BMW

Our friends at BMW know spring is just around the corner. They have released the newest version of their Sport -Touring Motorcycle the BMW K1300 GT. Details are just rolling in but the news is good: 160 horsepower, new frame stabilizer, better fuel control on acceleration, and the new color scheme. I'm not sold on the colors.

My K 1200 has over 30,000 miles on it and it is seven years old. Maybe it's time to ride over to see the crusty old guys at BMW. Stand around and drink some coffee.

HISTORY REDO

In today's USA Today they have an article; "Obama's auto faux pas leads to history lesson."

They discuss the fact that Omama was dead wrong in his speech about the automobile being invented in America. Moreover, they compare this "mistake" to Al Gore's famous claim that he invented the Internet. Even the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said, "You would think they [white house] would do some fact checking."

So again, I ask you: do the facts matter? If George Bush had said this, it would be on CNN. Am I alone in thinking the original criticism of Omama's lack of experience may be correct. He has his hand on your wallet and your future. You better hope he gets it right.

Just to be clear.............

Last night I watched the "left wing ga-ga-fest" called the Obama Speech to Congress. Not much detail in this message of HOPE. One thing for sure: Obama is a better speaker than Tim Geitner. The stock market only fell 150 points today after Obama's speech. So much for HOPE.

But, on another point Obama said,“The nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.”

I know most Americans are just plain stupid. They get their news from TMZ or the Wal-Mart flyer. But are we so stupid as to NOT know the automobile was invented by Karl Benz in 1886? He was a German. His was the first patent for the "motorwagen" and the source of continued German pride in the cars they build.

Mr Omama is trying to save the US Auto industry with more bail out money. In his haste, he is now re-writing history to credit them with inventing the automobile. How much more of his economic policy is false?

GOOD ADVICE

Most people just don't care about Economics. Yet, the impact of global economic conditions are now effecting nearly everyone. And, it will get much worse before it gets better. Time for a crash course in Econ.

In 2005 I began to read small stories about the coming crisis in the housing market. The "Housing Bubble" as it was called was straining and about to burst. Simple economics of supply and demand had been spun out of control with excessive speculation. A house is worth say, a dollar, based on the cost of land and the cost of building the house. Supply and demand alter the value. If the dollar house has increased demand because of low supply...the price will go up. If there are too many dollar houses available the price will decline. Simple stuff.

However, since 1997, the demand for houses increased because lenders had increasingly cheaper loan rates. More and more people flooded the home buying market. Many of those people expected loan rates to remain low for the future. People with low income and poor credit were allowed to qualify for loans that were just...stupid. Loans they could never repay. All of this was built on the idea that HOME VALUES would remain high.

But, homes values were all built on cheap loan artificial demand. As interest rates increased, loans slowed and monthly mortgages went up. This brought demand to a stand still. Then came the crash.

Only one guy saw this coming, Nouriel Roubini. He repeatedly warned of this crash because he had spent years watching boom and bust third world economies. He saw all the same signs in the US Housing Market and he predicted the current crisis.

So what does Mr Roubini say now? He thinks it will get much worse. Not a Depression, like the 1930s but long term recession of perhaps 10 years. All of the retirement income drained from stocks for the Baby Boomers. Long term unemployment around 9% or more. Heavy spending by US and Europe on government programs will increase inflation. Overall: NOT GOOD.

What can you do? Bob Dylan said.."you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows." In 2005 I started to bail our family out of real estate. We sold two Condos at crazy high prices and went to zero debt, cash in the bank. Last year I bought Gold. [See below] Going forward, we all need to rethink how we spend money. If you have it...SAVE IT. If you don't know or care about Economics....you should.

The TOUR of CALIFORNIA 2009

Well, it is over and Levi Leipheimer has won the third year in a row. Lance Armstrong did well. He was seventh. Just under 2 minutes behind Levi. Next stop the Giro d'Italia, May 9, through May 31. Then the BIG ONE, La Tour de France in July. Watch for Levi and Lance to work together for Team Astana.

At the finish the crowd was six deep taking photos.

Pam and Jack were there in their Tour de France shirts.

That's a wrap for another year.

DON'T SOB ABOUT IT

Svensk Aeroplan Aktiebolag = SAAB. In 1950 Saab produced it's first automobile the Saab 92. It was a front wheel drive 2 stroke engine that produced 25 horsepower. All or the original Saab 92s were painted green because the left over green paint from war time production of trucks and aircraft.

Today, SAAB, now a part of General Motors, has declared bankruptcy. With just a little luck this "road slug" of a car will finally die the death it deserved 30 years ago

I used to say, "I would SOB too if I drove a SAAB" These were slow quirky cars made for the Swedish market. It was said that the average SAAB lasted 30 years in Sweden. It should. Sweden only has 100,000 miles of paved roads, with 9 million people. There are more paved roads and more people living in Southern California. A SAAB in Sweden was only driven to church on Sunday.

SAAB in America was the car of College Professors and Sierra Club members. All of these customers have now switched to driving Toyota Prius, so the SAAB currently has no real market.

I say the end of SAAB is just one of the benefits of the current financial crisis. I hear the P/T Cruiser is also being considered for extinction. Good news just keeps on coming.

BACK IN BLACK

The KRUGERRAND. The original gold coin bought as an investment in Gold. The RAND is the money of South Africa. Paul Kruger was the Boor Hero and Prime Minister of South Africa.

Back in 2007 as the US Dollar was slipping into Peso status, I decide to buy gold. In February 2008 I bought Krugerrands and the next day they dropped in value. See chart below. I bought at the highest point in history and they dropped for the last year in value. But today they are back.

The world markets are falling like crazy and people with any money at all are searching for a safe place to put the cash. GOLD is once again the answer. At $1,023 for a one ounce coin, you can hold $10,000 in one hand. Pam thought I was crazy a year ago. Now lets wait and see if Gold goes to $2,000 and ounce. It made USA Today.......so my guess is everyone will be buying.

On the Dole

Today my official unemployment notice came. $450 a week for a year. Thanks Mr Obama. It sure feels good to have $1,800 a month coming from the STATE. I knew just as soon as Barrack was elected, that things would get better. No more waiting in line....you can sign up online and just let those checks roll in. Socialism is not so bad after all. I almost feel bad for voting for McCain. Can I take that vote back?

But, this could be short lived. Two search guys called with jobs for me today. Yikes, just when I was getting used to the Dole. UB 40 had the same problem.

NEW DESK TOP

We bought a new Computer. I wanted the HP TouchSmart all-in-one but after looking, decided on the HP Pavillion Elite z9500 quad core with the 24 inch monitor. It came with Vista and I really like it. Vista took a little time to become comfortable. I down loaded Office 2007 and now we have finally made the techno leap to the 21st century.

I'm setting up the Web Cam so we can call and talk............let's pick a time to video chat.

Unemployment

Just a short follow up. I have had six or more good leads on a new job. I have applied for over 50 positions online. I have been working on the Job Search [Selling Mike] for four days. The market is tough with lots of people looking for work. The good news is I have considerable experience and I am focused in a specific area, Protein Sales.

Things seem to be on track. I will keep you posted.

If you really want to hear the Blues come on ta ol' St Lou

Mama's Pride used to sing about it and next week were are going back to visit family and friends in St Louis. This will be a short "whirl-wind" visit from Friday night the 13th to Sunday morning the 15th.

The reason for the trip is Pam's Grandmothers 90th Birthday. Grandma Billie is also Jack's Great Grandmother and it is important that we all get together to mark this big event.

Beyond the Birthday, I plan to visit Greg Manning, my cousin Candy, and my daughter Jennifer. Greg and Candy have been out to visit us in the past. Guess that puts the ball in Jennifer's court. We will be staying at our home away from home the Westin. This time it is in St. Louis across from Busch Stadium.

After the trip I will update you on the visit and some pictures of the family.

The AXE

Just when you least expect it..........well maybe I did expect it. The Axe falls.
Last Friday was my last day with Empress International. The company was having issues and they decided to lay off two of us in the Los Angeles Office. The official story was the Economy. They agreed to a separation agreement and we are working through the financial details.

The real facts are always different. My three years with Empress had been good. My sales growth had been strong even last year during a rough economy. I sold 14 million dollars worth of seafood and my sales were up 6% over 2007. I exceeded projections and budget.

But...always a BUT: Things were not perfect. I was the highest paid sales person in the LA Office. I was successful because I sold my customers what they wanted and I told them the truth. If a product was questionable. I told them. If a product had been returned by other customers, I told my customers not to buy it. In general, I saw my role as working to help my customers. When Empress Buyers bought the wrong items or poor quality.....I told my customers.

This selling style and my 30 years of food experience led to disagreement. I often felt like the company was not interested in customers and more interested in covering up mistakes. Flawed decisions in management and purchasing were supposed to be solved by selling questionable products to customers. When customers complained, I was expected to refuse to accept claims.

The company was having financial problems and the economy was not helping make up for bad decision making. So, now I am off selling me. I'm 61 and I can retire at 66. That's just 59 months from now. Or, 1229 work days. My goal is to find a job that is fun, close to home and a place where I can work until I am 70. I will keep you updated on my new Job search. Let me know if you hear of anything.