Fed rate increase = lower hifi prices?

@ghasley 

You are right in that I didn't mention the big gains in the market the day before the 1k+ point drop in the market. On wed it rose 932 and Thursday dropped 1063, still  a loss of 131. In fact the market has dropped nearly 10% in the last year. One of the problems is that the market is highly inflated  and so 100 points seems like a little. and it is. But we are still that 10%% down in the year. So its like death by a thousand cuts. A cut here and there is no problem and goes unseen. maybe that's why we aren't even paying any attention to a 10% drop. But I assure you the savvy investors know this market is over inflated and is being propped up. When the bubble bursts, who will get hurt? same as 08...the working people. Big corp was too big to fail and got bailed out.

@soix 

Then as @deludedaudiophile has pointed out, the exorbitant printing of $$$ How many Trillions have we printed? As mentioned, the Asian economies didn't do as much. Its well known that China would love to have the reserve currency. If/When that happens, the US is BROKE.Its actually broke now but we can print $$$. But how long will the world keep trading in the US dollar? Saudi Arabia and Germany are both buying Russian oil now and paying with Rubles. Meanwhile we are again importing oil where we were energy independent. So they can't buy from the US anymore. So that's one export we don't have. Then there is the new record setting trade deficit of $109.8 BILLION in April. These are just things from memory. Nonetheless,  I'd love to know why you believe we have a  "strong economy" when we have no mfg base as we did in the 80's recession and are a lot deeper in debt than either  recession?

@soix 

+1

Good to see someone has a grasp on economics. Anyone suggesting gouging does not.

Inflation is high… supply short… audio manufacturers have no choice… they do not want to raise prices… 

@artemus_5 the only thing I’m absolutely certain of is you haven’t extensively studied macro economics or finance. That’s ok and no offense intended. The money supply will be contracting by $20-30 billion in May, $50ish billion each month thereafter. You seem to imply that markets should only go up…do you hold everything in contempt when your assets grow by 15% in year A if they decline in year B? So, if you hate big corporations and big banks, I hope you dont own any mutual funds…because you too are a stockholder of those very entities you seem to despise.

The markets were functionally flat this week. You had time to convert to 100% cash on Thursday, had you chossen to do so. You would have outperformed the S&P 500 for the week. Long term investors with a balanced portfolio with a strategy dont think that way…

Well we know it is not you @ghdprentice , that or you are just a lot less informed than you think you are.  I am not suggesting that audio companies are, but their suppliers are in some cases. We track our suppliers underlying costs with great detail. Why? Because when you know their underlying costs and can put that in front of them and explain, like all commodities surges, it will not last forever, and we will remember, it helps in bargaining.

Japan is a beautiful place. I would live there. Surprising amount of open space considering the number of people in a small space. China, communism is not for me. South Korea is quite nice too. I am sort of partial to Taiwan though.

@soix I have the impressing during Covid that most western countries were "printing money" in excess of what was necessary and/or at least without sufficient oversight for need. Pure Keynesian economics I thought was out of favor? QTM would explain at least some part of the inflation. Unfortunately with the stock run, though that already had wealth (likely many here) did okay, while those who did not fell further behind even though they were the ones most in need of additional money supply.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-measure-inflation-raise-prices-corporate-profits-supply-chain-2022-2

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/04/27/price-gouging-corporate-greed-driving-inflation/7445429001/?gnt-cfr=1

https://www.forbes.com/sites/raulelizalde/2022/02/23/car-prices-above-msrp-reflect-price-gouging-rather-than-inflation/?sh=7b7bdbd1b60a

@deludedaudiophile

The fact that the world economy didnt come to a screeching halt in mid-2020 is clear evidence that the monetary policy worked. Its time to unwind it in as orderly fashion as is possible. Now, are the past 24 months in the economy and financial markets a surprise? If they are a surprise to you then please take some time to explore the topic more deeply. If its not a surprise and you didnt position yourself financially…why not?

I’m pretty conservative so a major part of my portfolio was hedged in March of 2020. I got to unwind the positions in an orderly fashion and the hedges went through the roof(see what happened to the VIX in March 2020). You reinvest when markets are down and repeat. If you dont have a financial advisor, get one. Most who dont have one may be under the mistaken impression they dont have enough investable assets. Keep looking until you find one, it can be financially life altering.