Games People Play - for big money in this case!

Well, I guess Wall Street showed those foolish folks in Congress who has the power, didn't they? And before that Congress showed those greedy bankers they don't have to rush to their rescue, didn't they? And before that? You can take this pretty far back before you find someone who wasn't being greedy or arrogant or blind. Make no mistake about it - this is a contest to see who really controls the economy in this country. And one thing is certain, neither of the contestants thinks it's you and me. We're just the PR pawns in their power struggle, the folks they both say they want to help while they pick our pockets to line their own, or to grow their power base, or to simply get re-elected.

There. I got that off my chest. Can't do anything about it except tell you how I feel. And if you feel the same way you could tell someone. And they could tell someone. Hey, maybe I can do something about it. But only if you and I team up to do it together. How? Well, here's my suggestion:

Tell your congressional representative to get off his/her duff and get this thing passed! It's a horrible bill except that it's far better than the alternative. Not in the long term, when everything will right itself as it always does; but in the short term the bankers will make our lives miserable if we don't save them so they can lend back to us the money they got from us through Uncle Sam.

But there's more we've got to do. After this thing gets signed, we've got to get our reps to do something really meaningful for a change. We've got to get them to enact real reform in the banking system. Not from the ideas that the banking industry lobbyists or congressional staffers will propose, but from the minds of our best economists and experts on financial systems. So at least one of these two groups has less opportunity to get rich at our expense by finding still another loophole in the banking and securities laws.

Then go to the polls and take care of the other contestant.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Stupid headlines!

This item caught my eye as I was catching up on the news this morning:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in August, pushed lower by plunging gasoline prices, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.

Huh??? Gas prices down, so retail shopping is down? What are you smoking, dude? If that sentence had read 'sales pushed higher by plunging gas prices' I wouldn't have stopped, because we've been hearing that for a couple years. But this headline made me stop. Of course, down in the bowels of the article the writer quoted his source which said the opposite, and properly so. But the point is, when the financial world is in a near panic mode and looking over its' shoulder for the next train wreck, we're going to read irrational stuff in the media. If you're an investor or in a business where the state of the global economy is critical to your business, you've got to ignore the panic scripts. Read the statistics and ignore the interpretations of those statistics. Then draw your own conclusions. You'll be ready when your market is ready.

As always, I welcome your comments.

According to PersonalMBA.com as reported in BusinessWeek.com

Josh Kaufman, editor of the website http://www.personalmba.com/ compiled and posted his list of the 77 best business books which would, if they were all read, amount to the equivalent of a personal MBA. His list, which includes my book, can be found at http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/. The list was then mentioned again in an article in BusinessWeek.com -http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/apr2006/bs2006042_3490_bs001.htm.

Here is what Mr. Kaufman had to say about Finance for Non-Financial Managers:

If you're responsible for profit and loss in your business or organization, you need a business finance reference close at hand.

Finance for Non-Financial Managers is everything that a business finance reference text should be: clear, comprehensive, and easy to use. Using plain and simple English, Siciliano makes even the most obtuse financial concepts easy to understand and apply.

Most accounting and finance reference texts have a bad habit of being terminally boring. Fortunately, this book's snappy presentation of financial concepts will give you all the information you need quickly, without putting you to sleep in the process. Call-outs and sidebars add additional context to core subjects, giving you a broad understanding of how financial matters impact your company and teaching you "tricks of the trade" that can help you keep your company's financial situation under control.

With the help of Finance for Non-Financial Managers, you'll be prepared to understand any financial situation.

What more can I say? Available in paperback or e-book. Buy one.

A plug for Microsoft's new stuff (NOT Vista)

I was working with a small spreadsheet that I use to track some personal information today, and I wanted to have access to it from both my home and office PCs. My home machine has Microsoft Office 2007 and the office machine has Microsoft Office 2003.

In looking at the two files side by side, I noticed that the 2003 version file took up 621 kilobytes of space, but the 2007 version file took up only 365 kilobytes, a 41% savings of space! That's a bunch! I checked out a larger Excel file and found a 55% savings in space. I know space is cheap these days, but using twice as much as you need has got to cost you sooner or later.

So if you use Microsoft products, and you can't think of a good reason to upgrade your office software version, and the new look and features aren't enough of an attraction, how about effectively doubling the size of your hard drive?

As always, I welcome your comments

Finance for Low Paid Professionals

Well, that's the working title of a new book that a publishing client has asked me to consider writing. The low paid professionals that will be the target market for the book are in the education business (teachers, to be exact) but the need could apply to any number of professionals who are in low paying jobs but stay there because they are passionate about the work. Think: teachers, social workers, administrators, actor/waiters, etc.

So this post is not so much information from me as it is a request for information from you. What do you think is the most important issue faced by such professional workers as they pursue their careers and at the same time must provide for family, savings, and ultimate retirement?

I'd really like to hear your thoughts. They will help me decide how to approach this book. You might even get credit in the book for a really good idea or suggestion.

Controlling passwords is easy now

If you're active on the web as I am, you probably have dozens of passwords to remember for all the controlled sites you visit. I have nearly a hundred so far. If you keep them all in your head, you're clearly smarter than I am, and if you've got them written down on a piece of paper somewhere, you're clearly not.

My solution is RoboForm, a password manager that is itself password controlled, but once activated will with one click fill in the user ID and password that you've selected for whatever site you're trying to access. Thus one humongous (if you want) password to open RoboForm, and ease thereafter no matter how many controlled sites you visit. I think they offer a free version that will enable 10 or so passwords to be saved before you have to register and pay a modest one-time license fee. Great utility program.

Huh? What's he taking about?

A Wall Street Journal reporter wrote a piece on hedge funds looking to find bargains in beaten down bank stocks. At one point he wrote this paragraph about the hedge fund investors:

"Since it is harder for investors to borrow money at reasonable rates, they won't be eager to be buyers unless prices are marked down further. That all suggests troubles in the financial market will get worse before they get better. And most of the money being raised seems aimed at investing in distressed companies, not securities, suggesting more write-downs of mortgage-related assets if housing doesn't perk up."

What the h--- does that mean and how does he get from Point A to Point B? If you can explain that, you're smarter than I am. Does this validate the snide comments we hear about financial reporters or am I missing something here?

As always, your comments are welcome.