U.S. economy

[Aeropl]

I agree with battles, it just makes me want to dive more to get away from it all. On the other hand the high potential of losing my job is preventing me from spending the money to get cave certified which I really wanted to do.

 

[highdesert]

Our trip to Bali and Raja Ampat next month is the only trip we have booked, and paid for before the economy tanked. Where we live, you don't just grab your tank and go splash for the afternoon. It's a big ticket deal for us to plan a trip, usually six months in advance. If the recovery (there will be a recovery, right?) is long and slow, dive trip planning will take a hit.

 

[--tom--]

This hit was obvious more than a year ago. What my wife & I did was start planning group trips with friends. Currently there are six of us & we pitch in $20 a week. We plan one trip a year. So our 10 day trip to Grand Cayman will be paid for w/ the exception of airfare by next April.

On a personal note, I increased my 401k contribution.

 

[vladimir]

I am a trader, so I no longer sleep at night. I no longer dive either, because I am too busy at work to take a day off. After averaging about 50 dives a year for a decade, I have no dives in '08. Most of my trading falls under the broad category of statistical arbitrage, so as long as markets are open and nobody does anything stupid at the parent company, I should not only survive, but thrive. The short-selling ban hurt, though.

 

[BTravlin]

I'm deep under water and I'm not even diving! No tank! Not even spare air! Somebody who knows what they're doing, please throw the economy a lifeline.

 

[Sas]

Well I have not been bothered by the economy at all really, other than the falling interest rate, which affects me and my partner negatively as we have savings, not debt. My super has taken a hit though, but as I won't be retiring for about 40 years I am not worried! My diving is increasing rather than decreasing actually. I have my own gear so worst case, I will just stick to shore diving, $5 a fill.

I think one thing the economic problems have done though, is make buying gear from overseas less attractive due to our dollar falling. Also this will probably mean that dive shops put up their prices as a lot of the gear here is imported. Other long term problems I see is that some dive shops may fail due to people cutting back on the luxuries, I hope this will not be the case though as it is always good to have more competition

 

[GotNoOcean]

Personally, I'm hoping the stock market stays criminally undervalued until a couple of months before I retire. For now, do I buy more photo gear & do my part for the debt crisis, or do I shop for stocks? Hope we all at least muddle through!

Cheers,

 

[k ellis]

Hmmmm I wont be retiring myself for probably 20 years at the minimum.

I think it will in fact have alot to do with pricing though as they may have to increase their profit margin to account for selling less.

I spoke with my dive shop today and they said they are now offering an extended service though to help compensate inflation. They now detail wallets. For the cost of the entire contents of ones savings account they can make an old wallet look like brand new!

Got to love my shop

 

[deeper thoughts]

I'm lllooooooonnnnngggg so who cares.
You only loose money if you sell.
At least another 15 years to retirement age.
I view this as a great buying opertunity.
It's like a half price sale on wall street!

BUY BUY BUY !!!!!!

We are long also(20 yrs before we touch it) but all that being said it is very depressing. Thankfully I have my own boat,gear and live in the Keys so I dive as much as possible and tommorrow will be one of those diving days

 

[BKP]

I've lost so much (value) in the market in the past few weeks, that a $15K dive trip doesn't even phase me any more... I'm goin' diving!