SOME BURNING QUESTIONS

HOW DID WE GET HERE

GOLD AS AN INVESTMENT

Is Gold a good investment? Over the 50 years of my investment experience, the potential for price appreciation of gold has always come into consideration by investors when the dollar is experiencing devaluation either through inflation or through excessive monetary policies of the Federal Reserve.  From 1970 when President Nixon took us off the gold standard until 1980 when Ronald Reagan was elected and Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Volker (more…)

Real Estate Short Sales a “Minefield”

June 27,2010:

Homeowners in Washoe County, Nevada, are finding out just how different the Nevada real estate laws dealing with foreclosure are from most other states.  When facing foreclosure, one of the methods being used by lenders to speed the foreclosure sale process is to use a method called the “short Sale”.  By taking this route to settle their mortgage debt, homeowners expect to stave off the negative effect on their personal credit that would occur if they went through a lengthy foreclosure and trustee sale of their property.  In 2009, almost a fifth of all private residences in the Reno-Sparks area received a notice of default, were in foreclosure or going through a trustee sale.  (more…)

A Look Back to see Ahead

It is difficult to develop high conviction that the recovery of the U.S. Economy has now passed beyond a point where it could still be impacted by the “subprime mortgage” phenomena.  Actually it is more than an impact. These securities had the financial sector of our economy by the throat and were squeezing with all the force imaginable.  What Congress thought was a benevolent idea to make home ownership readily available to the “working poor”, (their term, not mine), cascaded into a (more…)

Buying at Discount “The Short Sale”

June 3,2010: Good investment strategies always call for some cash reserves. In todays real estate markets, those who have cash reserves and are willing to take some unusual risk, the “short sale” offerings in more modest priced neighborhoods could make it possible for those who are looking to buy a home to live in or for investment to make a good relative (more…)

America Faces a New Culture War

I read an article by Arthur C. Brooks in the Washington Post, Sunday, May 23, 2010 and thought the words so profound and illustrative of my personal fears for the future, I wanted to have them read by every reader of this blog. America is facing a new type culture proposed by a minority of its citizens. This narrative is long but every word is important.

“This is not the culture war of the 1990s. It is not a fight over guns, gays or abortion. Those old battles have been eclipsed by a new struggle between two competing visions of the country’s future. In one, America will continue to be an exceptional nation organized around the principles of free enterprise — limited government, a reliance on entrepreneurship and rewards determined by market forces. In the other, America will move toward European-style statism grounded in expanding bureaucracies, a managed economy and large-scale income redistribution. These visions are not reconcilable. We must choose. (more…)

Actions have consequences

Thursday, May 19,2010: Highlighting the failures of this administration becomes more and more redundant given the rising tide of better understanding by the American voter for just how dangerous this Presidency and his Democrat Congress really is. Continuing to Point this out may seem like trying to close the barn (more…)

THE DIMIZE OF THE BICYCLE

In the pursuit of our Reno Youth Bridge program to teach middle school students how to play the game of bridge, it has become apparent that 12-14 year old students no longer walk or ride bicycles to school. As I arrive at our schools to help teach their after school bridge activity, I am struck by the fact that of the 900+ students attending each day less than a handful, if that many, use the bicycle to get to school and return home. It is typical to see ten or more school buses lined up to carry the kids home and along side the school bus are 50-60 suburban vehicles, or other automobiles with parents or assigned care takers at the wheel, waiting to pick up their charge. I got to thinking the other day when I noticed (more…)

Its Nice to be Squeezed Except if you’re Short

March 9, 2010: Today we celebrate the bottoming of the market crash of 2008-2009. With Dow Jones Industrials Average index up 60% from that low, the experienced observer of market price appreciation in a recession is becoming wary that the underlying forces working in our economy like: The Government Stimulus($780 Billion most of which is questionable and is yet unspent), Open Market Strategy(buy all the mortgges any generator offers pumping money into economy) by the Federal Reserve, potential consequences of Federal and State fiscal (more…)