Great article in Smart Money in how and why certain pricing strategies occur:

Airplane Tickets

When to Buy: Wednesday morning.
Why: "Most airfare sales are thrown out there on the weekend," says travel expert Peter Greenberg, a.k.a. The Travel Detective¹. Other airlines then jump into the game, discounting their own fares and prompting further changes by the first airline. The fares reach their lowest prices late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

 

Books

When to Buy: Thursday.
Why: Price compare between major chains Borders and Barnes & Noble. The former releases its weekly sales and coupons on every Thursday; the latter, every Tuesday.

 

Cars

When to Buy: Monday.
Why: "Car dealers live for the weekend, which is when they make most of their sales," says Phil Reed, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com². "On Mondays, the low foot traffic makes it seem like the weekend will never come." That dealer desperation, paired with fewer consumers on the lot, give you more negotiating power.

 

Clothing

When to Buy: Thursday evening.
Why: That's the day when stores stock their shelves for the weekend, and when many retailers — including Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Express — start their weekend promotions, says Kathryn Finney, author of "How to Be a Budget Fashionista." You'll find great prices and the best selection. "It's an effort to get people to shop in the middle of the week," she says.

 

Department-Store Wares

When to Buy: Saturday evening.
Why: Department stores have a lot to mark down for their Sunday circulars, so they frequently start the process on Saturday evenings before store closing, says Finney. "They're preparing for the big rush," she says. Bonus: Even if the markdowns haven't been made, many employees will honor the sale price if you ask. Print out the circular preview from the store's web site, and bring it with you when you head to the mall.

 

Dinner Out

When to Buy: Tuesday.
Why: Most restaurants do not receive food deliveries over the weekend. "Sunday is the garbage-can day of the week," says Kate Krader, senior editor at Food & Wine magazine. "No doubt, they're cleaning out their fridges. Tuesdays, they're starting fresh." Dining out on that day offers the best odds you'll get a meal worth paying for, no matter your price point, she says.

 

Entertainment

When to Buy: Wednesday.
Why: Plenty of movie theaters, amusement parks and museums offer extra discounts to consumers who visit midweek. Six Flags theme parks offer a $12 discount to AAA members — three times its usual discount of $4. AMC Theatres offers members in its free AMC Movie Watcher reward program a free small popcorn on Wednesdays. (This summer, it's also the day select theaters offer free Summer Movie Camp³ screenings.)

 

Gas

When to Buy: Thursday, before 10 a.m.
Why: The price of oil isn't the only factor influencing costs at your local pump. Consumer usage plays a role, too — and weekend demand is high, says Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com⁴, a price-monitoring site. Prices usually swing upward on Thursdays as travelers fuel up to head out the following day. By hitting the pump before 10 a.m. (when many station owners change their prices), you'll beat the rush and the price jump.

 

Groceries

When to Buy: Sunday  — or Tuesday.
Why: Maximize savings by combining store sales, which run from Wednesday to Tuesday, with the latest round of coupons from your Sunday paper, says Mary Hunt, publisher of Debt-Proof Living⁵, a money-saving newsletter. "It's a smart idea to wait until you have those in hand to match up with the week's sale items," she says.

To snag savings on items you don't need just yet, shop on Tuesday, advises Hunt. Chances are, the store will have run out of the sale items. "That means you can pick up rain checks, which allow you to buy those items later when you need them, and at the sale price," she says.

 

Hotel Rooms

When to Buy: Sunday.
Why: There are two kinds of hotel managers, and the kind that won't give you a discount on your room rate has Sundays off, says Greenberg. Call the hotel directly, and ask to speak with the manager on duty or the director of sales. These employees are open to negotiation, he says. They'd rather have a booked room at a discounted rate than an empty room. (The rest of the week, your call would get you a so-called revenue manager, who monitors profits — and is rarely willing to lower rates.)

Cool stuff . . .

>

Sources:
The Cheapest Days to Buy Certain Items
Kelli B. Grant |Kelli B. Grant
Smart Money July 2, 2007
http://www.smartmoney.com/dealoftheday/index.cfm?story=20070702

http://petergreenberg.com/

http://www.edmunds.com

http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/

http://www.gasbuddy.com

http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/

Posted at 06:17 AM in Shopping | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

DrumPants are a set of pants that enable the wearer to produce drum sounds by hitting various parts of the pants with his hands. The wearer thusly becomes a cyborg musician, his body assuming the roles of both player and instrument, allowing for spontaneous electric hambone solos or even collaborations with other musicians in a band setting.

via odbol

Posted at 05:50 AM in Music, Video, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I love this idea:

Color-Coded Criminals by Mr. Purple

Posted at 06:18 AM in Design, Film, Humor, Shopping | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Eleanor Rigby, on the album Revolver, and the film Yellow Submarine:

The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, although in a 1980 Playboy magazine interview, conducted shortly before he died, John Lennon said that at McCartney's request, he completed the lyrics to the second and third verse . . .

Posted at 06:20 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Very amusing:

via flickr

Posted at 06:57 AM in Art & Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Posted at 06:34 AM in Humor, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

I love a capella, and enjoy a good economic parody. So how could I not love the Richter Scales ode to the 2007 credit crunch, sub-prime implosion, and hedge fund blowups on Wall Street?

Lyrics are below:

There's a fine, fine line
between investment grade and junk
There's a fine, fine line
between liquidity and a crunch
And you never know 'til you settle up
if the credit is benign
There's a fine, fine line
between a gain and a painful decline

There's a fine, fine line
between the theories and the facts
And there's a fine, fine line
between what's solid and what cracks
And now my holdings badly misbehave
and my losses aren't confined
'Cause there's a fine, fine line
between a gain and a painful decline

For years I piled on debt
and smiled as my profits soared
(I even bought a solid gold toilet, yeah)
Now I see that I can't
be levered this much any more
(panicking, I'm panicking, I think I've soiled myself)
Bernanke, please save me,
cut rates, oh I implore...
(please, even 50 bps)

There's a fine, fine line
between a bull and a bear
And there's a fine, fine line
between delight and despair
I'm hoping I'll avoid the pain to come
from trades yet to unwind
But there's a fine, fine line
between a gain
and a crippling, crushing,
mortally wounding decline
(help me)

Mixed by Tat Tong

Inspired by Avenue Q

Posted at 09:32 AM in Finance, Humor | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

via Listaholic:

Posted at 06:21 AM in Humor, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

via Headline Junky, we see this monograph for the Army War College titled "Deprogramming an Ideology."

Its the only appropriate item I found for today . . .

Posted at 02:56 PM in Current Affairs, Politics, Religion, War/Defense | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

via Oddee:

There's more here

Posted at 06:02 AM in Art & Design | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack