There’s a great debate going on in the various offices in Washington lately.  If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go down, should we bail them out?  You know me, I’m not one for opinions but I might include my two and a half cents.  Read on and see that advantages and disadvantages of bailing them […]

A better question might be: How does anything lose value?
No one has ever posed this question to me, but I do find myself explaining it every time I talk about the stock market.  If the Dow is down 300 points, then the market has lost value?  But what difference does it make really?  There is […]

If you’ve heard about this you knew it was coming.First a brief introduction to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  The concept is simple.  A struggling family with a torn up house gets a new one.  Not only is it new, but its the best of the best and they don’t pay for a dime.  ABC picks […]

Every 4 years the media tells us which Summer Olympics athlete we should fall in love with.  This year, as in 2004, we are to fall in love with Michael Phelps.  This is fine by me, as I was a swimmer myself at one point.  In high school I was a Varsity swimmer, and was […]

There are two sayings in the investment community that came to mind while reading this book:
1)  With all the analysts out there valuing securities and discovering market inefficiencies for 24 hours a day its impossible for you to beat them and thus beat the market.
They are right.
2)  If someone found a way to truly beat […]

This is a book older than I am.  Originally published in 1973 by a Princeton economist, it has been revised more than a dozen times.  I first heard of it from a finance professor in my undergrad days and immediately read it.   Burton Malkiel, the author, more or less states its impossible for the […]

Another book with a really long title: The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy .  That sure is a lot to live up to, and this book doesn’t quite get there.  Its less of a short biography of each man and more a history […]

Smartmoney.com thought they’d be clever and write a better post on some things your bank won’t tell you.  So maybe they didn’t copy me, probably because they’ve never heard of me.  But that’s okay.  You’ve heard of me and that’s all that matters.  Actually that’s a lie, I want more people to have heard of […]

Today my parents are going to meet with their financial adviser.  A year or so ago I suggested they work with their bank to consolidate their money.  As my parents approach retirement age the importance of organized finances increases.  My mother asked me to jot down a few things she should discuss with their […]

Yesterday, we took a gander at the highlights so far in 2008.  Today I’ll attempt to predict the future.
I hate to make too many guesses.  As I’ve learned from a book I’m reading, even the best stock pickers are only right about 60% of the time.  So how right am I going to be by […]