Wow. What a Gesture. Now I have a Gesture for You.

 

Effective immediately, all employees from 2^nd level management down will be taking a 10% pay cut.  This amounts to about $5000 a year per employee.  To show that there is indeed sympathy from Upper Management, I myself hereby volunteer to take a $5000 pay cut as well.

Where Will it End??

The title of this post is facetious, of course, as the market never "ends," but the point is, precious metals prices have been going through the roof lately.  I recently bought a bunch of silver at $19 an ounce.  Several weeks later, I see that silver was trading at $29 an oz.  That's like, what, a 50% yield?  I'm all about that, I'll have you know.

Anyway, to see more of my posts about my experiences with precious metals, including my trading with a bullion trader with reasonable fees, Kitco.com, click the links below.

1. Go for the Gold
2. Selling Precious Metals
3. Kitco's Pool Account

Happy investing!

Depressed Much?

So, you think the economy is bad today? Think this generation can "feel the pain" of their grandparents/great grandparents suffering during The Great Depression?

Think again.

According to a recent article in The News & Observer, Not Your Grandfather's Depression,

"it is at this point dangerous to link [today with the Great Depression] too quickly or too closely, for today's economic problems, however serious, pale in comparison to those the U.S. experienced in the 1930s."

Take a look at this chart gleaned from the data in that article:

Measure	Now	Then
Duration	17 months to date	12 years
Gross Domestic Product	Slight fall	30% drop between 1929 and 1933
Unemployment	8.5%	25%
Living Beneath Poverty Line	>13%	51%
Bank Failures	50	5,755
Mortgages in default or one month behind	10%	43%-54%

Still think we've got it rough?

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POWERBALL LUMP SUM!

Wow! With the economy as it is today, I think I'll spend nearly all my extra money buying Powerball tickets! Now, if I win, should I take the Lump Sum, or Annual Payments??

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Sick II

Wow. When I wrote this post in August of 2007, who would have thought that we'd be where we are today? Five percent. Ahhh, those were the days.
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A Pool of Precious Metals

Precious metal prices have been taking off lately. To see my experiences with metals, including info about KITCO's Pool Accounts, read my brief series beginning here.
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Five Hundred Thousand Dollars

$500,000. That's the cap President Obama has proposed for exec salary for companies assisted by the bailout. Five Hundred Thousand Dollars. I wish they capped MY salary at that amount - then I'd have something to shoot for.

For that matter, I'd be happy if someone capped my salary at $50,000.

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Looks like a Cyclone hit it

A Riddle for you:

Question: What's the difference between a tornado and the U.S. Economy?

Answer: One leaves a path of destruction as it brings down homes and takes away cars and other prized possessions and personal belongings and the other is a wind storm.
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WMT

Sure glad I have stock in Walmart.

Where Are They Now?

As of 2008, Chrysler has been in business 83 years. General Motors? 100 years. And The Ford Motor Company, 105 years.

288 combined years of producing American iron for American highways.

After the controversial Bank Bailout of 2008, today there is talk about bailing out The Big Three, America's current big name automobile manufacturers, Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Two hundred eighty-eight years of service to the public is a lot to throw away if we don't, isn't it?

But before you break out the crying towel, take a look at some statistics.


A Little Automaking History

What do the following companies have in common - Rambler (1958-1969), LaSalle (1927-1940) and Rolls Royce (1921-1935)? They are American automobile manufacturers having been in business 10-15 years that are now defunct.

American Motors (aka AMC) (1966-1987) and Duesenberg (1913-1937) - gone after 20-25 years in business.

Stanley Steamer (1897-1927), DeSoto (1928-1961), Pierce-Arrow (1900-1938), Nash (1917-1957), Willys-Overland (1912-1953) and Hudson (1909-1957) - no sign of them after 30-50 years of automobile manufacture.

Packard (1899-1958), Studebaker (1902-1966), Checker (1922-1982) and International Harvester (1907-1975) never to make autos for the US again, after 50-70 years of doing so.

And finally, REO (1905-1975) and White (1902-1981) have put in 70-80 years of auto making - defunct.


Where Are They Today?

Are you familiar with any of those auto companies? Well, they're all gone. In fact, according to wikipedia article "List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers," over 1800 US auto makers are no longer in business, with more than a thousand having seven years or less in the auto industry.

The Big Three are not the first US automakers to face financial failure, and they won't be the last.

Maybe some of the 1800 automakers might still be here if the Gov't had "bailed them out?"
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