With Occupy Wall Street protests gathering momentum throughout the world, I find myself finding yet another example of the growing disparity of wealth in this country. Here is a brief timeline of some of my recent personal banking events:
1. Washington Mutual (my bank) collapses.
2. JP Morgan Chase takes over.
3. After six years, I run out of blank checks.
4. I now have to pay $18.99 for simple blank checks that used to be free.
5. Decided that I am annoyed by this new fee for paper.
6. Decided to move my banking to Fidelity Investments, but keep Chase account open to deposit any checks I might receive.
7. Talk to Chase Customer Service about making this happen.
Get this: Unless I have a sizeable direct deposit, I must maintain $1500 in the checking account in order to avoid monthly fees. $1500?! It takes my Target-employed mother more than six weeks to make $1500. Most of that goes to health insurance and other bills. There is no way she would be able to get a fee-free checking account. I recently asked her why she no longer had a bank account. Her answer? It’s too expensive. Now I see that she was right. Many banks are raising their fees. Who has to bear the burden? The poor of course.
Now I’m sure there may be people who’ll say that banks are providing their customers a service and that fees help to pay for that service. Capitalism at its finest. Normally, I would agree. This time, I do not. The bank is not simply holding your money for you. They are not a storage unit that remains locked until the owner comes by with the key. No, your money is being invested. Whether through loans or the market itself, your money is being given out and then returned with interest. For most customers, their savings or checking accounts collect little or no interest. Thus, the banks keep the profits on their investments. I don’t have a problem with that. Surprised? Don’t be. If you have a lot of money in a savings or checking account it’s your fault that you’re not investing it yourself. If the banks can profit on you, they should. Your money is being loaned out to people who want to buy a car, a house or start a small business. These are good things (unless the banks are stupid about who they loan to). What’s not good is when the poorest members of society are unable to even consider getting a bank account because of the banks’ insatiable greed.
The right-wing believes that liberals are engaging in class warfare because we want the wealthy individuals and corporations to pay a fair percentage of taxes on their income. They believe it because we demand that corporations spend money to make their businesses environmentally safe. They believe it because we express anger at union-busting legislation. They believe it because we don’t like to see a handful of companies controlling entire industries. They believe it because we are finally beginning to take to the streets in protest of Wall Street’s blatantly evil greed. Well guess what conservatives; the classes have been at war for over a decade. The poor and those who support them have just never fought back before. That is until now. Wall Street has gone too far. Corporations have gotten away with too much. Elected officials of the United States of America: If you’re in their pockets, next election cycle, we’re coming for you next. Conservatives, you cry class warfare, you have not seen anything yet.
Yo’ Asshole Did What? School administrators banned the cheerleaders of Gilbert High School in Gilbert, Arizona from wearing “inappropriate” shirts to school events. Well, they must have been really bad right? What, they were supposed to help raise money and awareness for Cancer research? What, they only said “Feel for lumps. Save your bumps.”? Congratulations school administrators, you are Orbson’s Assholes of the Day. Don’t worry, I didn’t get you t-shirts to commemorate your title.
Showing posts with label Fidelity Investments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fidelity Investments. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Sky is Falling! Umbrella Factories Make Billions
As you probably know, the U.S. economy is collapsing yet again. S&P downgrades, massive drops in the Dow, Emeril Lagasse is the new judge on Top Chef – things can’t get much worse. So why am I smiling? I’m smiling because I understand what is happening and what will likely happen in the future. Today I am going to share with you a little secret. This secret allowed me to profit during the “Great Recession” of 2008 and the aftershock of 2010. This secret makes me believe that I will pull in record profits this year. As a gift to my disciples, I am going to share my secret right now.
What I’m going to tell you is not complicated, it is actually insanely simple. The difficulty comes in not giving in to the general fear of the masses and using common sense and research to make educated decisions. The secret is this: When the stock market fluctuates this rapidly it is usually based on the confidence or lack of confidence of the masses. When there is a serious lack of confidence like there is now, prices drop across the board for shares of companies. This usually has absolutely nothing to do with an individual companies earnings or their future growth. Essentially, all of the publicly traded companies are currently on sale. Some are still a bad buy, but many represent great deals for phenomenal companies.
There are some obvious caveats. The 2008 collapse occurred through a combination of horrific banking practices, inflated real estate values and consumers who overspent on homes. In 2008, even after the collapse, I would not have invested in real estate. I still will not. However, I did invest in a little company called Alcon Technologies. Even though Alcon’s earning were solid, even though they had a strong line of new products, even though their products were medicinal (the last thing people usually stop buying) their share price dropped by more than 50%. That was crazy. There was no reason for that drop other than the market’s overall reaction to the economic climate. So I purchased the cheap shares of Alcon and watched with glee as it made all of its losses back within 6 months.
The moral of this story is that now is the time to invest. Now is the time to start researching companies and start making informed decisions to better yourself and your family. Whether you invest $5 of $5,000 don’t let this opportunity pass you by (Wow, this sounds like an infomercial). For many, this may seem like an imposing task. Venturing into an area you’re unfamiliar with can be scary but it does not need to be. Investing is very simple. All you are doing is purchasing part of a business. You do not need to run the business, create the product or market anything. All you need to worry about is whether it is a strong profitable company with a high likelihood of future success.
I will undoubtedly be writing more about investing in the coming months, but here are some exceptionally simplistic answers to questions/statements I have received in the past:
I don’t have the money to invest.
Look at where you are spending the money you do have. Can you make cuts. Investing $5 today can bring you $10 in the future, Will your daily Starbucks coffee do that?
I don’t have the time to figure out how to invest.
Look at where you are spending the time you do have. Would it be better to retire at 55 filthy rich or to watch every episode of The Bachelor? Plus, it doesn’t have to take that much time.
Where do I start?
A brokerage house. I like Fidelity Investments but there are others. Fidelity has offices in most major cities. Talk to them about your options. Also, if you have a 401k and an employer who matches contributions you need to max that baby out. Otherwise, you’re just throwing free money away.
How do I pick the company? I don’t understand all of those numbers and symbols.
I’m all about educating yourself, however that does take some time. Fidelity has great learning tools on their website. Also, keep reading this blog, I will likely have much more to say in the future. If you simply refuse to put forth the effort you should still consider mutual funds. This lets someone else do all of the work for you. You’ll still need to find a fund you like, but your broker can assist you. Funds range from ultra conservative to very risky so there is something for everyone. You could conceivably find the right fund(s) for you within an hour or two.
I have a bank CD, is enough of an investment?
For some of your money, perhaps. However, if you are not making at least 3% (and in this economy I doubt you are) you are actually losing value. Why? The rate of inflation is over 3%. $100 stuffed away in your mattress will simply not have the same buying power five years from now.
In conclusion, people generally don’t get rich by going to work every day (unless they are a pro athlete or movie star). They do so by making their employment income work for them. Regardless of your age, income level or competence with investing now is a great time to get started.
******************************************************************************
Orbson's TV Fix - True Blood! Until this show aired, I'd never seen anything where I can laugh out loud, be grossed out, get scared and get aroused within 30 seconds. Jessica better not be dead though, or Orbson will be pissed.
Orbson's Take- Bert and Ernie don't NEED to get married. It should be their CHOICE whether or not to get married.
What I’m going to tell you is not complicated, it is actually insanely simple. The difficulty comes in not giving in to the general fear of the masses and using common sense and research to make educated decisions. The secret is this: When the stock market fluctuates this rapidly it is usually based on the confidence or lack of confidence of the masses. When there is a serious lack of confidence like there is now, prices drop across the board for shares of companies. This usually has absolutely nothing to do with an individual companies earnings or their future growth. Essentially, all of the publicly traded companies are currently on sale. Some are still a bad buy, but many represent great deals for phenomenal companies.
There are some obvious caveats. The 2008 collapse occurred through a combination of horrific banking practices, inflated real estate values and consumers who overspent on homes. In 2008, even after the collapse, I would not have invested in real estate. I still will not. However, I did invest in a little company called Alcon Technologies. Even though Alcon’s earning were solid, even though they had a strong line of new products, even though their products were medicinal (the last thing people usually stop buying) their share price dropped by more than 50%. That was crazy. There was no reason for that drop other than the market’s overall reaction to the economic climate. So I purchased the cheap shares of Alcon and watched with glee as it made all of its losses back within 6 months.
The moral of this story is that now is the time to invest. Now is the time to start researching companies and start making informed decisions to better yourself and your family. Whether you invest $5 of $5,000 don’t let this opportunity pass you by (Wow, this sounds like an infomercial). For many, this may seem like an imposing task. Venturing into an area you’re unfamiliar with can be scary but it does not need to be. Investing is very simple. All you are doing is purchasing part of a business. You do not need to run the business, create the product or market anything. All you need to worry about is whether it is a strong profitable company with a high likelihood of future success.
I will undoubtedly be writing more about investing in the coming months, but here are some exceptionally simplistic answers to questions/statements I have received in the past:
I don’t have the money to invest.
Look at where you are spending the money you do have. Can you make cuts. Investing $5 today can bring you $10 in the future, Will your daily Starbucks coffee do that?
I don’t have the time to figure out how to invest.
Look at where you are spending the time you do have. Would it be better to retire at 55 filthy rich or to watch every episode of The Bachelor? Plus, it doesn’t have to take that much time.
Where do I start?
A brokerage house. I like Fidelity Investments but there are others. Fidelity has offices in most major cities. Talk to them about your options. Also, if you have a 401k and an employer who matches contributions you need to max that baby out. Otherwise, you’re just throwing free money away.
How do I pick the company? I don’t understand all of those numbers and symbols.
I’m all about educating yourself, however that does take some time. Fidelity has great learning tools on their website. Also, keep reading this blog, I will likely have much more to say in the future. If you simply refuse to put forth the effort you should still consider mutual funds. This lets someone else do all of the work for you. You’ll still need to find a fund you like, but your broker can assist you. Funds range from ultra conservative to very risky so there is something for everyone. You could conceivably find the right fund(s) for you within an hour or two.
I have a bank CD, is enough of an investment?
For some of your money, perhaps. However, if you are not making at least 3% (and in this economy I doubt you are) you are actually losing value. Why? The rate of inflation is over 3%. $100 stuffed away in your mattress will simply not have the same buying power five years from now.
In conclusion, people generally don’t get rich by going to work every day (unless they are a pro athlete or movie star). They do so by making their employment income work for them. Regardless of your age, income level or competence with investing now is a great time to get started.
******************************************************************************
Orbson's TV Fix - True Blood! Until this show aired, I'd never seen anything where I can laugh out loud, be grossed out, get scared and get aroused within 30 seconds. Jessica better not be dead though, or Orbson will be pissed.
Orbson's Take- Bert and Ernie don't NEED to get married. It should be their CHOICE whether or not to get married.
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