Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Quote of the Day

January 20, 2015
Honda Warns Against ‘Stupid’ Loans Driving U.S. Sales Gains

“We’ve seen this movie before, we know how it ends, and it’s not pretty,” Webb told reporters at an event before last week’s show. “But I say that it has longer to run, and we have already paid the price of admission. So we might as well stay to the end. You just keep your eyes on the exit door.”

Stupid loans for the win!

This is my first attempt to post from an iPhone. Crossing fingers.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

it worked . . . I can haz chart?

- psychodave

Mr Slippery said...

My momma always said stupid is as stupid does.

Life is like a box of 84-month asset backed car loans. You never know what you're going to get.

And that's about all I have to say about that.

Troy said...

Home prices could go up when financing went from 5 year balloon to 15 and then 30 (and 50 and 100 in Japan . . .)

http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/05/21/73567/index.htm

and yes, the Japanese *have* seen this movie before . . .

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=XTA

Stagflationary Mark said...

psychodave,

Good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there will definitely be far fewer charts.

The good news is that any data that does manage to get me to make a chart on an inferior laptop using inferior tools (Paint instead of Paint Shop Pro) might be fairly mind blowing. ;)

Stagflationary Mark said...

Mr Slippery,

Can't see the Forest (Gump) for the (Money) Tree's (payday loan)!

Stagflationary Mark said...

Troy,

They just aren't making any more Japanese land. Buy now or be priced out forever! ;)

Rob Dawg said...

I hope they are taking good care of my next cars.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Rob Dawg,

If towing oversized 2nd homes (camping trailers also bought with cheap credit) counts, then yes, they are taking good care of them, lol. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

“But I say that it has longer to run, and we have already paid the price of admission. So we might as well stay to the end. You just keep your eyes on the exit door.”

I think you've found the successor to Chuck Prince's "As long as the music's playing, you've got to dance" quote.

Stagflationary Mark said...

James,

It's definitely not something we'd expect Jamie Dimon to say, at least in public, lol. Sigh.

dearieme said...

I am pro-Honda. My first motorbike was a Honda: I'd saved for it from summer jobs in my schooldays. When we lived in NZ our car was a Honda. I am therefore delighted to see a bit of sensible caution from that firm.

Which are the firms selling on 84-month loans? Government Motors and Chrysler? I suppose 84 months is roughly how long the car can be expected to last at a decent standard of reliability. I say this in a grand, dismissive tone, our car being in its twenty-first year.

Stagflationary Mark said...

dearieme,

My Toyota is nearly 19 years old. I bought it the year before I bought the home I'm living in.

Don't see much value in buying either cars or houses often. I bought the car new. Lost about 10% just driving it off the lot. The house was used, but it too lost about 10% (should I have immediately sold the instant I bought it, thanks to transaction costs).

Of course, in a rapidly rising housing market, transaction costs can apparently always be safely ignored. Nobody can ever lose money on real estate (say the recipients of high transaction costs anyway)! ;)

Fritz_O said...

make a chart on an inferior laptop using inferior tools

AWESOME! There's hope.

I'm using an eight-year-old laptop that replaced a fourteen-year-old PC that had been upgraded three times.

In a word, iDont. Buy.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Fritz_O,

I'm using an eight-year-old laptop that replaced a fourteen-year-old PC that had been upgraded three times.

Yes! That was almost exsctly my situation!

Just two differences:

1. I never upgraded, even when my computer was complaining/nagging constantly. Windiws 2000 for the long-term win, lol.

2. Think how annoyed I'd be right now if I had upgraded the operating system last November. I wisely didn't though! Woohoo!

Unlike most things in life, procrastination and stubbrnness can really pay off when it comes to computer upgrade cycles, lol.

I have never typed an email and thought to myself, "My quality of life would be greatly improved if I upgraded my operating system. I should devote the rest of my weekend to doing it."

If the computing world really wants me to buy a new computer someday, then it better act as a dumb terminal. The thought of never upgrading a computer again very much appeals to me.

In fact, I almost long for the days of the TRS-80. At least applications didn't fight with each other over popup supremacy. My girlfriend's laptop's favorite thing to do is nag me constantly about the latest updates from a plethora of different programs, whether actually used or not. Oh joy.