Reorganization

So the big news of the day (besides more Swine Flu details and Obama's 100 days in office) is that Chrysler is down to the wire in it's quest to stay alive.  It now appears that Chrysler could be headed to bankruptcy court or perhaps merge with Italian car maker Fiat.  Remember, bankruptcy does not mean "going out of business" or liquidation, it means restructuring debt and coming out stronger and healthier than before.  For details on how this can work, just look at Delta Airlines, who recently emerged from bankruptcy and after a merger with Northwest Airlines is the country's largest airline.  As a Dodge owner and longtime fan of Chrysler, I'd hate to see them go under, so let's hope Fiat and the courts can save them one more time!  Gee, I wonder what the resale value on my Durango is now?

Twitter Tales

I promise not to talk about the Swine Flu today.  Instead I want to share some disturbing news for the folks at Twitter:  Oprah is already bored of Twitter!  In fact, 60% of Twitters users quit after one month!  Now I have been on Twitter a little longer than Oprah, and although I am not "bored" with it, I have been at times, annoyed.  You see, of all the people that I have signed up to follow,  most of them send out bland "tweets" or updates.  I don't care what Newt Gingrich is having for dinner.  I'm not impressed by what radio show John McCain is scheduled to be interviewed on.  I want inside scoop!  I followed Ryan Seacrest for over a week, and he never had one mention of American Idol.  What?  That's what people want to hear.  What does amaze me is that there are people I do not know who decide to follow me.  How did they find me?  Are they looking for a different Scott Wheeler?  The composer or the political insider?  Here's what I know so far, I have 10 followers on Twitter, but 192 "Friends" on Facebook!  Well, I need to think of something clever to "Tweet" to my followers!  Follow me @scottjwheeler or send me a friend request!  I hope I get a good update from Nick Swisher today.

15 Minutes of Fame

So the Swine Flu continues to fill the airwaves on TV, radio and the internet.  The stock market braces for another down day as the contagion spreads to the Asian markets.  Instead of panicking, some people are suggesting ways to profit from this event.  Read about the latest Swine Flu Trading Ideas or how the Swine Flu is taking over Twitter.  As I mentioned yesterday, unless you are a day trader or are cashing in your chips to begin your retirement in South America, you do not need to be concerned about the Swine Flu's effect on the markets.  This is a short term play which will end as soon as everyone realizes that this is not as serious as the TV talking heads make it out to be.  The Swine Flu will go down with the Bird Flu, the West Nile Virus, and SARS, as localized outbreaks that did not end the world as we know it.  I'm still wondering if my peanut butter is safe to eat!  

Swine Flu Blues

Over the weekend the news reports and media buzz has centered around the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico.  While only a limited number of people have been affected in the US so far, this situation has spooked the stock markets and bond markets in pre-market activity.  So what's an investor to do?  The stock market has always reacted negatively on uncertainty.  Since the flu outbreak is still in it's early stages, the US and other world governments are still trying to get a handle on how to contain it and prevent it from spreading into a panic situation.  Because there are too many unknowns, the stock market will feel downward pressure in the early going at least.  Of course, this only is a concern to anyone looking to sell stocks or stock funds today.  Buyers could have an opportunity to get lower prices and long term investors should feel no pressure at all to do anything but continue to add money to their retirement saving accounts.  Will the Swine Flu change my perspective on investing for the long term?  No more than the Bird Flu did.  Tamiflu anyone?

Blogging for dollars

After reading the following article on Pro-Bloggers:  Mythbusting the WSJ's Stats About Pro Bloggers, I decided to look into how I could make money by blogging.  Yesterday I wrote about how some bloggers are now getting some books deals.  That's one way bloggers can make money.  Another way is by advertising.  Ads on blogs are how, according to the article above, some bloggers make as much as $75,000 per year (although the median income is a reported $22,000).  So I have created an ad account with Adsense, a company that Blogspot uses for people looking to "monetize" their blogs by earning income off ads.  You will begin noticing some ads on my blog now and we'll see how much money starts to roll in!  With over 1700 clicks on my site so far, I'm sure I will be able to quit my day job soon!  I'll keep you posted when I get my first check.  This might be more fun that my Water Experiment.

Blogging for book deal

After reading an article this morning about how publishers are going nuts for blogs, I decided to think of some catchy book titles for my book deal.  Here's what I came up with so far:

"Why you are poor"

"Why you aren't rich like me"

"How not to lose your money in the stock market"

"Quit buying CD's"

"Buy Bonds Because they're Better"

"From Stockbroker to Bond Trader, why I made the move"

"KC & the Sunshine Band...what happened?"

Well, I got to get back to work on some more titles while I wait for the publishers to call me.  Send me some of your ideas.

Jargon and Lingo

I know today is Earth Day, but it is also "Administrative Assistants Day".  Remember when it used to be "Secretaries Day"?  In my work as a financial advisor, I have to help people understand financial concepts that are fairly simple, but made to sound complicated by words used by insiders known as "jargon".  Some examples are "dollar cost averaging", "asset allocation" and "diversification".  Human resource directors and others have changed words over time in an effort to respect diversity and be politically correct.  Other changes to words are a result of new uses that happen over time.  Look at a few examples of words that were once used but have been replaced by new words:

Garbage man - Sanitation Engineer

Housewife - Homemaker

Lawyer - Attorney

Stockbroker - Financial Advisor

Journal - Blog

Computer - Laptop

Laptop - Notebook

Bank - Banking Center

Stewardess - Flight Attendant

Actress - Actor

Waitress - Server

Mailman - Mail Carrier

There are obviously many other examples, but I'm sure you get my point.  We seem to like to make things sound more important than they really are.  Most people can read through the lingo and are not impressed.  While it's impressive to have a large vocabulary, lingo and jargon can often confuse people.  If you want to get your point across, state it simply.  Well, I need to get going.  I have to take my vehicle to the fueling station on my way to my place of business.  Oops, I mean I need to stop and get gas on my way to work!