nprfreak's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/232901/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/172171/comments?source=feed#comment-752034 752034 FUN), the pending dividend will be the last for a while. Q3 numbers weren't great but what pushed the price back so badly was an anticipated debt covenant breach before year end and the dividend elimination planned to pay down debt. THAT's the problem with low price / high dividend stocks!]]> Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:48:15 -0500 FUN), the pending dividend will be the last for a while. Q3 numbers weren't great but what pushed the price back so badly was an anticipated debt covenant breach before year end and the dividend elimination planned to pay down debt. THAT's the problem with low price / high dividend stocks!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/171431/comments?source=feed#comment-745997 745997 JPM) is adding risk by assuming their better customers can take whatever arbitrary abuse they can dish out.]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:20:30 -0500 JPM) is adding risk by assuming their better customers can take whatever arbitrary abuse they can dish out.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/169468/comments?source=feed#comment-733917 733917
Chase has decided to punish their most responsible card customers: those who never paid late or exceeded their limit so as to put them in range of the abusive and usurous "default" rate. With their overall interest rate increases and raising minimum pays from 2% to 5% on certain card accounts, they seem to be hoping to push more people into "default" rates that are now approaching 50%!!!

What are they thinking? It makes no sense to me but they clearly want their money NOW whether that means losing customers (those who can pay off or get other credit in this environment). They are abusing those with the best credit history the most because they THINK they are least likely to default.

I think they are wrong. I myself am very close to doing the unthinkable and defaulting on my two low rate CC loans with them. They have pushed me to edge of insolvency and you can bet I'm not going to pay them before my mortgage and food.

Meanwhile Mr. Dimon is on a PR campaign to paint them as the hero of the day. True, they paid back their TARP money. But based on how they are treated their Chase customers (most acquired from other companies, WAMU most recently through Bank One near the turn of the century), they did that way too soon.

Mr. Dimon talks about "too big to fail" provisions. JPM is clearly that. It is my hope that the feds break them up BEFORE they put the system at any further risk. They should not be permitted this back-door method of keeping the economy down while floating their bank and CC operations on the investment banking divisions.

Two illuminating websites:
www.changeinterms.com/
www.consumeraffairs.co...

Clearly not everyone on the 2nd site is completely "clean", a few are pretty clueless, but most are and the list is just HUGE.

So at least the Chase part of JPM Chase is right in the middle of getting theirs regardless of the damage they might do to the broader economy. May the get their just reward! I'm pretty sure no one I know will ever do business with them again.

Finally, a recent CNN story. Chase has been pretty successful at squelching much of the negative press on this situation even (apparently) getting a Suze Orman interview with Debtor's Revolt Ann Minch of You Tube fame). A few outlets (like CNN, Consumer Reports, and The American Bankers Association) have resisted the pressure. This whole thing started in January and I am personally astonished that it continues to grow so steadily.

www.cnn.com/2009/POLIT...]]> Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:52:57 -0400
Chase has decided to punish their most responsible card customers: those who never paid late or exceeded their limit so as to put them in range of the abusive and usurous "default" rate. With their overall interest rate increases and raising minimum pays from 2% to 5% on certain card accounts, they seem to be hoping to push more people into "default" rates that are now approaching 50%!!!

What are they thinking? It makes no sense to me but they clearly want their money NOW whether that means losing customers (those who can pay off or get other credit in this environment). They are abusing those with the best credit history the most because they THINK they are least likely to default.

I think they are wrong. I myself am very close to doing the unthinkable and defaulting on my two low rate CC loans with them. They have pushed me to edge of insolvency and you can bet I'm not going to pay them before my mortgage and food.

Meanwhile Mr. Dimon is on a PR campaign to paint them as the hero of the day. True, they paid back their TARP money. But based on how they are treated their Chase customers (most acquired from other companies, WAMU most recently through Bank One near the turn of the century), they did that way too soon.

Mr. Dimon talks about "too big to fail" provisions. JPM is clearly that. It is my hope that the feds break them up BEFORE they put the system at any further risk. They should not be permitted this back-door method of keeping the economy down while floating their bank and CC operations on the investment banking divisions.

Two illuminating websites:
www.changeinterms.com/
www.consumeraffairs.co...

Clearly not everyone on the 2nd site is completely "clean", a few are pretty clueless, but most are and the list is just HUGE.

So at least the Chase part of JPM Chase is right in the middle of getting theirs regardless of the damage they might do to the broader economy. May the get their just reward! I'm pretty sure no one I know will ever do business with them again.

Finally, a recent CNN story. Chase has been pretty successful at squelching much of the negative press on this situation even (apparently) getting a Suze Orman interview with Debtor's Revolt Ann Minch of You Tube fame). A few outlets (like CNN, Consumer Reports, and The American Bankers Association) have resisted the pressure. This whole thing started in January and I am personally astonished that it continues to grow so steadily.

www.cnn.com/2009/POLIT...]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/169178/comments?source=feed#comment-732930 732930
However, the chart graphics don't work well after the first one. Perhaps if I had a 52" monitor, I would be able to read the labels. With my standard not-huge PC monitor, I can use some deductive reasoning to decipher the text by going full screen but only barely.]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:29:06 -0400
However, the chart graphics don't work well after the first one. Perhaps if I had a 52" monitor, I would be able to read the labels. With my standard not-huge PC monitor, I can use some deductive reasoning to decipher the text by going full screen but only barely.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/164132/comments?source=feed#comment-697230 697230 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:09:13 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/163447/comments?source=feed#comment-691427 691427 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:12:07 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/135326/comments?source=feed#comment-489861 489861
Google bought up idle capacity during the internet bust, a good way to get themselves positioned "on the cheap". Fiat isn't Google and auto manufacturing is not internet band width. ]]> Tue, 05 May 2009 07:49:37 -0400
Google bought up idle capacity during the internet bust, a good way to get themselves positioned "on the cheap". Fiat isn't Google and auto manufacturing is not internet band width. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/120884/comments?source=feed#comment-391633 391633 ------
No argument from me on a lull in the creative cycle. And that's not a recent development. Do we need another idiot chef "reality" show? I think not.

Years of copy catting and what do you get? Mediocrity times four!]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:36:15 -0500 ------
No argument from me on a lull in the creative cycle. And that's not a recent development. Do we need another idiot chef "reality" show? I think not.

Years of copy catting and what do you get? Mediocrity times four!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/120437/comments?source=feed#comment-386792 386792
The shares are in an IRA so there is no advantage to selling. I've been watching for a good entry point(s) to do two things: Add shares somewhere and convert the existing position to a Roth. It may take decades for the current position to acheive the 10x appreciation required to break even. But more shares generating reinvested dividends, even if reduced, will drive down my average cost more quickly.

I'm probably driving my broker nuts with all my Roth conversions this year. I'm moving my biggest losers 10 shares at a time on down days. I'll give Uncle Sam some tax money now at these low tax rates. I'm pretty confident those rates will be higher 5-10 years down the road.

Roth conversion of cash is a suckers game this year for anyone with stock or funds in an IRA. Move those depreciated shares instead. They might have a current real value greater than their current price. And you KNOW they cost more than the current price!]]> Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:21:31 -0500
The shares are in an IRA so there is no advantage to selling. I've been watching for a good entry point(s) to do two things: Add shares somewhere and convert the existing position to a Roth. It may take decades for the current position to acheive the 10x appreciation required to break even. But more shares generating reinvested dividends, even if reduced, will drive down my average cost more quickly.

I'm probably driving my broker nuts with all my Roth conversions this year. I'm moving my biggest losers 10 shares at a time on down days. I'll give Uncle Sam some tax money now at these low tax rates. I'm pretty confident those rates will be higher 5-10 years down the road.

Roth conversion of cash is a suckers game this year for anyone with stock or funds in an IRA. Move those depreciated shares instead. They might have a current real value greater than their current price. And you KNOW they cost more than the current price!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/103202/comments?source=feed#comment-296968 296968
Boomers certainly seem to have abandoned the ideals associated with them in the 60s and 70s. I think the reality might be that those ideals were never adopted by the majority of the generation, which is to say that other than gross numbers, boomers fall into a similar normal distribution as any other generation.

One thing that did change for boomers was women in the workforce. That exploded in the 70s and I don't believe the "system" (financial, cultural, etc.) has ever really adjusted to that. I suspect it is a major factor in finanicial illiteracy that may have made post-boomer generations more suspectable the financial come-ons that lead us where we are today.

All things run in cycles that interact with other cycles. If we are lucky, we'll see a cultural reversal that will eventually reward us with a recovering economy. That cultural reversal must come before we get sustainable ecomonic improvements.
]]> Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:09:40 -0500
Boomers certainly seem to have abandoned the ideals associated with them in the 60s and 70s. I think the reality might be that those ideals were never adopted by the majority of the generation, which is to say that other than gross numbers, boomers fall into a similar normal distribution as any other generation.

One thing that did change for boomers was women in the workforce. That exploded in the 70s and I don't believe the "system" (financial, cultural, etc.) has ever really adjusted to that. I suspect it is a major factor in finanicial illiteracy that may have made post-boomer generations more suspectable the financial come-ons that lead us where we are today.

All things run in cycles that interact with other cycles. If we are lucky, we'll see a cultural reversal that will eventually reward us with a recovering economy. That cultural reversal must come before we get sustainable ecomonic improvements.
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/87038/comments?source=feed#comment-215003 215003
Personally, I think solar PV is a poor choice for centralized utility power production. Solar thermal makes much more sense for utility-scale installations, in part because of the stored (heat) energy characteristics that allow for a gradual production decline at sunset.

On the comment about the price of oil, solar stocks may be becoming untied from that. Solar is to replace coal, not oil. Mining and burning coal is an so many ways a bigger environmental threat. ]]> Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:45:17 -0400
Personally, I think solar PV is a poor choice for centralized utility power production. Solar thermal makes much more sense for utility-scale installations, in part because of the stored (heat) energy characteristics that allow for a gradual production decline at sunset.

On the comment about the price of oil, solar stocks may be becoming untied from that. Solar is to replace coal, not oil. Mining and burning coal is an so many ways a bigger environmental threat. ]]>