Slowdown????

[TimToad]

Thanks for that info...makes sense...the housing market here in my area has been on fire...lots of people saying they sold their house within 48 hours...that of course drives prices up, but my area is huge into the RV manufacturing. Word on the street is that is slowing down significantly. Honestly the last thing anyone really needs is a camper, so that stuff is usually slowing down before other stuff.

Our realtor clients are describing a tightening market and while mostly anecdotal, we've noticed most houses are taking a bit longer to sell out here. We get housing market newsletters from several of them and they are all pointing to a softening of the market and longer days on market on average, so there must be something to what we're seeing.

We're located next door to one of the largest RV dealerships in the region and we constantly wonder how they pay the rent. We're here all day and simply don't see that many units new or used moving in and out on a regular basis.

I guess we're back to the Reagan era where if you don't cheer for everything being done in our names, you must be a traitor to the "good news only" crowd.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Our realtor clients are describing a tightening market and while mostly anecdotal, we've noticed most houses are taking a bit longer to sell out here. We get housing market newsletters from several of them and they are all pointing to a softening of the market and longer days on market on average, so there must be something to what we're seeing.

We're located next door to one of the largest RV dealerships in the region and we constantly wonder how they pay the rent. We're here all day and simply don't see that many units new or used moving in and out on a regular basis.

I guess we're back to the Reagan era where if you don't cheer for everything being done in our names, you must be a traitor to the "good news only" crowd.

It could be that everyone is fleeing your economy to neighboring states like ours for freedom of governmental economic oppression.

 

[WhatsYourSign?]

I shared how our shop is doing and a reasonable explanation for why this month is a little soft, but somehow triggered the kool aid drinkers by stating that not everything in MAGA world is the way its being presented.

How is stating FACTS about the economy making it political? Because you ox is being gored by the facts? Because your bias won't allow you to accept facts that contradict the convenient fantasy you'd rather embrace?

Go right ahead and refute any of the facts that I shared.

As a political moderate, I downvoted you, not because of the accuracy/inaccuracy of your statements, but because you're trolling and turning a discussion among sign shop owners into a political divide.

 

[TimToad]

If you want to make it political then what about the $795 Billion in Social Services Spending this country has, how is that any different than Military, Trade Tarriffs, etc. on the economy. That is literally taking money from the working and giving it to the non-working.

Nice try........ Actually, the amount of "welfare" to the indigent and non-working poor is a fraction of the amount we dole out to or simply don't collect from corporate/business interests and the wealthy in the form of subsidies, bailouts, tax shelters, etc. every year. One would think that in the rosy colored glasses economy some of you claim exists, those amounts would be dropping thanks to such low unemployment. The reason it isn't is because MOST people receiving some form of assistance are actually WORKING and paying the same taxes that fund those assistance programs.

If a person has FICA taxes withheld from their pay checks, regardless of whatever assistance they receive, they are helping pay their own way for any benefits they get. The vast majority of those receiving any of the various forms of assistance are working and paying taxes in some form.

A healthy chunk of the $754 billion spent on "social welfare assistance" programs is in Medicaid/SSI, etc. costs. A good chunk of that total is attributed to SSI, which is funded through FICA taxes and if you're advocating a return to the pre-New Deal days of the ill, disabled and elderly eating dog food or just dying in quiet desperation, you'll find little public support to eliminating those programs. I suppose we could just let people die in the streets like happened before the New Deal when the country decided that wasn't an acceptable way to run a society.

 

[TimToad]

As a political moderate, I downvoted you, not because of the accuracy/inaccuracy of your statements, but because you're trolling and turning a discussion among sign shop owners into a political divide.

Fair enough. This thread got started in the General Chit Chat thread which means folks can expand the discussion however they feel is relevant. A thread started on whether or not the economy is slowing down would seem to be an appropriate and obvious place for adults to discuss the actual economy along with its failings and weaknesses whether the "good news only" crowd wants to read about it or not. Last time I checked, signmakers don't exist in an economic vacuum separate from the actual economy.

 

[TimToad]

It could be that everyone is fleeing your economy to neighboring states like ours for freedom of governmental economic oppression.

That's hilarious on its face. California is the main engine driving this economy and is the 5th largest economy on earth. We also are a net contributor to the Treasury compared to what we pull out and ranked are 35th on receipt of federal aid in any form. Arizona is ranked [HASHTAG]#6th[/HASHTAG] in being a recipient of federal tax dollars. You must be so proud. Arizona's economic output is a minuscule fraction of ours and is a receiver of federal spending, not the other way around.

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/

 

[petepaz]

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

That's hilarious on its face. California is the main engine driving this economy and is the 5th largest economy on earth. We also are a net contributor to the Treasury compared to what we pull out and ranked are 35th on receipt of federal aid in any form. Arizona is ranked [HASHTAG]#6th[/HASHTAG] in being a recipient of federal tax dollars. You must be so proud. Arizona's economic output is a minuscule fraction of ours and is a receiver of federal spending, not the other way around.

Arizona is #6 in Federal Tax dollars but it is #40 of Social program Federal Tax Subsidies... What's Funny is 2500 families a week are moving into Arizona from California, Oregon, and Washington. The News just reported the #1 reason for leaving those states is High Cost of Living due to High Tax Rates. So all those social programs are putting pressure on medium income families forcing them to leave for less economic burden.

Arizona's economy is booming, enjoy your slow down in CA

 

[cajun312]

I'm in south Louisiana and the local economy sucks. We have a trial lawyer for governor and he instructed the trial lawyers to sue every oil company that has ever worked in the state. Some of the lawsuits are for pollution from the oil industry, I have no problem with making them clean up, but the law in Louisiana allows the lawyers to sue for damages. So oil company A get sued. Let's say the damages are $500,000. The lawyer takes his share and the land owner gets the rest. But the landowner doesn't have to use that money for clean up. So the pollution is still there, and the lawyer and landowner get a nice boost for their checking accounts. The oil industry has responded by moving operations out of state. Louisiana has had 60,000 people move out of the state in search of work. Offshore drilling is pretty much at a standstill because you can't drill in the gulf when oil is $52 a barrel'

I have one former customer that had a fleet of cranes, they are bankrupt. Another local rental business customer is working his way out of bankruptcy, but is only buying decals now and then and it's all small quantities. Two of my customers have moved their entire operations to Texas, and they buy their decals in Texas. A local customer owns shoe store, I've done some signs and window lettering for years, he is closing his business, as he told me, my biggest sellers were work boots. Nobody is buy work boots, they have all moved to Texas. What's bad for me is that new businesses aren't opening up, so that hurts sales also..The local hospital has been a great customer for years, but they are have financial issues also, so sales to them is way down, same as the local community college.

I'll be 65 in October so I'm not heading to Texas. The Mississippi River has been in flood stage for months, and all that fresh water that's full of fertilizer runoffs from farm land is killing off the oyster and shrimp fisheries. When it rains it pours.

 

[equippaint]

Our truck sales peaked in 2016-17 and its been dead this year. Seems like people did a lot of replacing around then and the need is declining.
I think there was a buying frenzy the past few years that is going to cool off especially on houses, campers, cars and boats regardless of what the economy does.

 

[BUCKY]

How come when I make a post about a Harley Davidson color, everybody scrolls by, but when one of these posts turns political, everybody and their mother can sniff it out and jump on it?

Because we have all been around along enough to know you do not touch ANYTHING Harley Davidson related. They will hunt you down and find you.

 

[BUCKY]

I'm in south Louisiana and the local economy sucks. We have a trial lawyer for governor and he instructed the trial lawyers to sue every oil company that has ever worked in the state. Some of the lawsuits are for pollution from the oil industry, I have no problem with making them clean up, but the law in Louisiana allows the lawyers to sue for damages. So oil company A get sued. Let's say the damages are $500,000. The lawyer takes his share and the land owner gets the rest. But the landowner doesn't have to use that money for clean up. So the pollution is still there, and the lawyer and landowner get a nice boost for their checking accounts. The oil industry has responded by moving operations out of state. Louisiana has had 60,000 people move out of the state in search of work. Offshore drilling is pretty much at a standstill because you can't drill in the gulf when oil is $52 a barrel'

I have one former customer that had a fleet of cranes, they are bankrupt. Another local rental business customer is working his way out of bankruptcy, but is only buying decals now and then and it's all small quantities. Two of my customers have moved their entire operations to Texas, and they buy their decals in Texas. A local customer owns shoe store, I've done some signs and window lettering for years, he is closing his business, as he told me, my biggest sellers were work boots. Nobody is buy work boots, they have all moved to Texas. What's bad for me is that new businesses aren't opening up, so that hurts sales also..The local hospital has been a great customer for years, but they are have financial issues also, so sales to them is way down, same as the local community college.

I'll be 65 in October so I'm not heading to Texas. The Mississippi River has been in flood stage for months, and all that fresh water that's full of fertilizer runoffs from farm land is killing off the oyster and shrimp fisheries. When it rains it pours.

Yep..... work boots are a thing of the past. Folks want jobs where they can wear Crocs to work these days.

 

[Reveal1]

As a political moderate, I downvoted you, not because of the accuracy/inaccuracy of your statements, but because you're trolling and turning a discussion among sign shop owners into a political divide.

No problem hearing different sides speculate on the health of the economy, but hearing some of the comments, I sometimes wonder if the commentator actually does own a business. They are entitled to their opinion even if polar opposite of mine. But for me it's a whole lot more credible coming from someone who actually risks their capital, creates jobs, meets a payroll, and has to pay those taxes. The instigator in this case has his profile blocked so if he is a business owner, he must hate himself for being one.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Because we have all been around along enough to know you do not touch ANYTHING Harley Davidson related. They will hunt you down and find you.

See? Even you didn't read the actual post. Lol.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

No problem hearing different sides speculate on the health of the economy, but hearing some of the comments, I sometimes wonder if the commentator actually does own a business. They are entitled to their opinion even if polar opposite of mine. But for me it's a whole lot more credible coming from someone who actually risks their capital, creates jobs, meets a payroll, and has to pay those taxes. The instigator in this case has his profile blocked so if he is a business owner, he must hate himself for being one.

I'm one of the owners along with my brother, while we feel a strong need to take care of our employees like family (which they are literally and figuratively), I don't have the need to support everyone else as If I should feel guilty about having a little more than I should. I'm an uneducated fool who learned what I did through hard knocks, sacrificed everything including many firsts with my young kids, and time with my father who passed away helping us grow this business to get where we are. We still sacrifice every day, when things slow I'm the first to cut my pay and when things are good I'm the last to gain. I reinvest everything I can into making the people who work here lives easier and hopefully better, but to some that is not enough because we are privileged business slaves.

 

[Reveal1]

I'm one of the owners along with my brother, while we feel a strong need to take care of our employees like family (which they are literally and figuratively), I don't have the need to support everyone else as If I should feel guilty about having a little more than I should. I'm an uneducated fool who learned what I did through hard knocks, sacrificed everything including many firsts with my young kids, and time with my father who passed away helping us grow this business to get where we are. We still sacrifice every day, when things slow I'm the first to cut my pay and when things are good I'm the last to gain. I reinvest everything I can into making the people who work here lives easier and hopefully better, but to some that is not enough because we are privileged business slaves.

We all have different motivations; I don't judge your reasons and I admire anyone like you who takes the risk and don't begrudge your success. A lot of jealousy out there.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

We all have different motivations; I don't judge your reasons and I admire anyone like you who takes the risk and don't begrudge your success. A lot of jealousy out there.

Btw that wasn't pointed at you, I was wanting to extrapolate on what you said from my position.

 

[Reveal1]

Btw that wasn't pointed at you, I was wanting to extrapolate on what you said from my position.

Same here!

 

[TimToad]

No problem hearing different sides speculate on the health of the economy, but hearing some of the comments, I sometimes wonder if the commentator actually does own a business. They are entitled to their opinion even if polar opposite of mine. But for me it's a whole lot more credible coming from someone who actually risks their capital, creates jobs, meets a payroll, and has to pay those taxes. The instigator in this case has his profile blocked so if he is a business owner, he must hate himself for being one.

I'm not sure which of us you are referring to, but I am most assuredly the owner of our company, risked all my own capital to buy a failing business, turn it into a satisfactorily profitable business, employ people, make a payroll every week and pay my fair share of taxes. My profile isn't blocked, so I assume you were referring to WhatsYourSign?.

I'm not sure any of us are "more" qualified to offer an opinion on the state of the economy than the average person or even employee. We all have eyes, ears and can read.

From where I sit, there are some troublesome aspects of the current economy and I'm not alone in thinking so. Plenty of economists and financial experts weigh the finer points of the economy on a daily basis. A few people reflexively adding in their geographical and ideological biases in the face of the complexity of what the more learned experts out there believe doesn't add much to the discussion or make it any easier to consider the facts and evidence.

Our friend in AZ may truly believe that his state is in great shape economically and for him it might be, but there are fundamental weaknesses that will cross all geographical borders when things turn down. And they always turn down. During the depths of the 2008-2009 collapse, people were giving houses away in Phoenix to stop the bleeding. If the right wing succeeds in slashing Social Security and Medicare as they are attempting to do, I'd hate to be in a state with a substantial percentage of its population being older retirees, many of whom will be crushed by the increases in healthcare costs and living expenses if their SS benefit is trimmed much.

 

[equippaint]

Everyones got their hand out for something and somehow justify being entitled to it for some reason or another. Its everything, tax loopholes, tax credits, subsidies, disability, federal backed loans, flood insurance, welfare etc etc. A million sad stories and special interest groups ensure money is doled out in excess. Its packaged up with a fancy name and sold to us in a way that anyone that speaks against it looks like a bad person. Its only “welfare” when someone else gets it. Politicians make sure they keep you mad at the poor and welfare system so you ignore the other billions they pass around to those that keep the campaign coffers full.