Tuesday, May 20, 2008

"Inflation" Fighting

Since there's no significant inflation, as strictly defined and measured, this post contain some ideas for making those adjustments that all must make to pay for higher energy and food costs. Need I say this is primarily required now thanks to stupid US voters who for decades continually re-elected knaves who restrict oil drilling, nuclear power and pay subsidies to wealthy farmers to grow less food. So US voters reap their own harvest of stupid voting. Hmmm ... a bit reminiscent of ancient Athens where the assembly made incredibly dumb votes that led to the downfall of Athenian prosperity.

And I use the word stupid telicly, as all these problems were forecast and available to anyone who would listen. In ancient Greece, not listening to the oracle led to punishment by the gods. Even in the past month, the knaves elected by voters passed another farm subsidy bill.

Now to the adjusting ...

1. Stop smoking. The smoking working class person can cut a pack and get a gallon of gas.
2. Stop playing lotteries, scratch tickets and keno. Why make dumb bets which are just taxes ?
3. Stop watching TV. TV is financed by ads, which raise prices on all. Pro sports is a colossal waste of money, diverting billions from the poor and working class to rich athletes and billionaries. [This is a long term adjustment.] Cut back cable to the basic service.
4. Read a book from the public library. Talk to your spouse or friends about issues and ideas.
5. Participate in a club or activity ... mostly for free.
6. Combine trips. This saves a lot of gasoline.
7. Cook your own food. Use cheap ingredients and some spices. Buy the spices in generic bulk.
8. Stop succumbing to your cacoethes to make impulsive purchases ... use a list.
9. Drop the cell phone. Life was fine before these luxuries became a ... perceived necessity.
10. Vote only for leaders who will cut spending and permit energy production growth.

Markets

Zzzzzzzzzzz. I'm waiting for the home default and price situation to hit an obvious bottom, which I "think" will lead to a big rally in the big banks and the market overall.

HD beats on eps and revs. Uh .... that question again comes to mind.

Word of the Day

"Omphalos" - noun [$10]
Omphalos means 1. (Greek anitiquity) a conical stone (esp. that at Delphi) representing the navel of the earth; 2. (Greek antiquity) a boss on a shield; 3. a center or hub.
Sentence: The omphalos of all the forces producing higher oil and food price increases - aka the "root cause" - is 10+ years of US voter stupidity in electing knaves to Congress who restrict oil and food production.

56 comments:

Bud said...

Words of the Day


"Arrogance"

"Condascending"

"Patronizing"

"Elitist"


There is nothing more condascending than a member of the wealthy ruling class telling poor people how to save money. Oh the arrogance!!

We should all be so grateful that this Harvard educated elitist took time out of his busy schedule to save us from our stupidity. When did he find the time? Was it while he was waiting for his caviar and champagne to be delivered to his $800 dollar a night suite???

Stop patronizing us. I think we'll survive.

Bud said...

Bonus Word of the Day


"Pussies"


This room is full of pussies. You guys all let the Bman get away with this 'money-saving' crap last week. I was waiting for the post where someone wud call the Bman out. Spin made a very weak and futile attempt with an 'elicricity' comment. But he backed off . Lame. The rest of you....nuthin. What a bunch of pussies.


I expect that weak ass stuff from frosty....he's a lil'schoolgirl. Apparently the rest of you also wear knee high socks.



"thanks Bman"


where's my barf bag

Bunkerman said...

At least I practice what I preach in everyday life.

Stop the whining.

Bud said...

"there's no significant inflation"


huh???????


of course a member of the bourgousie never sees inflation

the proletariat is in pain.......tremendous pain


inflation is the new 'armageddon'


revolutions occur when poor working people can't feed themselves.......watch out ruling classes

Bud said...

PPI horrid


armageddon is coming

Spin-em said...

How was your vacation Bud?..........lmaoooooooo

Bud said...

vacation was awesome.......i'm in a great mood


can't you tell??

maverick said...

I see the abuser got some strange and is feeling bullet proof.

Spin-em said...

I sure can....refreshed..lol...thanks for my Im a pussy T shirt with Meoooow on the back...lmaooooooooo

mern said...

LMAO!

uh bud, have i not been singing stagger lee constantly since late 2006?

boone was great banter on cnbc. he LOL at hildogs "holiday gas tax cut". and went as far to say no one in DC has a clue. and none of the 3 candidates have a clue about energy.

then santelli going over the PPI and commenting on core: it went something like this. "and here is the core, although i have no idea why they keep doing this. the guy who invented the inflation models for the fed, in the 70's, even admits his math is a joke"

so one should ask, if the guy who created the models says they are wrong. dont you think, it mite be time to conceed that well, they r a joke?

i spend over 100 a month on cable, but imo that saves me money. i dont ever goto the movies. and in fact i can spend all day on saturday just being a couch potato. the cost of that day is about 7 bucks (for everything!).

cell is a necessity, i dont know how i lived without one. land lines r for the elitists like us.

i seriously doubt Bman wud say there is no inflation if retired and living on a fixed income. but when u goto to harvard, work your ass off, for a long time.u pretty much deserve to be rich.

bud, did u see ann or rush on vacation? u obviously love them.

spin city

Bunkerman said...

"the guy who invented it" wonder who that was or is deemed to be ?

Funny, everyone knew about that at places like MIT for many years ... odd that I never heard of a "guy who invented it" until now when "they" want to change the definition ... like I hear the definition of "recession" being changed.

The concept of "core" is so obvious.

Since when can "weather" or a hurricane cause "inflation" ? Without a "core" concept, you get such ridiculous effects as that.

Sheesh.

Perhaps a bit of intellectual rigor instead of polemics.

And claims without reasons are just crap.

"Inflation is the new Armageddon" ... uh ... what happened to the last "armageddon" ?

Sometime I wonder if some have had lobotomies that erase memory.

Bunkerman said...

I think US early summer driving season will be shockingly light and create a peak in oil prices.

Just my thinking ...

Bunkerman said...

Actually, for the longer term, I think the upper middle class will have a lot more problems adjusting to very high energy costs.

McMansions in exurbia, SUVs, etc. are now so uneconomical.

People in small towns, central cities & compact suburbs can avoid lots of those costs.

mern said...

imo, santelli is probably the best commentator on cnbc.

maybe u can email him and get the name of the economist.

tell u think inflation is dead and go from there.

he is much smarter than me, but we feel the exact same way about stagger lee.

santelli is even on cramers wikapedia page as someone who called him out in early jan. i remember that. cramer was so bearish and said he had been bearish and rick chimed "oh come on jim u had 14500 as your yr end target......."

another problem is how do we vote for the right candidates, when we repeadetly have to choose between a douche bag, and a wet pussy fart?

Bunkerman said...

check out those new "Smart Car" sold by Daimler. They get about 40 mpg and can park anywhere.

Saw a lot of those in Rome.

mern said...

ya, france and the netherlands were full of cars about as big as a gokart.

europe is much more compact. in the netherlands these giants (like everyone there is well over 6 feet) take a train. get off the train. breakout this briefcase looking thing, and it tranforms into a bike, which they ride to work.

i can not find anything on the net about the economist wrote the models for the fed on the CPI and the PPI, but again. HE CREATED THEM, and now says they r totally antiquated. is he wrong too?

Bunkerman said...

sighhh ... why ?

Maybe I've created a new two word poem ?

Hmmm a poet as well as a thinker.

mern said...

Mom forced to live in car with dogs
Barbara Harvey sleeps in her car with her two dogs. The 67-year-old mother of three grown children never thought she'd spend her golden years like this. But she was laid off and then lost her condo. "It went to hell in a handbasket," she said. "This is my life in this car right now

is that stagflation?

Bunkerman said...

well, the geezers in the sun & surf areas might have problems since they all seem to eat out all the time. But in small towns ? central cities ?

Most old people drive very little. They eat little ...like Temp hot so AC cost is low ... Medicare covers most medical costs, then an insurance plan can covers rest ... even many drugs.

So the core inflation rate seems most appropriate to them.

I pay Mom's bills so know what I'm talking about here.

Bunkerman said...

uh ... perhaps her grown children should take her in ? Nahhh that's too old fashoined.

Bunkerman said...

hmmm a little math ... buy house /condo by age 35 with 30 year amortizing mortgage at fixed rate ... work to age 65 ... don't borrow more money one house & spend it on vacations ... by retirement at age 65, house is paid off. If have to move, buy new house with same debt load ... same result.

In last 30 years interest rates have fallen so even a profit was made on refinancing.

One of the reasons the 30 year self-amortizing mortgage was created about 75 years ago was to prevent old people from losing homes.

Frosty said...

uh Bud...you are no jon lester ...will be back to take that junk yard...bunky, control you son sir.

mern said...

bman dont u realize that we have the 80/20 rule working right now?

80% of americans are totally retarded. r president is in that category.

maybe instead of woodshop they cud teach fiscal discipline in HS.

boone mentioned he was long 10 million shares of YHOO. and the way he was talking about natural gas, i guess i can see y aubrey continues to buy about 5 mil a month worth of CHK, no matter what the price.

Bud said...

give me a f'ng break frosty !!!!


2 at bats.....2 grand slams

it's over....give it to him now


"offensive player of the week"

mern said...

her kids r practically homeless too. so i guess they cant help her.

y see stays in cali seems pretty stupid.

there is a reason i dont live on davis island. i cant afford it.

mern said...

well actually i probably have a bigger net worth than many of those yuppies, but i like having a net worth. i dont care about appearances.

my shoes r 15 yrs old. underwear rottening with holes. dockers over 10 yrs old. bought this polo this yr for 20 bucks at marshalls. drive a 95 c220. gets 30 miles to the gallon.

my boy keeps nibbling on some great munis. gonna send him another 50k. cindy got a 4500 dollar bonus last month. money is just piling up in the bank for us.

FINALLY! only took 8 yrs to get that straight.

mern said...

"The current labor agreement does not adequately recognize the cost of generating the revenues of which the players receive the largest shares; nor does the agreement recognize that those costs have increased substantially -- and at an ever increasing rate -- in recent years during a difficult economic climate in our country," the NFL said.

thats is more bs than the CPI

;-)

NFL OWNERS R TOTAL PIGS!

mern said...

A New York congressman who admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock with a woman who bailed him out of jail on a drunk driving charge this month announced Monday that he will not run for re-election.


Fossella is the 30th Republican to announce they would not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This choice was an extremely difficult one, balanced between my dedication to service to our great nation and the need to concentrate on healing the wounds that I have caused to my wife and family," Rep. Vito Fossella, a six-term Republican, said in a written statement.

y does this stuff seem to only happen to the moral right?

mern said...

Have you stopped wearing a watch because you carry a cell phone?
Yes
197 (47.4%)
No
219 (52.6%)
Total votes = 416


cell phone replacing cameras, watches and land lines. they r not inflationary.

Frosty said...

hey bunky boys...who wants to kick in a few bucks and buy Mern some new panties...have a tear in my eye.

Spin-em said...

Im in for a fivski......hereyagooo.....hereyagooo

mern said...

the worden tries to buy me new panties and shirts.

i just return them and buy beer with the money.

she loves that!

mern said...

Do you have a favorite dental short?

Yes, it's Danaher, which isn't typically thought of as a dental company. It's actually a diversified industrial company, but dental products account for roughly 25% of revenue. What caught my eye in Danaher's latest quarter was that they reported flat core dental equipment and consumable sales. Danaher has a trailing 12-month price/earnings ratio of about 20. In contrast, the P/E ratio of General Electric [GE], another diversified industrial company, is under 15. This is surprising since GE consistently has had more rapid organic growth overall than Danaher, and organic growth is the key sentiment driver and metric that moves the diversified-stock group.


dougie kass

he has been hating on DHR since 2003 when it was 30 bucks. now its his fave dental short

and he is short berkshire hathaway.

but up 15% ytd.

how does he do it?

Bud said...

why don't you just give him some of yours frosty??

you have plenty

mern said...

gud one bud

touch em all, like your local priest

Frosty said...

uh Bud, spitting on your freind during a time in obvious need, typical...what a guy...send him a few of those $100 gold towels from your vacation...a couple of safety pins he can fashion a fine diaper.

SMN 27.70...daddy needs new panties.

Frosty said...

I meant golf towels ...all this panty talk has me bit excited...yes bunky, I know going commando is not just a money saver, but a life statement.

mern said...

at your age frosty, going commando, is high risk, no?

guys your age trip over thier balls, without a jock strap.

agreed though, wearing underwear is not a necessity.

i spend most of my weekends naked, picking lint out of my belly button, petting my dogs, touching myself to the likes of lily thai and cythera. porn really has evolved into something quite educational.

if i was married to cythera i wud never have to water my lawn again. or any plants in the house. or need a shower.

Frosty said...

indeed...no need to shave the sack...drag it clean like a real man.

mern said...

Ted Kennedy has malignant brain tumor, doctors say.

everyone said his liver wud get him.

imo, i wud have thought the booze wud have killed anything in his brain.

mern said...

Soros was particularly concerned about inflation.

the guys who created the CPI and PPI admits they r wrong.

so many blogs and websites dedicated to stagger lee.

bman and bob cud be the only 2 americans who think inflation is behaving well???????

mfl59 said...

financials trading like another shoe about to drop..they are a big drag on the SPX....

Bunkerman said...

was working in the new library ... sheeesh I have a lot of books ... now must sort.

Bunkerman said...

guess trader/beefers who bought fins are dumping them to get back in oils.

Bunkerman said...

myabe I wasn't so dumb in taking that ST loss.

mern said...

GS looks headed to 150 or lower

i start at JPM 6/1.

better get shorty there

Bunkerman said...

mern at a "white shoe" firm ... congrats. ;-)

Bunkerman said...

an old friend of mine from NYC days got picked up by JPM, too ... good news indeed.

He is 62.

Frosty said...

treat yourself to a sack of WMT t-shirts Mark.

mern said...

looking at inflation comments again.

all my activities like soccer, basketball cost money. not a lot, but they sure aint free.

nah bob, i just bought 4 mac daddy speakers for the upstairs tv room.

us elitist's have 2 entertainment rooms. one where the wife can watch american idol and 1 where mark can throw in a GD DVD and pretend its 1978 all over again.

but thats for another night, tonite we have got to clean the exercise room. my eliptical is filty.

ARGH boot camp was cancelled due to lack of interest. this guy been doing this 10 yrs, first time he cancelled it. i asked what he thought about that. he said 3 words. "the economy sux"

down to 156. who wud have thought just staying away from the froasted malted beverages wud make it so easy to lose weight. well that and running an hour everday and 2 days a week of soccer and sprinting.

really?

mern said...

On her marriage:
“I know the truth of my life and of my marriage, my relationship and partnership, my deep abiding friendship with my husband. It's been enormously supportive to me through most of my life. Now obviously we've had challenges as everybody in the world knows. “But I never doubted that it was a marriage worth investing in even in the midst of those challenges,” she says, “and I'm really happy that I made that decision. Again, not a decision for everybody. And I think it's so important for women to stand up for the right of women to make a decision that is best for them.”

On the most romantic thing her husband has done for her:She hesitates for longer than is comfortable, then she says, “Oh he's so romantic. He's always bringing me back things from his trips. He brought me a giant wooden giraffe from Africa. Oh, he bought me this watch,” she said, holding out her left wrist to show off a Chanel watch, its bracelet made of white cubes shaped like elegant dentures, if you can picture it. “I had dental surgery, and he said it reminded him of teeth.”


OMG ROFLMFAO

no one can lie like her except slick willy himself.

ill bet 250k they have not had sex once in the past 10 yrs.

bud gets its more than that, for free.

Frosty said...

spanky saves a ton of cash via self service...a box of nike one's at the club house ffiittee bucks, a couple of those a round adds up.

mern said...

whats this? 25% tax on porn?

no inflation

pfffffffft

mern said...

Sex shops and strip clubs would have to pay an extra 25 percent tax on their sales and services under a proposed state law meant to offset the costs of allowing such businesses into a community.

that wud be just for cali.

thats bs. a key variable to a successful monogomous, r sex toys. its a necessity!

mern said...

philly is a central city with decent public transportation, SEPTA.

with your logic y is there an online blog at philly.com today where the peeps of philly r bitching, crying, pissing and moaning about stagger lee.

well probably not bad some of these fatties cant afford breakfast anymore. but ive seen over 750 detailed comments from the peeps in philly.

it wud really take some balls and go into philly and stand outside pats and pass info out that says inflation is tame. if u were not strapped to the gils, imo, u wud not be alive very long. and i am 100% dead serious. at the very best and solid beat down would occur.

Spin-em said...

lool

Baby Mama movie based in philly...lol...good movie.....the jerky husband drinks Rolling Rock..lool...geez