What recession.

[Axcontrols]

I ordered a new kitchen in February - Delivery is 26th May :eek:

That's almost 4 months f'c'sake.

So back then I thought, OK, we'll move in start of june.

Anyway, over the weekend we decided to get some new furniture too. So today I went to order 2 new sofas and some bedroon furniture - me thinking that with the recession they factory they'd be all sat round in the factory bored so would jump at the chance to build me a couple of sofas - no such luck - 10 weeks ????

They tell me they're just inundated with orders - But I wonder if it's because they overreacted and sacked everyone and now they just don't have the staff to build 2 sofas any time soon.

[Tom Nikolai]

The "recession" is a creation of the media due to their intense hatred of George Bush and their desire to get rid of him. Many people who don't stay glued to the TV don't realize times are bad. :rolleyes: The banking crisis is a creation of certain people in our U.S. congress forcing lending institutions to make thousands and thousands of BAD LOANS under the guise of political correctness to people who would never or could never pay them back. Those loans were bundled and sold to other financial investment groups worldwide and the dreams of profit (AKA greed) backfired causing a chain reaction we may now never get over. I feel sorry for Iceland!

Good luck with your kitchen!! :)

[Sharkman]

*ucking media , they are costing me a fortune

[geoff malter]

The "recession" is a creation of the media due to their intense hatred of George Bush and their desire to get rid of him. Many people who don't stay glued to the TV don't realize times are bad. :rolleyes: The banking crisis is a creation of certain people in our U.S. congress forcing lending institutions to make thousands and thousands of BAD LOANS under the guise of political correctness to people who would never or could never pay them back. Those loans were bundled and sold to other financial investment groups worldwide and the dreams of profit (AKA greed) backfired causing a chain reaction we may now never get over. I feel sorry for Iceland!

Good luck with your kitchen!! :)

Tom, the real crisis that hit the financial markets is fueled by the "credit default swaps" BS that institutions like AIG and Bear Stearns fabricated to market packages of sub-prime mortgages. Otherwise no sophisticated investor or government would buy the sub-prime paper. And this has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats, just pure greed on the part of Wall Street/Banking. This "insurance-like" product is what brought AIG, Bear Stearns, etc to their knees or worse. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. That's the main reason why governments are scrambling to shore up the mortgage industry.

Let's also blame the rampant mortgage fraud (and I mean fraud) that hordes of mortgage brokers and banks (not all of course), used to qualify people they had no business approaching. It wasn't the government who forced banks to approve loans where income verification wasn't necessary. And why shoul they care, as all of these are of course resold to the secondary market.

I agree that if enough people believe we're in a recession, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The media has certainly fanned the recession flames, but even Bush (and I voted for him twice) admitted we were in a recession before he left office.

IMO greed, fraud, and poor government oversight has caused this.

[Tom Nikolai]

Tom, the real crisis that hit the financial markets is fueled by the "credit default swaps" BS that institutions like AIG and Bear Stearns fabricated to market packages of sub-prime mortgages. Otherwise no sophisticated investor or government would buy the sub-prime paper. And this has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats, just pure greed on the part of Wall Street/Banking. This "insurance-like" product is what brought AIG, Bear Stearns, etc to their knees or worse. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. That's the main reason why governments are scrambling to shore up the mortgage industry.

Let's also blame the rampant mortgage fraud (and I mean fraud) that hordes of mortgage brokers and banks (not all of course), used to qualify people they had no business approaching. It wasn't the government who forced banks to approve loans where income verification wasn't necessary. And why shoul they care, as all of these are of course resold to the secondary market.

I agree that if enough people believe we're in a recession, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The media has certainly fanned the recession flames, but even Bush (and I voted for him twice) admitted we were in a recession before he left office.

IMO greed, fraud, and poor government oversight has caused this.

I think that's exactly what I said. ;)

[Suhail]

LV Store, Mumbai.

Saturday 3.15 PM

[ChrisEdu]

LV Store, Mumbai.

Saturday 3.15 PM

Must be good wages in those call centres! :)

[Highlander]

The "recession" is a creation of the media due to their intense hatred of George Bush and their desire to get rid of him. Many people who don't stay glued to the TV don't realize times are bad. :rolleyes: The banking crisis is a creation of certain people in our U.S. congress forcing lending institutions to make thousands and thousands of BAD LOANS under the guise of political correctness to people who would never or could never pay them back. Those loans were bundled and sold to other financial investment groups worldwide and the dreams of profit (AKA greed) backfired causing a chain reaction we may now never get over. I feel sorry for Iceland!

Good luck with your kitchen!! :)

The jobless numbers in the US are climbing every month. The new home construction market is at a near standstill. These facts are inescapable and are indicators of a recession.

By the way, regarding "AKA greed". Please be kind enough to define the word "greed".

[morgan]

I want a Poliform kitchen. Their danish brochure reads:

"Luxury kitchens - from 70.000 EURO"


Mmmhmhm!

[morgan]

Btw - Geoff is 100% right.

M

(theres a reason why banker rhymes with wanker)

[Tom Nikolai]

By the way, regarding "AKA greed". Please be kind enough to define the word "greed".

Greed? The desire/quest to make profit. I was being FACETIOUS. I love greed, and am a greedy bastard. ;) What the gov and the media tried to do at AIG and other F.I.'s for example was B.S. NON greed; letting the .gov coddle you and support your lazy useless ass in exchange for your continuing voter support.

As to the recession and the declining unemployment. Read my first post, read thoughtfully and then imagine it all occuring over an extended period of time. Of course people are going to lose jobs and things get worse. The media has preached this gospel for eight solid years AND the real banking "crisis" (FMae and FMac caused) AND the people who need to 'not let a good crisis go to waste' to expand their power base....................and on and on................. as Hitler and his compatriots once opined, repeat the lie often enough and it will become true. We are currently wallowing in that truth now.

[Highlander]

Greed? The desire/quest to make profit. I was being FACETIOUS. I love greed, and am a greedy bastard. ;) What the gov and the media tried to do at AIG and other F.I.'s for example was B.S. NON greed; letting the .gov coddle you and support your lazy useless ass in exchange for your continuing voter support.

As to the recession and the declining unemployment. Read my first post, read thoughtfully and then imagine it all occuring over an extended period of time. Of course people are going to lose jobs and things get worse. The media has preached this gospel for eight solid years AND the real banking "crisis" (FMae and FMac caused) AND the people who need to 'not let a good crisis go to waste' to expand their power base....................and on and on................. as Hitler and his compatriots once opined, repeat the lie often enough and it will become true. We are currently wallowing in that truth now.

Thanks for the clarification Tom, I think we are on the same page. I've heard the word 'greed' bandied about for too many months by the liberal media types and of course it is code for anyone that: makes a profit, works in finance, is in 'big business', is in 'big oil', knows someone who works for Halliburton, votes Republican etc etc.

[Paul G.]

... this has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats, just pure greed on the part of Wall Street/Banking. This "insurance-like" product is what brought AIG, Bear Stearns, etc to their knees or worse. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. That's the main reason why governments are scrambling to shore up the mortgage industry.

With respect, I think this may be oversimplifying the problem. There were obviously numerous individuals who acted irresponsibly in taking out mortgages too large for their financial situation. Interest only and reverse amortization mortgages were terrible products, but were agreed to by many people who should have known better. The banks, however, though they were indeed incented by government and some activist organizations to make irresponsible loans to low income borrowers, were foolish in creating products that clearly were destined to end badly. But they were the fuel that allowed the investment banks to package more and more bad collateralized paper. As you think about it, the web of bad behavior and irresponsible decision making is complex. But everyone was making money having a great time at the party and no one wanted to take the punch bowl away. Which leads to my final point - if there is anyone mostly responsible in my mind it would be a combination of the lack of meaningful regulatory oversight and indifference by our legislative branch to insist the regulators do what they are charged to do. I will not make this a partisan observation - but had regulators reigned in the banks worst ideas, and insisted on more transparency with regard to the complex derivative markets we would not be in the situation we are in today.

[raptor]

called recession especially from the countries complaining
-flights to and from the uk fully booked a month before
-hotels in London fully booked also (not marketing tricks)
-prices still not competitive on the net to shout 'recession' or 'deals'
:eek:

[Tom Nikolai]

called recession especially from the countries complaining
-flights to and from the uk fully booked a month before
-hotels in London fully booked also (not marketing tricks)
-prices still not competitive on the net to shout 'recession' or 'deals'
:eek:

these people need to watch the "news" more, what's the matter with them?!? :rolleyes:

[raptor]

will cancel all my patek orders for this month just to make things worse :)

[Tom Nikolai]

will cancel all my patek orders for this month just to make things worse :)

There you go, do your part!

[geoff malter]

Greed? The desire/quest to make profit. I was being FACETIOUS. I love greed, and am a greedy bastard. ;) What the gov and the media tried to do at AIG and other F.I.'s for example was B.S. NON greed; letting the .gov coddle you and support your lazy useless ass in exchange for your continuing voter support.

As to the recession and the declining unemployment. Read my first post, read thoughtfully and then imagine it all occuring over an extended period of time. Of course people are going to lose jobs and things get worse. The media has preached this gospel for eight solid years AND the real banking "crisis" (FMae and FMac caused) AND the people who need to 'not let a good crisis go to waste' to expand their power base....................and on and on................. as Hitler and his compatriots once opined, repeat the lie often enough and it will become true. We are currently wallowing in that truth now.

Tom, how about a clarification re your comment about what the govt and the media tried to do at AIG and other F.I.s being BS? Are you implying that AIG and other institutions who created and sold Credit Default Swaps to encourage investors into buying sub-prime bundles, were acting on the up-and-up by not labeling the swaps as insurance, to get around NAIC insurance regulations (and that's the only reason NOT to call the product insurance)?

(Regulations such as HAVING TO HAVE ADEQUATE CASH RESERVES FOR PRODUCTS SOLD, TO BACK UP FUTURE CLAIMS?) Cash reserve requirements are the backbone of credibility of the insurance industry.

In reference to the sale of these swaps, what they did borders on criminal behavior. This is the ugly side of greed.

[Tom Nikolai]

I am by no means an expert in this fileld, however all I know is that under pressure from the finance commitee's Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and I'm sure others, F.M. and F.M. and other FI's were forced under the cloak of political correctness and a meteoric housing bubble to loan money to people that shouldn't have been able to finance a pack of frigging chewing gun, let a lone a home. Republicans who complained that this was a bubble, some loans being made were risky, etc, were villified as being racists for not wanting to lend to "minorities" and "poor" people. What happened to the loans afterward I'm not sure of but most all of these people are either delinquent or not paying at all. Chain reaction then happened and we're seeing the net affect. The banking upper echelon were more than happy to make more profit. There are members of both the banking community and the Congreess that I'm sure should be prosecuted and in jail, but, we know how that works...............

That's my 2¢ (and lots of others actually)