My Econ Rant & Stock Market News

You learn something new everyday, for instance, that the FDIC only insures premiums from default, not the interest, ex: Cds! Also, I can beat the 3.3% current CD rate with bonds at 8%+ and more aggressive security vehicles at 12% currently without suffering the low-lows, and that's after fees. (Also lots of tax free money avenues for all income levels...)

Plus with inflation at 4-5% compounded and 2-3.5 mill needed just to maintain the average standard of living (or less than average ) in 30 yrs, it's crazy not to start planning with a financial advisor in order to beat inflation if even only saving a minimum of $50-100 per month--ideally you'd start in your 20's... people in their 30's at only $100 per month will lose over 1 million in compounded interest just by waiting 15 years to start a (non-bank) investment plan; banks Cd's 3.3% and 5% are still not going to beat inflation. (Being a financial advisor I am fortunate to have access to all kinds of info and self-info that the average investor doesn't have access to, and can spend all day long researching, besides a wealth of the top financial mentors to bug.)

If only I could have invested as a kid when I wanted to and had the funds! (you have to be over 18; instead I invested in the banks which actually stole my funds on two occasions and at one bank completely erased the entire history of my account-- see blog #1 = no FDIC backing if the govt can't locate any records!!!; banks go bankrupt and get bought out as well which makes tracking even more nearly impossible for older accounts-- esp in the days of pass-book savings --aka the child fraud plan

..Wish my parents had been smart enough to start a college savings account, but of course lots of those didn't exist then and the tax issues have changed; even cosigning my loans would have saved me a few percentage points equaling a few grand by now-- their theory was that even though they "borrowed" money from me for gas, rent, etc and I basically clothed myself and worked since the age of 7--pro by age 11 and never even bought candy--besides a single Kit-Kat bar and one box of Luden's cough drops when I was sick; wouldn't cosign assuming I'd have the poor financial habits that they did and might possibly default, which of course has never happened (and I have great teeth even though they don't --so I must have been a depression era adult reincarnated...) For an actual figure, my loans over 10 yrs ago were taken out at 10% which seems crazy right now. A few years before that were at 7.5% and 5% which is now quite high (though I had consolidated the higher, non-govt backed ones at the last bubble burst and got them averaged down to 3.5% when the APY was 1.3% nationally; will re-consolidate with my unconsolidated loans if the interest rates dip lower and when the govt backing expires which is only a few months down the road, if it will lower my average rate--kept separate so far because the govt will pay the interest on the high % ones still and don't want the higher amount ones to increase in %... plus, if you don't consolidate all at once than you can keep consolidating without paying any fees to do so...--so I have 2 more free consolidations, even though they'll be paid off by then most likely--this is grad school and undergrad and private institutions in the late 1990's if you are wondering, and the tuition I over-paid then looks like a steal just 10 years later due to inflation).

Oh yeah, also discovered in 18 years it is estimated to cost $400,000 to attend UCLA--yikes!
Just did the math--yes, including R&B and books--yep! A state school which was 10-13K out of state and ridiculously low in state when I went to a $16K private college that ended up at $18K per yr and grad school at $23K ending at around 30K when I was done 2 yrs later (not including R&B) So with kids going into debt $150K for undergrad and the fact that I turned down a full-ride at an Ivy league school, it makes me feel good that I went $16K into debt in undergrad (after scholarships and working approx 3-5 jobs at once throughout) and 60K in grad school at with "only" 2 jobs then and maxing out my credit load even though I took 4x the required amount of courses. So... I'll fully pay those off when interest rates soar and I've a nice low rate and my loans are the equivalent of my 16,888K 2006 car today which, BTW in 30 yrs will cost $78,000 with inflation... and BTW it is still so important to get a education vs. just tech training because of future options and tech training being so quickly outdated and now overpriced for it's actual educational value... or no education which I just had a discussion about with an aunt who was in agreement that it leaves you at the mercy of your employer and with the average job change every 5 yrs and companies going under and depleting entire 401(k)s ex: Enron, etc and the difficulty of a rehire with out an education and the current salary or upward mobility available it is crucial to get a higher degree, and never too late to do so. Diversification--that's my personal motto in every regard; huge risk as well with a couple working at the same company = zero diversification and security if the employer goes under.

On the car note, my dealer is now NOT offering to sell me a car but to buy my XA car from me because of the best gas mileage (esp as a manual trans) and it's out of production now that it was rated the best consumer car buy period and the end of 2007 (= major increase in value that they are hoping I don't realize, beyond the normal fact that they can sell a used car for more than a new car due to no incentives... My car gets better mileage than the Prius unless you are running your engine in a parking lot and is less than half the payments, better traction, pick-up, etc; has the best pick-up of any vehicle I drove and so quiet you forget the engine is on--way better than the Mini-cooper and about half the price of a used one. To top it off, the Scion XA is a 13-14K car (more because I added after-market extras). And if you aren't aware, the Pruis no longer qualifies for tax incentives or carpool stickers, besides being on back order, and has a central core of it's battery that is highly toxic and difficult to dispose of; but it does appear that they can now dismantle it with "precautions" and sending it to Euro facilities (yes, I'm a nerd and research this.)

Also CalSTRS and STRS is tanking with their fund manager leaving. (Important for teachers) ... but there are non-prof & teacher plans with guaranteed matches even when the school systems and STRS systems can't match them (see me... )

Meanwhile my SOL is still up 105% and ACI is also up 55% and CPRT up 50% OIS 55% since FEB. and IAF getting great returns at 8.6% (on their rising dollar) while other stocks are 1% or under in returns. Even MM funds are at 1.95%-.02%, crazy! I'm going to follow my own investment advice as a back-up plan. (see me... 1st para.)

On another note, my co-worker pointed out a genius idea of "back to one" or "back to zero" every 10 years which would allow the poor to catch up with the ENRON CFOs and CEOs and mortgage banking executives which are still not held accountable--that 5% which are on every board (board members all on an average of 5 boards creating a spider web of not the top 5% with the wealth, but the same small number of people year after year). Of course it would never happened with the Bushes, Cheney's etc. (Google "bird flu" and you should see the financial chain linked to the co that produces the faulty virus and the fear mongering for a limited epidemic that wouldn't effect the US due to the fact that birds only fly north to south and back, not east to west...) This radical idea would force real estate issues. But we did have a similar thing set up originally called bankruptcy which was set up for the people to be forgiven for debts and go "back to 1" which credit card lobbyists have now basically completely eliminated as of last year and is now a right for corporations who BTW have all the rights of an individual and don't pay taxes and are a legal person although this makes no sense because they can't cast a ballot (though they can purchase candidates so I guess this eliminates the need).

... I do agree with the sales tax vs. Fed tax as a genius idea (see Mike Gravel) so that illegal workers whether drug dealers, sex workers, or working illegally would all pay their fair share of taxes, along with the top 5% income earners that generally find loopholes to avoid taxation (and the money saved in accounting would be the same 22% added on as a TL sales tax that would not effect the current cost of goods & services (only tax accountants would be out of work and many would probably prefer it this way as they would love to not pay taxes and have clients not pay the IRS and deal with ever chaning laws and paperwork; H&R Block would go under but that is fairly deserved if you've ever used their services).

On another note, if you have had your head in the sand, know that pharmaceutical Co's have bought seeds and copyrighted them in order to destroy them and genetically modify and sell seeds that can't reproduce (crops can't make futile seeds), which besides creating and increasing world hunger problem, there is the fact that winds and birds spread the seeds around pollinating non hydrogenated/modified crops and therefore making it impossible to tell what is organic, and more importantly, altering the genetic complex of other crops, introducing new disease issues and hurting sales. Also, they passed laws making it illegal to trade seeds even at the hobbyist level (look it up) which seems strange now but may become crucial when it becomes widely enforced. Also look up apples-- we went from 300 or so varieties at the turn of the century to under 10 due to this pharma practice.

Also, just for kicks, Google the "EPA Library" and you will find out about the shredding and crucial loss of info going on there, as authorized by the current Admin. as well as the 10,000+ concerned scientists who petitioned.

If you haven't ready my other blogs (Blogamyth), that's where the info is with links all in 1 place, soon to be transferred to Blogamyth@blogspot.com.

Then there was the seal sanctuary bombings as part of a military training exercise (circa 2000) and the Sequoia National Forest that Bush was trying to log (blocked by the Sierra Club) a couple years back.

Air quality is fine now because Bush lowered the standards immediately in taking his office and I suddenly immediately got a rash of headaches (until I invested in air purifiers), but I am still and only since then allergic to band aids (chemical sensitivity issues only when I moved to LA with poor air quality and poorer very noticeably just looking at the smog line when Bush took office (we haven't had a skyline in a long time; similar to that of Japan and China, just more yellowish gray vs. a white haze ~ at seeing actually stars in Kansas and blue skies in Scotland I nearly had a heart attack-- it seemed like a Disney set or a wet dream).

Well that's the recap on a fraction of the bad (politically) and a bit of the good news as well (financially speaking). Bonus: the Kennedy assassination and Cold War and recent events made barely a blip in the stock market, as well as every war and Natl event (went down a tad more with Nixon's resignation) that means the future, though I can't predict as I am only looking at figures from the past, regardless, it looks promising (esp for alternative power sources) -- but for the world to sustain another 50 yrs we will need population control due to the water crisis, besides energy issues (each person coming out of poverty throughout the world generates miles of pollution (see past blogs for the exact figures). This makes family planners the truly pro-life advocates as the planet can't sustain the current levels of human expansion with water resources alone (besides oil drilling triggering tidal & weather events, etc). The fact that polar bears are on the red alert extinction list but we can legally do nothing to curb their death is a huge problem as we don't just need polar bears but our icecaps to sustain world climates, aside from greenhouse gases, etc.

The art is now to be aware, educate and take action as we can no longer afford in anyway for humans to bury their heads in the sand and avoid world news. The entire world capital market is linked together, besides that we share the same planet. And the US GDP is still the most in the world with all other countries tied to ours so we really aren't going anywhere. We only have to stop being so arrogant and disrespecting ever other country say, Iraq, Iran, etc and the world is hopefully realizing that Americans are being held hostage by a failing system that allows the few to control everything, including voting power and this lack of educational funding has caused an uneducated public to become a do-nothing people that allow their own government to walk all over them and run the country into the ground for the past decade. Hopefully other countries will pity our Hitler ways and understand the gestapo we are under and that we don't agree with our govt (as in 2005 they certainly did not realize this but thought we must love Bush if we allowed him to be the "world's #1 terrorist" as they put it, and how we could not take action if we did not agree with our govt, and not understanding the level of false news (tabloid rumor being our news and actual news being considered tabloid rumor; besides that the BBS has US news 6 months in advance of our own news outlets!) and deep corruption spawned from apathy and stupidity and lack of willpower and education and general liaises-fare.