Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

abacomike

Well, the market is up over 750 points as of noon today. At least there is some recovery after last week - hopefully the market will continue to recover.

Florida now has two cases of the corona virus - on the west coast (gulf coast). I suspect this virus will continue to spread throughout the U.S. It is almost impossible to contain this highly contagious virus once it cannot be traced to a source. The smartest way to protect yourself from this is to not go to areas with large numbers of people - such as concerts, movie theaters, casinos, sports venues, etc.

This morning, I had to go over to my opthomologist's office to pre-pay my $1075 copay for my surgery next Tuesday (I have another $600 copay for the surgical center which I have to pay upon arrival there next Tuesday). There were over 50 people sitting in their waiting rooms which worried me considerably. I had no choice in the matter. I have some concerns about going to the out-patient surgical facility in Boca Raton where they have large numbers of people waiting for their procedures. But, I really can't get too paranoid about this - if it was meant to be - it was meant to be (get sick that is). But taking precautions and trying to avoid large numbers of people for the next three to four months is wise, my my opinion.

dino001

abacomike said:

Well, the market is up over 750 points as of noon today. At least there is some recovery after last week - hopefully the market will continue to recover.

Florida now has two cases of the corona virus - on the west coast (gulf coast). I suspect this virus will continue to spread throughout the U.S. It is almost impossible to contain this highly contagious virus once it cannot be traced to a source. The smartest way to protect yourself from this is to not go to areas with large numbers of people - such as concerts, movie theaters, casinos, sports venues, etc.

This morning, I had to go over to my opthomologist's office to pre-pay my $1075 copay for my surgery next Tuesday (I have another $600 copay for the surgical center which I have to pay upon arrival there next Tuesday). There were over 50 people sitting in their waiting rooms which worried me considerably. I had no choice in the matter. I have some concerns about going to the out-patient surgical facility in Boca Raton where they have large numbers of people waiting for their procedures. But, I really can't get too paranoid about this - if it was meant to be - it was meant to be (get sick that is). But taking precautions and trying to avoid large numbers of people for the next three to four months is wise, my my opinion.

I think it's early for the corona worry, but the "regular" flu is always a concern at this time of the year. Regarding the market, it will likely violently seesaw for next few weeks, with continued resultant movement down until it's really done. It always does it during big selloffs - lure some people in, thinking it's over, usually on some kind of stupid rumour or fake news (here it will be vaccine, or slowdown in new cases) then next day down again. I don't buy this rebound at all in terms of next month or two.

fintail

Markets up, media reporting on it, maybe not entirely a conspiracy

dino001

Media wants news, whatever it is. They prefer bad news because they can harp on it longer and stronger and create impression of being "on your side", but they'll take good news once in a while, too.

imidazol97

Volume is light on S&P chart but was slightly heavier earlier today. Some peaks might indicate block buying.

I'd expect some backing and filling to even out the oversold condition. I'm with the folks who think a 20% sell off would have been good for the markets eventually; we had a 15% if I calculated correctly reading numbers from the S&P and Dow charts.

Problem I see is the cable business forums don't have the true experts like they used to have "long ago." Now it's mostly the doomers wanting to get their name out.

I used to sit and watch the sizes of the blocks of stocks bought and the pricing. But now many big trades are off the record--I don't recall the term for it, but they don't show up on the ticker.

I'd like to move some cash back into the market. But I agree with earlier post that several days of good and bad news, real news, about the effects the corolla virus on supply demand should be in order. The effects in China from virus sounds like some of the factories which were closed are back into production.

driver100

I have a friend who loves 5 window pickup trucks...his dream is to buy one one day. They seem to be made from the late 40s until 1955. Seems Chev had most of them, GMC and Dodge, not sure about Ford.
I like newer designs so I like something boxier looking. Not sure why they call them 5 window, but, I guess they don't count the windshield as a window.

stickguy

Correct on the windshield.

28firefighter

6th deaths in the Seattle area and the State Health Chief is suggesting that people prepare as if there were an earthquake, just in case there was any confusion as to what those in charge here are considering. Absolute insanity is about to ensue for no good reason (yet).

explorerx4

I guess they don't count the vent windows on that truck either.

driver100

stickguy said:

Correct on the windshield.

Thanks for the confirmation. Took awhile to figure that out, since it seems to me there are 6 windows. I like the Dodges more...because they are squared off with newer style fenders, they seem to have a more modern look.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

I guess they don't count the vent windows on that truck either.

Ever notice there is always one?

fintail

Yes, as far as I know, Ford did not make a 5 window truck.

Cars do the "window" thing too - old coupes are described as 3 window or 5 window, and sedans can be 4 window or 6 window.

Michaell

When I was a kid, my dad had a '53 Ford pickup, but it wasn't a 5 window. Black, and in kind of ratty condition, as he used it for truck like things - hauling lumber, landscaping materials when we moved into our new house in the fall of 1968, etc.

Traded it in for the '70 C-10 that he drove until he passed away in 2016.

driver100

This one is for sale:

qbrozen

Funny, I was briefly browsing old pickups last night. Was just curious to see, if I really wanted a pickup, is it worth keeping dad’s or looking elsewhere? Not that the wife would ever let me buy a different truck. Anyhoo, I’m still on the fence with dad’s. It is just such a beast.

Michaell

driver100 said:

This one is for sale:

My dad's was black, too. Just not nearly in that nice of condition.

He loved his '70 C-10. It was one of the vehicles I learned to drive in. Also used it for a TSD rally, once. A bit larger than the competition, for sure.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

It's a mentality some of the media is hoping to feed for their own purposes.

I saw a chart showing major waves of flu and viruses. This is still small by comparison
despite the sad number of deaths. I am much more in danger from the regular flu viruses
that have already ravaged and killed many in the US. I don't see the little talking heads
showing concern about those in my age category who have succumbed already to
the flu this year.

As for the success talking down the economy via the stock market that some hope to
have, at the end of Friday's session trade volume was increasing and market value was
increasing.

I saw the rare, serious investment advisor saying she told her folks there may be a few more
days of backing and filling. And when the first signs of leveling occurred she recommended
they buy whatever their choices were in _blocks_. I think she's the best I've seen.

Another advisor said he like to see the market back and fill a level and rise. Then
fall and bounce off the earlier valves at the bottom to show there's a resistance level.
I think I'd watch for that in an individual stock rather than for the whole market, in
the atmosphere right now.

I don't know how many days from when the first speculators got the margin calls
they have to come up with cash or be forced to dump their stocks, but I'd guess
that's about done now after 2-5 days.

An advisor said in an email to me that 20% every 3 or so years is the normal pullback.
Haven't had that for 8 years. Had a couple 19% almost occurances. So there might
be a little more desperation selling to go here. But there was so much cash on the
sidelines when the market was topping for the last few months. Now there's more
cash on the sidelines. T-bills aren't paying much and they'll go down in valve as
soon as folks start selling and going back into the market, so cash directly into
market looks good.

The market was overvalued (PE 17+) and has fallen back to more realistic levels. A long term PE of 15 for the S&P is much more sustainable.

That doesn’t make losing 12% any less painful.

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

Dow futures are down 342 points already. It’s not going to be a quick rebound.

But the hype is absurd. I too am far more concerned about flu.

And yet the Dow finished up almost 1300 points. Best day in history. Might be time to invest in the VIX.

Yeah, hype is absurd. In 2009-2010 swine flu infected 61 million Americans and killed over 12,000. The media didn’t get this worked up. I’ll leave it to your own political opinions as to why.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Dow Jones, peaked on October 9, 2007 with a closing price of 14,164.53. .

The DJIA hit a market low of 6,469.95 on March 6, 2009, having lost over 54% of its value since the October 9, 2007 high

Imagine if you bought in near the bottom in 2009, today your 6470 would have almost tripled, in 10 years.

I bought in May 2009 thanks to my inheritance from my mother’s estate. Not quite at the bottom but close enough that I’m comfortable today.

suydam

Oh yes they did. The hysteria over swine flu was unbelievable. We were going to a conference in Cancun. The organizers, who were already there, told everyone that there was no problem there, everyone was fine. To no avail. Everyone canceled, the airlines refunded all the flights, and the organization lost beaucoup bucks. It was crazy.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

Well, the market is up over 750 points as of noon today. At least there is some recovery after last week - hopefully the market will continue to recover.

Florida now has two cases of the corona virus - on the west coast (gulf coast). I suspect this virus will continue to spread throughout the U.S. It is almost impossible to contain this highly contagious virus once it cannot be traced to a source. The smartest way to protect yourself from this is to not go to areas with large numbers of people - such as concerts, movie theaters, casinos, sports venues, etc.

This morning, I had to go over to my opthomologist's office to pre-pay my $1075 copay for my surgery next Tuesday (I have another $600 copay for the surgical center which I have to pay upon arrival there next Tuesday). There were over 50 people sitting in their waiting rooms which worried me considerably. I had no choice in the matter. I have some concerns about going to the out-patient surgical facility in Boca Raton where they have large numbers of people waiting for their procedures. But, I really can't get too paranoid about this - if it was meant to be - it was meant to be (get sick that is). But taking precautions and trying to avoid large numbers of people for the next three to four months is wise, my my opinion.

Certainly for someone in your compromised health condition. I agree.

To be truthful I’ve been washing my hands more often after handling all these strange steering wheels. Then being confined in a van with five other potential infection sources doesn’t help.

explorerx4

I don't think a lot of my market stuff is on the Dow stocks(I find it to be kind of a joke with the turnover and many of them don't seem to be 'Industrials' to me).
My stuff is relatively conservative(didn't go down as much as the indexes and didn't up as much today).

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Dow Jones, peaked on October 9, 2007 with a closing price of 14,164.53. .

The DJIA hit a market low of 6,469.95 on March 6, 2009, having lost over 54% of its value since the October 9, 2007 high

Imagine if you bought in near the bottom in 2009, today your 6470 would have almost tripled, in 10 years.

I bought in May 2009 thanks to my inheritance from my mother’s estate. Not quite at the bottom but close enough that I’m comfortable today.

Close enough....almost impossible to time it exactly....besides, it was just a coincidence that you happened to buy in at that time. If someone really could time the market they would have made $millions by now.

driver100

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

This one is for sale:

My dad's was black, too. Just not nearly in that nice of condition.

He loved his '70 C-10. It was one of the vehicles I learned to drive in. Also used it for a TSD rally, once. A bit larger than the competition, for sure.

I like that C-10....it has all the hallmarks of a vehicle I like....large windows, smooth flat straight lines. I could have got a stock model but I really like this one that keeps it's original look, with a small bit of updating....still looks good today!

stickguy

truck is nice, but I would have to change those wheels and tires.

I always loved that body style, but even better is a short bed step side!

Michaell

My dad's truck was a long bed, with the 350 V8 and 3 speed automatic. Pretty bare bones as far as equipment. Had the top end of the engine rebuilt around 100,000 miles, And he switched over to an electronic ignition after 8-10 years. I can't remember when, but he paid a friend of mine (who owned a shop) a few thousand to give it a fresh coat of paint, a spray in bed liner, and new chrome trim.

sda

This is when I miss the Pilot most. It had a very large and useful cargo area. That’s a bale
of hay wrapped in the blue tarp. Would I haul this stuff in the wife’s Q5? Only if I want to be chased around the dining room table.

tjc78

You should have seen the amount of crap I used to get in the trunk of my Grand Marquis.

Speaking of hay bales....did I ever share this picture of what my wife did to the Enclave?

tjc78

For anyone interested, yes she is still alive.

driver100

There should be a heavy fine for doing that to a car......any car! :@

tjc78

To this day, I occasionally find a piece of straw either in the tracks for the seats or it just randomly appears. It took me over an hour to clean that up.

What's funny is she knew I would go insane when I saw it so she called on the way home to warn me.

driver100

stickguy said:

truck is nice, but I would have to change those wheels and tires.

I always loved that body style, but even better is a short bed step side!

Even though this one is modified, I showed it because they don't look as good in their natural state. I am not sure I like the step side idea more.....takes away from the flowing straight lines. What is the advantage of a step side....why make them.

Long beds lose a bit of cuteness.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Dow Jones, peaked on October 9, 2007 with a closing price of 14,164.53. .

The DJIA hit a market low of 6,469.95 on March 6, 2009, having lost over 54% of its value since the October 9, 2007 high

Imagine if you bought in near the bottom in 2009, today your 6470 would have almost tripled, in 10 years.

I bought in May 2009 thanks to my inheritance from my mother’s estate. Not quite at the bottom but close enough that I’m comfortable today.

Close enough....almost impossible to time it exactly....besides, it was just a coincidence that you happened to buy in at that time. If someone really could time the market they would have made $millions by now.

Market timers usually go broke but it’s fun to speculate how rich you’d be if you bought Microsoft in 1974 or Apple in 2005. Of course you’d have to predict the right time to sell too.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

This one is for sale:

My dad's was black, too. Just not nearly in that nice of condition.

He loved his '70 C-10. It was one of the vehicles I learned to drive in. Also used it for a TSD rally, once. A bit larger than the competition, for sure.

I like that C-10....it has all the hallmarks of a vehicle I like....large windows, smooth flat straight lines. I could have got a stock model but I really like this one that keeps it's original look, with a small bit of updating....still looks good today!

A beautiful resto mod like that would go for big bucks in today’s market.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

You should have seen the amount of crap I used to get in the trunk of my Grand Marquis.

Speaking of hay bales....did I ever share this picture of what my wife did to the Enclave?

LOL, where’s does the horse ride?

oldfarmer50

“ What is the advantage of a step side....why make them.”

People who work for a living find the step useful for reaching into the bed to unload stuff.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

“ What is the advantage of a step side....why make them.”

People who work for a living find the step useful for reaching into the bed to unload stuff.

Thanks, now I get it....I guess that is why those Lincoln and Cadillac pickups don't have side steps!

stickguy

It also makes the box square. No intrusions. But mostly, they look cool.

I absolutely love that blue one. Perfect.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Dow Jones, peaked on October 9, 2007 with a closing price of 14,164.53. .

The DJIA hit a market low of 6,469.95 on March 6, 2009, having lost over 54% of its value since the October 9, 2007 high

Imagine if you bought in near the bottom in 2009, today your 6470 would have almost tripled, in 10 years.

I bought in May 2009 thanks to my inheritance from my mother’s estate. Not quite at the bottom but close enough that I’m comfortable today.

Close enough....almost impossible to time it exactly....besides, it was just a coincidence that you happened to buy in at that time. If someone really could time the market they would have made $millions by now.

Market timers usually go broke but it’s fun to speculate how rich you’d be if you bought Microsoft in 1974 or Apple in 2005. Of course you’d have to predict the right time to sell too.

Silver could have been a good buy, if you bought it and sold it at the right time;

ab348

Markets had a big bounceback yesterday, which the mainstream media are not reporting much about since it is good news and not fear-mongering bad news.

graphicguy

Talking to my financial planner yesterday. He’s always fairly pragmatic. I pulled out of the markets a few years ago and never looked back. We were tracking what would have happened if I’d stayed in with the stocks I had. I would have lost a generous amount of my investment from a few years ago if I were still in, even after yesterday.

I’m glad I’m no longer in the markets. I was driving myself crazy.

I do believe to ignore, or minimize the threat of this Corona Virus would be folly and a big mistake, however.

stickguy

Just curious, where did you put the money? All fixed income stuff?

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

Just curious, where did you put the money? All fixed income stuff?

Edmunds. That's why none of us have to pay dues. Thanks @graphicguy

driver100

stickguy said:

It also makes the box square. No intrusions. But mostly, they look cool.

I absolutely love that blue one. Perfect.

I like the blue one too. I am getting a real appreciation for trucks......I like their no nonsense efficient styling. I don't like them too fixed up, just a few modifications to make it up to date. Interesting about the square box, I guess the wheel wells can get in the way.

driver100

Hard to beat the Dow over the last 5 years! Almost double.
I think you need stocks for growth. If you can't pick them or if you buy and sell at the wrong time get low cost mutual funds and let them do the work of buying, selling, rebalancing....or index funds can beat most managed funds. The markets will always go down....otherwise everyone would put every extra dollar into the market, sit back and get wealthy. Nothing is that easy, there will be downturns, but, you have to look at those as buying opportunities for smart managers. Even with the downturn, stocks have done well for a long time now. Bull markets don't last forever though....but, you have to hang in.

fintail

I saw ample coverage, some of it laughably without context (numeric gains don't matter, percentage gains are key), although I don't seek out clowns like CNN or FOX etc. Not seeing any additional coverage today even though the markets are down, looking like the "dead cat bounce" and the rate cut.

So much chatter about media conspiracies, what sources do y'all use for your news?

I need to make a long term chart like that for housing prices in my zipcode over the past 40 or so years, and then compare it with incomes.

ab348 said:

Markets had a big bounceback yesterday, which the mainstream media are not reporting much about since it is good news and not fear-mongering bad news.

stickguy

Driver, most 401(k) plans now offer target date funds. You pick your retirement date (or can do it based on age) and the fund automatically rebalances. As you get older, moves to more fixed income, stuff like that.

driver100

stickguy said:

Driver, most 401(k) plans now offer target date funds. You pick your retirement date (or can do it based on age) and the fund automatically rebalances. As you get older, moves to more fixed income, stuff like that.

That would make sense. I haven't seen anything like that back home but I would think there would be similar. Or buy some equity mutual funds, and some dividend and bond funds. It would be hard to reach retirement goals without stocks in some format.

Michaell

driver100 said:

stickguy said:

Driver, most 401(k) plans now offer target date funds. You pick your retirement date (or can do it based on age) and the fund automatically rebalances. As you get older, moves to more fixed income, stuff like that.

That would make sense. I haven't seen anything like that back home but I would think there would be similar. Or buy some equity mutual funds, and some dividend and bond funds. It would be hard to reach retirement goals without stocks in some format.

That's what I'm using for my 401(K).

dino001

I use CNBC jako counter indicator. When they change their regular programming to put hours of special reports on something, it will just about to turn. Regular “Market in Turmoil” reports don’t count, as those are usually aired after couple of bad days in the market. But when you start seeing long reports from all kind of places, then it’s time. Another one in first page of New York Times.