Chief Prognosticator » 2008 » February
Does it ever make sense to make extra payments on your mortgage? Well according to a Consumer Reports article I read today, it doesn’t. They compared paying $100 extra every month versus investing $100 a month in the S&P500 INDEX. What happened? Well if you looked at 15 year rolling periods, the stocks outperformed the prepayment return on your money 100% of the time! That’s food for thought.
That depends what the 1% is of. Your annual salary? Then probably not so big. How about the U.S. adult population? Sure that’s 2,319,258 people! So what is this all about? Well that’s the number in a new CNN.com article:
Report: 1 percent of U.S. adults behind bars
That’s significant because it represents 1 in every 100 adults. It’s the first time in modern U.S. history that the 1% threshold has been breached. What can be worse than that? Easy — the report that 1 in 9 adult black men are behind bars. That’s really sad and a shame for the entire country to bear.
Which empire? Any empire! There are two main things you need, whether it be a real estate empire or an online empire:
- A vision
- A start
You need a vision of where you want to be. That vision needs to be crystal clear — so clear that you can touch it. Writing a vision statement and revisiting it regularly would be a great way to do that. Secondly, you need a start — somewhere. No matter how small or large, a start means taking the first step in building that empire. It can be your first e-commerce website or your first apartment complex, but it needs to happen in before anything else.
No, I’m 100% serious about this. When my kids reach the legal driving age and beg me for a car, I will probably say yes, but there will be a few conditions. One of those conditions will be that I get to install a gps tracking device in the car. It makes perfect sense. Look, when I was a teen, I took some stupid risks driving. I think it’s universal — teens think that they are invincible. Only we as parents can know better and therefore we need to protect them. A gps tracking system like the ones available from GPS North America are the perfect solution. What can a gps tracking tool tell you? Let me count the ways. From the website:
The GPS system can inform you:
- If the vehicle is operated properly
- Where the vehicle stops
- How long it is there
- What route it took
- How fast it traveled along the route
That’s incredible! You can set these and more triggers to provide you via an email alert automatically. Another cool feature is that you can set a predefined boundary within which the car can travel freely.Past that point and you will be alerted instantly.
Seriously people — if you have a teen driver, this sort of system is a no-brainer. For your peace of mind and your child’s safety!
When I saw that headline at CNN Money, I just had to read the article. Like many homeowners, I want to both maximize the value of my home and to “live the good life”. Granite countertops seem to be a big part of both. In my new house, I was really excited that Silestone countertops were included. That saved me a $5000 renovation down the road. So what’s the deal with the article? Well basically it says that in previous years (say 1995-2005) a kitchen remodel job would return you about 90% on your investment. That means if you spent $40,000 on a new kitchen, you’d get to enjoy it as long as you lived there and then see your home value go up about $36,000 when it came time to sell. Nice, huh? That’s called “Having your cake and eating it too (off of granite countertops)”. But now, thanks to the downturn in the market, you might only see a 70% return on that investment, or in this case, $28,000 back. Will this really mean the end of the fancy kitchen? No way! But it is something to think about before you spend more money than you have on that remodel project.
The falling value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro, British Pound and Canadian dollar seems to have no end in site. I had to experience this first hand between 2005 and 2007 when I lived in Europe. I was still being paid salary in U.S. dollars and saw the currency fall from $1.22 to the Euro all the way to $1.40! That hurt!
But now the U.S. dollar has hit an all-time low! According to the Financial Times online, the Euro hit $1.51 in value today, shortly after U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chief Bernanke testified the following to Congress:
What does that mean? Interest rates are headed lower for the U.S. economy even as inflation risks grow. This means fewer and fewer foreign investors will want U.S. Treasuries (since they pay less interest) and therefore devalue the dollar even more.
I knew this would happen — I mean, if I was still a Yahoo! Shareholder (don’t worry. I sold over a year ago), I would be really mad how the Yahoo board handled the latest Microsoft offer. Who turns down that much money? Does Yahoo have a responsibility to its shareholders? Well the news out today is that Yahoo is facing no less than Seven lawsuits related to the decision to shun Microsoft’s $44 billion offer. I hope the poor investors win!
Here’s something scary– gas prices in the U.S. have topped $3.10 a gallon average this week. What’s so scary about that aside from the obvious? This is the winter!!! Gas prices are usually cyclical in nature with the highest prices seen in the late summer, coinciding with the U.S. vacation schedule and hurricane season in the Atlantic. So if we are seeing $3.10 a gallon in cold February 2008, imagine what will happen when, not if, gas prices head even higher in the upcoming summer months.
The death of HD-DVD is here. No it wasn’t exactly here when Wal-Mart announced plans to stop selling them, nor was it when Toshiba gave up. But the death of HD-DVD format came this week as the 600-lb gorilla Microsoft announced that they will also stop selling the format for their XBox 360. The $130 add-on to the next generation console never real caught on with only about 300,000 units being sold. That’s far, far less than the 11 million Sony Playstation 3’s with their built-in Blu-Ray players. Adieu HD-DVD — we hardly knew you.
There has been a sellers boycott on eBay over the last week — did you notice it at all? That is, unless you participated in the boycott, did you notice anything different on the popular auction site? Chances are not! But maybe if you were looking for a specific item, you might have had a more difficult time…. Though probably not.
Will eBay’s shareholders see a difference? That’s the bigger question. Come next earnings report, will eBay miss expectations and will that be due to this selling boycott? Only time will tell.
I spent the past couple of years living in Europe and I saw a really cool trend. Sign up for mobile phone service and get a free PS3, Xbox 360, or iPods. No seriously! That’s the way they do it over there. Not only do you get the phone for free (or 1 buck), but you get a really expensive free gift when you sign the service contract. I can hardly wait until this sales promotion comes to the U.S. — it’s only a matter of time in my opinion.
For an example, check out Dial-a-Phone. They offer a huge selection of o2 mobiles and other leading brands in the UK. If you didn’t know O2 is the most popular service provider in the UK and are also the exclusive provider of the iPhone over there. This all makes o2 mobile phones some of the most sought after on the market.
Back to the free gifts… Dial-a-Phone offers a great was to find and get these amazing free gifts. Instead of picking a phone plan and seeing what the free offer is (computer? ipod?), you can do a reverse look-up! Pick the item you want, like a PS3 or iPod Touch, and then see which phone offers provide it. Why not take advantage of these great offers? Dial-a-Phone helps you get the most out of your mobile phone contract. For o2 phones and their free gifts, no one beats Dial-a-Phone. And for you readers State’s side, look for similar deals coming to a retailer near you in the future.
Do big numbers scare you? If so, stop reading right now!
Ok, I just read this scary article on CNN Money titled “The 44th president’s $4 trillion headache” and it gave me the creeps. The $4 trillions comes from two major tax issues the next president will have to face. The first is the 2001 and 2003 “temporary” tax cuts that Bush signed. Those are set to expire soon which means that taxes will go up to where they were before. If the president makes those cuts permanent…. poof! $2 Trillion in debt over the next 10 years. And the other $2 Trillion? That’s the projected cost to fix the AMT (Alternate Minimum Tax) — that sneaky little part of the code which is now haunting millions of middle class taxpayers. To fix it back to where it should be — preventing the super-wealthy from not paying any taxes — will mean a $2 trillion shortfall over the same period.
Those are the words of Google Inc. guru Sergey Brin. What was he talking about? Well it’s Microsoft’s takeover bid of rival Yahoo! of source! Is there really room for concern, or is this just business as usual?
Well sorry Sergey, but I’m not buying it. Companies rise and fall. Businesses merge and split. There are always new companies to come in to fill the empty voids. As long as there are no legitimate anti-trust concerns, there is no real concern on my part.
What is unnerving to me? That’s easy –the possible end of Net Neutrality! Net Neutrality is the principle of keeping access to the Internet equal and unbiased towards the user. Some telecoms want to be able to regulate Internet traffic over their lines, perhaps by even offering “priority” surfing for higher paying customers. Read the Google page about it and learn about the real threat to innovation and free access.
It is absolutely amazing how much money talented entrepreneurs can make online using little more than their smarts and a computer. How else would you describe someone making $860,538.38 profit from the Internet in 4 months! That’s exactly what happened to Super Affiliate Zac Johnson. Read about it and see checks on his website. How did he do it? Well you will have to read the post yourself to find out, but it all has to do with GIVING STUFF AWAY FOR FREE!
Looks like March 4, 2008 is make or breakin the U.S. Presidential Primary Season for the Democrats. That’s the day the Obama and Clinton will square off in several primaries including the Texas primary with 193 delegates at stake. But if you are ready for a battle now, you can watch the Democratic presidential debate in Austin, Texas in a few hours!
The campus of the University of Texas will play host and the debate will show live on CCN and with a tape delay tonight on Univision. What can we expect? I predict Hillary Clinton will go negative and pull out all the stops. Its her last chance to get Obama off-guard before he runs away with the election.
That’s the news according to CNN.com. It seems that the most popular social network portal out there is looking to boost up its online music offering by teaming up with major record labels. The move would bring streaming of the biggest hits to MySpace pages — something that is currently lacking. The deal would also create a way for MySpace users to buy downloadable music directly from the site, potentially opening up a large revenue stream from record companies.
Caught up in Hybrid mania? Yeah, I got the bug too. But when I started researching the subject I quickly noticed that not all Hybrids were equal. The sector is pretty much divided into two camps:
- High MPG
- High Power
A third quasi-category would be the higher-but-really-not-that high. What are some examples? Well in the High MPG category we see cars with fuel economy in the high 40s to 50s like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. In the second category we see high power hybrids which use that electric motor to surplus the gas powered one. Here we have the powerhouses of Lexus RX 400h and LS 600h L. In the last category we have the upcoming GMCYukon Hybrid and the Saturn VUE Green Line.
Look, I certainly won’t mind getting a check for $600 from Uncle Sam in May for doing nothing. And, yes, I will spend it one something and pump that money back into the economy. But is the U.S. Government’s tax credit check program the best for the economy? I don’t think so. Sure the money will be spent by the majority of the recipients, adding money to the economy and boosting confidence, but there is a better way to boost the economy. Take the $150 billion and start a public works program aimed at fixing up the nation’s infrastructure. That’s $3 billion for each and every state! Wow! Fix our roads, bridges, water systems, power plants! The result would not only be a revitalized infrastructure but also billions of dollars in new jobs for the middle and lower classes.
Here’s a prediction — TheGuru.com will be a hot blog in the near future. Following in the footsteps of such fitness blogs like ScaleWhore.com and gary’s fitness blog, ThaGuru.com is all about getting in shape. The only caveat is that TheGuru is not just about getting your body in shape but also your wallet with tips on how to make money online. Check out the site — it just reached 2000 pageviews.
Will the “death of the SUV” mean the end to giant trucks? No way — those who need or just can afford them will continue to buy them. Just check out this F-650 monster by Ford. Now that’s a giant ride! I think it’s the same with horsepower — we will just not see a decline in the 300, 400, and 500 HP engines out there. No matter how expensive gas gets, people are just not willing to give up these prize machines. Drive them less? Maybe. Abandon them altogether? No way!
What exactly are they thinking? Yahoo!’s Board of Directors will likely turn down Microsoft’s $44 billion dollar bid tomorrow citing that the offer “massively undervalues” the business. What? Even before the sudden jump in stock price, Yahoo’s PE ratio was around 35. Now after the 40% jump, the PE is in the high 40s. Yahoo should not be overstating their value so much unless they are just trying to hold out for a higher offer…. let’s see what this week brings.
One thing has become clear to me — life extension and perhaps even immortality is not a right but a luxury. As such there will certainly be only a few “Haves” and a lot of “Have-Nots”. Sure basic medicine can help you live a long life with a good chance at reaching median life expectancy, but in the coming decades there will be serious medical advances that can possibly extend your life decades if not centuries. Most people will not be able to afford it and for good reason — we can’t have a planet full of people who don’t die! No instead, only those who can afford tens and hundreds of millions of dollars will be able to achieve those goals. People might actually spend their entire working lives saving up, not for retirement, but for … more life!
I just recently wrote how a Splog has taken a liking to me and my Personal Tech blog. Now it seems the splogs are hitting this blog to. I will not show the links to the spam blog hitting me up, but it was recent post on the 2008 Ticketthat got not one but three splogs copying it. I won’t get upset… let’s just see where their goes. I will start by contacting the blog’s host and inform them of the situation, but I think it’s probably a losing battle.
Anyone care to guess what the 2008 U.S. Presidential Ticket is going to look like. We are narrowed down to just a couple of serious candidates in both parties, so it’s a good time to start offering guesses. Here’s mine:
Democratic
President: Barack Obama
Vice-President: John Edwards
Republican
President: John McCain
Vice-President: Mike Huckabee
What are your guesses? Let’s have a little fun with this one.
