03-29-2020, 07:43 AM
03-29-2020, 10:11 AM
Here is something that some people may have to be leery of regarding the stimulus checks and their employers. Apparently some companies like one in Austin Texas, are trying to take the stimulus payments (including the full amount per individual) as well as half of the dependent payment from their employees. A company in Austin is trying to do this and has sent out a form asking their employees to sign it giving them permission to take this amount from their paychecks.
They sent out a form that they titled the “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction" form, where they are asking employees to sign it and have their paychecks between the weeks of April 6-20th be reduced by 100% of their stimulus amount, plus 50% per dependent amount. An employee who spoke under anonymity stated that this company is a national company that makes hundreds of millions of dollars. He also mentioned they laid off a quarter of their workforce recently. He stated he believed they did the layoffs to try and reduce their payroll. And now they are trying to do this stuff with the stimulus check. Another employee from a company in Texas mentioned their company was doing something similar.
Hopefully, no one here has an employer that is trying to pull something like this. (And it sounds like this may be illegal). But it is something to be mindful of, while people are waiting on their stimulus checks, and we are dealing with the hard impact the virus is putting on the economy.
Here is a link to this article:
https://wgno.com/news/health/coronavirus...hecks-tmw/
They sent out a form that they titled the “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction" form, where they are asking employees to sign it and have their paychecks between the weeks of April 6-20th be reduced by 100% of their stimulus amount, plus 50% per dependent amount. An employee who spoke under anonymity stated that this company is a national company that makes hundreds of millions of dollars. He also mentioned they laid off a quarter of their workforce recently. He stated he believed they did the layoffs to try and reduce their payroll. And now they are trying to do this stuff with the stimulus check. Another employee from a company in Texas mentioned their company was doing something similar.
Hopefully, no one here has an employer that is trying to pull something like this. (And it sounds like this may be illegal). But it is something to be mindful of, while people are waiting on their stimulus checks, and we are dealing with the hard impact the virus is putting on the economy.
Here is a link to this article:
https://wgno.com/news/health/coronavirus...hecks-tmw/
03-29-2020, 10:18 AM
(03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
03-29-2020, 10:24 AM
(03-29-2020, 10:18 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
The trouble with buying actual physical silver is that you have to buy a huge amount of weight to make any real money on it. It's just not worth enough per pound, and besides, you have to find a place to store it. What are you going to do, put it all in one room of your house? Rent a mini-warehouse?
03-29-2020, 10:25 AM
(03-29-2020, 10:18 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
Lol, shiny rocks and pieces of metal are inherently worthless, just like fiat currency. They only have value if society is functioning, and if you need to rely on silver to survive then it clearly won't be.
03-29-2020, 10:36 AM
(03-28-2020, 06:56 PM)JaG4LyFe Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 06:47 PM)EricC85 Wrote: [ -> ]Local credit union VyStar extended all their loans until July I had no idea buddy of mine called up and said check you auto loan sure enough no payment until June.
Doesn't matter. These businesses rely on the interest as a part of their bottom line. Anyway you slice it, someone is going to have to pay for it. I just don't see how the government will be able to step in and save anyone. Simply put, whoever can't weather the storm will need to fail and that trickle down effect will be catastrophic
It matters a great deal. It allows the individual to redirect funds to necessary living expenses during a time of reduced/no income. The principal balance doesn't change and the term of the note is extended a couple months. Deferrals are not an uncommon occurrence in the financial industry. The Fed also just dropped the discount rate to 0.25, so the cost of the money is almost nothing. The banks will survive.
03-29-2020, 11:12 AM
(03-28-2020, 02:00 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 01:26 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]In no way was Marty's comment mentioned in my post, nor was there an attempt to address it. If you'll observe, my comments were aimed at the dearth of journalistic standards presented by his source.
The story originated with the Wall Street Journal. Just FYI.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-lawma...lewebshare
"Mr. Trump has told people he wants his signature to appear on the direct payment checks that will go out to many Americans in the coming weeks, according to an administration official. The White House didn’t comment."
Obviously, you don't find it humorous, but I did. Sorry I pissed you off. I had no idea it would have that effect on anyone.
There's no edict that says the WSJ is above journalistic malfeasance. But whatever. I'm not pissed, just annoyed at how the press makes biased assertions from hearsay. The fourth estate in now a tabloid.
03-29-2020, 12:04 PM
(03-29-2020, 10:36 AM)Sneakers Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 06:56 PM)JaG4LyFe Wrote: [ -> ]Doesn't matter. These businesses rely on the interest as a part of their bottom line. Anyway you slice it, someone is going to have to pay for it. I just don't see how the government will be able to step in and save anyone. Simply put, whoever can't weather the storm will need to fail and that trickle down effect will be catastrophic
It matters a great deal. It allows the individual to redirect funds to necessary living expenses during a time of reduced/no income. The principal balance doesn't change and the term of the note is extended a couple months. Deferrals are not an uncommon occurrence in the financial industry. The Fed also just dropped the discount rate to 0.25, so the cost of the money is almost nothing. The banks will survive.
And the deferral will not result in a credit rating hit, unlike most other deferrals. So it's a win-win.
03-29-2020, 01:38 PM
(03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
IDK the reason I still have silver is because it hasn't gone up. The silver market is very manipulated IMO. Not a good metal to have most of your holdings in.
(03-29-2020, 10:18 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
really? I need to sell mine if $23 a ounce is really happening.
03-29-2020, 01:56 PM
(03-29-2020, 10:24 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 10:18 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ]Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
The trouble with buying actual physical silver is that you have to buy a huge amount of weight to make any real money on it. It's just not worth enough per pound, and besides, you have to find a place to store it. What are you going to do, put it all in one room of your house? Rent a mini-warehouse?
You must have a lot of wampum if you're talking about rooms full of silver. My old coins fit in a couple of cigar boxes. Mine are not for making money, they are a hedge against hyper-inflation. A gallon of gasoline still costs 19 cents in silver coin, same as 1960.
03-29-2020, 02:13 PM
(03-29-2020, 01:56 PM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 10:24 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]The trouble with buying actual physical silver is that you have to buy a huge amount of weight to make any real money on it. It's just not worth enough per pound, and besides, you have to find a place to store it. What are you going to do, put it all in one room of your house? Rent a mini-warehouse?
You must have a lot of wampum if you're talking about rooms full of silver. My old coins fit in a couple of cigar boxes. Mine are not for making money, they are a hedge against hyper-inflation. A gallon of gasoline still costs 19 cents in silver coin, same as 1960.
Now you've got me doing the math. Ballpark figures here.
$20 per ounce. 16 oz per lb. Density around 10x that of water. I gallon of water weighs 8 lb., so 1 gallon of silver weighs 80 lb.
$320 x 80 = $25,600. So $250K of silver is about a 10 gallon aquarium in size.
03-29-2020, 02:36 PM
(03-29-2020, 02:13 PM)MalabarJag Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 01:56 PM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ]You must have a lot of wampum if you're talking about rooms full of silver. My old coins fit in a couple of cigar boxes. Mine are not for making money, they are a hedge against hyper-inflation. A gallon of gasoline still costs 19 cents in silver coin, same as 1960.
Now you've got me doing the math. Ballpark figures here.
$20 per ounce. 16 oz per lb. Density around 10x that of water. I gallon of water weighs 8 lb., so 1 gallon of silver weighs 80 lb.
$320 x 80 = $25,600. So $250K of silver is about a 10 gallon aquarium in size.
Here's an interesting visualization:
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/wor...ilver.html
So if silver is $14.49 today, then a ton of silver is $463,000.
03-29-2020, 02:44 PM
(03-29-2020, 02:13 PM)MalabarJag Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 01:56 PM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ]You must have a lot of wampum if you're talking about rooms full of silver. My old coins fit in a couple of cigar boxes. Mine are not for making money, they are a hedge against hyper-inflation. A gallon of gasoline still costs 19 cents in silver coin, same as 1960.
Now you've got me doing the math. Ballpark figures here.
$20 per ounce. 16 oz per lb. Density around 10x that of water. I gallon of water weighs 8 lb., so 1 gallon of silver weighs 80 lb.
$320 x 80 = $25,600. So $250K of silver is about a 10 gallon aquarium in size.
Nice work.
03-29-2020, 02:47 PM
(03-29-2020, 02:44 PM)Senor Fantastico Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 02:13 PM)MalabarJag Wrote: [ -> ]Now you've got me doing the math. Ballpark figures here.
$20 per ounce. 16 oz per lb. Density around 10x that of water. I gallon of water weighs 8 lb., so 1 gallon of silver weighs 80 lb.
$320 x 80 = $25,600. So $250K of silver is about a 10 gallon aquarium in size.
Nice work.
Here is a picture of a ton of silver, which at today's price would cost $463,000.
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/wor...ilver.html
03-29-2020, 02:51 PM
(03-29-2020, 02:47 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 02:44 PM)Senor Fantastico Wrote: [ -> ]Nice work.
Here is a picture of a ton of silver, which at today's price would cost $463,000.
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/wor...ilver.html
Cool, thanks.
We've lost roughly as much silver as we currently have? Wow.
03-29-2020, 03:14 PM
(03-29-2020, 10:18 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-28-2020, 08:16 PM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Investing heavily in silver right now..... when everything crashes, silver will go up
Are you buying the SLV EFT or actual silver?
There's an unlimited amount of "paper silver" but supplies of the real thing are extremely thin.
The current spot price is around $14.50, but the cheapest 1-oz silver round I could find for sale among the large online dealers was $23.68
If you want to go big you can get a 100-oz bar for about $1750. Still a $3/oz premium
Actual Silver
03-29-2020, 03:26 PM
So you're going to go to Publix and get some groceries with all that silver? Maybe get a few tanks of gas?
03-29-2020, 04:35 PM
(03-29-2020, 03:26 PM)flsprtsgod Wrote: [ -> ]So you're going to go to Publix and get some groceries with all that silver? Maybe get a few tanks of gas?
No, but there has never been a time when you couldn't easily exchange it for dollars - especially if the purchasing power of dollars is cratering...like when the Fed conjures 6.4 TRILLION of them in one day.
03-29-2020, 05:16 PM
(03-29-2020, 04:35 PM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: [ -> ](03-29-2020, 03:26 PM)flsprtsgod Wrote: [ -> ]So you're going to go to Publix and get some groceries with all that silver? Maybe get a few tanks of gas?
No, but there has never been a time when you couldn't easily exchange it for dollars - especially if the purchasing power of dollars is cratering...like when the Fed conjures 6.4 TRILLION of them in one day.
If it gets to the point that you need silver then the dollar will be irrelevant. And bullets will be worth way more than silver.
03-29-2020, 05:36 PM
(03-29-2020, 10:11 AM)mal234 Wrote: [ -> ]Here is something that some people may have to be leery of regarding the stimulus checks and their employers. Apparently some companies like one in Austin Texas, are trying to take the stimulus payments (including the full amount per individual) as well as half of the dependent payment from their employees. A company in Austin is trying to do this and has sent out a form asking their employees to sign it giving them permission to take this amount from their paychecks.
They sent out a form that they titled the “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction" form, where they are asking employees to sign it and have their paychecks between the weeks of April 6-20th be reduced by 100% of their stimulus amount, plus 50% per dependent amount. An employee who spoke under anonymity stated that this company is a national company that makes hundreds of millions of dollars. He also mentioned they laid off a quarter of their workforce recently. He stated he believed they did the layoffs to try and reduce their payroll. And now they are trying to do this stuff with the stimulus check. Another employee from a company in Texas mentioned their company was doing something similar.
Hopefully, no one here has an employer that is trying to pull something like this. (And it sounds like this may be illegal). But it is something to be mindful of, while people are waiting on their stimulus checks, and we are dealing with the hard impact the virus is putting on the economy.
Here is a link to this article:
https://wgno.com/news/health/coronavirus...hecks-tmw/
I have heard similar stories like this from people that I know. I have mixed feelings about this.
On one hand if employees are still currently receiving their full pay then they don't necessarily need the stimulus check. They are not losing any income.
With that being said on the other hand, this money doesn't come from the company it comes from those of us that actually pay taxes. It's really no business for a company to dock a person's pay because they received a "gift" or otherwise. Besides that it defeats the purpose which is to put the money into the hands of the people, not give additional aide to business.
On a similar note I know of at least one case where my [BLEEP] company placed someone under mandatory quarantine for 2 weeks (the person had been out of country). The employee was given the option of using sick time, vacation time or leave-without-pay. It's just my opinion but I think the company should at least pay the person since they have been told to stay home through no fault of their own, and the company is already getting paid for the employee from the government whether he/she is actually at work.
I'm fortunate enough that even though I self-quarantined I am still able to perform much of my duties from home so I still get paid.