We thought Chris Rock was joking...

Remember when Chris Rock said the following in Never Scared?
Oprah is rich, Bill Gates is wealthy. If Bill Gates woke up tommorow with Oprah's money, he'd jump out a fvckin' window and slit his throat on the way down saying, "I can't even put gas in my plane!

German tycoon Adolf Merckle commits suicide
By Markus Nagle Markus Nagle
BLAUBEUREN, Germany (Reuters) – German billionaire Adolf Merckle has committed suicide, in despair over the huge losses suffered by his business empire during the financial crisis, his family said on Tuesday. The media-shy billionaire, whose family controls some of Germany's best-known companies, was hit by a train on Monday evening, local officials said. "The desperate situation of his companies caused by the financial crisis, the uncertainties of the last few weeks and his powerlessness to act, have broken the passionate family entrepreneur and he took his own life," a family statement said. State prosecutors from the southern city of Ulm said Merckle, 74, left work on Monday and died after being hit by a train near the town of Blaubeuren. He left behind a suicide note to his family, they added. There was no sign of anyone else being involved, they said. In 2008 Merckle was ranked as the world's 94th-richest person and Germany's fifth-wealthiest by Forbes magazine. Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090106/bs_nm/us_merckle_6

Well, like they always say, truth is stranger than fiction. Look, I know I'm supposed to have lots of comments and questions to add to this and the truth is I actually have too much. But instead of listing them, I'll just repeat what a friend emailed me back regarding the article. It reads much better than anything I would have ever said:

I am not really surprised by this article. There are many people who place their happiness, self-worth and existence in the perceived and notoriety of their riches. Perhaps he would've lived happier if he shifted his thoughts to the many people he was able to bless with employment, donations and the many contributions that his riches afforded others. I find as I age that the true meaning and sustenance of my life is not how much I have in the bank but rather how many people I managed to be a blessing to daily.

Damn, you blessed at least one today. Thank you.

Back and forth with Movie Snob 2

So it was another Redbox Monday (free 1 day rental) and I was on my way to my nearest Redbox location when I received a text from the Movie Snob asking me for a recommendation. I thought to myself, "This must be a trap since the Movie Snob doesn't regard my opinion when it comes to movies." But in any case I played along especially since I had no clue what to get myself. In the end, he gave me two future recomendations and of course we had another back & forth:

Movie Snob: Anything good in Da Box today?

Troy: I'm on my way now. What do u recommend?

Movie Snob: I grabbed Run, Fat Boy, Run but you've already seen that.

Troy: Yes I did. Rated it 3 stars on Da Flix.

Movie Snob: Get Transsiberian (should have known the Movie Snob would know some Indie film to recommend). And get Stuck if you feel like getting two.

Troy (currently at Da Box now reviewing selection): What?? And pass up Morris Chestnut & Gabrielle Union in The Perfect Holiday?? Are you trying to turn my nubian brothers & sisters against me or something?

Movie Snob: Well, Transsiberian & Stuck are the only two I've seen.

Troy: Well, I got Perfect Holiday...stepping up my Black cred!

Movie Snob: You crazy!

Troy: Dude, Obama in the House now so u have to step up ur Black cred. For example, if you haven't seen at least 3 movies where Morris Chestnut & Gabrielle Union play love interests you get labeled a poser.

Movie Snob: LOL (texting like a teenage girl), The Best Man, Breaking All The Rules, The Brothers.

Troy: Oops, I mis-texted. I meant FIVE movies. See, just as I thought, you are a POSER!

Movie Snob: The Inkwell & Two Can Play That Game. I'm still Black with a capital 'B'.

Troy: Inkwell?? I said Union & Chestnut playing love interests.

Movie Snob: You can't get blacker than Inkwell. It was written, produced, and directed by a Black man. Chestnut was the love interest of Jada. He was a love interest.

Troy: I can't even remember Jada in Inkwell. Was she an extra or do all Black people look alike to posers? And first off they (Chestnut & Union) have to be in the same movie as love interests. This has nothing to do with Jada Pinkett Smith.

Movie Snob: Yes, Jada was in Inkwell. Chestnut & Union have only been in THREE movies together and I've seen two, Breaking All The Rules and Two Can Play That Game. Oops, I almost forgot The Brothers and I've seen that. Still Black with a capital 'B'.

Troy: Dude, the rule is FIVE (5) not THREE (3).

Movie Snob: Alright Poser, you name FIVE and show ME your Black card.

Troy: The three you mentioned, Perfect Holiday which I plan on watching tonight and the fifth is a pilot I saw for an ABC Sunday Night Movie called Bringin' Down Da House: Obamas that stars Chestnut as Barack & Union as Michelle and it tells their story of their journey to the White House. Hell, an up & coming actor we both know plays the role of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. So as you can see, I'm BLACK for life...all the letters are capitalized in my BLACKness.

Movie Snob: It just dawned on me that you might be setting me up for your blog again.

Troy: Never a setup. This is all truth...but it does make for a great blog entry. :) Hell, I can see that up & coming actor getting best actor nominations for his role as Rev. Jeremiah Wright...at the BET awards.

Movie Snob: Damn, why it got to be the BET movie awards?

Troy: Oh don't get me wrong, his performance was stellar. Unbelieveable if you ask me. Hell, the acting job he did had ME wanting to walk out of that church. :)

Movie Snob: Let the record show that you couldn't name three Chestnut-Union movies that you've seen.

Troy: I have seen 4 and I am watching the fifth now.

Movie Snob: Name them.

Troy: Brothers, 2 Can Play, Breaking Rules, Bringin' Down House: Obamas, and I am watching Perfect Holiday now.

Movie Snob: Alright, but at best you a redbone.

Troy: Concede. I'm Black like tar! Flavor Flav has got nothing on me. I stand unsurpassed in my Blackness. I'm unseen, void of light, like a SHADOW.

Movie Snob: Tell me the ending of Perfect Holiday and the Obamas.

Troy: Ummmm, Christmas came and Obama (played by Chestnut) won the presidency.

Movie Snob: That's what I thought. I SAW BOTH TOO!

Doom & gloom entry

I started off the year by calling the economy "a$$". I have argued since the 2nd half of 2007 that the bailouts would only prolong this a$$ economy. While it is real hard to say with any certainty what will happen when a new Congress and President lead the country in 2009 I have to admit that even if they did everything right I still have a good chance of being right on this new prediction. Drum roll please!

The economy will be super-a$$ due to all the bailouts and most importantly the pending bailout of the US auto makers. With each new bailout, confidence further drops in the Gov't's ability to right the ship and the bailout of US auto makers will be the nail in the coffin. I have yet to meet anyone who supports that bailout (US auto makers) but the Liberals won Congress & the White House on the backs of the Unions so I will be SHOCKED if that bailout doesn't take place. Plus, what logical justification can one give why you bailout one industry and not the other or one company and not the other??

And when I say super-a$$ I mean everything but Depression Era which translates into the economy being worse than everything seen in the US between now and the Great Depression. And now for an ounce of perspective for those who think the worse is behind us.

From a market investment perspective the Great Depression lasted much longer than the ten years (1929-1939) your history book dictates:
Day 1 (9/3/1929): Pre-crash high (381).
7 weeks later (10/24/1929): Black Thursday-- crash begins (300).
3 years later (7/8/1932): Crash low (41).
25 years later (11/23/1954): Pre crash high attained (381).

While I don't believe cycles last that long today I do think that even a fifth (5 years which also happens to be my estimate for this downturn, plus or minus 2 years) of that 25yr period listed above would be much more than the average person thinks this downturn would last. I hope you note this blog entry and use it to call me a fool if it turns out I am wrong. Oh what a happy fool I would be in that case.

So, Obama won

And what does that mean to someone who is a conservative like myself? Well, guess what? He made a blanket call to us conservatives post election and said the following in his unique Obama voice:

I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world... without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

I actually recorded the message if you want to listen to it. Sort of freaked me out. :)

WiFi & coffee using loose change?

Of course, I had to make it a 9 (my favorite number) step process:

1. Label an old empty jar, "WiFi & coffee"
2. At the end of every day, dump all your loose change into the "WiFi & coffee" jar
3. After you have built up about an inch or two of loose change in jar, locate your nearest Coinstar that converts your loose change to a Starbucks card
4. Convert your loose change to a Starbucks card
5. Register for your Starbucks Rewards
6. Register for your 2 hours free WiFi per day
7. Keep Starbucks card in your wallet
8. Next time you need some free WiFi (up to 2 hours per day) just stop at the nearest Starbucks. You also get benefits such as free beverage customizations and free refills on brewed coffee when you make purchases using your card
9. Keep REFILLING your Starbucks card whenever you get an inch or two of loose change in jar at nearest Coinstar.

Too busy for a posting?

You know, sometimes it is what it looks like. My friends, I have been too busy watching my investments evaporate to post. I have been too busy making sure that I am well suited to weather this economic storm that we are in. But I figured I could at least take some time to pat myself on the back for equipping you to handle these uncertain times.

Here was my attempt at leading by example in 2008:

1. I am the guy who canceled his cable bill back in March saving himself about $100/month. Yeah, I miss HBO & ESPN. But every day when I see the market crash even further it feels good knowing that my canceled cable bill is building a nice cushion of cash in my ING account.

2. I cancelled Netflix too. Well, I put it on hold a little after my blog about Redbox saving myself roughly $10/month. However, I still get my 4 movies per month via Redbox's free Monday rentals.

3. I took my own advice shoring up my short term reserves, paying off all interest bearing debt, and continuing to max out funding for my retirement in both a Roth IRA & 401K account.

4. I am not mistaking the cost of high living with the high cost of living either. No more rich steakhouses for me. :(

5. I continue to invest in me. I am still in school which is one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging as frequently and remain very keenly clued in to the events taking place around me.

6. And last but not least, I am sticking with my stated goals. I refuse to let Mr. Market and all his thrashing about get me SCURRED into converting my investments to cash. I have a well balanced diversified portfolio that should rebound with the market long before I reach the legal age for retirement. But just to be on the safe side, I have been buying a $1 MegaMillion lotto ticket every time I get gas. :)

What, you don't agree with my lotto dreams? Hey, everyone needs a backup plan.

PS: My prediction about state bankruptcies has already started with both mASS and CA already requesting loans from the Federal Gov't. Also, props to both Patterson and Bloomberg of NY and NYC respectively for getting their red pens out and slashing their budgets. Even though the writing is clearly on the wall it is not often folks act on it.

The Giant Pool of Money

So every day some new development happens on Wall Street and folks are asking for my opinion. Look, I gave my opinion this time last year when the bailouts were in the form of interest rate cuts. But nobody listened then so why would they now? And what good is my opinion now anyway? It would be the equivalent of saying the ship is sinking at the point of total submersion.

In any case, here is my headline for next year: Avoiding bankruptcy will be the name of the game for lots of state governments starting with New York.

But in the meantime and between time I offer the following audio content that is the most comprehensive and far reaching take on how we got where we are today. Hey, I highly recommend you listen, I mean do you really think this is over?

The Giant Pool of Money
by Chicago Public Radio

Couple of ways to get this program:
1. You can listen for free by clicking "Full Episode" below the picture of the money.
2. You can download the transcript.
3. You can buy the podcast for $0.95.
4. You can buy the CD.