WTH Is Going On

Not trucker related, but I'm pretty mad and need to vent.

I have a 2015 Nissan Altima, fully paid for with 125k miles on it. I feel the transmission starting to slip and I'm more surprised that it took this long given their history, so I decide it's time to trade her in and get something new to me.

I don't buy new cars unless their old body rollovers nobody wants that I can get for a good deal like I did with this Altima. I go to check out some used cars online and they're asking for 20K for a 10 year old car that wasn't with 20K 10 years ago.

Google says there's a chip shortage so now they can't make cars. How long is this shortage going to last? Everytime I turn around there's a new shortage of some everyday product that drives up prices and causes hysteria. When will it end?

How long is this shortage going to last? Every time I turn around there's a new shortage of some everyday product that drives up prices and causes hysteria. When will it end?

I believe we're in for the mother of all economic collapses. The government has been artificially holding up the markets and the economy for the past 15 months. They have pumped trillions and trillions of dollars into both, and they're passing laws like the ones that prevent evictions so it doesn't appear as if things are as bad as they are.

Unfortunately, it's all a house of cards. 2008 will look like good times compared to what's coming. The great depression might look like good times compared to what's coming.

Prepare yourselves. Watch the stock market for the first signs of collapse. Once the market goes, everything follows, like 1929 and 2008.

I wish the news was better, but it isn't. I've said all along that you can not shut down the economy and then just flip it back on like a light switch. People are all excited that we're getting back to normal and business is booming. Prices are up, real estate demand is high, used cars are selling for a fortune, work is backed up for months, etc.

We're booming?

Think about it. How could that possibly happen after shutting down so much of Western society for over a year?

Crash.

There was an article i read last month about Ford (?) Using the lot at a Kentucky race track to store all the vehicles that were awaiting chips. At our local Chevy dealership the only inventory they had on hand were less sought after models like the Bolt or Trax. Their Silverados were selling out WEEKS before they're set to get the next shipment. I'm not sure why locally it seems Chevy lots are empty but you drive past Ford or Dodge and their lots are full.

I've been looking to buy my first house, it's crazy right now people are paying 15-20k over asking price without batting a eye. Houses that where 180k 2 years ago are going for 210k+. I've made 4 offers only to be significantly outbid, so I may end up waiting a year and seeing what happens.

The car market is pretty much the same way, especially for pickups and SUVs.

The government has been artificially holding up the markets and the economy for the past 15 months.

And profiting as individual's off of it with their legal insider trading.

Unfortunately, it's all a house of cards. 2008 will look like good times compared to what's coming. The great depression might look like good times compared to what's coming.

Prepare yourselves. Watch the stock market for the first signs of collapse. Once the market goes, everything follows, like 1929 and 2008.

I learned my lesson from seeing what happened to my parents in 08 and seeing people doing jobs they were too old for. I live well below my means and I'm comfortable and I'm prepared.

We're booming?

Think about it. How could that possibly happen after shutting down so much of Western society for over a year?

Crash.

It's absolutely coming and sooner rather than later.

Chevy lots are empty but you drive past Ford or Dodge and their lots are full.

My understanding is that they're show vehicles and not the ones selling. I could be wrong though.

I've been looking to buy my first house, it's crazy right now people are paying 15-20k over asking price without batting a eye. Houses that where 180k 2 years ago are going for 210k+. I've made 4 offers only to be significantly outbid, so I may end up waiting a year and seeing what happens.

Investors are moving into real estate to avoid the taxes on capital gains. They're moving the money from A to B to keep as much as they can. That's why there are so many cash buys. There isn't as much money in apartment buildings any more either due to people fleeing those densely populated areas.

The car market is pretty much the same way, especially for pickups and SUVs.

I don't even want anything that fancy. I'd be fine with any 3 year old sedan, but the asking prices are ridiculous.

Bad times are definitely coming. The big uncertain among the economic gurus that I’ve been reading up on is the question of deflation or hyper inflation. Since 2008, the federal reserve has been padding the market to soften the blows when the market falls and that’s a very very bad way to do things in order to keep interest rates low and flat. The markets go through huge waves of gains and losses and while painful, it works. Right now, there are so many amateurs working in what they think are big gain areas that they’re about to lose it all when the bottom drops out and it absolutely will. The low and middle money investors will disappear and the big money will survive like they always do. I follow Harry Dent pretty extensively and he has a very solid record on his predictions and his current one is a massive crash followed by a very robust and relatively quick recovery.

There are nifty explanations for all the price increases, but essentially hyper-inflation has already started. Lumber is explained by shortages and demand, Cars are explained away by chips, gas is explained away by supply and distribution, food is next on the list, there will be an explanation for that too.

As was mentioned above, the entire economic system never recovered from 08 to begin with, we have been practicing quantitive easing since then, and in the last couple years its been over the line. We have already entered into a depression, and ultimately economic collapse. Id love to blame it all on the current regime in power, but its been building a long time. Its just that the current admin is too inept and incompetent to deal with it.

Steve Berry, the guy who called the 08 crash has stated that this will make the great depression look like a mild hiccup. There are a lot of similarities between now and the last days of the Weimar republic, including a corrupt bloated central government that keeps printing money to the point of it being worthless.

I suspect that the US currency system will be removed from the fiat system and reset to a hard system, the problem is that there isnt enough gold in the world to link it to a dollar for value, so what that would be, Im not sure.

Its possible that we are just doom and gloom people, but there are an awful lot of very educated and experienced people in the financial world stating what Bret said. I plan on getting property that is self sustainable and getting it paid for asap. I think were in for a very rough ride soon. We also havent even touched on the rent and mortgage crisis. Estimates of 20 million renters that are in default, meaning that the landlords for those renters are likely in default. Once evictions start happening, they are looking a tsunami of homelessness and rapid collapse of the low end housing market, very similar to 08.

We've ran into a hiccup "refinancing" our house (it's currently paid off) and I'm kind of glad. My only real wish is that we had property attached to it to be able to grow more, but at least as of now we can't lose our home.

All of these posts are A1 Spot On Correct!

This is the stuff I'm following every day while I'm driving. Personally, I am not making any big ticket purchases any time soon. As a matter of fact, I've actually downsized and sold off two of my side businesses to the managers that were already running them. We are in for some very turbulent times in the near future.

One prediction I've told a few members on here is that by Labor Day, diesel will be at $5 per gallon for the national average. People won't need to worry about cars then because gasoline will be right behind it. "Save the planet through ultra-high, artificially-inflated prices and phony crisis"? That's one of the directions I see things heading.

All of these posts are A1 Spot On Correct!

This is the stuff I'm following every day while I'm driving. Personally, I am not making any big ticket purchases any time soon. As a matter of fact, I've actually downsized and sold off two of my side businesses to the managers that were already running them. We are in for some very turbulent times in the near future.

One prediction I've told a few members on here is that by Labor Day, diesel will be at $5 per gallon for the national average. People won't need to worry about cars then because gasoline will be right behind it. "Save the planet through ultra-high, artificially-inflated prices and phony crisis"? That's one of the directions I see things heading.

I’ve moved a few things around myself just to protect arts and such based on what I’ve been listening to and reading. I have equity in our house and enough cash stashed away to pay all the bills for a year. The biggest thing was cashing in half of Bitcoin and investing it in precious metals and a couple other things. Other than that, just enjoying time at home playing with toys and going to the range to break in a couple new rifle builds I’m hoping to start doing competition shooting with.