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dwot (99.50)

Changing Consumer Buying Behaviour

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April 27, 2008 – Comments (10)

It looks like many brands are going to struggle with pricing power in this next round.  The NYtimes has an article about recession pricing.  Consumers are changing their behaviour in response to increasing costs, "more pasta and less red meat, more video rentals and fewer movie tickets."

Reading the story, I don't feel sorry for $4 gallon milk, I get half that (2 liters) for $4 and I watched a neighbour put a whopping $130 in his gas tank yesterday, 90 liters, about 24 gallons.  That's about $45 more here then it would be in the US.

Brands and corporate logos are considered extremely valuable to businesses but I'm willing to guess their value is plummeting -- goodwill write-offs coming?  I grew up in a single parent household and there wasn't a lot of value put on brand names.  It looks like that way of thinking is spreading.

Mish has another great post, on bank financing.  They are paying in the 8-13% range, which means huge increases to costs.  Citibank is paying more than 3% more to raise new equity and then they are still paying the dividend, really dumb. 

Personally, I question whether people will actually get their principal back with these deals. I wouldn't touch them.

This credit mess has to be paid for from somewhere and I am glad to see people stepping up to the plate to do this. 

On another point, I went for a walk today, doing my best to avoid bison dung, which is everywhere now that the snow has melted.  I posted this picture in the fall of a couple that used to hang around town until three of herd ended up as dinner.  The bison haven't been hanging around town since, but their dung is still everywhere...  It was really cool to later that day see kids chasing them down the street...

Photobucket

But, one thing about my walk, I had no idea how many of the locals have out houses and the degree of substandard housing around here.  It got to -58 here with the wind chill this winter.  That's one cold seat I'd not like to be putting my butt on at all.  Count your blessing everyone. 

I wonder if my reading list will show up here... 


10 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On April 27, 2008 at 10:16 PM, GeordieMc (47.33) wrote:

I'm really curious where you live.

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#2) On April 27, 2008 at 10:24 PM, EScroogeJr (< 20) wrote:

British Columbia? too far south for -58. Yukon? Too cold for the bisons.

 

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#3) On April 27, 2008 at 10:57 PM, lquadland10 (< 20) wrote:

Hi Dwot, How are you? Do you think this is a diabolical plan by Governments, Large Corporation's and Banking cartel's to help form the SPP and the Transatlantic Economic Council? Before you reply please listen to the 4 videos I posted and if you do like it pass it along. http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ViewBlog.aspx?t=01006952843786714939  I am thinking it is much worse than we even think. Our Fed needs to raise rates and he will drop them again and what you just posted will seem mild. Store Brand will become a luxgery and growing your own food will become a necessity. Say good buy to the bison.  Add that to the pressure and the  CFR news run T>V> news and print about Iran and Syera. See my others blogs on those subjects. How can we trade a fixed market? The best we can. I bet you didn't hear anything else about the radiation that killed the Russian reporter with Russian radiation? Yet we still don't secure the north and south borders. 1 day reporting on ricen in las vagas and then this 1 day reporting on trial   This is the tip of the Ice berg. So why do I think that the news will give us the truth on this? I don't. I do count my blessings. Try to read the Nuclear Jihadist by D. Frantz, C. Collins. It will make your hair stand on end. LQ

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#4) On April 27, 2008 at 11:50 PM, dwot (99.50) wrote:

I am in the North West Territories and it was a very cold winter here.  My pipes froze 6 times this winter.  We have a water tank in our homes so I had to scoop water out and heat it to bath and such.

We have bison here, it wasn't too cold, although I did see a story this week about a half dozen that seemed to starve to death a bit further north then where I am.  It was an exceptionally cold winter this year.  The river is still frozen.

I talk about Vancouver all the time because that is where I was until October, and I was back at xmas and for spring break, but I moved north to take a job.

Lquadland10, I think you just position yourself to be out of the way the best you can.  They are trying very hard to keep things proped up, and it is probably a good idea.  An out of control deleveraging would be truly awful.  At this point I am grateful for those that are putting their money up to fill in the holes in the financial industry.  Deleveraging has to come from somewhere and I personally think these people have positioned themselves to take a lion's share of the hit.  A Japan style deleveraging looks far more favourable to me then an out of control panic.

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#5) On April 28, 2008 at 12:05 AM, EScroogeJr (< 20) wrote:

Thanks for the picture of bisons. They are gorgeous animals.

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#6) On April 28, 2008 at 10:29 AM, kdakota630 (31.51) wrote:

Where abouts are you again, anyway?  I've been pretty far north myself a few times.  I dad moved to Whitehorse briefly in the early 80s.  I was supposed to move up there but when the economy went south so did he so a few summers later he brought me up for a trip, mostly around the gold rush areas in the Yukon, Alaska, and then a fishing trip to Atlin, BC.

Also made 5 trips (3 winter, 2 summer) to the North West Territories, although the part I was in is now Nunavut. 

Great pictures, BTW.  Never been that close to bison in the wild before, but I did get about 15 feet away from a Muskox.  No camera to prove it, unfortunately. 

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#7) On April 28, 2008 at 11:26 AM, camistocks (< 20) wrote:

dwot, just wait until the summer, when the mosquitos will come...

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#8) On April 28, 2008 at 2:30 PM, dwot (99.50) wrote:

I am just north of the BC boarder, only 37km into NWT.

That's the roof of my car you see there and if you look carefully, and I tell you there is a road there you can sort of make out where it is. 

Here's another one only 2-3 minutes later.

Jonathon and bison 2

The trees are just out of range of the camera in the first picture.  That's my roommate walking down to the end of the driveway that my car is parked on by the side of the house, so the angle is just a little different.  The bison are actually on the street in that picture.

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#9) On May 10, 2008 at 8:58 PM, abitare (99.38) wrote:

cool.

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#10) On May 20, 2008 at 11:58 PM, TAMMANYHALL86 (30.74) wrote:

 

   we were discussing today which industries will be affected as things become out of reach. Not a tough call that gas won't be dropping in the near future sure it's crap but with demand from china and India I find it doubtful we will see a big drop in prices.

  You  may even  see  a drop in the roll call at PETA  how about People for the ethical termination of animals.

                                              
 

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