hey tubenet investments experts: best stock tip...??

[Rick F]

Don't think I'd be buying Toyota stock just yet as they are now considering a recall of the Corolla model regarding power steering problems.

Toyota probes Corolla steering, considers recall

But who knows for sure when the best time would be to buy TM. At some time TM will be a good buy. Their earnings are definitely going to be less than last quarter. Several years ago I thought it would be a good investment to buy Apple when it was just $7 / share (now @ $203). My broker said he'd be shorting that puppy right now, so I didn't buy. Of course in his defense, Steve Jobs hadn't come back on board yet.

I've driven Toyota's since 1969 and always thought them to be very reliable. I'm beginning to wonder if my wife and I have the last two reliable models... 2002 and 2005 Camry.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

PUT YOUR MONEY UNDER YOUR MATRESS !

YES! BY ALL MEANS! PUT IT THERE AND WATCH IT DEVALUE TO NOTHING! GREAT PLAN!

[ZNC Dandy]

I was talking to a Service Manager at a local Toyota dealership, and he had some interesting info for me...the parts that there are problems with were made in the USA...None of the Denso parts from Japan have any of the issues reported...that still doesn't excuse the lack of quality control by Toyota, but having said that...I would buy a Toyota any day of the week over a GM product.Also, i'm by no means a conspiracy theorist, but this all really smells tremendously fishy to me. As far as investment tips, I prefer hard assets that are worth more than the paper that the Stock Portfolio is written on.

[TubaRay]

I would buy a Toyota any day of the week over a GM product.Also, i'm by no means a conspiracy theorist, but this all really smells tremendously fishy to me.

I agree completely.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Todd, Do you think bloke's stock broker will be able to pay him if the banks all close?
Also I'm curious; what better option do you suggest ? Just to say my two cents,
to me, stock market investment seems motivated by brainwashing and self doubt.

It also seems to me, devaluation would (will) be most ugly when dealing with imported things, not home grown.

So set me straight, oh wise ones, have I lived on California too long? What can we do?

I don't know where to start. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

To me, stock market investment seems motivated by careful attention paid to what businesses do well in a particular economic climate and then aggressively investing in them. I'm with Bloke in that Toyota is an excellent buy right now...the government machine (including most of the media) is poised to make Toyota look as bad as possible since they are the #1 competitor to US government motors. Many sheeple will bail on Toyota in the short term with all the negative publicity, driving stock prices down. Like most government initiatives, the frame-Toyota-now campaign will backfire badly and Toyota will come out of this even stronger (especially with the notice of those citizens who pay attention and realize what the government is trying to do).

This isn't your grandmother's economy...putting your cash in the mattress is a sure way to devalue it. What better option do I suggest? Take the time to develop investment skills and use them. Start developing those skills now. When you think you are ready to use real money and jump into the market, wait and practice some more. While you wait, build up a nest egg in short-term CDs...at least your money has a chance of keeping up with inflation that way.

[Dylan King]

As the United States of America and the U.S. Dollar continue to go down (Amos 3:11), for a while, at least, gold will continue to rise.

[steve_decker]

the parts that there are problems with were made in the USA...None of the Denso parts from Japan have any of the issues reported...that still doesn't excuse the lack of quality control by Toyota, but having said that...I would buy a Toyota any day of the week over a GM product.Also, i'm by no means a conspiracy theorist, but this all really smells tremendously fishy to me.

I'd be interested in seeing something more credible than the opinion of a service manager (even if stated in a manner seeming to be factual) proving the component level issues are isolated to US production. What would a supplier have to gain by providing faulty parts to Toyota? The consequences of doing so are riskier than any business would want to assume. Furthermore, supplier contracts typically involve production of the automaker's design with close automaker oversight OR supplier design and production with tremendously much more automaker oversight and approval.

I'll buy a GM product any day over a Toyota or Honda. Quality is just as good, price is lower, domestic product (in most cases) requires less maintenance, and parts are a great deal more affordable. Much of the Japanese/Korean product just seems cheaper. And, to me, it just feels wrong to drive a Japanese car.

[lgb&dtuba]

Looking at Toyota stock prices over the past 12 months it isn't at an all time low right now. It hovered in the mid 70's to mid 80's for most of the year. It peaked a little over 91 in January. Unless you have quite a bit of money to invest I don't believe you will even recover brokerage fees for a while yet. Its 5 year high was around 137 back in early 2007. If you believe the economy will turn around and it will hit that again and are willing to invest long term then now <may> be a good time to jump in. It might still go lower and be a better point to jump in.

All that said, the U.S. is a big market for Toyota and if the public really loses faith in the brand and sales dive for a long time (6 months, say) then it is certainly conceivable that it could fail just like GM. Depends on how close to the edge they are. I haven't looked that deep into the company finances.

I have a few long term stocks that are doing ok (portfolio overall is up about 25%) but I am NOT an expert. That said, I don't plan on investing in Toyota. Too much bad news and not enough good for me.

[Uncle Buck]

If those who are ardently working towards this collapse completely succeed, what good - really - will "gold" be, as (in practical application) its uses are somewhat limited...??

I'm not an investor (have left my 401K in the same mutual fund for years), and don't have any special knowledge. I'm also not an alarmist who believes the system, currency, etc. is on its way to collapse.

But, in response to that specific issue, it is worth nothing that for all of our known human civilized history, gold and silver have remained valuable.

[MartyNeilan]

FWIW,
I do a ton of around-town driving every day, and the minivan is sucking down way too much gas in several hours of stop-and-go daily.
I drove a Honda Insight yesterday. The tuba just fits in the back, and I can put two kids in back and the oldest in front if necessary; three in back would be pushing it when carseats are factored in. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, although I could not personally get comfortable in the seat.
I drove a Prius II today (cheapest no-frills model currently available.) For just a little more than the Insight, it can take three real passengers in the back, can fit the tuba AND have room for more stuff in back (bass trombone, bags, etc.) and gets 10 more MPG. Plus, it feels like a car, not a toy.

Much of this recall stuff seems reminiscent of the Audi witch hunt in the 80's. Toyota makes good vehicles.

If none of this works out, I am still trying to refinance the Dodge. The pressing issue is that I am seriously upside down in it, but I have to get her name off it ASAP.

"Dodge is a damn fine car. Ran over my wife with a Dodge"

[MartyNeilan]

I have heard a couple of those stories as well. I would guess that for it to fail so relatively soon there must have been a factory defect. Conversely, there are fleets of Prius cabs running 250,000 and 300,000 miles on the original batteries. The NiMH batteries are typically very durable, even if they don't have quite the power of the Lithium Ion batteries currently used in laptops and cellphones. Toyota's (and Ford's) secret on second generation and above hybrids has been to always keep the charge level between 45% and 70%, thus taking the battery out of the range where permanent damage occurs.

My main concern is city mileage, not highway. You can get an econobox with a manual and get great highway mileage. Even my Grand Caravan is rated an almost respectable 25 and gets better than that on long runs. In the city is where hybrids shine - just the laws of physics. It takes a certain amount of energy every time you have to get a vehicle moving from a complete stop. If you can use most of the stopping energy to recharge the battery, and most of your re-starting energy comes from the battery, you hardly have to use any gas at all locally.

I am not yet a fan of the so-called 100% electric cars - what if something comes up and you have to drive more than 100 miles that day? Better bring a r-e-a-l-l-y long extension cord. The Volt is the only one of those done right - its built-in gas powered generator keeps you going indefinitely, almost like a hybrid. Unfortunately, it will also cost almost twice as much and is still relatively small.

Marty "who replaced all the "exploding" Dell batteries a couple years ago on his company's laptops"

[cjk]

Sit down and do the arithmetic. Compare the price if a Prius to a Corolla or a Civic.

You might find that you'll have to drive the Prius for 10 years to offset the additional sticker cost with higher fuel economy. Would you expect those batteries and that complicated drive train to last 10 years?

However, I do appreciate folks who save fossil fuels so I don't have to.

IMHO, a Toyota Prius is nothing but a fashion statement.

[ZNC Dandy]

This is rapidly degenerating into a thread on cars, so i'll help further push it into the gutter...with a bit of trivia. The first "hybrid" vehicle...was a Porsche. I believe it was made in 1901. Here's a little informative article...
http://www.retrothing.com/2009/10/1901- ... ybrid.html" target="_blank

[Dylan King]

I just bought a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe and really like it. It comes with features other SUVs carry at a much higher price point, and in working towards a deal on a 2009 model, I got the warranty extended to 10/100,000 bumper-to-bumper.

The car holds almost as much gear as my old Mercury Mountaineer, while getting around 24mpg with a V6 that really moves. It is also a top safety pick. With a baby on the way, I decided to sacrifice mileage for a bigger, safer vehicle.

And I love the XM radio!

Hyundai has improved their cars leaps and bounds over the past few years, and has gone to a little more than a Korean Yugo to a top buy in Consumer Reports. This has very little to do with investing, but for those looking at good cars for the money, Hyundai should be a consideration.

[Uncle Buck]

I just bought a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe and really like it. It comes with features other SUVs carry at a much higher price point, and in working towards a deal on a 2009 model, I got the warranty extended to 10/100,000 bumper-to-bumper.

The car holds almost as much gear as my old Mercury Mountaineer, while getting around 24mpg with a V6 that really moves. It is also a top safety pick. With a baby on the way, I decided to sacrifice mileage for a bigger, safer vehicle.

And I love the XM radio!

Hyundai has improved their cars leaps and bounds over the past few years, and has gone to a little more than a Korean Yugo to a top buy in Consumer Reports. This has very little to do with investing, but for those looking at good cars for the money, Hyundai should be a consideration.

I'll second this. I've had a 90-minute (both ways) commute to work for the past 8 years. I'm on my second Hyundai Elantra now, and HIGHLY recommend it as a great commuter car.

My opinion of the Elantra - you get a little less car than a comparable Toyota or Honda, for a LOT less money.

Elantra is much cheaper than a Prius, with still pretty-damn-good gas mileage. (But not quite as good as Bloke claims to get on his Corrola.)

[lgb&dtuba]

The thing is this: Not only our economy, but our economic SYSTEM is in the process of being systematically destroyed. If those who are ardently working towards this collapse completely succeed, what good - really - will "gold" be, as (in practical application) its uses are somewhat limited...??

I don't have any money in precious metals, mostly because I don't really understand the mechanics of it. What I believe is that unless you are buying actual physical gold (coins or jewelry) off an individual and storing it yourself you only have a piece of paper (or account balance somewhere) saying that you have x amount of gold "somewhere". If that is true, then if the system collapses what are the chances that you can redeem that paper? That ownership is part of the collapsed system, isn't it?

If you are physically holding the gold, then it <may> be worth something if everyone else treats it as currency. Else it's just pretty metal.

[steve_decker]

In a collapse, the only things worth value will be items neccessary for survival. Fuel, food, water, land, and skilled trades would become the measure of wealth. Gold will still be gold and will only be as useful a currency as it is now.

[Dylan King]

In a collapse, the only things worth value will be items neccessary for survival. Fuel, food, water, land, and skilled trades would become the measure of wealth. Gold will still be gold and will only be as useful a currency as it is now.

I suppose cigarettes will also be quite valuable when America collapses. Look at prison currency, and for solid evidence, see the movie "Waterworld".

But seriously, there will be a time soon that gold and silver will be worthless.

Ezekiel 7:19
They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the LORD; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.