Itsonlymoney

Why 'Cash for Clunkers' Is a Bad Idea

All this talk about the government wasting a billion dollars on a program to get gross polluters off the road and funnel a little cash towards new car purchases. I imagine that the military in Iraq wastes this much on items that are below notice for accounting purposes. Why not do a little exercise and list what industries get the bulk of government subsidies; Agriculture, energy, transportation, ?

Positioning for When Water Runs Out: Part II

What would be the net gain of fresh water if we just reduced our waste of the precious stuff? And what would be the price of fresh water if it were not a subsidized commodity? Governments have subsidized the costs to make it cheap and people treat it as if it was worthless. Realistic pricing would go a long way towards a rationalization of water use in this wasteful country. Certainly it should be tried before we start splitting atoms for the energy needed to "boil water".

As an Investment, Gold's Just a Brick

Your time line of a 1000 years is a tad long for my tastes. What has gold done in a lifetime and has it been of benefit is more to the point. Gold is ultimately important only as to its value relative to other things, that's why all the gold is still around. If the 20th Century is an indicator then its value as an investment is mixed indeed. Gold pays no dividends or interest, you can not live in it or burn it to keep warm, it is not edible, and for most everyday transactions it is awkward.

Gold earns its keep during times of extreme political and economic upset when faith in government and the monetary system are in collapse. Thankfully these times have been rare. Long term owners of gold seem to be true believers who expect the worst at any moment, there have always been plenty of indicators. But if the worst does arrive then we will have bigger problems than owning gold can solve.


On Jun 18 08:33 AM doubleguns wrote:

> "most of the gold ever mined is around today"
>
> How many of the stocks and bonds "ever" created are around today.
> Have you seen a roman stock certificate, Egyptian stock or bond,
> ANY STOCK OR BONDS from 1000 years ago, 500, 300, 200, 150?
>
> Gold lasts through the centuries, through the rise and fall of nations,
> pulled from the sunken corpse of ships long lost, dug from tombs
> in Egypt and China. None of your bonds, fiat, stocks etc...... can
> hold a candle to that!!!!

Time to Go Long Natural Gas and Short Oil?

It seems to me that oil's rise is a result of the dollars decline. NG, on the other hand, is sourced domestically and will not rise until demand increases or supplies fall. I suggest buying companies that explore for and produce natural gas if you think the price will be going up and collect some dividends while you are waiting.

Mac Pricing: Value Is in the Eye of the Buyer

People measure quality in their own unique way. mac users are willing to pay more for what they perceive as a quality computing experience. Considering that many of us spend hours at a computer each day, how much more does it really cost us to use a mac rather than a pc? I say relatively little.

Seven Uncomfortable Predictions for the Economy

As a measurement of negative sentiment this article seems to have revealed some. The contrarians among us will no doubt point to these expressions (guns and ammo) as indicating a bottom in near. I would not count this as evidence of a bottom mainly because "going for my gun" is not an economic response, but rather an expression of the pure raw hair-trigger fear that arises in any crisis, not just economic ones. Certainly owning ammo is not a rational response to a decline in commercial real estate values.

If some predict that crime is on the rise due to this economic malaise then they are revealing just how stalwart the urban poor really are considering they have been suffering through their own economic depression for years. So now a little economic hardship is predicted to send the law abiding middle class into the streets for their supper. Just how thin is the social fabric that separates the criminal from the "law abiding citizen"?

"When times get tough, the tough go shopping." That's what we are being urged to do. And short term this may be the answer since it will enable us to live business as usual without actually questioning the notion that economic growth for its own sake is good. Good for whom?

Major Investors Piling into Gold

If you own gold mining stocks why not sell some covered calls at a nice high number since call premium is high right now and wait for the market to take out your position. If it does not happen you can pocket a premium.

Which Way Are Shipping Stocks Headed?

I take the suspension of the dividend, meager as it was, as a positive sign in that DRYS is getting its financial house in order. Same for the cancellations of new ship builds. They are a little late, however, in addressing issues other shippers(DSX for example)) have already moved on.

The 'Reflation' Top Ten Portfolio

From the above post:
At the recent annual CFA awards dinner in Toronto Jim told the assembled crowd of fund managers and investment bankers to “sell your houses, move to Saskatchewan, buy a tractor and some farmland, and start farming”.

Indeed this action might just be the re-education that fund managers need after their dismal behavior these last few years.

The Bull Run Begins This Week

Ideology might work in politics but it doesn't work in markets. For most of my life China was touted as the dread Communist enemy. Now they are our #1 trading partner and the largest owner of our debt. And still run by the communist party. Judge Bush by what he did and didn't accomplish and don't pre-judge Obama by what you do or do not expect. It might just get in your way when making sound investment decisions.

Exclusive Interview with Jim Rogers: Inflation Is Coming

A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to China and remarked at the amazing building boom and that how many of the buildings were EMPTY. China seems willing to make many of the mistakes that previous countries made in their development process, no pollution controls for example, so don't be surprised if they they stumble economically as well.

What Does Obama's Cabinet Have in Store for Alternative Energy?

@Stephen Metzger
Global Warming and recent cold winters have little or no short term relationship. They will be directly connected long term as the Arctic ice melts and thus disrupts the flow of the Gulf Stream which has been warming the Northern US and Europe. Google Mini Ice Age or check out the info on the Mini or Little Ice age. As the ice melts it's affect on the Northern Hemisphere is to cool it, and begin the cycle of ice creation all over again. Get out your mittens if you live on the East Coast. news.nationalgeographi...

Six Companies Poised to Gain from a Natural Gas Auto Mandate

All the fossil fuels must be used as a bridge to energy produced from sustainable sources. Lets get going on sustainable energy now while we have the fossil fuels to pave the way.

Thank Goodness the Banks Aren't Lending!

By what measurements are you concluding that Americans live so well?
You wrote "Americans may need to change the mix of our consumption, but overall I think our standard of living is not only supportable, but improvable, and that our goal should be to get the rest of the world to live as well as we do, rather than to reconcile ourselves with some pseudomoral poverty." I agree with the improvable part. God forbid the rest of the world lives like we do.

There is a magnificent difference between quantity and quality and the choice of quantity has most often been the undoing of quality. Food is one obvious example although we could pick almost any industry from automobiles to toys. We are clearly a society suffering from too much of a good thing, so much so, that obesity, for both adults and now children, is a national malady. Much of what now ails us is diet related. I'm thinking diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and sleep apnea. Moreover we have replaced germs in our food with poisons. Created a food manufacturing and distribution system that requires prodigious amounts of fossil fuels. A system that tolerates ungodly living conditions for the animals we raise and slaughter. Most of our "food products" are not food at all but conglomerations of food like chemicals engineered by scientists rather than farmers. Their purpose? To "add value" to substances that would be cheap and healthy if only left alone. We are alienated from real food preparation, historically one of the foundations of civilized living, out of the necessity of having every able bodied earner in the home working full time to sustain this "standard of living". Don't even ask what happened to the family meal and why children don't spend time with their parents anymore.

I suggest that in many ways less is actually an improvement over more. Consider some trade-offs: Less work, more free time. Less food, increased energy and health. Less house, lower utility and maintenance costs. Less debt, more peace of mind. Less stuff, more spirit.

The Continuing U.S. Shipping Collapse

Inbound looks like it has a somewhat normal seasonal pattern within a declining trend beginning in 2006. Outbound, however, breaks a steady upward trend with a sharp decline. Both have retreated to 2006 levels. We know what's in their shipping containers, manufactured goods. What is in ours?