Among my character flaws is that I love to give advice! This is especially pleasurable when (1) I have no demonstrated experience in the subject I’m advising about; (2) I can’t do what I’m advising you to do; and (3), and most important: you didn’t ask for it.
Tip No. 1: Buy stocks now, especially in brand names you recognize and that are in a growing industry or involve a popular or needed product. Just for the first few days of the Thanksgiving weekend holiday shopping period, one report says spending is already up 13 percent over last year. The pent-up money is coming out from all those mattresses.
Congress and the President WILL avoid the fiscal cliff! The members of Congress may be crazy, but they’re not stupid. They know that their constituents will be…um…less than hospitable if they return home without having done anything. The tar will already be heated up and the feathers waiting for them. The good news is, when the fiscal cliff is averted, the United States will get its credit rating back, and the stock market will go through the roof, which I define as 300-plus points in one day and more after that.
Tip No. 2: Buy a home or condo someplace warm now, not subject to overly violent weather. Think of all those Baby Boomers retiring. They like heat. And if they live in the Northeast, a lot of them are gonna want outta there after Sandy. I would suggest California’s Coachella Valley, around Palm Springs, where there is underpriced property, virtually no snow ever, and a great international airport if you have to get away. And for most of the summer, it’s a dry heat.
(Side tip A, to real estate people: Tell these eager customers as little as you can about (1) taxes and (2) earthquakes.)
(Side tip B: If you know any Mayans, tell them to pipe down already, at least for four weeks or so.)
As they say in the fine print, there is no guarantee of success for actually following this advice, and this blog assumes no responsibility, yadda, yadda, yadda....you know the drill.
Well, that’s all I have for now. If you need any more advice, don’t ask me. It’s no fun if it’s actually solicited.
Showing posts with label stock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stock. Show all posts
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Only Thing We Have to Feahh.....
My head is really in the clouds today. Maybe it just seems that way because I have cotton for brains right now, just trying to get the aforementioned head around this economic mess. But I’ve been thinking a lot about faith.
For those fortunate enough to have a lot of gold holdings, why is gold valuable? Gold, believe it or not, has some spiritual qualities. Not only is it beautiful, but it doesn’t corrode or tarnish. It’s solid, and it will still be there when other metals have rusted and disintegrated – it has that feeling of eternity to it. And it’s relatively hard to find. Of course, the real value of gold to an owner is that others value it, too. People have faith in it.
It’s also interesting to see people are buying up U.S. Treasury bills as they seek a safe haven. A Treasury bill is only a piece of paper, but it’s said to be backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. That is, of course, if you have any faith in the federal government or feel like giving it credit for anything right now.
FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” How about the flip side? The only thing we can really have faith in is faith itself. When you invest in something, you have faith that it’s going to bring you a return, and when you lose that faith, you sell it. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The things that make some of us feel safe at the moment won’t save us from every calamity. If you had a brick of gold, but, as an example, were really thirsty after being lost in the desert for a week, you’d part with it in a New York minute for a drink of water, if that meant your survival. All those pieces of paper you’ve put under the mattress are worthless unless backed up by something and, as a consequence, valued by others. In some circumstances, the mattress itself may have more value than what you stuffed under it.
I’m sure you’re saying, “My life savings are on their way to being wiped out, my house is upside down, and I can’t afford the gas to get to work, so thanks a lot for this little talk.”
But the bottom line, as everyone says these days, is what you have faith in. As for me, I have faith that eventually our faith will be restored. But let’s not be surprised if we find that faith resting on something different.
There, now I’ve said it.
For those fortunate enough to have a lot of gold holdings, why is gold valuable? Gold, believe it or not, has some spiritual qualities. Not only is it beautiful, but it doesn’t corrode or tarnish. It’s solid, and it will still be there when other metals have rusted and disintegrated – it has that feeling of eternity to it. And it’s relatively hard to find. Of course, the real value of gold to an owner is that others value it, too. People have faith in it.
It’s also interesting to see people are buying up U.S. Treasury bills as they seek a safe haven. A Treasury bill is only a piece of paper, but it’s said to be backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. That is, of course, if you have any faith in the federal government or feel like giving it credit for anything right now.
FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” How about the flip side? The only thing we can really have faith in is faith itself. When you invest in something, you have faith that it’s going to bring you a return, and when you lose that faith, you sell it. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The things that make some of us feel safe at the moment won’t save us from every calamity. If you had a brick of gold, but, as an example, were really thirsty after being lost in the desert for a week, you’d part with it in a New York minute for a drink of water, if that meant your survival. All those pieces of paper you’ve put under the mattress are worthless unless backed up by something and, as a consequence, valued by others. In some circumstances, the mattress itself may have more value than what you stuffed under it.
I’m sure you’re saying, “My life savings are on their way to being wiped out, my house is upside down, and I can’t afford the gas to get to work, so thanks a lot for this little talk.”
But the bottom line, as everyone says these days, is what you have faith in. As for me, I have faith that eventually our faith will be restored. But let’s not be surprised if we find that faith resting on something different.
There, now I’ve said it.
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