How is the credit crunch affecting you?

[Chilly]

God, I love Boris.

Always rely on Boris for the straight story.

 

[old.user4556]

An interesting new twist.

BBC NEWS | Business | US Fed announces $800bn stimulus

 

[Furr]

Yanks are doing it properly, they are going after the root cause of the problem which is the credit flow, or lack it. The entire issue boils down to credit and the banks. I have no idea what our stimulus package is meant to be doing apart from trying to get the public to spend cash they don't have and buy cars and houses on credit they can't get to put money into businesses who can't do any investing and growing because... surprise surprise they can't get credit.

The focus has to be on the financial sector, it needs to be fixed, stimulated, chucked cash at, bribed and everything else to get them to start doing business again, untill they come out of their dugouts nothing else will work.

 

[Vae]

Also can you imagine how hammered that shop would get from in reputation and in loss of sales from other supermarkets?

If Tescos passed on the VAT cut but Asda didn't - Tescos would have adverts out in a day which would quite simply fuck Asda right over.

For simplicity of the future (since the VAT drop is short term only) and competition-reasons, the vast majority of the retail/service sector will pass on the cut.

Of course the cut itself will do very little but raise confidence - and confidence is simply not enough in the current climate.

I think you're being incredibly naive here. I would expect only those retailers in a direct price war with competitors to pass on the VAT saving. An example of these might be the supermarkets.

The vast majority of other retailers will simply keep the same price point and use the saving to boost their margin or allow them to offer more discounts or promotions.

The company I work for is a retailer across Europe and we won't be adjusting our prices in either the UK (for the 2.5% decrease in VAT) or in Ireland (for the 0.5% increase in VAT). The reasoning is that we set prices for each season based on exchange rates, commodity prices and what the product could sell for in comparison to competitors.

If the customer is willing to buy at a particular price point (which our customers appear willing to do as our sales are defying the recession and have been beating budgets every month of this year so far) then why would we go to the hassle of changing prices especially when those changes would change a price from say £99.95 to £97.82. It's only those retailers (e.g. supermarkets) who regularly adjust their prices to these unusual prices that will consider doing so and I bet it won't be an across the board adjustment for those companies either.

This adjustment to VAT isn't the answer to getting the public to spend more but it might help some companies survive which wouldn't otherwise have been able to do so.

 

[Scouse]

Yanks are doing it properly, they are going after the root cause of the problem which is the credit flow, or lack it.

Really? I'd have thought the root cause was a "bent" monetary system...

 

[Hawkwind]

I thought the problem was started by giving mortgages to people who couldn't pay them and making the assumption that house prices always rise. Giving some insurance against possible foreclosure. When prices starting dropping the lenders then catagorised those mortgages hiding the really bad ones, getting them A ratings with credit agencies. They in turn sold the finance on to Insurance companies and other institutions. When the sub prime collapsed everyone just sat there saying, oh shit we fucked up! Meanwhile, pensions, insurance companies and a small town in Denmark go under.

People should be in jail for what they've done. Particularly those agencies that hid the bad mortgages and managed to get them good ratings.

 

[Scouse]

Or perhaps the problem was created by the Federal Reserve Bank, when chairman Alan Greenspan who (to compensate for the burst dot-com bubble) deliberately inflated the housing bubble through the reduction of interest rates and active resistance of any regulation of the sub-prime mortgate markets?

Who'd have thought that the sub-prime market bubble would burst when interest rates were whacked back up eh?


Hey, I must be just a conspiracy theorist thinking like this tho. I mean, it's not as if the Fed effectively controls 50% of the mortgage markets in the US now, is it?

 

[Ch3tan]

I had to talk to my staff today after the press leaked administration before we could notify all the employees.

I had resigned two weeks ago, dealing with people today made me feel like shit. Had to try and motivate them and make them fight for the companys future. All without telling them I am fucking off on the 15th of Dec.

 

[old.user4556]

Seems that some of the price cuts are worth dying for.

BBC NEWS | Business | US stores lure hard-up shoppers

 

[throdgrain]

I had to talk to my staff today after the press leaked administration before we could notify all the employees.

I had resigned two weeks ago, dealing with people today made me feel like shit. Had to try and motivate them and make them fight for the companys future. All without telling them I am fucking off on the 15th of Dec.

Why did you leave though? You said you didnt have another job?

 

[Ch3tan]

I don't have the energy left to do the job anymore. 5 years of 40-60 hour weeks, working hard for someone else and getting very little incentive and motivation have drained me. I couldn't care less about waiting it out for redundancies, I just need some rest.

 

[rynnor]

Shit - that sounds really bad Ch3t - any idea what you want to do next (after a restfull christmas by the sound of it) ?

Though the market isnt great there are still jobs out there so fear not!

 

[throdgrain]

I woulda hung in there and got the redundancy personally, but each man makes his own choice.

Good luck to you mate.

 

[Bugz]

I think you're being incredibly naive here. I would expect only those retailers in a direct price war with competitors to pass on the VAT saving. An example of these might be the supermarkets.

The vast majority of other retailers will simply keep the same price point and use the saving to boost their margin or allow them to offer more discounts or promotions.

The company I work for is a retailer across Europe and we won't be adjusting our prices in either the UK (for the 2.5% decrease in VAT) or in Ireland (for the 0.5% increase in VAT). The reasoning is that we set prices for each season based on exchange rates, commodity prices and what the product could sell for in comparison to competitors.

If the customer is willing to buy at a particular price point (which our customers appear willing to do as our sales are defying the recession and have been beating budgets every month of this year so far) then why would we go to the hassle of changing prices especially when those changes would change a price from say £99.95 to £97.82. It's only those retailers (e.g. supermarkets) who regularly adjust their prices to these unusual prices that will consider doing so and I bet it won't be an across the board adjustment for those companies either.

This adjustment to VAT isn't the answer to getting the public to spend more but it might help some companies survive which wouldn't otherwise have been able to do so.

Well, the emails I got from websites such as mandmdirect, which came out literally days after the PBR, stated in big letters 'WE ARE PASSING THE SAVINGS ONTO YOU.'

Furthermore, maybe it's just me, but with Christmas looming, provided companies have the administration to get prices cut, why the hell wouldn't they? Companies are in dire need of people to spend - i think companies hanging on the edge of a liquidity crisis would rather bring more people in with savings than take the risk of being out competed.

As for your own individual company - congratulations on beating the recession. A select few companies are, and yes, VAT cuts for them will probably make very little difference in the grand scheme of things. But VAT cuts for other companies will be a massive role in competition, reputation and whether or not they survive the xmas rush.

 

[taB]

The VAT cuts are a complete bag of jizm and won't generate any spending whatsoever. Of course people are passing on the savings; it's because they are irrelevant.

Too little too late. Too many borrowed too much.

I mean £21.28 off every £1k spent...

 

[Ch3tan]

I woulda hung in there and got the redundancy personally, but each man makes his own choice.

Good luck to you mate.

I'm not sure it will come to redundancy, and if it does it will only be a small portion of stores and job roles. Business has been good, no such thing as bad press. Also our cash flow has improved and the administrators have been very positive over the future of the business.

Sticking around for 3 months or more just incase I get redundancy in a job I do not enjoy anymore is not fair on anyone. I do actually care about the company to much to stay in a role that I cannot commit to, my personal view is that if someone is paying you the you work to your full potential for them or go elsewhere.

 

[old.user4556]

BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown unveils mortgage help plan

Good news for those (including me) that could be facing the axe over the next while.

 

[raw]

Not affected me in the slightest appart from drop in interest rates on savings. At least now i'll finally get round to buying a house in the next 18 months

 

[MYstIC G]

You hope!

 

[rynnor]

Not affected me in the slightest appart from drop in interest rates on savings. At least now i'll finally get round to buying a house in the next 18 months

Uh-huh - I think it has affected you - its now far harder to get a mortgage and deals get dropped whilst people are applying.

Their are now far fewer deals and no effective competition as no-one wants new business.

Despite drops in the Bank of England rate the mortgage rates are still around 5%.

To cap it all banks now demand a much higher percentage of deposit which particularly effects first time buyers.

Realistically you were better off buying a couple of years ago assuming you can afford the repayments (since negative equity is meaningless unless you want to move in the short term) since property prices will eventually bounce back.

 

[old.user4556]

Uh-huh - I think it has affected you

Yeah I'd say most people were affected to some degree, directly or indirectly.

 

[Bodhi]

The main way it affected me was I was laid off in September. On reflection this was fair enough, even though I was in the right company I was in the wrong job, something everyone knew. It's not that I was a bad salesman, just a lazy one. Add in the fact I only started in February I can't say I'm shocked.

Howeve when they were there they did notice that I was very good technically (handy for working in a computer company I thought), so they had me back 6 weeks later starting as a Pre-Sales Consultant. A month and a bit later and I am loving it - this is what I originally got into sales to do, and my specialties (Server Infrastructure and Virtualization) fit in well to the existing presales team. In short I'm now having the time of my life, as the training has been superb. I've got my hands on some pretty amazing kit, and seeing what it can do has been a real eye opener.

The ony othe issue has been I could no longer afford to live on my own, so have moved back in with the folks. It has its problems but I get dinner cooked and I always have clean shirts. I've also borrowed me mum's 3-series.

So in short after a sticky start it's been a bloody awesome credit crunch. Long may it continue!

 

[old.user4556]

So they're (probably) bailing out the car manufacturers.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Obama vows aid for car industry

 

[old.user4556]

Return of the 99p pint?! Bring it!

BBC NEWS | UK | Health group angered by 99p pint

 

[rynnor]

The health groups are being stupid - theres still much cheaper alcohol available in the supermarkets.

Even people on the dole can still afford to drink themselves to death if they choose so cheaper pints arent an issue.

Anyone know what you get for 99p?

 

[Earl]

The health groups are being stupid - theres still much cheaper alcohol available in the supermarkets.

Even people on the dole can still afford to drink themselves to death if they choose so cheaper pints arent an issue.

Anyone know what you get for 99p?

Greene King IPA will be cut to 99p a pint, as will a bottle of San Miguel

 

[Ch3tan]

well done spoons, see they are reducing prices of their meals too. Pubs have become very expensive lately, so I welcome this. I won't drink anymore or else because of the pricing, but I will have more money when I go home if others follow suit.

 

[Tom]

1989 levels? You could buy a pint of bitter in a Joey Holts pub in 1990 for 76p.

 

[nath]

Alcohol Concern says pricing drinks at 1989 levels could cause more people to drink too much and end up in hospital.

I really don't drink much at all but that sort of attitude really makes me want to punch those people in the throat.

 

[old.user4556]

It's an absolutely idiotic statement to make.

"i drink 10 pints at £3 a pint, and get wasted"

and now:

"i drink 10 pints at £1 a pint, and get wasted, and be £20 better off"

It's almost as rediculous a statement as me saying that they will have more money so can afford a safe taxi home. Could you imagine the Daily Mail when they put the prices back up?

TEENAGE RAPES UP WITH SPIRALING COST OF DRINK BECAUSE THEY CAN'T GET TAXIS HOME

HYPOTHERMIA DEATHS OF FAT OLD MEN UP AS THEY DRINK IN POVERTY