[SMA]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'T')hat's wild! We get less sick during hard times.

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SMA', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'T')hat's wild! We get less sick during hard times.

[VMarcHart]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jlw61', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('VMarcHart', 'S')ort of on these lines, or second-hand information if you will. I own a BMW and am a member of an internet forum. It circulated this weekend that (BMW) mechanics are seeing less cars these days, basically only for necessary repairs.

[Ludi]

I'm not in retail. I work in the entertainment industry, mostly working on motion pictures (prop maker). Things have been a little quiet lately after months of solid work. I'm not sure if this is because of the looming actors strike, or because of economic concerns....

[RedStateGreen]

My daughter (17) is a hostess at a BBQ family restaurant. She says business is about like usual, good days and slow days. Last weekend was great, her boyfriend (who's 18 and a waiter at the same place) had $500 of sales in three hours last Friday.

I asked her about it and she said, "People will always go out to eat".

[hiker75]

I actually work for Fedex, and have been reading these forums for a while. It started as a college paper but I have found some of the ideas and thoughts extremely thought provoking.
Anyways I work in the Bay Area of California. Now our situation is two fold due to high energy costs and the collapse of housing. However at Fedex Express (air division) our freight levels are continuing to plummet, both inbound and outbound. The next day air service has dropped incredibly low, while shippers are opting for slower more economical services.
Mortgage companies have either consolidated offices or are closing shop. I can see in the parking lots in malls are not as full as previous. While there was an uptick of electronics shipped when the stimulus checks were sent out, one particular electronics distributor is picked up with one truck.
This is in stork contrast to anything (even 9-11) that we have encountered. This is truly getting scary, at least in california. Oh and to fill those diesel trucks up it is now around 165.00 instead of 60 just two or three years ago.

[SoylentGreen]

I know somebody in the boat repo business in Ft lauderdale Fla. Business has almost tripled. People are trying to keep thier Houses and cars is his assessment.

[MarkJ]

I'm on the front lines in different industries such as building, pluming, heating, cooling, heating fuels and auto repair.

Residential building and renovation is booming in some areas (suburbs, towns, villages, vacation homes) but spotty in others. (cities, exburbs, distant commuter towns)

Demand for large building lots, acreage, farmland and commercially zoned land is way is way up. I've made more money developing and selling land than building.

Commercial building and/or expansion is booming in most regions. (warehouses, stores, hotels, restaurants, offices, professional buildings, industrial parks)

Our residential heating oil & kerosene sales are down, commercial heating oil sales are up, residential propane sales are up and commercial propane sales are up. The primary reason for declining sales is that customers are switching form higher priced full service companies to cheaper COD oil companies with lower minimum deliveries. A few of our competitors have gone bankrupt, so we end up with many of their customers.

New furnace, boiler and water heater installations are up substantially, but annual heating service is down. I expect emergency service, repairs and installations related to system failure, fuel run-outs, fire, CO, frozen/burst water & boiler piping will increase like the last couple of seasons. A/C installations (retrofits) were up substantially this year, which is surprising since A/C is a luxury and many A/C customers really need insulation, weatherization, new windows, better ventilation and heating system replacement.

The guys that lease my auto service garage said business is up since people are fixing the vehicles they own as opposed to buying new. Their buy-here-pay-here used car business is up substantially as well. Smaller cars, mid sized economical cars and cheaper vehicles are selling well regardless of the miles.

I'm surprised at the labor rates the independent garages are charging as well since their rates are as high as the dealerships.

Since the used car market has been picking up, we're seeing the return of the curbstoners.

[jlw61]

This has been some good info, so far. Please remember to repost any changes as it may show some kind of trend in the future.

[PonyBoy78]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jlw61', 'I')f you (or any other ER person on this board) can get a better feel for the numbers, that could be quite interesting if we can find the underlying cause. Such as the tummy ache bit could be less excessive drinking?