Not A Mystery
About Life
If You Can’t Trust Big Box Anymore, Who Can You Trust?
We all know that Big Government, Big Oil, Big Tobacco and Big Bank cannot be trusted. But I’ve always thought I could trust Big Box. Not any more. Up until now I had written off ever-shrinking product packaging evilness to manufacturer’s greed. You know, charge the same price but put less ‘stuff’ in the box. … Continue reading
It’s Hard To Argue With Gravity While Ordering A Hamburger
Being an expert must be harder these days. Nobody seems to have any good answers to tough questions about the economy. Morningstar pundits are usually pretty good when it comes to personal financial advice. But in is a recent answer on how to maintain yourself in retirement, they managed to coin the phrase ‘pre-tire’ when … Continue reading
NYC Notes: Finally, A Wall Street Guy You Can Believe In
No trip to NYC would be complete without a Bagel Schmear. When I was a kid growing up in the Bronx, my Dad would take me to what he called “The Bagel Factory” early on Saturday mornings. I was too young to remember where exactly it was, but I do recall the noise of the ‘elevated’ … Continue reading
Volcker Rule Gives Investment Banks A “Woodie”
The US Congress is getting close to passing new financial regulation, attempting to rein in our friends on Wall Street. Pending legislation would limit Investment Banks’ ability to trade for their own accounts, and effectively bar them from trading derivatives. The bankers are pushing back. Surprised? The big banks argue that the Volcker proposal is … Continue reading
Anniversary Favs And Big Green
Hard as it is (for me) to believe, we began our blog one year ago today. And this is our 178th. post. But who’s counting. In honor of that Anniversary, I’d like to suggest that you check out some of our FAV posts. F2U Rio Linda, FAVS are items that I had the most fun composing, … Continue reading
A Dead Hand Bounce For Our Stock Markets
The good news is that if a catastrophic event destroys mankind our investments will be extremely well managed after we are gone. The bad news is that the computers doing it may be trading for their own accounts instead of ours. This theater of the absurd scenario might be more plausible than you think, and occurred to me last … Continue reading
Stretched For Income? Invest In Gatorade [Bottles]
Get a grip, because I’m about to tell you how to double your money with no risk. While simultaneously bringing new meaning to the phrase, “go green”. Let’s talk recycling. Like me, I’m sure that many of your beer-drinking friends go on about the hundreds of dollars they ‘make’ by taking their crushed aluminum cans … Continue reading
USA Manufacturing, Getting Our Groove Back In A Smallish Way
I revel in a good day every so often, as an attempt to avoid morphing into a grumpy old man. Recently I went to Lowe’s home Improvement Center with the goal of purchasing a “Shrub Rake”. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a shrub rake before I got there, I was just … Continue reading
The Ultimate, And We Mean Really Ultimate, In Packaging
I have an acquaintance in the packaging industry whose products utilize a super-strong cardboard. You can stand automobiles on boxes made of his cardboard; we are talking here about serious robustness. Their shipping containers are used to transport auto engines and heavy machinery. Sit in your car, raise your hand up to touch the ‘head-liner’ on … Continue reading
Lobbyists Do It In The Dark, Bankers Post It In The Cellar
In a nutshell, the way financial institutions (Big Bank) make their money is by knowing more than the other guy (that would be you). They will famously say that their priority is to serve their customers, and that capitalism depends upon them for the efficient allocation of capital. Also, that they are all in favor … Continue reading
A Very Serious Look At “Assistance”
My father’s name was Jack. When I hear someone say “You don’t know Jack”, I think of him. This coming Saturday, HBO will air a film starring Al Pacino titled, “You Don’t Know Jack”. But it’s not about my dad, it’s the story of Dr. Jack Kervorkian and the end-of-life debate. Last week Anderson Cooper … Continue reading
