Archive for August, 2009
Next Entries »I Have a Confession to Make: TOO MUCH EATING OUT!
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009One of my goals for the rest of this year is to cut out the waste in our budget. One of the areas where we are grossly over budget is in our eating out category. This has happened for several reasons: 1. Our kids are bigger and can no longer eat off the kid’s menu. [...]
What in the world is the 3-Step Plan?
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009One of the TV stations frequently has commericials for Andy Willoughby’s 3-Step Plan. Willoughby is a happy Austrilian dude. He opens every commercial with, “How in the world are you anyway?” It’s quite annoying. Anyway, he advertises this “3-Step Plan,” with the goal of getting one family member working from home. He calls it a [...]
Consumer Confidence is Growing. Why?
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Check out the latest Gallup Consumer Confidence Survey. I posted the state-by-state results below. Notice that although the numbers of those who are optimistic are increasing substantially, they are still low. I think it tells us that people are still concerned about the direction that this country is headed but are relieved that the market [...]
Question of the Day – Executive Pay
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009Here’s today’s Question of the Day: Should the government put forth measures to curb executive pay? I’m torn on this issue. On the one hand, I abhor the idea of government intrusion. On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of companies excessively paying their managment. Here lies the problem: who decides what “excessive” [...]
The Price of Oil vs. The Euro
Monday, August 3rd, 2009AFM reader, LOL, asked an interesting question on my post linking to an article about oil prices. His question: “Is it really oil (up 3%), natural gas (up 8%), copper (up 4%), stocks (up 2%) and everything else going up — or is it really that the dollar is falling (down 1%)?” It’s thought that [...]
Here We Go Again…The World’s Runnin’ Out of Oil
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Another economist says we’re running out of oil. I would like to know if this “economist” has any ties to oil? The comments to the piece are quite interesting and lively. UPDATE… Right on cue, the market reacts: As of this writing, crude oil is up over $2 a barrel.
July Was a Good Month for Stock Indexes
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Well, it’s too early to tell whether things are turning around for good, but July gave investors something to cheer about. Take a look at the total returns for the a few of the stock market indexes I follow: Also, I wanted to mention that our 401(k) has a personal rate of return of 17.1% [...]
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