| Author | Message | ||
     1313 |
http://www.jsonline.com/business/114839684.html As they say; "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all". So I'm not saying anything...  | ||
| Greatnorthrider |
Read the comments section. Very interesting and way better than the article.  | ||
| Mueller |
It's not nice, but I'll say something... I am not sad to see McCoys go. I tried to buy parts there once. Parts guy didn't know what he was doing, but was very kind and helpful. Then the sales manager came over to "help". I proceeded to get a lecture from him about how Buells are crap, they couldn't "get rid of them", and they lost so much money on every one they sold. Sometimes it's nice to see people treated how they treat others. | ||
| Court |
The comments section, I agree, is telling. No one is much surprised to see us, a bunch of Buell fans, irked at Harley-Davidson. But, we're a drop in the bucket, a nuisance but not enough to move the Harley needle. The problem is that Wandell and Co. have, or are in the process of, systematically disenfranchising their employees (both union and management), their dealers and even their most loyal owners. If your boat starts to sink . . . it may not be a great idea to shoot the hull full of holes to make it lighter. Shame that no one at Harley-Davidson read the article Erik Buell wrote in Forbes magazine about how to revitalize American manufacturing. | ||
| Carbonsteel |
"Shame that no one at Harley-Davidson read the article Erik Buell wrote in Forbes magazine about how to revitalize American manufacturing." I'd like to read that article. | ||
| Court |
>>>I'd like to read that article. Esta es no problemo . . . a simple scan of the business pages. . . .  | ||
| Charlies_s1 |
I have heard there are three kinds of people. Those that watch things happen, Those that make things happen, And those that just wonder what the hell happened! I like the the way Erik see's things. Gettin it done. | ||
| Mueller |
>>> If your boat starts to sink . . . it may not be a great idea to shoot the hull full of holes to make it lighter. I'm using that. | ||
| Ljm |
I really, really like what Erik had to say, and missed it the first time around. That is why then next general of bikes will be even better yet. Sad to see the similarities between the AMF debacle and what the current crop of HD management is doing. A bunch of table jockeys who never knew what riding was about dismantling a company that the employees and customers were passionate about. Even more disappointing is that some of those responsible for the buyback and turnaround are the ones that are now watching or facilitating it happening. | ||
| Curve_carver |
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pro/1011PSIENDVD /PPSIM125/PR Hogwash court | ||
| Mueller |
Interesting video, but incredibly overly drug out. | ||
| Curve_carver |
It is pretty long. There's a lot of credible info. | ||
| Christaylor |
Just out of curiosity I Googled the Stansberry Reasearch firm, interesting results. | ||
| Blake |
Curve_carver Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 06:53 pm: >>> http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pro/1011PSIENDVD /PPSIM125/PR >>> Hogwash court (sic) I've no idea what your point may be. That Stansberry huckster seems to be an opportunistic exploiter of the gullible and an outright liar as proved in a court of law. That what you meant? | ||
| Ljm |
RE: Stansberry, seems to me that the guy saying the sky is falling who is selling umbrellas may be a little suspect in terms of motivation.  | ||
| Curve_carver |
Were so far in debt noone will have cash once inflation goes up. The american dollar or "worlds reserve currency" will be gone in less than 2 years. Then we'll be riding horse and buggies scraping for food scraps. It happened in europe. Its coming. I'm not so much a investor but he has some excellent credible info. | ||
| Blake |
>>> Then we'll be riding horse and buggies scraping for food scraps. It happened in europe. Its coming. Huh? Where? When? >>> "some excellent credible info" Really? Such as? Oh yeah, buy gold and other valued commodities, that huckster will help you. But it's an ancient hedge against inflation. Huckster sure didn't invent the strategy. Yes, excessive debt can lead to inflation, and inflation devalues cash savings, so invest/save wisely to defend against inflation. D'UH! | ||
| Court |
I am an investor. I watched the entire 77 minute video. I have a degree in Economics, my wife is one of the top folks on Wall Street. I've made my decision about what to do. Thanks for thinking of me. | ||
| Blake |
Another night of carousing with folks who talk funny capped off with the best dumpster fare in NYC? | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Somewhat in the same vein... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_jToBbpWU&feature =player_embedded | ||
| Black |
Stansberry......why are we talking about him? | ||
| Court |
>>>Stansberry......why are we talking about him? Kind of a good question. I've heard his advertisements, that run every 5 minutes, for "The End of America" on Fox news and I confess I've been curious, just never looked into any of it. When someone mentioned here the other day . . . under the heading of "Hogwash Court" . . . I decided to look into it and watched the entire 77 minute video. The salient feature of the video, ignoring content, is that it's very poorly made. It gives the impression that this guy is selling this by the minute or was paid by the word. It takes about 40 minutes before he ever makes a point. Facts are iffy and scarce. When he does tell us anything . . . well, it's pretty much common knowledge interspersed with a handful or what I'd term "quasi-facts". I'm not that bright but I married someone who is . . . . she moved, about 60 days before the market tanked, 80$ of my 401(K) into Gold, Silver and Bonds (the I.B.E.W. "Wealth Preservation Fund"). The Gold and Silver . . . the same stuff that Stansberry, here a couple years later (after it's made it's huge jump( have done very well. The I.B.E.W. fund has, as expected only returned about 1.5% . . BUT . . . during the time where the rest of my portfolio was falling like a rock, it lost nothing. She moved it back to the Royce Total Return Fund ((Ticker: RYTRX) on 12-31-10. I thought the video was boring but it was also a bit thought provoking. His greatest weakness is that he comes off like a late night TV infomercial . . .lathers up the listener/viewer and then leaves you with " . . . but for $99 I'll tell you the punchline". I was waiting for the "But wait . . " and the "separate shipping and handling applies". I am curious . . . has anyone here ever BOUGHT anything from this guy? It's one thing to tout his work, send it to his video and proclaim him and oracle. But . . . if you've not actually invested . .well, that says much more. I'm presuming that the above post was intended to mean . . "want to see some real HOGWASH, Court?". Personally, my jury is still out on Stansberry. No so however for the Federal Jury . . . which of course has brought charges of fraud against him, presented evidence, allowed him to defend himself and found him guilty. You can read about it HERE
He's had other problems as well. Call me a Wall Street snob . . .but would you really take investment advise from an unregistered advisor working in s strip mall in Baltimore? I agree that we have some huge challenges in the next two years. The administrations proposal of "investment" is akin to trying to get wealthy writing "cash advance" checks on your credit card. But, with regard to the ascertain that the United States Dollar is going to be worthless in two years . . . I'd go long on that bet. Bottom line is . . . . if you think this Stansberry guy is on to something . . . put your money where your mouth is and buy his products. The Harley dealers . . . getting back on thread . . that have gone out of business the last couple years have done so for a number of reasons . . not all attributable to Harley-Davidson. It's easy to blame the "they built too big a store" but I suggest that it merits a closer look into the core business practice. If you life and livelihood depended on it now . . . would you stake $600,000 in buying a Harley-Davidson dealership and betting your future on selling $16,000 blacked out Softails to "youthful riders". Albus Dumbledore was right . . We do indeed . . . . live in interesting times. Court http://briandeer.com/vaxgen/porter-stansberry.htm | ||
| Court |
From the Federal Complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission:
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| Moxnix |
Agora has long been based in Baltimore, world headquarters for so-called "contrarian" investors. They raised the "crash" flag on Wall St. in 2001 and it waved for 6 years before the correction. Agora sells investment newsletters, using the tactics of "whole life" insurance salespersons or anuities or funeral plans, or "I've fallen and I can't get up." Works fine. These folk took their business model from Lord Rees-Mogg's early 90s book Day of Reckoning. I read a book by one of Agora's principals a few years back. Chewing gum. They sell subscriptions. Soros is moving into oil at the Tupi Field, off the coast of Brazil in deep water. That's my snippet of the day. | ||
| Black |
Court, Thanks very much for listening to that whole video. Appreciate the write-up you did. | ||
| Court |
>>>>Thanks very much for listening to that whole video. Appreciate the write-up you did. You are very welcome. Be mindful my views are my own and admittedly skewed toward a conservative slant. I've always been a vocal advocate of folk's making their own breaks, working hard and depending on self reliance. Some of the "old timers" here know the story of my Granddad and Dad and how the "Theory of "Leavin' Even"" works. Others would likely, based on their own predisposition, experience and background see things differently. So be it. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Court, you were much more patient than I. I pulled the pin at about the 35 minute mark. All I could think was "Doom and Gloom". Your description of selling words was my exact thought. Generally being an impatient type, I kept saying "Yeah, things don't look too good, just cut to the chase and stop blathering." Hey, I have an idea, I think I'll invest in wind energy! Oh wait, one of the blade manufacturers here in MN just closed their doors due to poor sales. Oh BTW, it wasn't one of the GE subsidiaries either.. big surprise there. Back on thread myself.. Big "Box Store" HD dealers. I'm not sure I totally agree with you Court. Those huge stores in prime real estate locations are multi million facilities before you even open the door and start loading it with chrome barges and assless chaps. Not only are they expensive facilities, they are soulless cookie cutter fast food type joints. They totally lack the character of the old motorcycle stores or some of the current indie outlets. Like many here have said, it's all about the image and attracting more "lifestyle" lemmings than selling a continuously improving product(s). The corporate plan of "New chrome, "all new color", or new retro fat tire" isn't working anymore. Last night at the Minneapolis IMC the HD booth was dead. More folks were looking at the XR750 flat tracker, the XL1200 series snail racer and the drag bike than all the rest of the bikes. Maybe it was just the crowd last night but other manufacturers had much bigger crowds. | ||
| Skinstains |
Harley has been dead since 1983. The debacle that took place ever since is going to die. I am glad to see it go, almost as glad as I am to see all those "bikers" stuck with the junk they bought. HD forced the closing of our local dealer (B&D) because Bill (the B in B&D) refused to make one of those stupid boutiques. Bill was a "REAL" biker, he used to hillclimb a flattie in the 30's/40's and rode until they cut enough of him off (Diabetes) that he no longer could. F!T!F! I just hope that Erik makes an fanhead with pushrods in the future as I'm not down with the waterpumpers (yet?) | ||
| Carbonsteel |
Thanks Court, Good article and about what I've come to expect from Erik Buell. | ||
| Moxnix |
Moonrider article: 3,10, 70 and 62: All you need to predict Harley’s (and BMW and Polaris) ten-year future http://wmoon.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/310-70-and-6 2-all-you-need-to-predict-harleys-and-bmw-and-pola ris-ten-year-future/ No doubt a re-post, but the role of dealers under financial duress to maintain their posh and expensive stores is notable. BMW dealers were "forced" to go fancy and some didn't survive. Are motorcycle manufacturers looking at the emerging trends of Cretins, Backfire, scooter mods and retro-rockers? Highland was going in an interesting direction before the plane crash that took senior management. We shall see. (Message edited by moxnix on February 09, 2011) | ||
| Wbrisett |
Moonrider article: 3,10, 70 and 62: All you need to predict Harley’s (and BMW and Polaris) ten-year future The only thing wrong with this article is including BMW into the fray. BMW has figured out how to attract new younger riders, it's called sport bikes (gosh, imagine that!). The new S1000RR is an amazing bike that according to the marketing data released has attracted riders from other brands and more importantly the median age for purchasers for that bike is in their 30's. Another telling sign that BMW is smart is this statement: BMW V.P. Pieter de Waal -- “We wanted to bring young people into the BMW Motorrad brand. The current age profile of our customer is worldwide 47, and in America about 50. Our customers age at approximately .7 years per year. That implies that our existing customers keep buying our motorcycles as they get older, but we do not bring many young people into the brand. It’s a major long-term concern.” That means they get it and they are actively trying to solve that issue. A look at their current lineup shows they are one of the very few brands that pretty much have something for everybody (except a cruiser, that failed for them in 2004 and they have decided not to return to that market segment). The age problem, keeps rearing its ugly head and few manufacturers have tried to tackle it head-on. Most choose to bury their head in the sand like it will go away. Credit and age are a deadly mix for the motorcycling industry. Wayne | ||
| Moxnix |
I agree. Europe is BMW's largest market and the build for their largest audience. Harley doesn't and probably won't under current management. |
