Nobody Wants My Ferrari

Nobody Wants My Ferrari

Ferrari values succumb to recession
Buyers cautious as prestigious Italian cars struggle to sell at auction.

By Paul Hudson, Telegraph.co.uk

This immaculate 1955 Ferrari 121LM Spyder Corsa failed to sell.
Desirable Ferraris have usually been considered less immune to the vicissitudes of the world’s financial markets than most other marques, but car collectors kept their hands firmly in their pockets at last weekend’s Bonhams sale of Ferraris and associated memorabilia in Gstaad.
Many of the star lots failed to reach their estimates and were consequently not sold, although most of the more affordable lots found buyers. Even then, they struggled to achieve the lower end of their estimated prices.
The annual ‘Ferrari et les Prestigieuses Italiennes’ auction at Gstaad featured a host of not only desirable but seminal Ferraris for sale, most notably a 1955 121LM Spyder Corsa that competed in the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours and that year’s Mille Miglia road race in the hands of Phil Hill, Eugenio Castellotti, Umberto Maglioli and Carroll Shelby. It was estimated at £2,808,450 to £3,945,000 but the price for one of the most collectible competition Ferraris to emerge on the open market for many years was apparently too steep as buyers responded to current financial woes with extreme caution.
An immaculate, 192 F40 also failed to sell, as did the 1951 212 Export Spider that came third overall in the 1951 Mille Miglia.
A 1967 275GTB/4, estimated at £717,000 to £836,000, had reached only £595,000 before the hammer fell.
The Ferrari ‘Daytona’ (proper name the 365GTB/4) coupe has been fetching high prices but one of the examples at Gstaad, one of only 530 Series 1 cars and estimated at £232,800 to £268,600, failed to sell.
Even the most desirable of all modern Ferraris, the limited edition Enzo that was a showcase for the company’s Formula One technology, failed to meet its 805,000 to £990,000.
However, a Dino 246GT coupe formerly owned by renowned Porsche racer Hans Herrman did find a buyer, although it only realised £92,350 against an estimate of £105,000 to £136,000.
A notable exception to the trend was Lot 234, a 1990 Maserati Quattroporte Royale saloon that has covered only 7,500km from new, which fetched 24,000 Swiss Francs (£14,755) against an estimate of 12,000-16,000ChF (£7,377-£9,842).

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Markets Tumbling Down Are a Vital Part of Capitalism

The consumers were not at fault. The banking industry issued toxic mortgages. The $700 billions lent them went for everything else but curing the credit crunch. Consequently, consumers and small business lack the credit to go forward. Thus, the threat of being homeless and jobless causes most Americans to see a bleak future. Of course, increased spending by them is not in the cards.
The average citizen needs a good job with the assurance it will continue. Job creation results when small businesses see a ready market and a chance for prosperity.
We need solid products that fulfill a real need not just paper shuffling. Over 40 years of artificial bubbles, get rich schemes and criminal enterprises have robbed the nation of common sense, innovation and resourcefulness.

Bush Wants 20,000 Troops to Patrol Our Streets

The 1.8 millions Federal employees could not organize a two-car funeral.
The 20,000 troops may be effective versus peaceful demonstrators, strikers, angry welfare moms, partying teenagers and unruly toddlers. The losers of three wars can not defend ordinary citizens against a determined foe.
If the government wanted to protect us, they could have stopped the flow of US nuclear secrets to potential foes.
Since 2002 everybody knows about the FBI and State Department theft but nobody does anything about it. Anyone with $20 millions can plant a suitcase bomb in any world city.
How many actual terrorists have the massive Federal bureaucracies caught? Filling the prisons with whistle blowers, left wingers and potheads doesn't complete the law enforcement task.
Finally, the USA has fully prepared to fight WWII. They have begun a Depression so we will have plenty resentment to adopt a wartime posture.

Fairness and Kindness

An economic downturn measures the true character of a country. While the present regime enacts measures, the USA will continue her downward spiral.Investment derivatives, Collateralized Debt Obligations and subprime mortgages are not fair to small businesses and consumers. The financial industry created fraudulent instruments, pocketed enormous profits and passed off the losses to the taxpayers.The manufacturers have formed collusive pacts to deprive the public of control of food, fuel and other vital resources. Recently, grain prices tripled, as cartels administered prices. Come election time gasoline prices drop as magically as they rose. They will fall until the consumers abandon all thoughts of alternative energy sources.Are the Big3 and the Seven Sisters being kind to us?The medical profession sits at the apex of cruelty.National Health Insurance should have a reality sixty years ago.Greed consumes us on the upside and fear rules the downside. When these emotions took hold for centuries, we called them the Dark Ages.

Empty Foreclosed Homes are Worthless

Cash in on the Depression

Vermin and junkies quickly trash the deserted homes. The banks eager to unload the properties will offer them for $1000 or $2000 in bulk, say 100 for $150,000 cash.The new owner can rent them at a most affordable rate of $200 to $300 monthly. The main object is to keep the houses habitable. If the tenant still can't afford it, he can do fix-up labor on his dwelling.Adventurous souls can buy an assault rifle and squat on an abandoned property.The main idea is never again to allow the government to get its greedy hands on you.The $400k/year mugs who surround Obama can't cope with a Depression.

Fighting Depression

I remind that many government, corporate and government decision makers have put us into the downward spiral. Most of them deserve to sit in prison on criminal charges. Crimes against humanity, fraud and murder will do for a start.The first task is to clear the economy of the deadwood so we can begin the restructuring in a democratic setting. A few opportunities present themselves. Dumping the IRS would ramp up consumer spending. Hate agencies such as Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA must be dissolved. The Federal Reserve, the fuel and food industries should be nationalized. If the workers of the Big3 can produce a competitively priced [EV], ownership of the companies should go to them.If the resident rents a property or is paying a mortgage on one, it should be his.If a municipality obeys fair hiring laws etc, it should receive Federal aid to pay police, firemen and teachers.Students should receive a subsidy to permit them to continue as high as they can go.A vital element is state supported health care based on the ability to pay. Doctors who refuse to see non-paying patients at least four hours per day should migrate abroad.

Collateralized Debt Obligations

Collateralized Debt Obligations

Let's talk about Collateralized Debt Obligations. A criminalized financial tool to collect subprime mortgages, the gangster bankers took the worthless papers to the corrupt bond raters who marked them triple AAA. This forgery enabled the brokers to sell them to investment banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions.The effort is similar to a Ponzi scheme, which lasts until the suckers stop investing at the bottom of the pyramid. The subprime scam continued until housing prices started to fall. This ate into the homeowner's equity and raised his mortgage payments. Soon, the sale price was lower than the debt on the house.Although the corrupt government bailed out some financial institutions, they refused loans to small business and to potential home buyers. This has led to increased bankruptcies and unemployment.. After consumer spending hit a downward spiral, massive lay-offs have occurred persuading job holders to tighten their belts.The coming depression is likely to be greater than the 1930's version. FDR assembled a new crew that improvised attacks on the real problems of the people. Obama is staffing with many of the crooks who put the financial scheme together or those who ignored it.They detest the ordinary citizens who suffer. The Homeland Security will punish anyone who objects to the rape of our country.

Here We Go Again

FirstPost.co.uk

What Goes Around Comes Around
The sky is dark with chickens coming home to roost. America is in a terrible fix. But you wouldn’t know it from the politicians.

78 Millions Cluster Bombs Remain in Laos

During the Vietnam war, the US illegally bombed Laos as part of a secret war to disrupt Vietcong supply routes. 30 years later, 78 million unexploded cluster bombs remain scattered across the country, placing thousands at risk of death or injury every day. 111 countries gathered in Dublin this week to adopt a treaty banning cluster bombs. 5 countries- the US, Russia, Israel, India and Pakistan- were notable in their absence.

The Crash of 2008

The Crash of 2008–04–17

When your neighbor is fired, it’s a recession. When you lose your job, it’s a depression.

The economy is an expression of culture. The psychological factors are vital the surge of adrenalin when the customers bring ropes to the bank.

The first report is from the Federal Reserve. Since they are partly to blame for the mess, they do not probe very deeply.

Conditions in the US economy have worsened noticeably in the past six weeks, the Federal Reserve said in its closely-followed Beige Book report.

The central bank's regular snapshot of business activity across the US described "weaker" conditions and "softening" consumer spending.

The report also described the troubled housing market as "anaemic".

The IMF recently warned that the US economy could be set for a "mild recession" this year.

Some commentators believe the economy may already been in recession, although figures published on Tuesday showed that industrial output actually rose slightly in March.

In a speech on Tuesday, one of the bank's senior officials said that the economy had "all but stalled" and may contract in the first half of the year.

"I am not ruling out a recession," said Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Reserve Bank.

The Beige Book monitors economic activity in 12 of the country's largest business districts.

The economists at Tom Paine concentrate on the people involved they call Main Street America.

Borosage, Tom Paine

On Wall Street, the masters of the universe have turned to prayer and worry beads. At the Federal Reserve, a full night's sleep is a fading memory. Across Main Street, the recession is starting to hit, stores are shutting down, bankruptcies are spreading, houses are being foreclosed or abandoned. The pain of the recession is just beginning to hit.

Note: Soon, we will see claims the Administration is cooking the books, as an election ploy.

Hmmmm! I wonder how they got that impression.

Why Should John McCain Enjoy the White House

Many people claim he is the only white man in the race for President. Certainly, he is the traditional choice.

On Election Day the outsourced factory worker will leave his five diseased children in the trailer. His wife will remind him to grab his cup of coffee at the public cantina and to bring back a carton of beans from the soup kitchen.

Their children are hacking from the asbestos in their FEMA home. His car a memory, he looks forward to a long walk to the polling place. Perhaps the air will restore his lungs.

He can’t afford cigarettes until the Chinese pimp makes his next payment.

Who would have guessed McCain would survive long enough to be elected?

A Fool and His Constitution are Soon Parted

Mr Right Wing, you really outdid yourself this time. The doubter should drive the Mon Valley. At Point Park, he can take a bridge to the Ohio River Boulevard. He will pass the factories that produced 100's of thousands of well-paying jobs very few now.
The jobs that everyone could do you sent to slave laborers in South America and in Asia. For three generations you robbed the public schools of anyone who could think for himself. For nuclear scientists the US had to go to Israel and the sub-continent. Those guys never guessed that the FBI and the State Department were selling nuclear secrets through the Turks.
Your financial institutions encouraged the gullible to consume the equity in their homes. After the bubble burst, the fools can sell their daughters for dollars to work in East Asian brothels.
You tout the same rhetoric Bush used to wow them in 2000. It worked to turn Iraq and the USA into ashes.

What's your next target? Iran?

For November I hope I see a Tsunami of wrath overcome the Washington scalawags. Those not swept out to sea should enjoy an asbestos-filled atmosphere inside a FEMA trailer.