How much longer are you going to put up with being shat on, America?
"The rich splurge on bargains; As rates fall, time is right for deals"
by Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff | May 19, 2008
The recession gripping the country has left a broad swath of Americans agonizing over $60 gas fill-ups, ballooning grocery bills, and homes lost to foreclosure. But for the region's class of superrich, downtimes have made for a bonanza of deals on luxurious pleasures, from sports cars and yachts to pieds-a-terre and airplanes.
At the Rolls-Royce dealership in Wayland, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead is sold out into next year, and orders are still rolling in. Ferrari Maserati of New England in Foxborough notched more sales in April than in any of the previous 14 months. Boston Yacht Sales of Weymouth last week closed on three boats valued at a total of $1.6 million, helping to push business up by 9 percent over last year. Business has been so brisk at Shoreline Aviation in Marshfield that the wait time to purchase a sleek Cessna Citation jet is two years. Million-dollar condo sales, far from stalling like some other sectors of the real estate market, have continued at a pace about like last year's.
In all of those things, dealers say they see no signs of a slowdown in coming months.
So as you wallow in crap, America, these elite shitters are living higher of the hog than they ever have!!!!
In fact, the "downturn" has worked to THEIR BENEFIT!!
Why wouldn't it? After all, THEY DIRECTED and PLANNED THIS!!!
"If I had five Rolls-Royce Phantoms, they'd be gone the next day," Paul Downey, sales manager of Herb Chambers Rolls-Royce Motorcars of New England and Bentley Boston, said of the convertible that retails for $440,000.
For the class of rich who make more than $1 million a year and have several times that in the bank, the time is right for indulgence.
Are you as ANGRY as I am right now, readers?
Falling interest rates have made luxury goods cheaper to buy, and the items, which tend to be considered investments because they retain their value, are proving attractive alternatives to the volatile stock market. There is also the foreclosure factor: A growing number of high-end boats, cars, and homes have been foreclosed upon by banks and can be had for cut-rate prices.
"Ultrahigh-net-worth individuals are looking for bargains with which to invest their money," said Karl Hahn, managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in Boston, who advises "high-net-worth individuals" on their investments. "Their spending habits have not changed, but their mindset has changed."
Recent purchasers of high-end baubles were reluctant to speak on the record, particularly at a time of economic woe for so many, and in a region where flaunting one's wealth is not always viewed kindly....
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