Bold News This Week:
“Lehman Brothers, 4th largest Investment Bank, declares bankruptcy”
“AIG saved by the government’s $85Bn at the 11th hour”
“Washington Mutual teeters as stock plummets”
“Merrill Lynch, the 100yr old giant bull, waves white flag in front of BofA
“How are you feeling after being witness to the 6th largest one day drop ever in the market place? And a yesterdays huge decline?Nervous? Wondering if you will ever retire? Wanting to strangle your financial adviser? In need of aspirin? These are all normal feelings. It’s natural to want to pull back.
But Stop. Stop for a minute and remember what we have been discussing for the last 6 months. We have understood the need to be conservative with our budgets. And we’ve also been understanding of the opportunity in this mayhem. There is opportunity to recreate a new basis for how our financial system works, a system and way of assessing progress that dates back over 100 years. May it be time to readjust?Remember what we Americans have ingrained in our DNA:
Optimism and Inventiveness and Creativity. And remember that the best thing you can do for yourself in any market, up, down or sideways, is to invest in yourself, your knowledge, your well being. Take care of yourself and your mind.
September 11th is a day our generations will never forget. It shook us to our core. It reminded us of our vulnerabilities. And it reminded us that United We Stand. My thanks goes out to the firefighters and the workers that worked tirelessly repairing the cities. And my support goes out to those who had a loved one pass that day or the innocent bystander that had to witness the events first hand. Please take a moment today to consider what positive steps you can take in remembrance of this tragic day.
____________________________________________________________Ocean Preservation: As many of you know, I will be taking on the Santa Barbara Channel Friday at 12 midnight via a relay swim. What many of you don’t know is it benefits an incredible cause. Should you be moved to support ocean conservation and underprivileged youth getting the opportunity to experience the Channel Islands first hand, please call or email me. The benefiting organization is the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. My intent is to raise $400 ($10 x 40 people). In either case, please pray for the sharks to be full from an earlier dinner and less than curious to replay Jaws.
A beautiful and wonderful woman walk jogged into our lives one sunny day last summer. She quietly brightened our days, this woman from the Bay Area. She asked all the right questions at the most appropriate of times. She came prepared each Saturday. She handed out Jolly Ranchers and pretzels when we were exhausted from a long run. And she shed marathon wisdom upon her fearless comrades.Carolyn Samuels, you were loved by all you touched and will be missed by many.(see below for Memorial details)
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Compounding Your Knowledge Seminar Series: Calling all Real Estate Agents!
The summer months are nearing completion, with the elusive fall months awaiting. Are you armed with the knowledge and information that will encourage your borrowers to consider home ownership? Do you understand the possible Tax Credit of $7500? How about the when the $729,750 goes away? The economic status? What are you doing now to build business and increase market share? What is your intent? We’ll discuss this all Monday, September 22nd at my office – 21 E Victoria St #300.
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Buzzword of the week: Cardboard Box Index
All over the country Americans begin a year of academic pursuit. Kindergarteners say good bye to preschool naps. 12 year olds say good bye to recess. 18 year olds say good bye to mom and dad and hello to FREEDOM. And grad students say good bye to “a life”. In light of their efforts, I’ve compiled a Top 10 list for Education thanks to Wikipedia.com:1. The New England Puritans valued education, both for the sake of religious study (which was facilitated by Bible reading) and for the sake of economic success. A 1647 Massachusetts law mandated that every town of 50 or more families support an elementary school and every town of 100 or a grammar school, where boys could learn Latin in preparation for college.
2. In the year 2000, there were 76.6 million students enrolled in schools from kindergarten through graduate schools.
3. Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools.4. The country has a reading literacy rate at 98% of the population over age 15.
5. According to a 2005 report from the OECD, the United States is tied for first place with Switzerland when it comes to annual spending per student on its public schools, with each of those two countries spending more than $11,000 (in U.S. currency). National Education Budget: $827 billion(public and private, all levels)
6. Millions each year pour into economic classes expecting Ben Stein from Ferris Buehler’s Day Off. “Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?”
7. The vast majority of students (up to 70 percent) lack the financial resources to pay tuition up front and must rely on student loans and scholarships from their university, the federal government, or a private lender.8. School voucher programs were proposed by free-market advocates seeking competition in education, led by economist Milton Friedman.9. Among the country’s adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school and 27 percent have received a bachelor’s degree or higher.
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.
600,000 foreigners are expected for the weeks of the Olympic Games. And China estimates 4.5 million foreign tourists to pour into Beijing this year alone. While expenditures are forecast to register $4.9 billion in revenue.
It’s understood with hosting the Olympics comes huge economic benefits to the host city, the surrounding cities and the country as a whole. But the big question surrounding the monetary stimulus is its longevity.
Both Sydney and Athens experienced “post-Olympic depression”. Their economies slouched after the Olympics passed through.
$4.9bn is a drop in the bucket in comparison to China’s overall economy. It’s less than the write-downs of many American financial institutions of late.
So if the tangible tourist dollars spent in the country isn’t substantial, then where is the true economic benefit?
In BRANDING.
“It is all about symbolism” notes Tim Burroughs, editor of China Economic Review.
Santa Barbara, California -By Jeff Bochsler - Follow me on Twitter.
The west coast takes a moment to celebrate life and community this weekend.
Last night Santa Barbarans danced open Old Spanish Days aka Fiesta. Seattleites have begun waxing their boats and fitting in extra sets of sit ups and push-ups in preparation for Seafair, Friday through Sunday. And Manhattan Beach? The infamous 6-man volleyball tournament sets off Saturday followed later by the most intense life-guard competition.
Being that such events offer huge revenue streams to the respective cities, it’s on point to include a few historical nuggets. Could your annual event of 50 people be the next huge festival to blow away your city?
Ladies and Gents, this week we must honor a life that continues to compound greatness, my Grandpa Lydon. He celebrates 80 years of life this Sunday. All of his descendants are so very thankful for all that he continues to share and impress upon our lives. Thanks Grandpa and Happy Birthday!
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Once again my childhood has served me well in creating a frame of reference!
A CNBC special has me back to video games! Ladies, hang on before you skip to the Word of the Week. These lessons could serve you well. Besides, you comprise 39% of all gamers (Btw, 60% of Americans play video games, with a large majority being over 18 years old.). Crazy, but true.
As the markets continue on the path of irrational daily swings, I offer a story of “Adaptability”.
This one goes back to my high school days when the colors of Black and Gold ruled over the seas of greater Seattle. A time when wigs were a Friday night staple, Saved By the Bell offered post class entertainment, and Ken Griffey Jr.’s rookie baseball card valued more than $100.
It was a brisk Friday night. Thousands of fans eagerly awaited the thunderous arrival of their pride and joy, the Inglemoor High School football team. The Inglemoor Vikings.
This would have been like any other energized football under the lights, however an exceptional rumble was brewing amongst seven avid male fans. Bare chests covered in Black and Gold paint awaited the night air.
Are you listening? With both ears?
Monday morning I came out of the gym with my head phones pumping great beats. I made a couple block walk to the nearest Blenders in the Grass, enjoying the coolness of the morning and lengthening of my newly torn muscles. Upon time to order my morning power packed smoothie, I dropped one head phone from my left ear, made the order, then went back to listening to my music as the blender droned in the background. Yes, I was that quasi rude guy. However, so was the Blender’s employee. He, an obvious high schooler on summer vacation, had one head phone in his left ear!
We’ve all seen the two friends sitting on a park bench or hanging out at the mall sharing the head phones of one iPod.