I’ve been tracking my FICO for the past year and I just noticed that my score dropped 40 points. I find it amazing because over the last couple of months I’ve actually paid DOWN debt.  I paid down 50k worth of my mortgage, I unwound 25k of arbitrage and I paid off a new car…
Month: October 2008
I’m So Sick of People Asking Me For Blood and Money!
Breast Cancer Awareness month, Walk for Diabetes, Hurricane Relief, United Way, American Red Cross, National Marrow, Blood Bank, Food Bank, Obama Taxation, McCain Housing Socialism, Girl Scout Cookies, Boy Scout Popcorn, M&M Candy School Fund Raiser, St. <insert saint name> Fund Raiser, Church Fund Raiser, International Church Fund Raiser are just a few of the…
And They Said Things Would Be Different After 9/11
Remember 9/11, things were going to be so different after that day. People promised they wouldn’t grind their lives away at dead end jobs or jobs they hated; People would reconcile differences with loved ones forever; Materialism was dead.   That lasted about 18 months then everyone went on a Hummer & McMansion binge that lead…
The War On Recycling
I had a parent teacher conference with my kids teacher this week and the teacher asked me if I was interested in recycling the schools trash. I didn’t quite understand what exactly I was supposed to do until I realized that the school my kids go to has stopped their recycling program and they were…
Korea Dumping Dirty Debt on US Taxpayer?
Bloomberg is reporting that Korea Development Bank has been authorized to dump up to $830 million debt on the US Taxpayer. Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Korea Development Bank was approved by the Federal Reserve to sell as much as $830 million of commercial paper to the U.S. central bank. State-run KDB can raise $400 million…
Who’s The Economic Girly Man Now, Arnold?
The Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that auto registrations are down 20% in the third quarter in California. “Read this now and think about it later Arnold.” If you didn’t watch Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2004 Presidential election, you can watch him here.  All I can say is that Arnold’s California is looking pretty…
Grocery Store Traffic Up During Lunch Hour
Periodically, I’ll go to the grocery store during my lunch hour to pick up some snacks that I store in my office for those late nights and 3 p.m. power bar snack times and I’ve noticed lately that more and more people are shopping during the lunch hour at the grocery store. I first noticed…
The Most Important Lesson of The Great Depression Market Crash
There is one single lesson from the Great Depression Market Crash that each investor should remember. During the crash, there was a flood of people who thought they were going to “score big” with stocks being discounted so “cheap” that they would buy low and sell high. I keep reading the same quote over and…
Pig Feeding Freenzy At The Government Trough
Like clockwork, the US Treasury is feeding the pigs at the trough and there’s quite a frenzy. The AP is reporting: WASHINGTON (AP) — First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets. Then it was about using $250 billion of it…
My Old College Buddy Lost His Job After 15 Years
Had lunch with an old college buddy that I hadn’t seen in a few years and he told me he recently got laid off.  He had avoided being laid off during the last five up/down cycles his company had gone through but he didn’t make the cut this time. Unfortunately, his home of 10 years…