gloom and doom about the economey be darned!

[RedRiver]

Congrats on the sales!

I was talking to our tractor rep today and he said that most of the northern US dealers are doing just as good or better while all the dealers in the deep south are selling half what they normally sell.

We have been selling a lot of lower ticket items (trailers, implements, etc.) but the potential buyers of higher ticket items (tractors, large cutters) seem a bit hesitant to pull the trigger regardless of the excellent financing and rebates currently being offered.

 

[unreconstructed]

Mike5.56 CPI chart probably explains that hesitation to buy the big ticket items. We all know that something nasty looms ahead--to what degree of nasty remains to be seen.

The lower CPI, of course, is designed to lower Social security transfer payments and mollify voters.

 

[jinman]

I can't say anything about the government because that would be politics.

I can't say anything about the media because that would be cussin'.

I can say something about Neil Messick...Good on ya!

 

[DaryleD]

I have just been catching up on this thread, and I'm wondering if the good sales that everyone up here in the north east is having, is anything like my situation. I bought an RTV 900 this year, instead of spending half of the money on a florida vacation. We are all enjoying the little Kubota instead. I know that in my situation, I couldn't see spending $5K on vacation with not too much to show for it. I gave my kids the choice and they picked the RTV. I know that I'm still spending the money this way, but something about vacation/travel costs with gas and such so high, I feel better working around home. I also know that I'm spending money on diesel fuel but things just feel more wise doing this sort of stuff. Maybe we are all planting larger gardens like me too. Don't know if I made any sense to you folks, but it sounds good in my mind.
Daryle.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Yeah, there is some cutting back that the numbers aren't showing (I agree with mike on the numbers etc. btw)

Agriculture prices are doing well though, so that'll skew agricultural sales up. And costco/wally world sales are up, because people are looking to get more for their money. But that's not actually all that good a sign..

There is a lot of bad news around the bend. Home sales are going to go in the tank this year. Should be the ugliest summer for house prices - I'm currently calling bottom in summer 2009, with heavy drops till then (and my record is pretty good - I called this all years ago, and sold out of most of my real estate in 2005)

 

[mike5.56]

Well, I'm nervous as a cat about the whole thing-the economy that is. I'm in the process of building a house on my land, after a yearlong delay; concerned about my job, because it's heavily dependent on the cost of Jet A; and hoping things hold together for awhile longer. I would like to at least live on my property in something besides a tent. I would also like to purchase a tractor to work my land, but I don't want any other debt except the mortgage for the house, so new tractors are probably out of the question. That's why I get rather upset at the BS coming out of our public serpents about the state of the economy, especially when the whole mess can be laid at their feet.

 

[unreconstructed]

I am doing the same thing as Mike 5.56. Am trying to get a house built on a hundred acres which took my wife and I 15 years of looking to find and me 40 years of work to get to this point. figure this is my last chance at the lifelong dream and as 5.56 says the public "serpents" can be credited 100 percent to laying a minefield for everyone's years of work to evaporate. Seems like our only defense is to keep the debt load as low as possible which is poison to a debt and consumption based economy.

Oh well........

 

[N80]

The key, in my opinion, to not worrying about the economy is to have a skill and be out of debt.

I don't figure a house and land into the debt scheme, especially if you have some equity. Credit cards, cars, tractors, boats and home equity loans are what bring you down.

If things go belly up, I'm selling the house for whatever I can get, ditching a car, moving to the cabin and ply my trade in the country even if I get paid in chickens and tomatos.

But I'm keeping the tractor!

Oh, and congrats to Messicks. Always good to hear good people doing well.

 

[mike5.56]

I own the land, and have no other debt. Borrowing the money to build a house is what is making me nervous, especially as my main source of income is in jeopardy with every increase in the price of oil. The only reason that I'm willing to do it is that getting a 30 year mortgage at a low rate, and paying it back in devalued dollars takes the sting out of the debt. I'm hoping that the "system" holds together for a couple of more years at least, but the overall macroeconomic picture is getting darker by the day.

 

[crashz]

This has been one of my biggest reasons for not buying a new tractor just yet. I would love to trade in my JD 770 on a new Kubota L2800HST, and I would be putting down a fair bit of cash as well, but I'm afraid of the economy as it stands. We just bought a house last year, and while my job is fairly stable, my wife-to-be works in the finacial industry. I'm afraid that the money spent now would diminish that small cushion if she loses her job.

I've elected to pay my credit cards off and stuff a good chunk of that into our saving instead. Let the miserable interest rates barely work for me instead.

I am going to pimp the tractor out with some new lights and a couple rattle cans of paint though!