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America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

nytimes.com

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Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#91

Post by shaki-dora »

dba7dba wrote: post #84
godzillabrennus wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been shocked to the extent politicians haven’t focused on the lost tax revenue from the gig economy. I’m certain it’s caused a drop in tax revenue from what would normally constitute middle class tax payers.

Politicians are not shocked by anything except when they lose in elections... Edit: In fact, what they say/act that they are shocked about is often a projection they put up to make sure they get reelected.

Oh c’mon... This is just empty, nihilistic cynicism. It actually contributes to the problem, because people just stop trying when, completely independent of their actions, they are continually derided as stupid/corrupt/egotistic/lying/etc.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#92

Post by ip26 »

aksss wrote: post #80
paganel wrote: post #36

> Because private-equity firms appear frequently as villains in the press, many people assume that they cater mostly to the superrich, earning high returns on investments for billionaire clients. They do. But by far the most important piece of their business — 48 percent, according to the data-analytics firm Preqin — is investing capital for American pension funds. This doesn't get mentioned often enough when talking…

Having been gainfully employed in corporate IT since I was 19 - and doing max contribution to my 401k every year since - I'm not "in touch" with the predicament of today's kids. Are they alright? Record employment numbers today. Wage growth up. We still have a talent shortage. Being (now) a business owner, my biggest complaint on the talent front isn't a lack of education in candidates, it's a lack of customer focus…

Right, you maxed your 401k, your IRA, your HSA, and all it took was a little financial prudence, diligence, and a job paying 60k or more straight out of high school. Anybody could do it.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#93

Post by systemkei »

aksss wrote: post #80
paganel wrote: post #36

> Because private-equity firms appear frequently as villains in the press, many people assume that they cater mostly to the superrich, earning high returns on investments for billionaire clients. They do. But by far the most important piece of their business — 48 percent, according to the data-analytics firm Preqin — is investing capital for American pension funds. This doesn't get mentioned often enough when talking…

Having been gainfully employed in corporate IT since I was 19 - and doing max contribution to my 401k every year since - I'm not "in touch" with the predicament of today's kids. Are they alright? Record employment numbers today. Wage growth up. We still have a talent shortage. Being (now) a business owner, my biggest complaint on the talent front isn't a lack of education in candidates, it's a lack of customer focus…

>employed in corporate IT since I was 19

unlikely you'll ever collect from that 401k friend!

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#94

Post by Spooky23 »

Simulacra wrote: post #3
vorpalhex wrote: post #2

This is not an uncommon story for firearm manufacturers unfortunately. Tooling costs are high, sales hard to predict, and designs can fail easily. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons has done a lot of videos on this topic.

There's also the issue - perhaps - of market saturation. How many guns does one need? My pro-gun friends typically seem to have 2-3 but shy away from any more than that.

The problem with the "gun" issue is that people who aren't in the culture get exposed to movies, crime reporting and crazy people and just don't have a perspective on many/most of the people who are into guns.

I grew up in NYC and moved to a country town when I was 10-11 years old. Guns were forbidden things that only cops and soldiers should have from our family's POV -- it was really awkward.

But the sporting, enthusiast and security drivers of demand for firearms is real and legitimate, and folks in that culture are equally confused about the point of view. My parent's neighbor had a bunch of guns -- probably like 20. Some were antique, he had shotguns for deer, trap/skeet, birds, rifles for hunting and target shooting and cheap ammo guns for plinking and practice. Shooting sports were family activities that were positive things. I was into baseball, my neighbor was into shooting and archery.

Unfortunately, the toxic politics around the issue encourage extreme positions and ultimate reduce real and nuanced issues into binary positions that encourage bad behavior. It doesn't help that extreme positions make money for different stakeholders.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#95

Post by lostapathy »

madengr wrote: post #41
axaxs wrote: post #34

> A plunge in NIC checks foreshadows a corresponding plunge in gun sales I'm curious about this statement. NIC checks are, as the name implies, instant. They happen upon transfer of ownership of a firearm from an FFL dealer. So I'm not sure how they 'foreshadow' sales, more likely they mirror sales. In fact, when you purchase a gun online, the sale occurs before the check...

Also, with the number of CCH licenses, those don’t needs a NICS check.

That of course is state dependent - not all states carry permits get you out of the NICS check.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#96

Post by lostapathy »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #81
ARandomerDude wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And their quality has plummeted the past few years. I had an AK that could out-shoot my Rem 700 no matter what I did to it, and my 870 would only reliably eject Remington brand shells. Sold both, will never buy Remington again. Really a shame. Both of those were excellent guns back in the day.

That's sad. The 870 used to be the AK of shotguns. I beat that that gun like it owed me money and it kept cycling and shooting fine. The 700 used to be weapon of choice for many snipers. Hard to imagine today.

Not all (current) 870's are even created equally. The cheap one at a cabela's and a police model from a gun store are totally different leagues.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#97

Post by WillPostForFood »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #78
paganel wrote: post #36

> Because private-equity firms appear frequently as villains in the press, many people assume that they cater mostly to the superrich, earning high returns on investments for billionaire clients. They do. But by far the most important piece of their business — 48 percent, according to the data-analytics firm Preqin — is investing capital for American pension funds. This doesn't get mentioned often enough when talking…

I’ve been shocked to the extent politicians haven’t focused on the lost tax revenue from the gig economy. I’m certain it’s caused a drop in tax revenue from what would normally constitute middle class tax payers.

What lost tax revenue do you mean? Self-employed/temp/gig workers still pay the same taxes as full time employees.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#98

Post by sn0n »

I especially liked this bit "The pension fund for the Boston-area public water utility invests in Cerberus. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, CalSTRS, is a Cerberus client, as is a pension fund for the Presbyterian Church as well as many university endowments, sovereign wealth funds and philanthropic foundations." Made me chuckle a bit inside, as I know a couple people who are less on the side of guns, as they are more on the side of teaching, who would be dying inside knowing their retirement money is used like this.

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#99

Post by dractori »

paganel wrote: post #36

> Because private-equity firms appear frequently as villains in the press, many people assume that they cater mostly to the superrich, earning high returns on investments for billionaire clients. They do. But by far the most important piece of their business — 48 percent, according to the data-analytics firm Preqin — is investing capital for American pension funds. This doesn't get mentioned often enough when talking…

The top 1% own 40% of the wealth and have realized 95% of the increase in wealth over the past decade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_Unite... "More recently, in 2017, an Oxfam study found that eight rich people, six of them Americans, own as much combined wealth as half the human race."

Re: America’s Oldest Gun Maker Went Bankrupt: A Financial Engineering Mystery

#100

Post by WillPostForFood »

systemkei wrote: post #93
aksss wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been gainfully employed in corporate IT since I was 19 - and doing max contribution to my 401k every year since - I'm not "in touch" with the predicament of today's kids. Are they alright? Record employment numbers today. Wage growth up. We still have a talent shortage. Being (now) a business owner, my biggest complaint on the talent front isn't a lack of education in candidates, it's a lack of customer focus…

>employed in corporate IT since I was 19 unlikely you'll ever collect from that 401k friend!

It is a huge disservice to take a cheap shot at 401ks. There is almost no case where someone who has the opportunity to contribute shouldn't do so.
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