brainmower

Bohemian Bankruptcy

Came across this today and had to share...

Can you say Housing Bubble?

Housing Bubble

Downtown San Diego Housing

I stumbled across a site that has provided a wealth of real information about the state of the housing market in downtown San Diego. I knew the housing situation was bad, but I had no idea how bad until I spent some time on this site.  More than any other resource I've found this site useful for getting unbiased info on the local market. It's scary reading.  Check it out: sdlookup.com 03-29-2009 update. Another good site: Piggingtons.

The Law of Rents

In a previous post titled Hardwork, Intelligence and Profits I spoke about being a homeowner during the rapid decrease of home values in 2008. When the market was near it's top I reasoned that the best reason to sell was the "Law of Rents". I created this Law, so allow me to explain.  The Law of Rents states that there can only be a delta of ~15% between mortgage payments and rents in any area (ignoring downpayments).  Any imbalance will result in shifting rental/housing markets to readjust. ...

Hardwork, Intelligence and Profits

In a post on CriticalMAS called True Job Insurance Means Shorting Your Own Company the author puts forth the interesting concept of hedging your employment risk by betting against your industry via puts. I think he's onto something.  In the dotcom days I was a part-time (and highly delusional) daytrader.  I was up 1000%.  Yes, you read that correctly, 1000% gain in just 18 months.  My extraordinary gains were due to daytrading dotcom stocks during the historic dotcom bubble.  My day job also ...

The case for AAPL

Apple has released the 3G iPhone.  The plan is for the iPhone to be available in 70 Countries within a year.  This represents a large increase in available markets for what has been the hottest phone (it's really much more) to ever hit the market. An important (and overlooked) part of the release of the new iPhone was the availabilty of new firmware for ALL iPhones.  This new firmware upgrades existing iPhones enabling the purchase of applications to be loaded on the iPhone.  This represents ...

The upside of expensive Gas

Gas is at $4.50/gallon. Hummers sit on lots while the Prius has a six month waiting list. Solar, Wind, Nuclear and Natural Gas have become hot topics. India will soon produce a $3,000 car. With 1.2 billion people the availability of a $3,000 car will intensify worldwide gas consumption and demand for oil. Add in China with it's parabolic increased consumption of all natural resources and the problem is mushrooming. The United States still consumes more resources than any other Country....

Wake up and smell the Starbucks

Wake up and smell the....Starbucks. Sounds odd huh? Well, it may not sound odd in a few years. Product placement is a small example of the marketization of our culture. In the book Is the American Dream Killing You? How the Markets Rule our Lives Paul Stiles explores how Capitalism and unabated Free Markets have destroyed the American Dream. The market is unrelenting, driving Americans into further spirals of debt, work and detachment. The book lays bare the issues created in a culture whe...