Layoffs at TIGE???

[Jason B]

That really stinks! I really thought it would be a bit longer before the economy really started to get ugly.

[wannabewakeboarder]

Did I stutter? Isn't it past your bedtime? j/k

No.

[G-MONEY]

That really stinks! I really thought it would be a bit longer before the economy really started to get ugly.

We have been on thin ice for a few years now.......


Everyone hold on it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better

[ragboy]

Thats a bummer. Which means great deals on boats, but if you have to sell one, you will be in the same place. So only good news for first time buyers.

As an example, I just got a brand new motorcycle, for more than $4k off msrp. $12,5 instead of $16,8. So a friend of mine, with a 2006 kawasaki vulcan 900, goes to see how much the 1500s were. Same thing, they had lowered them almost $4k to get them off the floor, just not selling. But also, they only gave him like $3500 for his bike, it should have retail val of $6k+ and trade in of $4500.

Knock on wood, economy is good for me right now, but we are putting money away. We stopped plans from moving to a bigger place, and I also was thinking of RZ4, but we put all of that on hold. It would be nice to get through this downturn unscathed. The 2001 downturn, due to 9/11 almost took us out, our business was still very young.

[Razzman]

Jason, not meaning to stir the pot here or piss anybody off but i gotta ask what you consider ugly?

• Many financial experts agree we are in a recession regardless of what the government says.

• 223,651 homes across the nation received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, up 59.8 percent from 139,922 a year earlier

• Most of the troubled properties were in California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Ohio — states where home prices have plunged as the housing boom went bust. Hence i'm not suprised at all Tigé layed off personell.

• In California, scores of renters are being kicked out of their homes, even when they haven't missed a single rent payment. There's a single lady on my own block in this situation. She was paying her rent but the the owner was pocketing the money instead of paying the mortgage.

• Fears of further fallout in financial markets last week sent the greenback cascading to successive historic lows against the euro and levels against the yen not seen since 1995.

• Gas prices recently reached a historic high listing at over $110 a barrel causing consumers to pay over $4 at the pump with expectations of $5 by the summer.

• The national unemployment rate was 4.8% in Feb with approximately 63,000 jobs lost.

Sounds pretty ugly to me.

[talltigeguy]

We have been on thin ice for a few years now.......


Everyone hold on it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better

Agreed!

Jason, not meaning to stir the pot here or piss anybody off but i gotta ask what you consider ugly?

• Many financial experts agree we are in a recession regardless of what the government says.

• 223,651 homes across the nation received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, up 59.8 percent from 139,922 a year earlier

• Most of the troubled properties were in California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Ohio — states where home prices have plunged as the housing boom went bust. Hence i'm not suprised at all Tigé layed off personell.

• In California, scores of renters are being kicked out of their homes, even when they haven't missed a single rent payment. There's a single lady on my own block in this situation. She was paying her rent but the the owner was pocketing the money instead of paying the mortgage.

• Fears of further fallout in financial markets last week sent the greenback cascading to successive historic lows against the euro and levels against the yen not seen since 1995.

• Gas prices recently reached a historic high listing at over $110 a barrel causing consumers to pay over $4 at the pump with expectations of $5 by the summer.

• The national unemployment rate was 4.8% in Feb with approximately 63,000 jobs lost.

Sounds pretty ugly to me.

I think most boat purchases have been made with equity in the home that has now burst or interest rate has reset. I actually bought mine that way. I feel lucky that I have the means to have paid it down, or I would be in a very serious situation as well.

The dealer in Vegas told me you can get your new boat built in 3 weeks now. The Vegas market is hit extremely hard with overinflated home prices that have now sunk to reality. Boat sales are not good.

Check out COpe and McPheters list of 89 Mastercrafts for sale...http://www.copeandmcphetres.com/sear...mplate&indid=1

[Tanner]

• The national unemployment rate was 4.8% in Feb with approximately 63,000 jobs lost.

Sounds pretty ugly to me.

That's a pretty damn low rate. Better than the 7.2% we saw w/ Clinton.

The housing market isn't as bad the media makes it seem. Actually it's pretty damn good. Ask your established builders. Most the problem is people were borrowing more than their house was worth and hoping to flip it, and can't now. Thus those forclosures that are scewing the numbers. Then you have new builders that went out and built 5-10 to even 20-30 specs. expecting to sell them. The market stabilized, and now they are left holding houses they can't sell b/c they are in neighborhoods w/ 10-20 houses sitting for sale, and no new home buyer is going to move into a community like that.

Custom New home starts are still at an all time high.

But I guess this layoff is what my dealer told me about w/ the production of new boats being scaled back.

[Razzman]

That's a pretty damn low rate. Better than the 7.2% we saw w/ Clinton.

The housing market isn't as bad the media makes it seem. Actually it's pretty damn good. Ask your established builders. Most the problem is people were borrowing more than their house was worth and hoping to flip it, and can't now. Thus those forclosures that are scewing the numbers. Then you have new builders that went out and built 5-10 to even 20-30 specs. expecting to sell them. The market stabilized, and now they are left holding houses they can't sell b/c they are in neighborhoods w/ 10-20 houses sitting for sale, and no new home buyer is going to move into a community like that.

Custom New home starts are still at an all time high.

But I guess this layoff is what my dealer told me about w/ the production of new boats being scaled back.

That may well be the case in the midwest Tanner but on the west coast new home sales have stalled and new starts are virtually non-existant. There are major builders that cannot even auction the homes 100-200K less than what they awere asking for them. There are whole developments at standstills uncomplete. Housing prices have dumped, my home i bought new in 1991 is worth $150K less than it was same time last year. A new development next to mine is sitting with no takers. The builder has committed to completing the twelve homes in the works and has stated they are pulling out after that, leaving another 50 lots that will not be built.

[Jason B]

"Ugly" means it effects ME!

Seriously though, I have not heard too much about layoffs yet. Auto manufacturers, drug companies, etc... For the most part, the economy being bad right now has only hurt our stocks and investments. It hasn't actually trickelled (sp) down to cause the closing of restaurants or small businesses in my area. I don't know anybody personally who has had to make any lifestyle changes or anything like that. Unemployment isn't even too far off par considering the economy (IMO).
When people have to start unloading toys and shifting lifestyles- that's ugly.

[kana12]

where i work we ship out 1.2 million dollars a month in pressure vessels and heat exchangers and we are in the middle of expanding to 1.6 million a month and hiring new people. i am a industrial welder for evapco and (rvs) refrigeration valve services. evapco.com i guess that since our products are very usefull in helping the oil field , tyson chicken, refrigeration, etc... its giving them the chance to expand while the economy is so crapy.. sux for people being layed off. dont know what id do if that happened to me.

[Razzman]

"Ugly" means it effects ME!

Seriously though, I have not heard too much about layoffs yet. Auto manufacturers, drug companies, etc... For the most part, the economy being bad right now has only hurt our stocks and investments. It hasn't actually trickelled (sp) down to cause the closing of restaurants or small businesses in my area. I don't know anybody personally who has had to make any lifestyle changes or anything like that. Unemployment isn't even too far off par considering the economy (IMO).
When people have to start unloading toys and shifting lifestyles- that's ugly.

Well it hasn't affected me any either. We bought our house 17 years ago on a 30yr conventional so the rates are low and the only other bill I really have is the new truck so it's no big deal. The sad part is i wanted to buy a new boat this year but decided to wait and see what happens with the economy and such. I had a dealer call me the other night and offer to sell me for 10K less the same boat i was looking at back in August. By the end of the year it should be even cheaper, if he's still in biz then that is. I've noticed a lot of people off loading their boats recently on Craigslist and WW on the west coast, a lot more than normal so it's hitting them out here for sure.

[Tanner]

That may well be the case in the midwest Tanner but on the west coast new home sales have stalled and new starts are virtually non-existant. There are major builders that cannot even auction the homes 100-200K less than what they awere asking for them. There are whole developments at standstills uncomplete. Housing prices have dumped, my home i bought new in 1991 is worth $150K less than it was same time last year. A new development next to mine is sitting with no takers. The builder has committed to completing the twelve homes in the works and has stated they are pulling out after that, leaving another 50 lots that will not be built.

I do agree that Calif., FL, parts of TX and AZ are suffering in the housing market as they were overinflated to begin w/. The same houses that I build here that are 1.5 to 2.5 million here in OK, TX and KS, well, I've seen comparative stuff selling for 8-10 million over there. You can't tell me that land was really worth that much. But your right... those markets are in bad shape. Mainly due to the builders' and customers or ignorance. You can't flood a market and expect that same market to keep moving right along w/ nobody getting hurt. My point was that the media has painted a dooms day scenario nationwide, as the coasts are where the media is located. But in reality, the overall picture is bright, despite those few isolated pockets.

[spharis]

Housing is still very good here. Most of the state is the same way. MS, AL, and GA are also ok. Pricing hasn't skyrocketed like out west.

[Razzman]

Housing is still very good here. Most of the state is the same way. MS, AL, and GA are also ok. Pricing hasn't skyrocketed like out west.

The big problem SP is that those prices that skyrocketed are now plummeting big time and people are in trouble because of it. It's sad to see.

[da.bell]

I'm glad that I bought my house 1.5 years ago for what I did. We low balled them and today, my house is worth more than what I bought it for. Not much more but I am not going to lose my arse either.

Sacramento and Stockton are feeling the housing market crunch pretty bad. Stockton is #1 and Sacramento is #7 in foreclosures.