Tomorrow will be interesting. It's time for the Nevada Caucus, and it looks like it will be a close fight for both the Democrats and Republicans. Hillary wins, then Barak wins. Mitt wins, then McCain wins. What will Nevada bring? Everyone seems to be touting the same issues. I just hope the winner(s) can deliver.
That's an interesting thought. Can any candidate deliver on promises? Remember, the President can do very little other than veto a measure once it passes the Senate and the House. He or she cannot enact the measures themselves and must rely on the Congress to get their bidding done. No matter what, we will still have the same old politics in place and we will still be paying $500 for hammers and $300 for toilet seats. With this cold weather, I hope the seats are warmed!
Congrats are in order for Hillary for her comeback win in Michigan. She 'found her voice' and refused to roll over. She doesn't do that for Bill either....roll over, that is.......;-).
By the way, it is well know that John McCain, as a prisoner of war, spent 5 1/2 years in prison, then went into politics. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around! Politics first, then prison........?? Hm-m-m-m-m-m-mmm.
Don't forget to get out and vote. If you don't, then you have nothing to complain about if your candidate doesn't make it.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
What a Scam.....
Last night, I was watching TV and one of those info-mercials came on advertising $5 gold pieces. Perhaps you have seen it also. It sounded so good, but when you put a pencil to it, this thing looks like a scam! The particulars:
The ad is by the 'National Mint' and is advertising newly minted $5 gold coins (supposedly legal tender) for a discounted price of only $109 each. The kicker of it is that you have to buy a minimum of 5 coins ($545 total) to get that 'unbelievable' price. What's so unbelievable is that anyone would think this is a great deal! Follow along with me now, and I will show you why this is not such a good deal.
First, the gold content of each coin is 1/10 ounce. At the gold futures price on the market today, gold was trading in the range of $860 per ounce, making each coin worth a raw value of $86.....not the 'unbelievable' value of $109 they claim. If you bought a coin today and had to sell it tomorrow, you would lose $23 per coin if you could get the full value of the gold market. Coin dealers are not prone to give you full value, even for gold. They have to make a profit, too, you know!
Even if you could get full value for the gold, prices for gold would have to increase a full 20% for you to just break even on your investment. In other words, gold prices would have to climb to over $1030 per ounce just to get you money back.
What about added value for the coins being categorized as rare coins? I would tend to think not. They are newly minted. Seldom, if ever, do newly minted coins gain the prestige of being classified as rare coins right from the beginning. Now, if these were $10 gold pieces from the early 1900's, that would be another story, because you would be placing value on rarity along with the ultimate value of gold.
Wow! What a deal! I get to invest $109 to get a coin worth $86 and only lose $23 in the process. If some of you out there think this is such a good deal, let me know. I have some 'beach front' property here in the desert of Nevada. We all know that California will some day slip into the ocean, and Hey!, some day you will have the ocean right at your doorstep. Think how valuable that would be. Of course, you may have to wait a little while..............
The ad is by the 'National Mint' and is advertising newly minted $5 gold coins (supposedly legal tender) for a discounted price of only $109 each. The kicker of it is that you have to buy a minimum of 5 coins ($545 total) to get that 'unbelievable' price. What's so unbelievable is that anyone would think this is a great deal! Follow along with me now, and I will show you why this is not such a good deal.
First, the gold content of each coin is 1/10 ounce. At the gold futures price on the market today, gold was trading in the range of $860 per ounce, making each coin worth a raw value of $86.....not the 'unbelievable' value of $109 they claim. If you bought a coin today and had to sell it tomorrow, you would lose $23 per coin if you could get the full value of the gold market. Coin dealers are not prone to give you full value, even for gold. They have to make a profit, too, you know!
Even if you could get full value for the gold, prices for gold would have to increase a full 20% for you to just break even on your investment. In other words, gold prices would have to climb to over $1030 per ounce just to get you money back.
What about added value for the coins being categorized as rare coins? I would tend to think not. They are newly minted. Seldom, if ever, do newly minted coins gain the prestige of being classified as rare coins right from the beginning. Now, if these were $10 gold pieces from the early 1900's, that would be another story, because you would be placing value on rarity along with the ultimate value of gold.
Wow! What a deal! I get to invest $109 to get a coin worth $86 and only lose $23 in the process. If some of you out there think this is such a good deal, let me know. I have some 'beach front' property here in the desert of Nevada. We all know that California will some day slip into the ocean, and Hey!, some day you will have the ocean right at your doorstep. Think how valuable that would be. Of course, you may have to wait a little while..............
Friday, January 4, 2008
In The Beginning.....
In the beginning of the New Year, that is.....Well, the new year is indeed upon us. The holiday season seemed to come and go so fast this year. It hardly left any time to do much. The middle of December did bring new joy to our family, though. We welcomed another granddaughter on Dec. 13th and our first great grandchild....a boy...on Dec. 16th! Both are doing well, I am glad to say!! That will make the holidays in the years ahead even more special. Let's hope you all had the same type of excitement and joy in your life this season!
The one thing that this time of year brings....football!! And for those of you who love basketball, the season is just starting out and teams are beginning to show what is in store for later in the year when they have their playoffs. As for football, we are brought the end of both college and football seasons with bowl game after bowl game and the NFL playoffs. By the way, congratulations to the New England Patriots who finished their regular season undefeated, going 16-0 for the first time a team has done that in history. But who will remember how important and difficult it was if they do not complete their year undefeated and win the Super Bowl? Unfortunately, we sports fans tend to forget losers, and if the Pats do not win out for the rest of the season, their accomplishments will go down as just a foot note. Don't believe me? The last team to go undefeated in regular and post season play was the Miami Dolphins in 1972.......36 years ago. They posted an impressive 17-0 season and won the Super Bowl. The question is who did they beat in the Super Bowl?! Most of us don't remember or don't care because they lost.
Bowl Games. Are there too many? I think so. It used to be that you got up on New Year's day (if you could get up!) and watched a bit of the Rose Parade from Pasadena, then satisfied your need to watch a lot of football in one day by taking on the real important bowls: the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Then you had a bit of reprieve before the big one came on that was traditionally the last major bowl and what was supposed to crown the national champion for the year, the Orange Bowl.
Now, they have bowl games lasting for over a week, and everyone and his brother/sister is sponsoring a bowl game. GMAC Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, Independence Bowl, etc, etc. Some stretch it out for far to get teams to fill the game that teams with a .500 record are eligible. I saw a game the other day where two teams with 7-6 and 6-5 records were playing. It was so bad......I think it was the Toilet Bowl. We need to get back to just the major bowls and make it mean something to have played well enough during the year to be invited to a bowl game.
Alas, for the football fan it will soon end. Today, Friday Jan. 4th, is the first day in the last week that there will be no bowl game played. After next week, college football fans will be without and they will go into withdrawal. I have heard it is even tougher to quit than smoking!
Special Note: Past blogs have centered mainly around sports. However, my New Year's resolution is to expand the scope of this blog into other areas and beginning next week I will be posting articles on different subjects, some of which will be posted to article directories as well. We will try to keep the subjects informative and entertaining and not quite so focused on sports. That is our aim, our resolution. But, then again, how many of you have kept your resolutions so far this year? How about last year? At least we are going to try.....
The one thing that this time of year brings....football!! And for those of you who love basketball, the season is just starting out and teams are beginning to show what is in store for later in the year when they have their playoffs. As for football, we are brought the end of both college and football seasons with bowl game after bowl game and the NFL playoffs. By the way, congratulations to the New England Patriots who finished their regular season undefeated, going 16-0 for the first time a team has done that in history. But who will remember how important and difficult it was if they do not complete their year undefeated and win the Super Bowl? Unfortunately, we sports fans tend to forget losers, and if the Pats do not win out for the rest of the season, their accomplishments will go down as just a foot note. Don't believe me? The last team to go undefeated in regular and post season play was the Miami Dolphins in 1972.......36 years ago. They posted an impressive 17-0 season and won the Super Bowl. The question is who did they beat in the Super Bowl?! Most of us don't remember or don't care because they lost.
Bowl Games. Are there too many? I think so. It used to be that you got up on New Year's day (if you could get up!) and watched a bit of the Rose Parade from Pasadena, then satisfied your need to watch a lot of football in one day by taking on the real important bowls: the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Then you had a bit of reprieve before the big one came on that was traditionally the last major bowl and what was supposed to crown the national champion for the year, the Orange Bowl.
Now, they have bowl games lasting for over a week, and everyone and his brother/sister is sponsoring a bowl game. GMAC Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, Independence Bowl, etc, etc. Some stretch it out for far to get teams to fill the game that teams with a .500 record are eligible. I saw a game the other day where two teams with 7-6 and 6-5 records were playing. It was so bad......I think it was the Toilet Bowl. We need to get back to just the major bowls and make it mean something to have played well enough during the year to be invited to a bowl game.
Alas, for the football fan it will soon end. Today, Friday Jan. 4th, is the first day in the last week that there will be no bowl game played. After next week, college football fans will be without and they will go into withdrawal. I have heard it is even tougher to quit than smoking!
Special Note: Past blogs have centered mainly around sports. However, my New Year's resolution is to expand the scope of this blog into other areas and beginning next week I will be posting articles on different subjects, some of which will be posted to article directories as well. We will try to keep the subjects informative and entertaining and not quite so focused on sports. That is our aim, our resolution. But, then again, how many of you have kept your resolutions so far this year? How about last year? At least we are going to try.....
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