Home-safe sales surge in US as crisis sows distrust of banks

[Hassin Bin Sober]

This is kind of old news but I hadn't heard it till Maria Barta-Whatever-Her-Name-Is mentioned it on CNBC this morning.

Are people THAT scared? That dumb? Am I that dumb and I'm missing something?

Does the local community college give courses on safe-cracking? Although, that's probably not a good Idea since gun sales are surging too.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=338506

Home-safe sales surge in US as crisis sows distrust of banks


Computer consultant Justin Luyt is shopping for a safe. Should his bank falter, out comes his savings and into the home vault it goes: $100,000 in cash.


“I find more comfort in the physical form of my money than the electronic form,” said Luyt, 35, who lives in Dallas.

Demand for home safes is surging amid a financial crisis that has sowed anxiety about banks. Sales at Bell Lock & Safe in Glendale, Arizona, jumped 15 per cent last month, while revenue rose to $40,000 from an average $25,000, said owner Rick Meehl. At the crossroads of Interstates 35 and 80 in Urbandale, Iowa, Strauss Safe & Lock Company drained its latest three-month supply of 15 safes in two weeks.

“People get nervous with what's going on,” said Jeff Reed, 44, manager of safe sales at Strauss Safe & Lock. “They don't really know what way to think.”

Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, has posted a “double-digit” increase in safe sales in recent weeks over the same period last year, according to spokeswoman Jean Niemi. She said figures weren't available.

“People are starting to wake up,” said Jake Foster, a retired Walnut Creek, California, mortgage broker who says he is safe-shopping. “They don't believe the lies coming out of Wall Street. There's a lot of fear out there.”

Fifteen US banks have failed this year, the most in 15 years. In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp counted 117 “problem” lenders in the second quarter, up 30 per cent from the first quarter. The FDIC earlier this month raised its deposit-insurance limit to $250,000 from $100,000 to discourage withdrawals.

Consumer safes cost from $19 to $4,000, retailers say. At Accu-Safes Inc. in Plainview, New York, some customers are seeking out the more-difficult-to-heist models, said William Leonardi, sales manager. The sale of 600- to 900-pounders costing $3,000 or more has more than doubled in the past month, he said.

In addition to cash, consumers are using safes to stow away coin collections, jewellry and precious metals.

“I had one gentleman with a lot of gold he wanted a little closer at a time like this,” Strauss Safe's Reed said.

Some, like freelance photographer Deborah Feingold, 57, opt to stockpile without the safe. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 778 points on Sept. 29, she withdrew $4,000 from the bank and put it in the pocket of a raincoat hanging in a closet, “thinking nobody would look there”.

“The concern was, what did I need to live on if everything temporarily collapsed?” said Feingold, a resident of New York state who didn't want her town identified.

Some safe buyers are sheepish about their behaviour, said Larry Hilliard, operations director for the Avondale, Arizona-based Advance Safes LLC.

more at link above........

[Democrats_win]

1. For a time in the past months, cash was considered the best investment.

People losing money in stocks and even money market accounts were said to be envious of those who were sitting on the sidelines with cash.

Of course that's not the best idea long term. Already the dollar is falling.

[Oregone]

3. The dollar is in super good shape actually

For the time being at least. Within the last few months, being abroad, our dollar went from parity to now a 20% advantage against a currency that is stronger than many of the rest (CAD).

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. I understand cash in a "cash account" but cash in a safe is stupid.

Especially if it is less than the $100k insured limit. Someone pulling $10k out of the bank because they are afraid the bank might someday go under is an idiot looking for heartache.

[Oregone]

2. Whats the point?

Spend the money on firewood now, or safe keep it for a fire later? Seems lose, lose. Better the invest in beer and prostitutes in the mean time. At least you'll have something to show for it.

[slackmaster]

5. Some of those safes are for all the guns people are buying