Daily Intent

Only during the Olympics do we stay up until one in the morning watching China vs Germany in the most intense woman’s quarterfinal badminton match.  Might the seventh seed, Chinese born German, dethrone the number one seed?A week’s recovery from Fiesta, 6-man, or Seafair, and we’re back to late nights and powering through the days of work with our eyes twitching from Olympic television exhaustion.The Olympic spirit is upon us. 

National pride fills our veins.

Cheers to Michael Phelps aka Aquaman, the US Men’s gymnastics surprising all and taking Bronze, Jeff Blake for taking down Federer, Jason Lezak for swimming out of his mind in the Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle to overtake the Frenchmen, Natalie Coughlin taking gold, silver, and bronze, and Mariel Zagunis in Fencing.

In efforts to keep this email informative and economics based, I figured I’d research a question you’ve all been pondering. 

What is the value of a Gold Medal?

Gold Medal - Weighs about 5 ounces.  And is made of no less than 6 grams of pure gold.  The rest is jade and silver…92.5% silver to be exact.  This makes the gold medal, on a purely elementary level, $160 for the gold, and $60 for the silver.  There is not enough jade to be significant. 

Grand total for a Gold Medal  = $220. 

Diving deeper, Polish swimmer, Otylia Jedrzejczak auctioned off her gold medal won at the Athens Olympics for $82,500 and donated the proceeds to a Polish leukemia charity.

12 Michael Phelps Gold Medals X $82,500 = $990,000.

3 Future Gold Medals for Phelps X $82,500 = $247,500

Phelps’ Gold Medal Pro Forma = $1,237,500
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Thank you all that attended  Sarah Wildwood’s Short Sale Seminar Tuesday.  Excellent current market data and dialogue was the result.

Monday, August 25th, Sean Mason will be returning to the seminar circuit with more Negotiation insights.  I suggest you attend.  6pm!  My office.  21 E Victoria St #300
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Word of the week: War Chest

“Slang for the reserve of cash a corporation sets aside to attempt a takeover or to defend against a hostile takeover.

For example, you might hear, ‘Look for XYZ Company to make an acquisition soon; they’ve been selling off assets in order to build up their war chest.” - Investopedia

What we know in our recent learnings:  In building up one’s War Chest, a company must be on the look out for the “Pac Man Defense”.

Four points to ponder:

1.  US inflation numbers for July - 5.6% rise year or year.
2.   Oil prices have decreased 20 percent since its high July 3rd.
3.   Existing home sales drop to 10 year low in 2nd quarter.  Defaults up.
4.   Russia invades Georgia.  Flexes Muscles.

Positives:

•      Oil prices dropping back dramatically in the past month have limited worries of the Fed having to raise interest rates at their next meeting to combat rising inflationary numbers.  The majority expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady, 2%, at their next meeting in September.
•       Gas prices have come down along with the oil.  Save 20 cents each gallon.
•     The low end housing market is beginning to stabilize in Santa Barbara County…condos, fixers, etc… The higher end would be the negative.  See below.

Negatives:

•      Despite oil prices falling, our daily living expenses are higher than one year ago.  Furthermore, we all understand the basic economic principle: prices are more reluctant to fall quickly, than they are to rise rapidly.  Expect higher prices for some time.
•      A democratic state is under attack by the Russians.  Many civilians are in the line of fire.  Russia has rebuffed its arms since the Cold War.  The United States helped create and now supports Georgia. Two super powers with military differences creates uneasiness.

Services: Excellent Customer Service

The lending industry has been likened to “used car salesmen” of late.  Our reputation and services have proven an inverse relationship with the number of legal cases brought forth.   No longer is getting a home loan a commodity.   What type of experience and guidance you receive in obtaining a home loan has never been more important.  I promise to offer communicative, open, confident, and knowledgeable experience you of which you feel at ease.

Local:Santa Barbara’s Geoff Grey takes on a Guinness Book of World Record
Where: Santa Barbara City College
When: Saturday, 12pm
Fee: An insatiable desire for fun
Why:  The opportunity to see a Guinness Book of World Record be broken
How: He’ll be racing against the clock in the “Lunge Mile”.  Yes, one mile of lunges.  Knee must hit the ground each time.  This is almost Gold Medal worthy.  I can’t wait to buy the next edition.  Right next to the Tallest Man in the world will stand Geoff Grey.  May the Force be with you Dr. Grey!

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler