October 30th, 2007
My wife and I have been looking to downsize our house for the past year. Our big problem is that we like the house we live in, but a ranch configuration would be better than the salt-box we have. Of course the housing market stinks just now. Selling our current digs would be difficult.
My wife, […]
By jim -- 1 comment
October 29th, 2007
Three things came up this weekend that do NOT bode well for the economy. First, George Will mentioned tha the last time we had a large loss in capital similar to what we are seeing in the housing industry was the .com bust in the ’90’s. Second, the New York Times does a review of the […]
By jim -- 0 comments
October 27th, 2007
The Saturday WSJ always has good things. Thanks go to Eleanor Laise for pulling this info together on the front page of the Money & Investing section of today’s paper.
Seems over the past 2 months, there are some new tools out to rate mutual funds. These tools are fairly similar to the Morningstar and Lipper services. […]
By jim -- 0 comments
October 27th, 2007
Most every Saturday morning I go a Methodist church to attend my advanced yoga class. Someone once said to me that they heard that yoga relaxes you. To which I replied, “Yes, the pain keeps you from thinking of anything else.” And, it’s good for you, too.
Anyway, me and 3 to a dozen women pay […]
By jim -- 2 comments
October 26th, 2007
This is probably the most significant blog posting I have made to date. It is in support of my philosophy of life. It is too short to drink bad beer. That is why I’m so unhappy to see that the major brewers of swill in the US have gotten into craft brewing. Bud and Miller […]
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October 25th, 2007
Collateralized Debt Offerings or CDO’s are investment vehicles which are a form of sub-prime mortgage bonds. They suffer from the same sickness as bonds backed by sub-prime mortgages. Nobody know what the real risk of default is on these financial instruments. They have become a victim of their own success.
When CDOs were a rare commodity […]
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October 23rd, 2007
It’s a tradition in the Milwaukee area that you bring in treats for your birthday. It’s my birthday. I’m 62. Seeing that this is my virtual workplace and you are all my virtual associates go and have yourself a piece of virtual tiramisu or creme bru le if you are so inclined.
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By jim -- 1 comment
October 23rd, 2007
At the end of WWII General Electric began a study to determine what in a company’s business practices, environment, personnel, strategy, and such were the key elements to success. GE continued this for a number of years and then turned the project over to Harvard. Each year the survey turned up the same answer. It didn’t […]
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October 21st, 2007
If you’ve never been a workaholic you ought to give it a try. Certainly, someone starting up their own business has to want to work their ass off 24/7 for years to come. It takes a certain amount of physical stamina and a great sense of humor. Still, if you’ve never given yourself totally to […]
By jim -- 2 comments
October 20th, 2007
At one point I made 221 cold calls over the phone. That was 15 years ago before voice mail was ubiquitous. There is a $10 word I dislike, but it fits. During that week I spoke with 27% of those people. I actually got to say my piece to a human being before they made […]
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