Financial topics

[OLD1953]

That's part of crony capitalism, and just the way it is I'm afraid. I suspect that eventually small business owners will band together and form a blanket organization that will defend against such suits against any of their members, but they haven't done this yet, as far as I know. (The CPSC annoys me, they don't want to differentiate between "for adults" and "for children", because anything an adult has a child can get hold of. It's a more modern and Democratic Party version of the "for the children" thing the Republicans do that just annoys the HELL out of me. If I wanted to be treated like I was five, I'd go live in a nursing home. The Dems want me to be swaddled in cotton wool "for the children", and the Repubs want me to live in a police state "for the children". A pox on both their houses I say!)

Since the "eat your own" philosophy now reaches down into the law firms, leaving most actual legal work to be done by underpaid interns and "not partner" lawyers, there's very little trouble in finding lawyers who'll work for such an organization. Formerly, few wanted to file against a firm they might end up working for and maybe become a partner - if they didn't make too many waves.

But absolutely, you've got more help and an easier hiring climate than any time in the last fifteen years. (I had to laugh at a list somebody sent me, it was a listing of all government SBA help and loans and classes they could locate that the "we built this" woman at the Republican convention had benefited from. Whether true or not it was amusing, because I've absolutely known people with that attitude that were always first in line for a check. Farmers are terrible when it comes to the attitude of "get government out of my way, I've got to get to the ASCS office for my next check".)

China looks to be coming apart at the seams, slowing economy with inflation tends to indicate they've got massive problems just starting to show up. They've apparently boxed themselves in terribly.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-0 ... ts-1-.html

[Higgenbotham]

My sister got lucky twice. She got a good judge in Dallas who saw through Hemingway and threw the case out. My sister didn't have to travel to Dallas. She found a very good underemployed attorney who filed the paperwork. She did most of the legal work herself. She's the youngest and I told her that you're the only person in the world who can get yourself out of this; there's too much detail for me to accurately advise and for that very reason a good attorney will bill enough hours on this case to clean you out. Which of course was Hemingway's intent. As far as the CPSIA compliance, she decided that rather than invest in the lead testing equipment, she would shut that part of her product line down. Then with about a month or two to go before the deadline, they pushed the compliance date off. This link describes the particular problem accurately and in not too much detail:
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/cpsia-th ... ufacturer/
Note the manufacturer states that this is a dream regulation for Wal-Mart and China. It was intended that way. I explained how regulation works to my sister, having seen the process for years in the environmental area. Seems like at one time in these pages I described landfill regulations and why there are no longer any small landfills, just the big 2 or 3.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2&p=8191&hilit=landfill#p8191
She had some dialogue with the CPSC and got a hold of memos that Wal-Mart attorneys had written with proposed testing methods which of course would be advantageous for Wal-Mart (high volume) and damn near impossible for small manufacturers to comply with (low volume), if not impossible. These companies are so powerful they no longer need to hide what they are doing. She was able to get some low priced, convenient and reliable help from a neighbor who was laid off.

[aedens]

It is not worth the long hours and beat down anymore. If you reach a scale
you are simply a target. Been there done that.

[Higgenbotham]

These would be my thoughts on starting a business.

First, get ready for a post-collapse world. In the current pre-collapse world, existing businesses are conditioned to operating in the pre-collapse environment. They will be lost post-collapse. This is when the prepared entrepreneur can step in.

To get ready for the post-collapse world, travel to a third world country or to a country that has already collapsed and observe how business is conducted. Talk to the locals to get an idea of what business conditions were like pre-collapse and try to envision how the conditions in the US that are different pre-collapse will change the post-collapse environment vis-a-vis the country you are observing. I chose to travel to one of the poorest areas of the former USSR to make observations. It was formerly pretty well off because it was a manufacturing area and not too far from Moscow.

Begin by pilot testing an idea with a very limited amount of capital at risk. My thought would be less than 10% of capital should be risked on the whole initial operation. Operate on a cash basis and under the radar. Let's say as I mentioned a few pages back that a formula for laundry soap has been obtained and someone wants to make an attempt to manufacture this product. I would not rush headlong into buying equipment, renting space, and other things a conventional business person might do today. Instead, pay a contract manufacturing outfit to mix some up on a small scale, then figure out how to sell it. Observe what equipment the contract manufacturer is using and do some research because that equipment may be picked up for pennies on the dollar at auction when the bankruptcies roll in. If it's thought that the future of America will most resemble Detroit, Michigan or Las Vegas, Nevada, and there are probably better places to consider but people can understand what I am talking about by mentioning those places, take the product there and live there a few months. Figure out what works best to move it in the post-collapse world of strip mall flea markets, craigslist, or whatever is envisioned. See if customers match the envisioned post-collapse profile and find out what else they need to buy where they would seek alternatives to the current distribution channels, in order to save a few bucks or which may be shut down, post-collapse. Probably enough said, but that's my general idea.

[aedens]

Japan's debt load are its cash-rich households and firms. Households alone have assets of ¥1,470 trillion ($16 trillion),
or roughly twice the amount of outstanding government bonds.
The corporate sector saves about 8% of GDP, which largely offsets a fiscal deficit that is expected to reach a whopping 10.5%
of GDP this year. Much of this money is parked in Japanese financial institutions, which hold about three-quarters of government bonds.
Foreigners, mainly central banks, account for just 5%.

[aedens]

Some pages back we mentioned the playbook....

Crazy as it seems and taking the ongoing financial repression to new levels, the Treasury Advisory Committee (a group of Wall Street bankster types) has been toying with the idea of creating a scam to have savers also pay negative interest rates to the U.S. Treasury for the “privilege” of loaning them money (New York Times: Treasury Ponders Negative Interest Rates). All it would take to set this travesty up would be for the Fed to reduce the interest paid on reserve deposit to zero (just like the ECB), and the last little vestiges of yield paid by banks and money markets would completely disappear. Aunt Millie and her ilk might face paying her bank for the mere privilege of loaning many as well. http://www.wallstreetexaminer.com/blogs/winter/?p=5386

[John]

These would be my thoughts on starting a business.

First, get ready for a post-collapse world. In the current pre-collapse world, existing businesses are conditioned to operating in the pre-collapse environment. They will be lost post-collapse. This is when the prepared entrepreneur can step in.

To get ready for the post-collapse world, travel to a third world country or to a country that has already collapsed and observe how business is conducted. Talk to the locals to get an idea of what business conditions were like pre-collapse and try to envision how the conditions in the US that are different pre-collapse will change the post-collapse environment vis-a-vis the country you are observing. I chose to travel to one of the poorest areas of the former USSR to make observations. It was formerly pretty well off because it was a manufacturing area and not too far from Moscow.

Begin by pilot testing an idea with a very limited amount of capital at risk. My thought would be less than 10% of capital should be risked on the whole initial operation. Operate on a cash basis and under the radar. Let's say as I mentioned a few pages back that a formula for laundry soap has been obtained and someone wants to make an attempt to manufacture this product. I would not rush headlong into buying equipment, renting space, and other things a conventional business person might do today. Instead, pay a contract manufacturing outfit to mix some up on a small scale, then figure out how to sell it. Observe what equipment the contract manufacturer is using and do some research because that equipment may be picked up for pennies on the dollar at auction when the bankruptcies roll in. If it's thought that the future of America will most resemble Detroit, Michigan or Las Vegas, Nevada, and there are probably better places to consider but people can understand what I am talking about by mentioning those places, take the product there and live there a few months. Figure out what works best to move it in the post-collapse world of strip mall flea markets, craigslist, or whatever is envisioned. See if customers match the envisioned post-collapse profile and find out what else they need to buy where they would seek alternatives to the current distribution channels, in order to save a few bucks or which may be shut down, post-collapse. Probably enough said, but that's my general idea.

This is really great stuff.

[aedens]

I posted a link from Greece from the black shirts protecting micro markets from the influx issue we noted.
John has been on it and notes the correlation. Its a damn fuse burning. Even in Michigan micro markets are being
intimidated. The kids are mobile now and offices do not exist. Oh yea we talk.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2&start=6410#p15503 coming to a boil

http://www.france24.com/en/20120908-ind ... cial-media

Most citys in Michigan are hostile to micro business. No need to even list them. The kid caring for two disabled parents trying to save for school that was ticketed for vending, the list is endless how they trouble the productive kids. Best Business is underground computer repairs shops.
Network inclusive only. I still get calls to help them on some hardware issues time to time. Mostly they know I keep atx power supply's on hand. I will do anything for these kids since they provide value added services to some folks.
Sogo shosha are sufficiently diversified to withstand periodic downturns in certain sectors of the economy. Even still, the market share of the sogo shosha has declined because numerous manufacturers in a variety of industries have opened up plants in countries with weaker currencies and because Japanese companies have started to manage their own international trade.

[Trevor]

First, get ready for a post-collapse world

Would you have any advice for a 23-year-old man who's just trying to find a way to survive the coming economic collapse?

[OLD1953]

Aedens, this woman in Australia is the leading speaker for "one world" now, as far as human concerns go.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/l ... 1046.story

Of course she's only counting a small fraction of the added costs of doing business in Africa, but that's how you play the game.

Higgs, if I was going to go that route, I think I'd do direct home sales and deliveries. That way your percentage of the market is totally under the large company radar and they can't keep accurate numbers on you. They get excited about store shelf space when killing competitors, direct sales not so much.

And yes, there are many ways to attack a competitor. As I said, right now lawyers are cheap and a small group could put several on retainer to insure themselves against this nonsense. New graduates are working for beans (in many cases for free) and this makes for a lot of young lawyer who'll take a case and work like dogs on it.