this, buy the service manual and maintain it yourself. Sure you need the time to do it, but it keeps you from sinking 4x the cost of the car you just described into keeping it running over the next 5 years or so. Anymore though, many engines just aren't end user serviceable. I'm runn…
I have yet to see a vehicle that isn’t serviceable by an end-user. Sure some require more skill but the average Civic or Corolla isn’t hard to work on at all. If your intention is to work on your own vehicle don’t buy something more complex than your skills will allow.
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Ever drive a car like the one you're describing? It's a rough situation to be in to have to put 1k into a car worth 2k to keep it going, or to have your car break down and force you to call out from work on short notice. That's far from free.
Is it any worse than paying $650 literally every month (avg car loan payment now afaict)? The problem is that people can't save. It'd be prudent to buy the car for $2k and save the remaining $3k somewhere to cover repairs instead of the 5k down payment. Also, to be fair, what used to be a $2k Toyota was probably more like $5+k lately.
If you get a piece of junk for $2k and then have to put $1k into it again periodically, during that whole period you have either a pretty lousy car, or a non-working car.
And, as noted by the GP, that will often mean you need to call out from work. Which, for many of the kind of people who would be doing this in the first place, means a) they absolutely don't get paid for that day (all hourly work, no/very little PTO), and b) they will probably get fired if it happens more than once or twice.
Also:
> The problem is that people can't save. It'd be prudent to buy the car for $2k and save the remaining $3k somewhere to cover repairs instead of the 5k down payment.
You.....really don't see the problem with this?
People can't save. Not just "people are bad at it", "people can't manage money", "people don't know what's good for them". People literally do not have enough money to both live, and save. It's nothing to do with "prudence".
Why do people borrow money to buy a car? Why not save money, maybe invest in something safe(ish), and buy your car in cash, preferably used? I get it that people get emotional about cars, but good heavens, this impulse puts you in the hole for years. It's almost as bad as cheating on your wife (and far, far worse than cheating on a gf).
"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
- Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
If you can afford to buy a decent car today, you'll still have a decent car in a few years, and have only put some basic maintenance into it.
If you can't afford to buy a decent car today, you still need a car today, so you're going to buy what you can afford. Then in a few years, your crappy car will have crapped out (even with more-than-basic maintenance), and you need to buy another one.
So, ten years down the line, you will have spent more on cars than the well-to-do, and you'll still be hearing a weird rattle in the engine every time you make a left turn.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every answer you will get in this thread is wrong because once something becomes well known enough to be tracked, it stops being a “naive indicator” The warden buffet underwear thing being a prime example. Every Walmart merchandiser now knows that “rule of thumb” and prices underwear against that “common knowledge”
Look at (inflation-adjusted) price then, rather than total sales volume or units.