Psalm 49

Hear this all you people; listen all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike.
My mouth will speak words of wisdom, the utterance from my heart will give understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb, with the harp will I expound my riddle.
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me - those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him, the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough that he should live forever and not see decay.
For all can see that wise men die, the foolish and senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwelling for endless generations, even though they had named lands after themselves.
But man , despite his riches does not endure, he is like the beasts that perish.
This is the fate of all who trust in themselves, and of their followers who approve their sayings.
Like sheep they are destined for the grave and death will feed on them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning, as their forms decay in the grave far from their princely mansions.
But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.
Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
For he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed - and men praise you when you prosper -
he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.
A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

tough love

To my favorite talk show host: "I love you man (not in the gay way...) but because you are brutally honest. Thanks for the Valentines Day Massacre. I suppose I had it coming, so I must say I am sorry. I was presumptuous to have thought to make statements or assumptions about the state of our nations economy and I should rather have phrased all those comments as questions, allowing you to comment as I so very much appreciate when you do so. Please don't take it out on all the baby boomers. My case is only a small sampling of the things that have happened to some of us. I have tried to be brutally honest in confessing the investing mistakes I have made in the hopes that you might give your highly valued opinion and perhaps share them with others and lend some insight to what we might do to remedy our present situation. You have stated that your objective is to "get you to retirement
I am 100% with you on that and even more importantly, I want us all to get beyond that concept and that state to the great beyond. But sometimes you just scare me I admit. Please don't eat me like a jelly donut. My objective; I want you to get to eternity and live there in paradise. It is the objective of every person who seeks security, whether it is in wealth, career, religion, music, saving the planet, whatever. The ultimate security lies beyond our narrow vision of the here and now, and way beyond retirement. You said a month or so ago that you need a "savior". You said you "hope there is eternal life" and that some folks seem to "know" there is. It's true man. Anyway, please accept this apology, I am only a student of the economy and in no way was I trying to advise you, except for the request that you comment on the concerns that I and some of my circle of friends have expressed. As I stated, some are bearish, some are bulls, and some don't give a shit. I am just trying to figure out where we are and where we're going. And I'd like to buy you a beer sometime, so just let me know. Hoo-Lee-Oh

the small investor WIPED OUT

So here's an interesting book for any would be investor. If you are neophyte learning about the stock market or aspiring to become a day trader or perhaps even a delusional self taught money manager hoping to make a solid gain because of your superior intellect, then maybe this book is for you. It describes the lamentable attempts of an intelligent man who desperately tried to improve his financial well being by making bets in the stock market of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In those days one was reliant on the services of a broker who placed all your trades, unlike today where anyone with an internet link can buy and sell securities from a cellphone. Amazing advances in technology have made it so easy for us to emulate this poor bastard's experiences if we so choose.
The author is unknown, perhaps to save face. But the fact that he was willing to describe his trades and the reasons for them is insightful for us today. He did seem to be overly greedy according to his own admission. Who isn't obsessed with making a killing in the markets at some point, even if we realize that it is pure fantasy. Imagine having bought Apple stock at the outset and having watched it increase until it reached the $500 plus value it holds today. It seems daunting however, in light of the vast amount of information available today, that an amateur investor could make any sort of informed decision regarding an investment back then. Despite his best intentions, his picks went from bad to worse the longer he tried to remedy his investment decisions. From the cover's flap: ...from the temporary gain to the big loss- here is the real thing. For the first time we have the full, personal, unvarnished story of a man who has acted out, to the hilt, an all too common form of speculative behavior. Read and take heed.

Economic lessons from the Past

It might behoove us to remember what occurred in Germany and Austria between the World wars. Things got a bit out of control. Loose monetary policy to blame? Maybe. Too much QE before it was called that? Perhaps. Fear and greed on the part of the general public? Yes. Excessive speculation in the markets? Some. "When Money Dies"describes the political decisions that were made that affected the value of the German Mark and the dangers that can arise when the government turns on the printing presses and doesn't know when to stop making artificial currency. Here's a link to the PDF.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goldonomic.com%2FWhen%2520Money%2520Dies.pdf&ei=q8kxT4O8NYjaiQKZ-ci4Cg&usg=AFQjCNGA_VzSUVSJNjKhO4eLs3tJbKFbSg
Or buy the book on Amazon.

Economic Advisory Committee

So, I've been meeting with my economic advisors here and we have had quite interesting discussions regarding the current situation in the worlds of finance, politics, science and technology. When the discussion moves to the problems, it seems always end up on finance side of things. The problems are onerous and the solutions are are all over the map. What to do? Ultimately, each one has to take care of himself and those closest to him is what it boils down to. There is an element of hopelessness in that the individual appears to have little say in these matters at the national and worldwide level, so one is left to ponder ways to survive and maybe even prosper in these times of uncertainty.
My friends here have varied opinions on how to manage their wealth and personal finances. Some believe the financial world's weather is souring and an imminent economic storm lies just off the coast. Those so disposed are fearful and suggest keeping their money under the mattress. One particular person has all his assests in cash somewhere. No investments or securities other than his home which is paid for. This person happens to be retired and collecting social security. Another says to divide one's liquid wealth into 4 equal piles; treasuries, TIPS to be exact, gold either ETFs or the real thing (he also keeps some silver dollars), overseas emerging markets (to the exclusion of China), and an equal amount of cash. This person day trades a million plus dollars to earn his living. Another relies on a certified financial advisor to manage his wealth. His investments are mainly bonds, about 60% and the rest a mix of growth and dividend stocks. He gets a check monthly and seems to be doing allright after retiring early and selling his California bay area home and moving out of state. Another manages his own retirement account, relying on advise from a friend who happens to be a finance guy of sorts. He admits it is a lot of work and he is tiring of the daily grind of watching the markets continually. He never worried that much about it while he was working. managing your own money is harder than you think it seems. There might be a lot to be said for going to work for someone else and doing some mindless task for a paycheck. For some of us however, that is not challenging enough. Another has enough real estate holding that he plans to earn enough from those properties and another amount from dividend stocks that he will purchase that should earn him about $50,000 a year or so. And as for me, well I figured I'd work 'til I'm 70. I think I'd be bored if I stayed home all the time. I may change jobs to keep it interesting, but more likely I will figure out a way to retire earlier than later. Which brings me to my current readings.
I never was very interested in economics or money or investing for that matter. I learned early that finding work was our lot in life and we would labor for a long time. No one ever taught me about money or how to manage or even increase it. My dad was a great provider, but money managed to support his hobbies and vacations and pay the bills, and I never recall any conversations around the dinner table regarding finances. So I followed suit. I was fortunate to find decent work with a large company and gained the benefits of medical insurance and 401k without realizing what a blessing I was given. Seeing the difficulty of the current generation of twenty and thirty somethings struggling to find good paying jobs makes me grateful to be in the position I am in. Now I realize that maybe it would have been advantageous to do a little research into how money makes the world go 'round and so I have embarked on a little journey to learn something about how the economy works and how maybe I can increase my wealth along the way. The way I figure, if you work in a certain trade, you likely get a deep discount on the products or services your job creates. If it is involved in selling some product, then you have an insiders track on that thing and so usually can save a ton of money when you find yourself in need of that same item. I was a car mechanic, so I pick up cars cheap, drive 'em a long time and spend very little on their aqiusition and maintenance as a result. I also learned how to build houses along the way and so adding onto my house was no big deal and it saved me a lot of money. So now I figure I should study money. So I have been picking up books that have been informative and thought I would share them with you. Along with those, there are some very good commentators on the local radio station KDOW 1220 AM. Hopefully my next posting will be beneficial for those finding this blog. I'll post the book titles and maybe a short review and hopefully we all can become more educated together and perhaps begin to help fix this mess we are in. All together now.