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So Monday morning my PC laptop crapped out right as I’m about to delve into the Oxdown Gazette for some mmm-good read’n and maybe some write’n. Being as naturally superstitious as John McCain trying to roll a 4, I asked the Universe if this was a sign — "Does this mean I shouldn’t be posting at Oxdown?" but She didn’t answer, which I took to mean I’m cool here. (I regard the Universe as Female, that’s how I roll).
So I asked the Universe: "Does this mean I should think about getting a Mac, even though I won’t be able to go back to work until next year?"
Her answer appeared to arrive in the mail in short order — a credit card offer from my recently failed bank, Washington Mutual.
Normally, I throw these credit card offers into the recycle bin un-opened. &As every school kid knows, the credit market is so tight in America right now millions of people are on the verge of losing their jobs because businesses can’t get any money from the "seized up" financial sector.
America faces a "once in a lifetime" major crisis of enormous dimensions, or so I’ve been led to believe.
For laughs and giggles I checked out what The Bank Formerly Known As Wamu had to offer: more than 9 grand at 1.99% APR until next August, with an upfront finance charge of $150 (about 1.6%).
WTF? I don’t own a home or have a regular jay oh bee and they’re gonna give me in excess of 9 large at less than prime?
I trotted right down to the local Wamu JP Morgan-Chase branch and spoke to the young woman there about the deal.
"It’s an active offer," she assured me.
"Wow, I’m a little surprised because of everything I’m hearing. Hell, I could put the 9 grand in an ING account and keep it there and almost break even."
"You could put it in our on-line savings account and collect almost 4%."
"You mean this bank would give me 9 grand for about 10 months, charge me around $300, but then pay me around $300 if I lent it back to them?"
She nodded, doing the same math in her head that I was. "Sounds about right," she cheered.
Now, I know that anecdotes like this don’t mean anything, and I’m sure there are lots of people out there truly sweating this thing out, but if they’re going to give a middle-aged slacker like yours truly 9 grand at discount prices, I have to wonder if this "crisis" is all that’s it’s cracked up to be.
Not that it matters to me — turns out all I needed was a new keyboard.
The Universe works in mysterious ways…the Bitch.
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The WaPo gal might nod and approve, but when it comes down to an account, forget about it.
I wish I had enough time to look into this thing more. You’re right, this particular incident doesn’t mean very much in itself, but I’d love to know how it’s working out for business owners and other folks who have to obtain loans to get over the natural cash shortfalls. That’s where the real crunch will come, if it does.
$33 for an overdraft. Even if the overdraft is some weird $0 .01 transaction from paypal. Fuckers.
There’s fine print. Somewhere in the loan docs will be a teeny tiny clause that says
They may ask for your first born too, but only if the kid is old enough to put to work and make them some money.
Along with pretty much anything else in the agreement that isn’t prohibited by the law.
Unfettered capitalism kills.
Bait and switch scams are common with these credit card offers,you start out at 1.99% , next thing you know you’re at 24 %.
If you can’t pay cash , you can’t afford it!!!
I get these credit offers alla time. I have been watching how they morph. It is interesting. I am also thinking of calling them up and find out if they mean it.
As someone who has used the 0% interest options regularly for transferred balances who then does not use the credit card for purchases, I have noticed that the new thing is that they will transfer balances, and purchases are at 0% instead.
But I am also curious about this oddity of finance. I do have good credit, don’t know how long it will last. I live on the edge pretty much.
You and most of us in the middle class.
But we get to subsidize the uber-rich, which is the lot of us educated serfs with internet access. Or even less educated serfs without.
Yay!
Make a copy of the offer and send it to every Senator that voted yes.
Yeah, well, it’s our lucky day. Again.
Yes, you could do all that, but enough people either won’t make every payment on time (only takes one to blow the teaser rate) or won’t have it together enough to pay the money back when the teaser rate is over that the bank will make the loss up with fees and the usurious interest they charge after the teaser rate is gone. I find it easier to never run a balance on those things, even if I might miss out on some deal.
Attackerman is across the way!
When We Lock Horns, We Can Go Harder Than Busta
I was at WaMu today in Corvallis Or. The nice nervous man at the counter assured me that they were doing fine, and that things were going to get real formal real soon. Apparently NY doesn’t like laid back latte drinking types. Oh well. I’m keeping my free checking and already moved the money market funds.
Get the Mac and go to work tomorrow.
Thing is, they’ll never give you that money unless you have absolutely perfect credit and a job.
If you fill out the application and send it in you’ll get back a card with a $500 limit. If you use it for 6 months or a year and make all your payments and never go over the limit they’ll raise it to $1000. If you miss one payment or go over the limit they’ll jack the rate to 24%.
Same thing with the Juniper Visa w/ iTunes rewards. I applied for their interest free loan for a new Mac 2 years ago. They declined the purchase of the Mac (I have terrible credit and didn’t really expect them to accept me anyway) but accepted me for a $500 Visa card and sent it to me. I keep it in my wallet with a zero balance for an emergency.
My partner, whose 401k is with Merrill Lynch, hasn’t gotten anything in the mail from them at all. It’s been, what, two weeks since someone consumed them?
Well, Bank of America just sent me some ‘Blue” checks that I can cash up to my credit limit of $40K with 0% interest until 9/09. Go figure.
Apparently the evangelicals are blaming the rest of us for the “meltdown”…Blame the Sinnaers and Moral Decay
However some in the movement are beginning to realize that they were co-dependents on this whole thing with the Repugs. Some are even suggesting that they should have read the Bible in regards to whether Jesus actually suggested that unfettered greed and uncharitable wealth was scripturally sound.
As far as the free market and regulation…laws against charging usurious interest rates go back to the Torah…it was against a serious crime.
They may be right, but for the wrong reason.
I wonder what Jeebus said about showing some courage?
Oh, ok. Yeah.
Hey newtonusr,
I’m totally lost here in the site — here I’m looking for Late Nite, which I guess no longer exists. I have real time 12:47 p.m. Same for you?
Chris
er, a.m. sorry!
Hi Chris!
Flurry of posts I guess.
We will know that Planet Earth is still on its axis if Eureka or Suz have some tunes for us in a few…
Sigh, thanks so much — the time posted just confuses the heck out of me. Which parts of the site are three hours past, and some in real time. Will look for Mme. Suzanne!
I don’t look at the FDL clock anymore, just the Mac’s clock.
And refresh, refresh, refresh…
My first born? They’re fucked. I have hard enough time taking care of the aging kid I already got (dat’s me).
I’d love to take your advice, believe me.
I truly regret ever leaving the Macintosh bosom.
I’m in a bit of a hairball situation in regards to work — I’m a poker dealer with swollen knuckles. If I take 880mg of naproxin a day I’m okay, but I’d rather cure what I have without that.
I have one other out — that the phosphate industry loses its strangle hold on municipal drinking water corrosion control, but that’s a whole different post.
That’s what I’m talk’n about — but I’m on a smaller scale.
Thanks, Pach!
That’s a sign of tightening credit. It’s 1.99%, not 0%, and $150 is a high fee, and $9000 is a low credit line. If your application doesn’t show sufficient income you won’t get the card; they target the offers to particular ranges of credit score typically, and credit score doesn’t take your income into account. They don’t find out your income until you apply. There are better offers out there, but it isn’t like it was 1 or 2 years ago when there were many many 0% no fee 1 year balance transfer offers.
If you don’t want to do the BT (and I wouldn’t for that price) I’d go to Capital One and do the design your own card. You can set up the card to give 1% cash back (2% for the first year), 0% interest on purchases until August 2009. So you could do your regular spending for the first year (probably best not to let the total get to more than about 75% of your credit limit on any one card, 50% over all cards) and not have to pay the balance until August 2009. You do have to make the minimum payment every month, which in the case of Cap One is 3% of the balance.
I don’t get your point. I can get the same loan from my bank at 0% for 15 months. So, like I said, I don’t get your point!!!
I have two points:
1) I hear banks aren’t lending money to businesses but they’ll lend me 9 grand at a discount and I haven’t had a regular steady job in 7 years. (I live in a rent controlled 1+ bd in the Haight for which I’m paying $50 a month less than I paid when I first moved in 20 years ago…a long story).
As you and others can attest, this offer is a common arrangement. So: where is the credit crisis?
2) The Universe is Female. I serve the Goddess and the Universe serves me. Which is why I’ve gotten thru this decade in pretty good shape, I wholeheartedly believe.
2) The Universe is Female. I serve the Goddess and the Universe serves me.
An unabashed superstition, readily admitted. Superstitious people shouldn’t be allowed ANY executive position.
No McCain. No hard ways.