Archive for November, 2008
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
I’m Dumping Books For AudioBooks
I try to read at least one book every month, often setting the goal to read two books a month, one professional, and one strictly entertainment related but I’ve fallen seriously short of that goal this year because of various international travel, heavy project schedule, and other commitments. I’ve been trying to understand the root cause [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Raves by RichSlick
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
So Much For South America Vacation
I’ve been contemplating a vacation to South America this winter but that option is starting to look less appealing every day. There are currently strikes and riots in Peru and the country is having many government problems: One month on from a corruption scandal that forced the resignation of Peru’s entire cabinet, the political crisis [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in Watch Out by RichSlick
Monday, November 10th, 2008
Things Are Getting Desperate Out There
Often, I don’t have to leave my office to understand how desperate things are getting out there. On a normal week, I’ll get about 10 sales calls a day from various people trying to sell me products or services but lately I’ve been getting about 20 to 30 calls a day and the calls are [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Observations by RichSlick
Friday, November 7th, 2008
Massive Crash Next Week?
I’ve been trying to figure out how we’re not going to have a massive crash next week if not by the end of the year. There are massive hedge fund redemptions in play November 15th but the blood letting doesn’t stop there. There are rumors on the internets that the Fed will stop guaranteeing money [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in The Fed by RichSlick
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Website Review Week November 17th thru 21st
Over the past few months I have been inundated with requests to review or write articles about various new financial sites out there. I have been adamant that I do NOT allow ads on my site but I will periodically do reviews of new sites and products when I feel like doing so. Unfortunately, it [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Website Reviews by RichSlick
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
I Had A Weird Dream Last Night
Actually, I had a series of very strange dreams last night but the most interesting one (and pertinent to finance) involved me looking at a computer screen and TV and being shocked to see US Treasury rates on the 2 year at 8 percent! As I sat there and looked at that rate I said [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Watch Out by RichSlick
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
What Happens After Ford & GM Go Bankrupt?
The government does not appear too willing to want to fund another bailout or shotgun merger so it’s time to ask the inevitable, “what happens to Ford & GM after bankruptcy?” I’m not entirely sure if the bankruptcy would mean the companies would restructure and continue to build cars or if they simply close their [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Observations by RichSlick
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Whispers And Rumours of Layoffs
Uh-oh, there are whispers and rumours of layoffs at my wife’s place of employment. This is rather unusual because she’s been there well over a decade and I’ve never heard of her company ever laying off employees. I guess executive management must think things are going to get worse if they’re taking this preemptive action [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Money Management by RichSlick
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Why I Didn’t Vote Today
I made a decision a while ago that I wasn’t going to vote in this election but that’s only part of the story. Instead I opted to give my son the chance to vote in this election so I gave him my vote. He’s only in the fourth grade and when I told him that [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by RichSlick
Monday, November 3rd, 2008
Does Diversification Matter?
According to this CBS Marketwatch article, the average “diversified” mutual fund has a negative return of 40% so far this year and the big question that it begs is if diversification matters? The average diversified mutual fund of U.S. stocks returned a negative 18.7% in October, according to preliminary figures from fund tracker Lipper Inc.; [...]