Jun
27
BUD is the only one up… Maybe I should take a hint
June 27, 2008 | Comments Off
Anheuser Busch (BUD) seems to be the only stock going up today. Maybe I should take a hint and drink a cold one. Or maybe I should understand that in a recession/depression or any sad time,vice is a good bet. People spend their money trying to eliminate their feelings (or at least hide them).
They [...]
Jun
18
Visas for Home Buyers? Just an Idea.
June 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
I am no sure why no one has mentioned it earlier. Maybe due to the political sensibility. But yesterday, it occurred to me that we may have a solution for the housing crisis that may help on the Immigration front also. Grant residency to the next million foreigners that buy a house over $100,000 USD, [...]
May
4
Where do you think they will get money from?
May 4, 2008 | 2 Comments
Banks have not been doing well lately. They got caught into a sub-prime mess of their own co-creation (the American Consumer, and overseas mortgage backed investors being their accomplices). They have also co-created a secondary mess: credit cards.
In the Old Days banks got money from charging Interest. In the 90’s and 2000’s they got money [...]
May
2
Real Shareholder Activism – Where is It Now?
May 2, 2008 | Comments Off
Back in 2000, when we discovered many of the Executives (CEO, CFO, CIO, CxO) where either directly cooking the books or looking the other way when their subordinates did so to please them, many shareholders felt they needed to take more control over the companies where they invested.
Generally, shareholders can exercise some control over the [...]
Apr
25
CDC Says Smoking Hurts Productivity
April 25, 2008 | 1 Comment
“CDC: Smoking hurt productivity.
Early deaths caused by smoking cost the nation about $92 billion in
lost productivity from 1997 to 2001… Smoking reduces life
expectancy an average of about 14 years by way of lung cancer, heart
disease, and other illness….” Found in USA Today, Friday 1st of
July 2005.
Statistics are just that… statistics. But more, and more frequently [...]
Apr
17
NEED is a Four Letter Word
April 17, 2008 | Comments Off
Humans need air, potable tap water, food, and warm shelter. Humans want a TV, designer jeans, a 4,000 sqft. house, an iPod, and a Nissan Pathfinder.
There is nothing wrong in wanting something. It is natural to work hard to acquire or do the things you want. Buy what you want, just don’t fool yourself.
How many [...]
Mar
26
Value : Recession Resistant
March 26, 2008 | Comments Off
CNN reported today that Nursing is a recession proof job. While it certainly tops my list of recession resistant jobs, there are many others: and they do not necessarily have to do with the degree printed on the diploma. Job resistance, in my opinion, is based on value and how much someone needs that value.
Value [...]
Mar
25
Getting Paid to Learn
March 25, 2008 | Comments Off
I recently started doing tutoring to college students in exchange for money. I do charge considerably less than my standard professional rate. However, the benefits surely go beyond the pay:
Up To Date – The concepts in today’s software engineering courses (Computer Science and Electrical Engineering) are the same they where 15 years ago. The technologies [...]
Mar
13
Money Zen
March 13, 2008 | 3 Comments
I have friends who tell me that they do not want to be like me. They do not want to worry about money or find a better job. Yet, they complaint that they do not have enough money and that they dislike their jobs but still have to do them to earn their living.
I advice [...]
Mar
10
Dual Income vs. Stay At Home
March 10, 2008 | 1 Comment
Many people have made articles about the difficult decission families face when both of them work and they have kids. The article Dual Income Families and the Economics of the Stay at Home Parent suggests that for a $40,000 earner, the actual after-tax and after child care expenses take home amount drops to a [...]
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