All that glitters...

What's happinen my friends? Sorry, I have been a little busy digesting what is going on with our world. Busy month. I want to take a look at the easy way to make money. There isn't one. Right now there is going to be a ton of get rich schemes. I know that the gold packs are huge right now. If you want to sell your old scrap jewelery; checkout the value of the jewelry first. This link will not tell you how much your gold jewelry is worth, but it will get you started http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/HowToSellYourOldGoldJewelry.aspx .
To my fixed income friends, if an email offers an exciting chance to make money, do your homework. A job pays you, not the other way around. If a company offers you the chance to make money, but they ask for $200, it might be a scam. At this point in the economic cycle, we have got to be overly informed on any business proposals. Please get what is worth from your assets. It may take a little extra effort, but it will be worth it.

Lesser of two evils

I see all these problems with GM and the hedge fund that owns Chrysler. A lot of people blame the unions for the mess GM and Chrysler are in. I am a teamster. I can recognize that these companies are hamstrung by the UAW, or are they? Whats the option to paying a living wage; letting the government do it. This is the conundrum that these companies are in. I don't want to promote socialism, but most blue collar workers cannot afford health care. If the government provides this health care then we have socialized it. Whats the answer? How many people want to load 700 to 1000 packages a day, on anywhere from 3 to 5 trucks? The government bails out banks and insurance companies and people who can't pay their mortgages. Now it's a sin to help blue collar workers with their kids health care. I hate to be overly dramatic. My point is that there has to be workers rights for those who do more than sit behind a desk. We are the people who do what the rest of America won't. If you want more illegal immigrants, than keep fighting unions. The reason I say this is, illegal immigrants are the only ones that will do it for $7.00 an hour. Point is, the U.S. has a labor problem. There are not enough people in America who want to serve your food, deliver your packages, or build your cars. So go ahead, dissolve unions, and open up the borders.

Good, Gooood!

As an American, I am slowly figuring out that this economy cannot live indefinitely off of credit. If you watch any financial TV channel, they call it leverage. The government is trying to get credit flowing again. Great! Now we can get into the same mess again. As Americans, we have to learn how to save. One day at work, I was talking to a kind man from Africa. I was trying to talk finance with him, and he turned to me and told me that in Africa they bought their homes with cash. At the time I thought "What the hell does this guy know?" At this point, I think this guy is a genius. Unfortunately, Andre forgot to renew his work visa, and I haven't seen him lately. Point is, lets try to buy something outright. No more credit. With credit, we drive the price of homes too high. Once we do this, there is going to be someone willing to come up with a way for us to buy these homes. We will once again become slaves to the creditor. This is the revolution. Become solvent. Be your own person. Be beholden to none. As Americans, we can break this addiction to things that we can't afford.

Exxxcellent

Bail out. Wow! That's what I'm waiting for. How is it that as Americans we can just ignore the problem. Is there no accountability? How is it that people are given the opportunity to walk away from their obligations. Bailing out all the banks and bad businesses sucks. The government controls that, and we have no say. I still have to pay my debt. I have made bad decisions and no one has offered me a way out. The people who have taken out mortgages that they can't afford are let off scott free. Are you kidding me? If I walk away from my credit card or car payment, I'll be harassed by collection agencies. Problem is, that if I walk away from a mortgage, there is no consequence. It makes me wish that I had a mortgage. As Americans we have got to pay our debt. If you don't it will come back to bite you in the ass. Need an example, ... look around.
P.S. I don't mean to use the same picture twice, but I think it is quite compelling.

There Goes My Hero

Kinda ironic that someone like me would pick the head of the Fed as my hero. At least for today he is. Ben Bernanke was actually able to give answers to the senate today. I was thrilled, and it appears so were the markets. Mr. Bernanke said that the the nationalization of the banks was not the way to go, and then was actually able to explain some of his plans. I have been waiting for weeks for someone from government to lay out a plan, and not just scare the hell out of us. So kudos to you Mr. Bernanke.

Band Aid Theory

I don't think the government understands that it needs to let the markets work their way out of this economic problem. I understand that the government thinks its helping the economy by running up a huge deficit and throwing money everywhere. It is making the problem worse because the huge printing press they are turning on, is making the future very uncertain. This could lead to hyper-inflation. Instead of just pulling the band aid off very quickly, and letting the economy heal itself. The government is pulling the band aid off very slowly, and poking the economy with a stick. I don't want to sound heartless to people who are in a bad economic situation, but as Americans we have got to become leaner and meaner about helping ourselves. I know it doesn't help that the government comes out everyday telling us that we are in an economic crisis. They sure don't seem to know what the hell to do, and it kills confidence. If the government had just let the economy correct itself, yeah unemployment would have shot to ten percent, but its going to get there anyway. The government is just doing this the long, painful way.

What the....

HEH?! For the past week the markets have been waiting on this Financial Stability plan from Secretary Geithner. If you want to read the speech here is the link http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/tg18.htm. Problem is Geithner did not tell us how he is going to fix the banks. This just killed the markets, I think right now the dow is down 362 points. Here's a hint, do not say that you have a solution to a problem when you do not. If Geithner needs another month to figure this problem out, then take it. Geithner can not answer any questions about how he is going to fix the problem, and that drives me whacko banana sandwich. In my opinion, the market tanks because it thinks its going to get answers and does not. This not knowing is also what is killing consumer confidence. From now on if any more government officials have any more speeches please be able to explain what you're going to do. If not, then just don't have one.