We're not talking about crystal meth here, Brendan.

 

That might be you and that's great, but for others, track time with the associated costs of consumables between tires, brakes, gas, etc. are considered entertainment and not necessities and are 1st to be cut in the budget.

You should know being in Socal, the cost of track rental at Calspeedway, BW, Willow have gone up. I wonder if they will go down as the supply and demand of their rentals fluctuate.

 

It doesn't take a big stretch of one's imagination to ponder likely outcomes of this "once in a century" kind of crisis. Consider this...

- roughly 30-40% of global (yes Global) wealth in market based assets has been wiped out
- 30% of homes in the U.S. have negative equity
- the financial system is frozen (hopefully it will thaw soon) and new credit is virtually non-existent. If Goldman Sachs and General Electric have to beg uncle Warren and pay him at least 10% interest on money guaranteed by uncle Sam, it tells us something about the severity and magnitude of the problems.
- almost every segment is impacted...autos, real estate, travel & hospitality, insurance, banking, commodities. Perhaps pharma & healthcare not so much.
- job losses will continue as businesses retrench

So what does it do for "track" events? Some of us may have to judiciously balance how we spend on hobbies and necessities. Some may perhaps label this as doom & gloom. From my perch it's called realism. And it's not a pretty picture.

Really hope I'm wrong this time...

Cheers!

 

 

I'm now wondering why they went up. Possibly because of supply and demand. Now that people aren't going as much, maybe they will go back down?

I understand your original point Pete. My notion was that when you cut "entertainment" you lose the things you look forward to. People in jobs with set locations (not me) - they look forward to these things greatly. I guess that's a subject for a different thread.

 

Really not trying to start an argument, but do you have a source for this one? I work in real estate and that's dramatically higher than I have heard.

I also live in the recession-proof north east.

 

30% appears to be for homes bought in the last five years.

http://www.zillowblog.com/look-aroun...water/2008/08/

All homes is closer to 14%.

 

That's a strange link.

The gentleman quotes numbers with "authority" but gives little to no footnotes. Then there is an ad for 5.XX% mortgages. Then there are discussions that read like ads for "REALTORS".

I'm not doubting that the issue exists. Many bought with little to nothing down, and many others who had equity borrowed it out. So, yes, many homes are underwater. But I'm not sure I trust zillow at all...Frankly I don't know whom to believe right now.

But bottom line, I expect many tracks to be more open this Fall/Winter. You should talk to guys in the golf industry!!! Absolutely tanking!

 

We're already "poor" in Upstate NY, just like the housing bubble-then-crash it will likely hardly be a tremor felt here.

 

Well said Bobby... and I hope you're wrong too but I doubt it unfortunately

 

+2,N/M

 

I'm holding back on going to the track. I haven't been since July and probably won't go back until 2009 (when in 2009, not sure). I'm paying off debt and saving dough, and keeping a close eye on the economic news and political news, and until 1 or both of them settle down, I'm just gonna lay low...

 

The economy has affected me bigtime. I saw the down-turn coming at the beginning of this year. As a contractor, I saw (and still see) other companies taking work at or below cost to keep their workers going until this blows over. It isn't going to happen anytime soon, and I am hoping that once some of the low-ballers drop out I can get some profitable work again.

I sold the racecar and the trailer, fortunately at the right time, and hope that I can hang on. Anyone who has a salaried job with a solid company should count themselves blessed at this point.

 

+1. Most people take such things for granted. I know I did.

 

Yup, we are at the bottom of a normal cycle, unfortunately, but this time with extra zesty bad debts.