Hello All,
We just wanted to let our readers know that we’re back from the Aloha state. James flew back to the mainland on Wednesday and Miel arrived in California early this morning. We should return to our regualarly scheduled posts, mustings and rants and raves!
Best,
James
Hello All,
With all the recent hullabaloo in the news about the subprime meltdown, I wanted to post this quick video from consumeraffairs.com. Its about one minute and twenty seconds and gives you a brief introduction to what subprime lenders are and how they are compensated.
As my brother-in-law Adam likes to point out, the best things in Hawai’i are free. As we noted in one our last posts, Hawai’i isn’t a cheap place to travel or live. At the same time, it is helpful to keep in mind that some of the best things in life don’t have to cost a lot, Hawai’i has plenty:
While there are certainly many great things to experience for free while traveling, it is also important to keep in mind some ways to save money while on the road.
As my mother-in-law’s parents used to say, “Whenever you leave the house expect to spend money.” This is certainly the case when being away for extended periods. Here are a few tips to save while on travel:
Most of all, enjoy your vacation. It can be helpful to set a budget before you leave to make sure you know what to expect. You are less likely to stress about every dinner bill if you’ve thought ahead to make sure you can afford your vacation. If you are just putting all of your expenses on your hotel bill without thinking, you will likely not enjoy the checkout process. Make the most of every moment and appreciate the opportunity to relax!
Enjoy!
Miel
Hello All,
We are still enjoying the mild weather, lush surroundings and 80 degree weather of America’s Island state, Hawai’i, so we haven’t had much time to blog as extensively as we would have liked.
However, today’s headlines have brought some bad news for the stock picking Guru, Jim Cramer. Apparently Barron’s is reporting that Cramer’s buy and sell recommendations have NOT beaten the overall S&P 500 for the past two years. We could have told you this months ago! In fact, the folks over at Cramerwatch.org have found that Cramer does about as well as Leonard the electronic wonder monkey.
I like Cramer. The major problem is the guy has been a victim of his own success. He needs to provide content for his radio and television programming, so he makes too many stock picks. This tends to dilute his ability to usefully predict stock market performance.
Aloha and A hui ho.
– James
Money and security. Many people associate money with a feeling of enhanced security. Much of the association with security that money brings is tied to one’s thinking about financial security, or insecurity, rather than any actual improvement in ones day to day vulnerability to acts of crime or violence.
In some cases money can buy you security. Our family went through the debate of whether to get Miel a kevlar vest for her upcoming job in Afghanistan. On the one hand you could argue that whatever security measures are provided would be sufficient and that it isn’t worth spending any extra money. On the other hand, it has been well reported that many military men and women have purchased additional security items to enhance their personal safety when they’re deployed to a conflict zone.
We might hope that the security situation will be fine and Miel won’t need any additional security measures. However we’re not taking any chances so, it looks like we’ll be checking out what our options are. Any money that can be spent to increase one’s security in a war zone is likely better spent than many other areas of life, especially in a chaotic place such as Afghanistan.
Miel&James
Hi All,
Greetings from the Aloha state. We just wanted to turn our readers onto a great piece in Esquire magazine. It’s about negotiation, and its well worth the read. Check it out here.
Best,
James
So, we are here visiting James’ mom. We got to talking, and there are a couple of things to keep in mind when visiting the islands. First off, Hawaii is more expensive than the mainland. For example, the price of food can be met with sticker shock, a gallon of milk costs around 6 dollars.
There are a couple of things that visitors to the islands should keep in mind.
First off, be respectful. Don’t complain about high prices. Everything costs more in Hawaii because it has to be shipped here. The nearest landmass is 2,500 miles away. While a lot of people don’t like Wal-Mart, ourselves includes, it has helped to lower the cost of basic food and household materials for Hawaiians who are fortunate enough to have one locally. Gripping about the price of goods isn’t appreciated by locals and it won’t make your vacation any more enjoyable.
Second, check your sense of entitlement. Cultural and communication styles differ here. Here, if you want extra shrimp on your salad or you want more lemon in your water, you’ll be charged extra. Restaurants must do so to stay in business. Wait staff also depend on 20% tips and are likely working multiple jobs to make ends meet. If you can afford a vacation to Hawaii, build in the price of paradise.
Last, but not least, Hang Loose. Weather your on vacation or business, get used to a slower pace of doing business. Hawaii is a mix of Asian, Polynesian, Micronesian, and other cultures. Locals of all sorts are not known for being assertive. The pace of life is simply slower here than in the mainland US.
Our recommendation to visitors is to build extra into your budget for everyday expenses. Also, visitors should try to get into the pace of island life, which is slower, but you’ll be handsomely rewarded with natural beauty, friendly people and great weather.
With Much Aloha,
The DINKs (Miel and James) and Carol, James’ mom.
Hello All,
I just wanted to give our readers a quick update. Miel and I landed safely in the Aloha state. For the past couple of days we’ve been visiting relatives, swimming, doing yoga and enjoying what Hawaii has to offer. For those of you who are Hawaii fans, we’re staying on the north shore of Oahu, which is famous for its big wave surfing and pristine beaches.
We don’t have much personal finance news to report, largely because we’ve been busy relaxing, but we did get an interesting stock tip yesterday. We’ve got a “connection” who is the “mutual fund industry” who says that Nintendo should do well for the rest of year, as sales of the Wii will likely remain strong. We don’t usually rumor monger – mostly because nobody shares rumors with us – but we thought we’d monger this one along for your enjoyment.
Greetings from Hawaii!
Aloha.
-James
So, if you’re like many American, you may end up buying shares in publicly traded corporations at some time in your life. Buying stocks can be tricky and I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Having learned the hard way, I’ve concluded that a smart buy involves at least two things: due diligence and price considerations.
1) Due Diligence: This is a investing geeks way of saying you need to research your buy before purchasing your shares. For what it worth, my investments have usually turned out better when I did a great deal of research before buying the stock.
For example, when I first heard about Exxon Mobile (XOM) back in 2002. I invested several hours learning about the company, checking their finances and seeing what various investment analysts had to say about them. In contrast, I picked up a few shares of Novastar Financial Corp. (NFI) after having done about 15 minutes of internet searches. Did doing the due diligence matter? Check out the graph to see how my picks have worked out (BIG Hint: NFI is on the verge of becoming
worthless).
The main point here is you need to do a lot of research before you buy stocks. At a bare minimum, pull the company’s quarterly reports from the securities and exchange commission. If you have more time, check out any available conference calls with management and see what rating agencies like MSN finance, Smith Barney, and Standard and Poors have to say. Information from the rating agencies is expensive, but the data is often worth it. If you’re going to invest any serious amount of money, it pays to be sure about your investment.
2) Price: Price is how much you pay for your stock. This matters less than due diligence. This also doesn’t matter if you’re buying a relatively small amount of shares. For example, if you’re purchasing 10 shares of stock at $19.20, and you get a discount at $19.00, that’s a savings of $2.00. But, if you’re buying 1,000 shares, the savings is $200. To try to get a better price, my advice would be to watch the stock for a while and look for a good entry point. That said, you shouldn’t get too hung up on this. So, if you can’t find the perfect price, but you think the stock is reasonably valued, go ahead and buy.
A lot goes into buying stocks. If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend that you check out Charles Carlson’s Eight Steps to Seven Figures. He provides a good sense of what types of stocks to purchase and clearly shows how a long term “buy and hold” strategy can provide you lasting success in the stock market.
Best,
James
If you’ve been paying attention to the media, you’re probably aware that the stock market is having some issues. I’d been looking around for a good article which explains the problems the market is having in a nutshell. Well, Paul Krugmann over at alternet has a great piece that summarizes the problems the market is having. Basically, nobody is buying bonds backed by home mortgages and this lack of liquidity is having spillover effects on the rest of the economy.
Check out the article and hold onto your portfolio. Something tells me the subprime fallout isn’t over yet.
Best,
James
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