2020 Collapse

Markco2 said:
I'm more of a Gandhi

chart

Cheers Markco2
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we are close neighbour, mine slightly higher and a box to the left
 
Apparently I'm a lefty too. Pretty much the same as Ghandi. Which is unfortunate as I only found out the following information today -

Mahatma Ghandi was very frail from going on hunger strikes. He walked everywhere and had very calloused feet. He didn't brush his teeth much and had halitosis. You coud say he was a "Super Calloused Fragile Mystic with extra Halitosis
 
sgbuyer said:
I once saw a documentary on youtube about Hitler and Stalin. They were good friends, both are fascists, and have much in common, but Hitler couldn't tolerate the existence of Jewish people in the soviet union. Stalin didn't realise that Hitler was a total lunatic so he got caught off guard when the Germans invaded.
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Soviet communists were disgusting anti-semites as well. Just like the nazis.
 
ParanoidAndroid said:
Apparently I'm a lefty too.
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I reckon it'll be these types of questions that probably tip someone from the free-market side of the fence into the controlled economy side in this quiz. They're not as obvious as the questions around abortion, or possession of marijuana or even taxation, they're more subtle in their examination of the social and economic values we hold.

What’s good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us.
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I voted 'strongly agree'. From my perspective successful businesses are successful mainly because they meet consumer demand better than their opposition. Now of course some businesses leaders are unscrupulous, but the reason why say Jeff Bezos or Ray Kroc are/were so successful is because they have made millions of people around the world happy. Bezos and Kroc actually enhanced the wealth of their customers, and in so doing, made themselves a lot of money.

So from my perspective (and the perspective of many other ancaps) is that generally, what's good for the most successful corporations is good for most of us because they're in the business of giving us what we want. :)
 
mmm....shiney! said:
I reckon it'll be these types of questions that probably tip someone from the free-market side of the fence into the controlled economy side in this quiz. They're not as obvious as the questions around abortion, or possession of marijuana or even taxation, they're more subtle in their examination of the social and economic values we hold.



I voted 'strongly agree'. From my perspective successful businesses are successful mainly because they meet consumer demand better than their opposition. Now of course some businesses leaders are unscrupulous, but the reason why say Jeff Bezos or Ray Kroc are/were so successful is because they have made millions of people around the world happy. Bezos and Kroc actually enhanced the wealth of their customers, and in so doing, made themselves a lot of money.

So from my perspective (and the perspective of many other ancaps) is that generally, what's good for the most successful corporations is good for most of us because they're in the business of giving us what we want. :)
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What in your opinion should drive innovation? or put another way, the motivation to give people what they don’t know they want?


Eh, I only needed another minute to think about it. Obviously competition and consumer insights to screen whether there is a market or not.
 
heartastack said:
What in your opinion should drive innovation? or put another way, the motivation to give people what they don’t know they want?


Eh, I only needed another minute to think about it. Obviously competition and consumer insights to screen whether there is a market or not.
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and there’s the profit incentive. :)
 
Hotel industry going down, down, down... some are suggesting that many hotels will be transformed into "something else", like homes etc.
I expect the same with office spaces... gosh, Mahattan, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sydney, London, Hong Kong, Singapore... will be all affected

 
TreasureHunter said:
Hotel industry going down, down, down... some are suggesting that many hotels will be transformed into "something else", like homes etc.
I expect the same with office spaces... gosh, Mahattan, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sydney, London, Hong Kong, Singapore... will be all affected
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You know I was passing by the Marina Bay sands a month or so ago, and a lot of hotel rooms lights were lit up, so I was wondering where the people came from since there are no tourists. They were filled with local people. Unbelievable but it's true.

In Singapore, there's a concept of staycation, people just booked hotel rooms and imagine themselves to be on a vacation. When you live on a small island with nowhere to go, it's fun even to stay in a hotel room.

https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2020/06/str-hotels-struggle-with-may-lows/

Mainland China
Occupancy: -33.7% to 45.2%
ADR: -24.5% to CNY342.78
RevPAR: -50.0% to CNY155.03

Singapore
Occupancy: -8.8% to 71.5%
ADR: -62.5% to SGD95.44
RevPAR: -65.8% to SGD68.20
 
Crazy crowds in the malls. Video was taken late Aug. I can tell you the crowds have increased by at least 20-30% since the video was taken.

 
The currently unfolding crisis will dreadfully affect certain countries:

UAE: office spaces, hotels, financial institutions occupy all those skyscrapers... the country will be hit hard (the country's airlines are cutting jobs and less tourists are arriving, but they still have oil! ...which is nowadays "too cheap")

Malta: tourism drives the economy... primarily... besides fishing, sea transport, some finance... so it's dreadful for Malta

Spain: tourism is a vital part of the economy, but they also have a strong industry, while transportation also plays an important role in the economy (tourism and transportation have already declined)

Thailand: the car industry and tourism drives the Thai economy (besides food production, microelectronics, finances etc.), so if less cars are made and less tourists visit Thailand, then what?

Singapore: tourism, office real estate, transportation all affected

Panama: all those shiny skyscrapers with expensive office space, the sea transportation (of course)... all that to go way down in a country that has almost nothing else to offer besides bananas


How are your countries affected?
 
sgbuyer said:
You know I was passing by the Marina Bay sands a month or so ago, and a lot of hotel rooms lights were lit up, so I was wondering where the people came from since there are no tourists. They were filled with local people. Unbelievable but it's true.

In Singapore, there's a concept of staycation, people just booked hotel rooms and imagine themselves to be on a vacation. When you live on a small island with nowhere to go, it's fun even to stay in a hotel room.

https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2020/06/str-hotels-struggle-with-may-lows/

Mainland China
Occupancy: -33.7% to 45.2%
ADR: -24.5% to CNY342.78
RevPAR: -50.0% to CNY155.03

Singapore
Occupancy: -8.8% to 71.5%
ADR: -62.5% to SGD95.44
RevPAR: -65.8% to SGD68.20
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Really? Locals stay there?

I remember when I was there on top of the hotel. Didn't stay at Marina Bay Sands, just admired the views from up there. :D
 
TreasureHunter said:
Singapore: tourism, office real estate, transportation all affected
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Aerospace is badly hit with layoffs. Air travel has been reduced but there are still flights to Chinese and Indian cities. Office real estate won't be badly affected as there was a severe shortage prior to the pandemic. The same with hotels, they would recover very quickly. Singapore has very few tourist class hotel rooms hence the ridiculous room rates. The hotels in HK are cheaper in comparison, lots of options. Airbnb is also illegal here so hotels are like oligopolies. No one is losing rent from no tourists.

Manufacturing is doing well with increase in exports over prior year year to date. It's quite a feat if we consider that aerospace and shipyard, oil rig manufacturing are down, which means that pharma and electronics are up big time, double digit growth. I've know quite a couple of people working in manufacturing, they are complaining of the overtime and factories are operating at full workforce capacity.

So far, I've not heard of anyone lost their job, or any business having to close but pay cuts are common, it appears that even companies profiteering from the pandemic are cutting pay! At the moment, you won't know that there's a pandemic or recession if you come to Singapore, the malls are packed with crowds and dinners, but everyone wearing masks. I was out last weekend, I've never seen so many people outside dining and shopping.

Of course things could change if there's a financial crisis.
 
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We sent 100 people home today for mandatory testing, I’m not allowed back into the building till my result. I can tell you how it effects me - I’ll still get the job done but I’ll be twice as mad and twice as tired. My consumption of goods goes down as balanced (not) lifestyle suffers.
 
Biggest financial news of the month that MSM don't report.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/evergrande-faces-crisis-confidence-over-061449102.html
Long-simmering doubts about the property giant’s financial health exploded to the fore on Thursday, following reports it had sent a letter to Chinese officials warning of a potential cash crunch that could pose systemic risks. The news sparked a bondholder exodus that continued into Friday, sending the price of Evergrande’s yuan note due 2023 down as much as 28% to a record low. Losses in the company’s dollar bonds spread to high-yield debt across Asia.
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A home builder that makes electric cars?
https://www.scmp.com/business/marke...ectric-car-unit-raise-us516-million-least-six
Evergrande has tapped banks, shadow lenders and the bond market in recent years to expand beyond the property industry into businesses ranging from electric cars to hospitals and theme parks –- areas that often align with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s policy priorities.
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Imagine buying a unit a month ago and it's now 12% cheaper.
https://www.reuters.com/article/china-evergrande-discount-idUSL4N2G40PZ
HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group , the country’s No.2 property developer by sales, said it is offering a 30% discount on properties for a month from Monday as it seeks to meet ambitious sales targets.

Evergrande, which has the largest debt pile among developers in China, would offer additional discounts of up to 12% on developments selling at a slow rate, the company said.
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Meanwhile, back home.
https://www.propertyguru.com.sg/pro...-sales-in-august-highest-since-september-2019
Domestic demand drove last month’s new home sales as Singaporeans accounted for 84.7% of the total purchases. Home sales rose 13.6% year-on-year and 9.3% month-on-month
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sgbuyer said:
Aerospace is badly hit with layoffs. Air travel has been reduced but there are still flights to Chinese and Indian cities. Office real estate won't be badly affected as there was a severe shortage prior to the pandemic. The same with hotels, they would recover very quickly. Singapore has very few tourist class hotel rooms hence the ridiculous room rates. The hotels in HK are cheaper in comparison, lots of options. Airbnb is also illegal here so hotels are like oligopolies. No one is losing rent from no tourists.

Manufacturing is doing well with increase in exports over prior year year to date. It's quite a feat if we consider that aerospace and shipyard, oil rig manufacturing are down, which means that pharma and electronics are up big time, double digit growth. I've know quite a couple of people working in manufacturing, they are complaining of the overtime and factories are operating at full workforce capacity.

So far, I've not heard of anyone lost their job, or any business having to close but pay cuts are common, it appears that even companies profiteering from the pandemic are cutting pay! At the moment, you won't know that there's a pandemic or recession if you come to Singapore, the malls are packed with crowds and dinners, but everyone wearing masks. I was out last weekend, I've never seen so many people outside dining and shopping.

Of course things could change if there's a financial crisis.
Click to expand...
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/suntec-singapore-retrenches-85-employees-with-events-suspended-since-april
SINGAPORE - Nearly half of the employees of Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre (Suntec Singapore) have been retrenched amid the ongoing decimation of the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry.

The venue said on Thursday (Aug 27) the 85 workers, consisting of 60 Singaporeans and permanent residents and 25 foreign staff members, were employed in food production, sales and events, human resources, and finance.

With the retrenchment exercise, Suntec Singapore will have a remaining workforce of 89 local staff and four foreign staff.
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Hotels were used to house those people coming back with their 14 days stay for at least > 2 months
so they were occupied and not vacant
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Government pay subsidy 75% for below 4.6k https://www.straitstimes.com/politi...nnounced during,those in tourism and aviation.
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small cash hand out here and there
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hope the number of daily infections remains < 20
 
Things look good and busy here in colorado.
Tons of tourists and the hunters are coming in now.
We are having a hard time finding hotels to stay at for work because it's so busy, like a normal summer.
Everything seems pretty normal as far as that goes.
I've noticed alot of vehicles for sale along the highways more than usual. I see them everywhere now.
It seems weve recovered quite well and everyone is doing good again.
Back to the good old days of strongest economy in history and cheap silver!

We had a few businesses close on main street but they have been reopened by others already.
 
I bought a little US hotel REIT a month ago for fun, prices went up a little and down again. After seeing your post, might add a little more. The pandemic is only temporary, will be over by 4th Nov.
 
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