I'm a big Festool fan but with all the uncertainty that's going on in the world, the 4/1 price increase rubs me the wrong way. I think we are all a bit on edge on what's to come and I would think postponing the increase would be a great gesture to help their loyal customers...

What does one thing have to do with the other? Are you going to use a tool to treat the virus?

Don't they raise prices every single year on the same date?

And what's happening in the world? You mean the advertising whores using fear to sell you crap you don't need using fear?

Your more likely to commit suicide than die from some Chinese bat flu. Especially if you don't live in a developing nation.

I could be wrong, and this could be the start of the next Justinian Plague, but I doubt it.

What I am afraid of is simple minds feeding into this and crashing the economy. Again. My business will not survive another downturn like 2008. In 2008 I was basically bomb proof. Small lean, no debt. Still small, just not as small, but overhead is a different story.

Amen Karl. Well said.

A recession like 2008 is most certainly coming as a result of the Covid 19. Think about how your community is being impacted, and extend that out to the entire globe. Everyone. Some say this will go on until next Winter.

I doubt a connection between Festool and Corona.

This mini-plague is not the result of fear-mongers or soap sellers. This is Sci-Fi real. As a dry run for a real outside threat, I think the US certainly flunked, and the Globe did not do well. Our leadership was laughable except for the fact that they were trying to tell the truth. They just have so many conditions it is hard to get it all out. And our leader does not 'believe' in things like a pan-demic. Pence, the fence post, is a model of taciturn Hoosier-dom. I don't think I have heard him say one thing that was not countermanded by one of his experts in his Trump-mandated "expert line-up" within minutes of him saying it. Absolutely terrible leadership. Yes, this is life and death.

And we don't even know if the virus is even conservative or progressive.

I do not believe this can be like 2008. There was a real flaw that was corrected in 2008. This is just panic.

I believe this is going to die out like SARS before it by mid summer and things will climb back to where they should be.

This media is driving this.

For all our sake I hope I am right.

Bill has this right.

David you are one of the best woodworkers I have ever seen, this is a hiccup not a big deal, quit watching the news

There will be a recession but it will be mild and the recovery should start in Sept

This doesn't show the virus data yet, the trend is your friend and will continue after hiccup is over, i.e. not a catastrophe

View higher quality, full size image (910 X 661)

Jeez David, you're going to wear the calluses off with all that hand wringing.

The is not a mini plague. It's a gnarly flu. Is it going to kill some folks? Yep, sure is, but so does the flu. Like a lot of people. The numbers might be significant, but the percentage of the population affected by the actual virus will be insignificant. People thinking this is the end of the world will be the reason it's the end of the world.

The plague, as in THE plague killed potentially fifty million people. 2/3rds of Europe's population. This is a nasty flu. The black death it ain't.

Another thing is people acclimate. When the whores on tv fail to grab the sheeple's attention any longer, it'll be just another day of nobody caring like they did last flu season.

I'm just hoping there's enough work in the pipeline to keep the bills paid until people stop trying to posture and over react more than the person they are talking to.

We've bred this culture where you have to react more than the last person. It's grandstanding. It's virtue signaling. It's sanctimonious. It's also pure BS.

Think what you want about the virus (I happen to think anything where China shuts down 400 million people while already on economic precipice from a trade war is something very significant or a president running for re-election changing his tune and shutting down so many of things) but the economic fallout will be greater than the depression. In a country and world where companies have enormous debt and people are living paycheck to paycheck I debt up to their eyeballs there is no room for non growth. People are already not only losing faith in the banks but in the treasury market. If you don’t understand the significance of that I’d do your homework and quick. Buckle up. It’s going to be brutal.

The United States isn't China though.

China is a much better place for disease to hit hard than here.

Better sanitation.
Overall cleaner environment.
Less dense population.
Population under less stress.
Access to better doctors/hospitals.
Health maintenance before this even started.
Access to medication for other issues so you're less susceptible to this current issue.

The mortality rate will be different for China than us.

I have to imagine population density is a huge factor. I live in the middle of nowhere, but even in our most densely packed areas probably don't even compare to China's most densely packed areas.

Karl,
You aren't understanding me. Even if we aren't China (I agree, but you need to watch the very fast taken down videos out of China & Italy by DOCTORS...you aren't getting the straight of this on mainstream. It's a bioweapon and manmade and more severe than you are giving it credit but not the plague to be sure) the damage economically is already done. You cannot shut down this country for two months. The world down for two months. Math doesn't lie and you can turn the printing presses until they burn down but we are closer to a systematic complete reset right now than in 08/09...really close. I don't care if you believe me or not. It doesn't matter what you believe or not. You are dealing with BILLIONS of people-psychology and herd mentality and you are dealing with HUNDREDS OF TRILLIONS in debt that the minute a payment is missed at certain levels it creates a domino effect that the biggest central banks in the world cannot stop. It doesn't matter if 60% of the people believe as you do if the other 40% believe as I do the system will fail. It simply walks too close (I might say over the line) to the line and is held up by nothing more than FAITH. Loss of faith means it's done. Put a fork in it.

As to where it will hit- the hot zone in the United States is also one of the wealthiest. I cannot even tell you how many multi million dollar homes I have delivered cabinet packages to there and it is a ghost town. Literally empty.

My brother's theory is this is to get us off the fiat currency.

Your brother is a smart man. Can you say "one world currency"

There has to be over investment for there to be a correction.

There was big time over investment in 2008. There isn't now. We now have the highest credit rating among borrowers than we have ever had.

Public debt because of entitlements is a lot of debt but the US is very qualified to borrow the money. It won't be an issue. It will actually get to 60 or 70 trillion by 2060 and it won't be a problem because the US has 150 trillion or so in assets.

BTW this interview points out the reality of the virus

Non hyperbolic interview about the virus