CNN Money has a great article, (or set of statements) from key people on Wall street discussing what it was like during those crucial hours and days of the Wall Street collapse. It’s interesting reading. If only I could easily decipher who to despise and who to feel sorry for…… http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0909/gallery.witnesses_meltdown.fortune/index.html
Unemployment at 26 Year High
I suppose I’ve known it wasn’t getting better yet and this week’s unemployment numbers confirm it. Unemployment is now at a 26 year high. We’re still cutting jobs but some economists are starting to think we’re nearing bottom as the number of cuts shrinks each month. Anecdotally, I’m seeing more people lose their jobs around me and my company anticipates further reductions. Unfortunately, a lot
Are You a Millionaire or a Debtonaire?
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last week or so. I just got back from a business trip in Southern California. I spent a week down there working 11 hour days locked up in a conference room. The days were long but rewarding. As it happened, the conference room we were using all week was the executive board room. I’m far from an
If You’ve Recently Lost Your Job, You May Get Prescription Drugs for Free
Pfizer will be offering approximately 70 of their prescription drugs for free to people who have recently lost their jobs and have been taking Pfizer drugs for at least 3 months. The program will provide the drugs for up to 1 year or until you get new health insurance. For more information about the program you can read this article at ABC News or visit
Advanta Cuts off ALL New Lending on Credit Cards
Interesting article that highlights the risks that many of the credit card companies are facing. Their default rate is skyrocketing and they are having to retrench and stop lending additional money to try to preserve capital. People have been talking about the next wave of defaults being in credit cards. Apparently Advanta is one of the first to start drastic measures. Other companies have been
Considering a Snow Bird Investment Property
Most of the time I feel fortunate to live in the Seattle area in the Pacific Northwest. The one time that I don’t appreciate the Seattle area is during the drab months of winter and early Spring. This year seems to have been particularly dark, rainy and gloomy. I was hoping that my quick trip to Las Vegas would feed my body’s need for sun
Responsible Citizens Now Seeing Opportunities
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. People who stayed on the sidelines, diligently saving their money so that they could, one day buy a home that they knew was within their means, are starting to enter the home ownership club by buying homes that are drastically cheaper than they were a couple years ago. These kinds of articles give me hope for a
From $750,000 to Delivering Pizzas
How could I not post about this article? I found myself feeling less than sympathetic for Ken Karpman. If ever there was a poster child for why you need to have emergency savings and a fall back plan, Ken Karpman is it. Ken was making $750,000 a year when times were good. He has now been reduced to delivering pizzas and his marriage is stumbling.
Scenes From the Recession
The Boston Globe has an outstanding feature called “The Big Picture”. I subscribe to the RSS feed for it and am continually impressed with the amazing images that they show there. Today’s feature is called, “Scenes From the Recession” and shows various images from around the world that are related to the current economic downturn. Take a look, I think you’ll really enjoy it: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/scenes_from_the_recession.html
I’m Not a Bailout Fan
Okay. I’ve had it with the bailouts. My new personal position is that we scrap the bailouts and let things fail. Once enough has failed and the losers leave the market, we can begin to rebuild without the trillions in national debt. The latest news is that AIG has paid out over $170 million in bonuses and it was also revealed who some of the