Logbook: Money

Money is a variable. Success is defined by the delta between intake and expenditure. Sometimes we go broke buying ram. Other times its unattainable because the prices driven up by AI .

Media.. A bit late for halloween and early on april fools about the economy.

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<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } –>I’ve been following the economy for awhile. Yes, we are in a bad downturn but, what gets me is the media.. Rather than being somewhat neutral to the issue they are betting on the apocalypse. There aim has me confused. rather than trying to see both sides of an issue they are aiming for getting average Joe into a clustfuck frenzy. Take Time Magazine for an example.

The 171 banks on the FDIC’s “problem list” encompass only about 2 percent of the nearly 8,500 FDIC-insured institutions. Still, the increase from 117 in the second quarter is sharp, and the current tally is the highest since late 1995. (See pictures of the stock market crash of 1929.)

OK.. first off 171 banks out of 8500 A whole 2% (2.011%).. WOW… but look at the eye-catcher here. “See Pictures of the Stock market Crash of 1928” what the fuck? stock market.. ? yet the article is speaking about FDIC insured banks?  Why not just throw in some pictures of nukes while we are at it .

Reading further into the article you will also see.

The FDIC said total assets held by troubled institutions climbed from $78.3 billion to $115.6 billion — a figure that suggests that the nation’s top 20 banks aren’t on the list, even though they are getting slammed, too, by the growing credit crisis. The FDIC does not reveal the names of the institutions it deems troubled. (See pictures of the recession of 1958.)

Nice even though the top 20 banks are not on the list we would like to remind you something that happened 50 years ago k thx. Sure the economy is in a downturn but due to deregulation and other things the market to my belief is overinflated the fuck outta. Big businesses have been having a field day trying to break down things and increasing the cost of everything , Im surprised they have not added a device to count your farts for some sort of health diet.  The way the banks have gone I saw it coming but I was never sure when this was going to hit , Back about 2 years ago i was getting credit card applications on a daily basis and when i saw this I only thought to myself “this is going to end well”. The banks got themselves into this situation and now they are screaming for help when what they did came back to bite them in the ass like a bear chasing a man coated in beef and Honey.

What is Ironic to me is rather than help the people who are directly affected by this the banks got bailed out and the people who have lost there houses have not, So what the hell. I mean thats like helping out a drunk driver rather than the person he hit. Honestly this 700billion dollar bailout stinks like hell and more and more companies and businesses are jumping on the ME TOO bandwagon even though they have caused these issues on there own,  Car makers… Rather than make fuel efficient cars they kept coming out with beastly huge ass cars that got 0.1 mile to the gallon, when oil peaked this year they did not adjust there strategy to cope with the situation.

If you follow crude oil prices they had at least 5 years of forewarning. Other car makers adjusted around the time oil started spiking, and they are not nearly as bad off as US car makers. Oil companies keep posting these all time record profits and yet every time they say it has nothing to do with them ripping off people by gouging them which makes no sense.

My opinion here.. Sure it sounds bad but, Let these companies fail. its a hard lesson but rather than propping them up Every time they decide to have drunken bender of loaning out billions to people who honestly could not afford it, i think the banks should have some responsibility here. Same with the Car companies. Every time i hear bailout these days I cringe because, these bailouts are not working as intended. Bail out the average Joe rather than these companies. Don’t even put the money in there hands just say hey your mortgage is payed for x months, and give them a contract that says they have to either straighten up finances or get out of dodge.

Attack of the Christmas part II

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Two days ago I posted about the Christmas Creep well, Today I went to mall to discover unfortunately how bad how the Christmas Creep was. It’s not a creep anymore. Its the christmas War on Holidays, the casualties so far .. Halloween, Thanksgiving and anything inbetween. From the front lines which I’ve personally witnessed and My friend david whom was overwelmed at the scene and cried on sight..

Corporations are destroying Christmas, People are already starting to be worn out of the meaningless push on wanting consumers to buy useless shit for christmas.

I dont mind so much about the week after thanksgiving for Christmas, but NOW? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO go away get out.. GTFO…

The Christmas Creep isnt the creep anymore its the Attack of the christmas.

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I am starting to get annoyed with christmas already and thats a new record. retail stores have Had christmas shit out since september, and really I dont know what these stores are thinking because its blisteringly retarded. Since retailers have started so early its already having and effect on people , I’ve heard the ”
oh fuck Christmas is coming and i don’t have money for this”

A Wal-Mart Stores-sponsored survey this year found that three in 10 so-called Wal-Mart moms planned to start their Christmas shopping three months early.

Maybe because there christmas shit was up 5 months early? I noticed in late august the local wallyworld had christmas stuff out in the back corner of the store. retail stores have gone as far as to moving “black friday” to the day after halloween. Thats all we need parents with there kids cracked out on sugar in stores yay!

On cue, retailers — all bracing for what looks to be the worse holiday shopping season in two decades — are taking those statistics to heart, with Wal-Mart leading the pack. The world’s largest retailer was first out of the gate on Oct. 1 — yes Oct. 1 — to slash prices on select toys, beating its own record for an early start.

I know the econimy is bad but what the fuck? lets make it WORSE by blowing money we dont have on a Holiday 2 months away ? Sure that helps retailers but does not help out people scraping by on next to nothing.  Stores are mutating halloween into something actaully scary Halloweemas .. as weird as that sounds you can find “halloween Trees”

This  year with christmas is like watching dead flys fuck.  I cant wiat for this season to be over with . Thankfully they have not started with the christmas music at stores , i think when they do i am going to just wear earplugs till january ..

700 billion dollar bail out stinks.

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The Federal government has just authorized a 700 billion dollar bailout for banks, and immediatly I had my concerns about this.  Did the banks do anything to improve there situation , Fuck No. Instead they are right back to there old ways.

Reason i say this, My phone rang yesterday, I look at the caller ID and said what the hell! It was Washing mutaul, Now just for the pure sake of curiousity i answered the phone and was greeted to a Credit Card offer.. WaMu was offering me a credit card which i couldnt help but to inquire more on .

This is seriously stupid.

“Dunkin’ Donuts lookin’ out for java lovers” Are they trying to find some ….

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Or are they kidnapping them and forcing them to forms of torture that they wouldn’t even do in Guantanamo bay? Dunkin Donuts has been known for serving coffee that taste like burnt ass or as bluesteel would say my old cesspool.  Apparently they have a special going on which i find kind of funny since this article states that dunkin donuts is looking out for the java loving joe…

From the article,

When times are tough and money’s tight – don’t despair, Dunkin’ Donuts has your back.

For a moment i thought to myself Interesting but, I read further..

Today the coffee giant ushers in an era of cheap lattes to get you through the afternoon energy slump. Starting this afternoon, DD will offer 99-cent small lattes between the hours of 2 p.m. – 5 p.m., available in caramel, mocha or pumpkin. It’s apparently available for a “limited time only.

Look closely at that… somethings wrong… Oh yeah No normal person can get a coffee in those hours unless they work 2nd or 3rd shift,  I can see that fly at an office “hey boss I’m going to get myself a cheap coffee at dunkin, ok?” as the boss glares at you and says sit down asshat and drink the office coffee. Although I think the final comment was the kicker..

And check this out to read about other ways New Yorkers are cutting costs as the economy crumbles

Just what we need, people tweaked out on coffee as the stock market goes in the toilet or is that goes to the toilet after having cheap dunkin donuts latte?  My thought on this is Ditch the dunkin and either make your own coffee or find a local mom and pop coffee shop, often times there cheaper and will apprecaite your money alot more than dunkin donuts or starbucks would.

A year with with my Wii………..and let the puns begin!

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This month is comming up on me having the Wii console for 1 year.. How has the Wii stood up as time has progressed? After owning the wii this long, there have been a few thoughts  i’ve had as far as how the system has matured, Honestly the system is still good but still needs to grow up a bit.

I Do Still pay with the wii, but Not nearly as often as I used to due to the fact of a lack of games with depth to them,  Some games do come out with depth but, the issue is quantity. The fact that developers have shunned the Wii kind of makes for an interesting senario. Sure its taken the market by storm but, im seeing where the Wii’s weakness is, theres just not the title market out there.  Forevery good game for the system theres a SHITLOAD of vomitware for the system and it shows, Goto gamestop and look on there used shelves and you will see TONS of craptastic games.

As far as price has gone, The wii is not the lowest man on the ladder due to the x-box 360’s agressive pricecuts but in the long run the Wii is cheaper due to the online component being cheaper (Free). The Wii’s online component severely is lacking still due to lack of interaction in games, If you play Mario Kart Wii , Theres just no feeling to it due to the lack of interaction between players. Sure you can see the asshat that just knocked you off the track as you swear your brains out at the screen but, does the person on the other side of the connection know your mad …. NO. They did add keyboard support awhile back but, its so unused the most it maybe used for is to put in a creditcard number for more Wii Points, Nintendo could highly benifit from at least adding chatroom or some other way to talk to players while using the system.

The system has been pretty faithful to me with one exception of having the send in the wii to Nintendo for service. But The repairs were extremely quick and had the system back within the span of one week.

While the Wii’s gaming library has some good games that come out every few months, I’ve never really been stuck in a situation of a choice to make over one game to another. Nintendo’s first party titles are pretty much unmatched in terms of gaming on the system theres a few noted exceptions such as Raving Rabbids, No More Heroes, Final Fantasy Fables, and Starwars the force unleashed but, The lack of quality 3rd party titles I think is my biggest mark against the system.

Given that fall us upon us maybe we will see the Wii mature a bit or maybe we will see the Wii not Mature. I said wii huh-huh-huh…

Phone Fun .. Katana LX mini-review

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I was on a Pay as you go plan for AT&T and it worked out well if you made next to no calls. but then again there were times you were forced to make calls. That got expensive quick, the silly rounding rules for minutes killed off money faster than anything. After signing up to sprint on there low plan  29.99 for 200 minutes.

The Katana lx is decent looking phone but looks do not make up for its problems. the problem maybe more from my point of view, but moreso they tend to be things I look for in a phone and i have basic requirements for a phone.

1. to make calls
2. that the phone is somewhat configurable
3. can add/make own ringtones.
4. Durable

well the phone right out of the box passes only on #1 and #4. I had started with a bluetooth connector the phone connected right up but after that the phone really as far as accessing data and such was worthless, the best that could be done is a tether if you had a DataPlan.

Another issue i have with sprint is the fact that the phones dont use Sim cards which makes programing your phonebook a pain in the ass and you look like an ass doing it with 2 phones in hand. As Far as a Dead basic phone the Katana LX is just that.

After the bluetooth try i figured maybe the USB Cable would be more fruitful in getting the phone to be somewhat responsive , I was wrong, as Far as drivers from Sanyo – Good luck with that. It took me two days of looking and when i finally did get it working , the phone did Even less than when connected to bluetooth.

But for being a basic phone it does have its pluses , You can hear it ring from jupiter on its loudest setting.  The T9 texting was decent..  but overall it was not what I would personally want in a phone.

So after talking to the rep at the sprint store I ended up returning the Katana after a good weeks use and learning its up and downs.

The phone would be good for someone who just wants to have a phone with not many bells and whistles.

The banking crisis and how it seems to stand now.

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Well right now with banks shuting down because of bank runs , Subprime Mortgages, and Idoits running the whole thing we are currently in an economic clusterfuck. Indy Mac and Fanny mae just got Picked up by the FDIC. I’ve been passively watching other banks and noticed that wacovia bank has lost over 72% of its value in the last 9 months.  My bank which i have a savings account through Has lost over 63% of its value in the same time.

It bothers me that you turn on the news and the financial news says “Everythings great! the housing market is up .5% , when year to date its actually down ALOT! If you go to sites that are out of the US basically you get the message of Hold on to your ass cuz your going for ride

The US needs to stop trying to save the banks and try to save the people. As far as i see it they have been screwing off and making inflation go batshit.

Every time we bail out a bank we are just setting up for a higher fall, every time the Interest rate is cut we are getting higher up. We are going to be up shits creek if we keep on saving banks. Unfortunatly at this time we keep doing this we if a major closure happens that we cant control , we are just going to go into freefall from all the propping up of the econimy , Its better off to slowly Fix the issues at hand , irony has it when i was a kid there was a cartoon that perfectly made sense of inflation . Its like a balloon, for every time you cause inflation the balloon inflates. cause too much inflation and it burst. we need to figure out how to slowly deflate the econimy and defuse the banking crisis. which Rather than gov bail out . they should fix it for themselves.

Sure jobs will be lost, but in the end by not keep bailing them out the landing will not be like jumping off a skyscraper

but overall the banks are to blame on this one. they are the ones that went out and offered dirtcheap mortgages that were effectively poisoned from the start. the ARM… will literaly cost you an arm and leg.

The US gov wants to give money to the banks. Why not do the more sound thing.. give the money to the people to save there houses, or at least give them an option to get out free if they can not prove a sound economic stance.  Its really bad that people loose there houses and yet the banks profit by getting huge bail outs.

Times are tough… even myself i’ve cut down on coffee =p

StarSucks Closings

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Been too long since i’ve last updated but i caught this little bit in the new, From the boston globe that Starbucks isn’t doing so well.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – One coffee drinker’s bad news is another coffee drinker’s good news, it seems.

Financial woes at Starbucks Corp <SBUX.O>, which is planning to close 600 underperforming U.S. stores, is evoking glee and little sympathy from aficionados who say they resent the coffee shop giant and favor small independent cafes.

Its sad to see coffee places close but as far as starbucks goes.. I cant really give any sympathy myself for this.  There expansion was at breakneck speed and in the end it was there own fault.  I’ve been in Starbucks on Occasion , When theres no other coffee within miles. But you can see why Starbucks fucked up, google maps shows it perfectly.

Like why the hell are there 3 starbucks within 2000 feet of each other. Its like someone went on a bombing run of Providence with Starbucks all in a straight line.

seriously there cant be that many uppity people in providence that need there starbucks that bad. but there way of putting up stores is just bad.

I’d hate to say it but if you look at dunkin donuts its much more logical than starbucks…