Earth to Public: Investments Carry Risk

Maybe I’m the only one who reads the fine print or listens to the hushed fast talking at the end of radio and television commercials, but I’m pretty certain that every single financial advertisement says something like, “Remember that investments are subject to risk, including possible loss of principal,” or “Before investing, consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses.”

Even those goofy Franklin Mint commemorative coin commercials mention that the value of their “limited edition” painted coins is NOT guaranteed to increase.

Never any mention of something like, “Don’t worry, if you lose your shirt, the goverment will buy you a new one.”

A woman at work today mentioned that she was worried because of all of these people who do have savings lost them.

I did my best to explain to her that they didn’t lose their savings — they risked their savings — with the hopes that their savings would grow. It just didn’t work out this week — but in the long run, it probably will…

Now, sure, there are obviously some folks out there close to retirement that lost a ton of money. They were risky. As they neared retirement, they should have moved most of their savings towards lower risk investments. They lost their shirts, and honestly, they kinda sorta deserved it.

My own 401k investments shows me that my limited low risk investments haven’t been hammered over the past few months.

And, again, look at the markets today… There’s some value out there, and there is some money out there (though the news would have you think otherwise), and look what’s happening… Things are going up already.

The markets are working.

I’m hoping that everyone takes a chill pill and that Congress passes nothing.

But that’s just me…

Posted on September 30th, 2008 at 12:32 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Rants | No Comments »

Anyone Else not Working for Rosh Hashanah?

Perhaps this is insensitive of me, but regarding the apparent urgency of a bail-out plan (which I personally don’t support anyway), why again is Congress taking a few days off for some Jewish holidays?

This might not be a politically correct rant, but my trusty almanac tells me that Jews currently make up around 2.2 percent of the U.S. population. A quick “google” indicates that 37 members of Congress are Jewish. The math tells me that that’s just shy of 7 percent.

Either way you slice it, it’s a minority. (Yes, Barney Frank is in the minority. Imagine that?)

Now I don’t know about you, but I have to go to work during the two days of Rosh Hashanah.

I’ve always had to.

Until Israel takes control of North America, I’d assume that I’ll always have to work on the first and second day of the seventh month on the Jewish calender.

And I’d be willing to bet that 97.8% of the workers on “Main Street” and “Wall Street” will be going to work on Tuesday and Wednesday with me, so really, who are the members of Congress working for again?

Or is this just because they had to work a little overtime on Saturday and Sunday?

Seriously, talk about out of touch…

Posted on September 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Rants | 14 Comments »

Photo of the Week: Obama House

I took this picture over the weekend in my home town here in Connecticut.

It’s been one of my favorite houses since I was in high school — though, back then it didn’t have its latest decoration.

I try not to get too political on here — I think politics have come up maybe once or twice over the past year — but there’s no sense in hiding who I’m going to vote for.

No one. That’s right, I won’t be voting this November.

I can’t vote in the election because I’m not an American citizen.

But that isn’t to say that I can’t support one candidate or the other.

Obama’s my guy.

And it appears that he’s the guy for most people my age — which likely has to do with his stance on war, the environment, gun control, abortion, stem cell research, immigration, health care, the economy, taxes, etc…

That is why I’d vote for Obama if I could.

It’s also why I’ll encourage those who can vote to vote for Obama.

Watching both conventions on C-Span (without any pundits or random talking heads swaying my thoughts), the one thing that was blatantly apparent was the difference in each parties approach and delivery.

The Democrats talked about all the great American things that had happened in the past and that could happen again in future.

The Republicans, on the other hand, spent most of their time talking about all of the things we should be afraid of if we don’t vote McCain.

It’s just a different strategy. And I understand that.

But like my Biggest Loser post — I prefer to be inspired rather than threatened. That’s what motivates me and makes me feel good.

That, and combined with Biden (who seems like a regular Joe to me), the Democrat ticket is just a lot more relatable… More like, well, typical Americans… like I pretend to be, even though I’m not.

John McCain is definitely qualified to be President. I’m not sure anyone out there has ever said otherwise — he’s been around forever, it seems.

I have always found it odd, though, how he’s been supported by the religious right (which I can’t understand — just cause Huckabee drops out, they support the next guy?). I mean, Senator McCain has demonstrated quite well, in the past, that he lacks morals.

I love how people were so quick to pile on John Edwards for infidelity when John McCain did the exact same thing (worse actually). I mean, you’d think the bigger story would be on the guy who’s actually a nominee…

Blame it on being a POW — sorry, I’m not buying it.

I’ve also seen quotes where they say that end of his first marriage was because he was turing 40 but acting like a 25 year old. I dunno, I’d like to think that a potential President of the United States would’ve grown up long before turning 40, but maybe that’s just me.

And seriously, how’d he bury the whole Keating Five thing? I mean, in the grand scheme of national politics, that was a pretty big blunder.

Have people forgotten that too?

McCain can take a great deal of credit for the recession of the early 1990’s. In today’s financial climate, I dunno, I think that’s kind of relevant.

And you’d think a scandal that big would disqualify you from running for President. Apparently not.

Wrapping Cindy McCain into the picture, and again, it’s tough to relate to John McCain. No one in my family is a gold digger and no one has a trophy wife (with a serious painkiller addiction) either.

How about your family?

And I’m still not sure why his poor health isn’t a bigger issue. I mean, remember all the hoops the media leaped through with Dick Cheney and his bad heart?

McCain has had pieces of his face removed this calendar year and there’s barely been a mention… Last time I checked, skin cancer on a 72 year old was a pretty serious issue.

The part of McCain’s platform that makes me laugh out loud every time is when he says the US economy is strong. He justifies it by saying that the US worker is the hardest worker in the world and that’s why we have nothing to worry about.

I’m sorry, but has John McCain ever been to Walmart? Who is he kidding? Unfortunately, these days, it seems that the average US worker is more interested in taking cigarette breaks and talking on their cell phones than actually working.

As for Sarah Palin, well, maybe it’s just me, but Alaska is pretty, well, meaningless. I mean, who are they kidding? That’s like saying that if it weren’t for South Dakota, the country would fall apart. It’s just not true. She “changed” Alaska. Honestly, does a changed Alaska mean much to the lower 48?

Sure, in the Senate, all 50 states are equal. That’s why there is also a House of Representatives, and there, Alaska is irrelevant with just one seat. One. I have nothing against Alaska, or any other small state (Connecticut included), but to claim that any of them greatly effect the US as a whole is just ridiculous.

As for her family life, well, again, I can’t relate.

I’m sorry, the campaign can claim that her family is the “typical American family” but is it really to the point where it’s typical for Mom to have kids within a few months of their daughter?

“Hey, meet your uncle Trigg… Sure he’s only 3 months older than you, but that’s how it is in the typical American family of the 21st century.”

Um, not where I come from…

Oh yeah, I’m not American.

We don’t fire semi-automatic weapons on the weekends either…

Remember when Bill Clinton was deservedly raked over the coals by the RNC for lacking “Family Values”? Conservatives were all over him.

In comparison, can you believe the Republican ticket in 2008? It’s unreal.

That said, I’ll still say that Sarah Palin was a much better pick than Joe Lieberman would have been and he’s supposed to be the guy representing me in the Senate. Grrrrrrr…

My parents are Republicans — at least my Dad is, for sure.

I attribute this to the fact that he shook Bob Dole’s hand back in 1996. Bob Dole’s left hand, I assume. But had it been Dick Gephardt or, gasp, even Bill Clinton, I think he may have been swayed the other way. On second thought, maybe not, he listened to Rush Limbaugh an awful lot too…

I listen to Rush too, though… Who knows?

But this election is different, I think.

In 1996, the first election that I would have been old enough to vote in, I’d have voted for Bill Clinton. No doubt in my mind. Bob Dole was a disabled old dude, and Jack Kemp was a crappy quarterback. Hey, I never said I had a good reason for not wanting to vote Republican…

In 2000, I’d have reluctantly voted for Al Gore. He just seemed a lot more likeable to me than George W. Bush. Though, had he won, I have to wonder how far he would have gone with his whole “going green” mission.

In 2004? Probably George W. Bush — though now I’m embarrassed to admit that.

Most presidents are terrible in their second term.

In fact, in my life time, all of the second terms have been less than stellar, but GWB has taken it to a new level.

Really, what I’m saying is that I can’t claim to support one party over the other.

The Governor of my state is Republican. And terrible. Just terrible.

The Mayor of my city is a Democrat and he’s bumbled things up far worse than his Republican predecessor…

I’d vote to oust both of them if I could…

But I have noticed something about this year’s presidential election — if you’re over 45 years old, you tend to lean towards McCain. Under 45, you lean toward Obama. Party affiliation doesn’t seem to matter so much.

Sure, there are exceptions, but just comparing “groups” on things like Facebook (where the demographic is primarily under the age of 45), Obamaholics outnumber McCainiacs by huge numbers. As of today, 1.8 million to 537k. It’s not even close.

Problem is, will those young people vote? Probably not…

In the end, I can see a repeat of 2000.

John McCain will win the election but Barack Obama will easily have the popular vote. Americans will again fail to understand the dynamics of their own government and through a few supreme court nominees, McCain will set the US up to be left in the dust of other countries (as if we haven’t been left in the dust already…)

Okay, I think I’m done now…

I’d originally just wanted to put the picture up (cause I thought it looked neat) and move on but now I’ve rambled on with a poorly worded, enormously unconnected, disjointed, and somewhat politically motivated, rant-a-thon-a-saurus…

I didn’t even spell check. That’s dumb.

Clicking ‘publish’….. now!

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Photo, Rants | 6 Comments »

United Airlines’ Curious Math

Found this great post by Jeanne Leblanc this morning:

United Airlines just doubled its fee for a second checked bag to $50, noting that “fuel prices continue to be volatile.” Which is true. Fuel prices have been going down. In a volatile manner.

The press release points out that fuel prices are “more than 50 percent higher than last year.” True again, sort of. As far as it goes.

There’s another way of crunching the numbers. The price of jet fuel has dropped 22 percent in the last two months. Crude oil has dropped by more than 33 percent. Some foreign airlines are cutting their fuel surcharges.

So doesn’t it seem like an odd time to blame fuel prices for fee increases?

And even if fuel prices were rising, the logical approach would be to increase fares along with luggage fees. It takes fuel to transport passengers, too.

But logic is not what’s at play, and it’s at least a little bit disingenuous to suggest anything so straightforward as a direct correlation between fuel prices and fees.

Market forces are the real issue, and with competitive pressures keeping fares down, airlines are in a tough spot. Fees on economy class passengers are among the few things they can work with.

Posted on September 16th, 2008 at 8:04 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events | 3 Comments »

What’s the Damage?

For me, yesterday’s 504 point drop only set me back $2,344.56.

That’s not so bad. Definitely not the end of the world.

And I totally support the government in letting companies like Lehman Brothers go under. Totally support it.

I actually let out a sigh of relief…

Finally, someone goes under. Good riddance.

They got themselves into this mess, why should anyone bail them out?

It’s almost like it’s assumed that everyone should have a safety net now or something — and that’s just wrong.

You know, like the folks getting free help on their mortgages that they never should have had. I’m still upset that my tax dollars are paying the neighbor’s mortgage.

It’s funny, almost 6 months ago to the day, my post titled “You can put lipstick on a pig…“, which oddly enough has gotten a huge number of hits over the past two weeks, pleaded for all of the bailouts, rate drops, and government interaction to stop.

That was six months ago!? Who didn’t see yesterday coming? Even back then!?

Why the delay?

Just let it crash.

Let’s hit bottom.

Then things will recover and we’ll be back on track.

I’m hoping all of the Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, Merrill, and AIG news are enough to finally push it to the brink.

Two or three more days just like Monday, all in rapid succession, and it will be smooth sailing again…

Let’s stop putting it off and get it over with…

We could be 6 months into a recovery but instead, well, they’re still trying to delay the inevitable. Or not.

Depends on what the Fed does today, I guess…

Posted on September 16th, 2008 at 5:28 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Finance | No Comments »

Green Collar Jobs

If you’ve been watching the Democratic National Convention on C-Span all week, you’ve no doubt heard the reference several times.

From the mouths of folks no one has ever heard of, all the way up to the likes of Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden, the one thing I’ve heard over and over, besides Bush-bashing and that McCain is “more of the same”, has been a reference to something called a “green collar” job.

A what?

I’d never even heard the term until Monday night. Never. Not once.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. I mean, when I was in University lots of people I associated with spent their summers planting trees way up north.

My current assumption would be that that could now be described as a “green collar job”.

You know, just another example of someone or something jumping on the whole “Go Green and save the world” bandwagon led by Al Gore…

It’s almost as if it’s an issue right up alongside universal healthcare in importance to the American people. At least, that’s what they’re attempting to make it out to be.

Problem is, I’d never heard of it. And my guess is that I’m not alone.

Plain and simple, it’s a buzz word.

It doesn’t deserve this much attention.

I read an example somewhere that tried to explain things. It listed a blue collar worker as someone who builds an SUV while a green collar worker is someone who builds a hybrid SUV.

But seriously, don’t robots build both anyway? Are robots green collared workers? I don’t think that’s going to help the economy one bit… Obviously, I’m joking.

Now, I’m not anti-green by any stretch.

I think it’s a good idea but the concept of boosting the American economy through the creation of green collar jobs — and green collar only — is a total farce.

Green collar jobs? I dunno. I think the white collar and blue collar labels pretty much cover the entire spectrum.

Back to the tree planters — they were always of the “crunchy” sort. You know, the long haired, deodorantless, Birkenstock wearing crowd. They thought they were doing a great thing and earning a little money at the same time. I guess I can applaud that.

The ironic part about it is that they were planting the trees in perfectly straight lines, you know, to make them easier to cut down ten to twenty years down the road. Their employer was just a third party hired to re-stock forest land owned by the lumber industry. How funny is that? They were actually working for the industry that they so despised.

Today that’s called a sustainable forest but I’m pretty sure the environmentalists still go ape when the lumber companies come back in to clear cut the land.

By that, I wonder if lumberjacks fall under the green collar tab?

Posted on August 28th, 2008 at 7:15 pm by Brainy Smurf
Current Events | 2 Comments »

Let the Games Begin!

I’m pretty excited for the Olympics to get going tonight (actually, later this morning).

Just this week my wife and I were talking about how we haven’t been watching much television lately. We don’t watch anything in prime time actually. (No, the conversation never turned anywhere near the idea of canceling cable to save money…)

But starting tonight, I think we’ll have something somewhat interesting to watch every night of the week! That is, if NBC doesn’t over sensationalize every single thing an American athlete does or has done…

I’m not really interested about how Amanda Beard loves animals, hates China, and likes to pose nude. I could really care less. The Olympics aren’t the place to go out and make a political statement or stage a protest. And she’s a freakin’ competitor?! Just jump in the pool and swim — in a regular bathing suit…

My first experience of unbiased Olympic coverage was back in 1992 for the Albertville Winter Games. At the time, I was in Germany and the television coverage was far from all German, all the time — even though they were speaking German.

It didn’t leave a huge impression on me back then, but for the last Summer Games in Athens, we happened to be in Canada and CBC’s coverage brought the memories rushing back.

It was… refreshing.

In response to NBC’s alleged over-reporting of the US athletes, Bob Costas recently responded, “Are Americans somewhat more interested in American performers? Of course they are, but we don’t insult the intelligence of the audience. They’re interested in any good story where ever it may appear.”

Okay, Bob… But, NBC does insult the intelligence of the audience.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Team Handball on NBC’s prime time coverage. Could it be because the United States is terrible at the sport? Do they forbid televising an event where the Americans get crushed or fail to even show up?

I dunno, the NBC coverage gets a little boring and old when you just keep on seeing one American after another win gold. That’s fine though, I’d agree that stuff should be covered. It’s a huge accomplishment.

But really, there aren’t that many events at the Olympics and they should probably show *every* medal winning performance whether an American is on the podium or not. I’d appreciate that. I doubt I’m alone.

Based on their past coverage, to the casual fan, the US has apparently pitched a shutout against the world.

I mean, would it hurt to show, I dunno, the gold medal game in Team Handball between Denmark and South Korea? At the very least, tt might enlighten a few of the geography-challenged out there.

I’m only using Team Handball as an example because it’s one of those games that I don’t even really understand, but it’s a fascinating thing to see. It’s fast, it’s rough, and it’s exciting. And every single one of the players is anonymous to me. That alone disqualifies its entertainment value for NBC, it seems.

NBC doesn’t seem to understand that to make great television, the public doesn’t need some sob-story background on the athlete from the wrong side of the tracks who’s bound for glory. I know I don’t need that.

I’d be perfectly happy if I never heard the names Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, on Shawn Johnson again…

And the games haven’t even started yet!?

Can you say, overexposed?

Posted on August 8th, 2008 at 6:25 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events, Rants, Television | No Comments »

Rolling Up the Red Carpet on Leases

Last night on the NBC news, there was a story about how the big 3 automakers in Detroit are scaling back their options for leasing new vehicles.

GM and Ford are increasing the rate to lease SUV’s and pick-ups. Chrysler’s going so far as to remove the option of a lease entirely.

Hardly surprising.

At the end of a 24-48 month lease, these gas guzzlers are essentially worthless. The whole idea of ‘renting out’ this type of vehicle is a money pit for the manufacturers. That’s why it makes sense.

But at the tail end of the story, the field reporter said something along the lines of, “Americans will soon be forced to drive automobiles that they can afford,” like it was a bad thing.

My wife and I just bemusedly looked at one another and chuckled.

Wow, can you imagine that?

Only being able to drive something that you can actually afford?

How dare they!

It’s sad that things have gotten to the point in this country where you can drive a Cadillac Escalade on a welfare budget.

Evidently, that’s about to change. From where I’m standing, that’s a good thing.

Posted on July 31st, 2008 at 11:38 am by Brainy Smurf
Current Events | 2 Comments »