It was 79 years ago today. Black Tuesday. The Stock Market crash. The end of the roaring twenties. The market had surged for so long... and the correction was grueling. We've had our own stock market surge. You can't read the financial papers without seeing people compare our current situation to
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10/28/2008
It lingers with me- the sickening feeling. I was on the way home from Jr. High. I had finished basketball practice- so I took the late bus that would deposit me at the edge of my neighborhood as the first hint of night approached. This left little time for me to dress up for Halloween. I'd procra
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10/25/2008
Mea Culpa- Latin phrase that translates into English as "my fault", or "my own fault". - wikipedia I've heard that the three hardest words to say, for most people, are these: "I love you." In light of my constant delving into the worlds of big business and finance I'd like to add another coupl
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10/23/2008
All it takes is one. One person who could tell stories in a way that could take you on a journey. I'm fortunate to have met some very good story tellers. They've enhanced my life in ways that I could never convey. Storytelling is a gift and an art.... some might say a lost art. If you'd like to h
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10/23/2008
For much of my early life I grew up on or near an Air Force Base. For the bulk of my father's career he was involved in the branch known as the Air Training Command. As one might suspect, such bases are home to more take-offs and landings than an ordinary runway. I remember my seventh grade teac
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10/22/2008
Outside of Melbourne, Australia there's a 2,000 acre potato farm and sheep ranch. This was home to Cliff Young and his mother. Without a horse or vehicle, Cliff was presented with a dilemma. Whenever a major storm appeared to be on the horizon, Cliff would head out and round up the sheep on f
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10/18/2008
While buying my first car, the salesman said, "let's crunch the numbers." I don't know why, but this phrase has never induced any sort of comfort in me. It's a cringe-worthy phrase that sounds like it comes straight from a salesman's seminar. However- "knowing" the numbers is essential to any buy
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10/14/2008
My Crystal Ball Award goes to Steven A. Holmes of the New York Times. In his September 30, 1999 article Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending, he presented a change to lending guidelines and the looming possibilities of a government bailout. Click on the link for the complete article bu
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10/10/2008
It was the first morning of classes at Arizona State University. I was approaching the culmination of my degree and was enrolled in an upper division course called "Conversational Spanish." The teacher arrived and, unsurprisingly, addressed us in Spanish. She told us that we would speak nothing
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10/06/2008
It happened one day. My daughter and I were in the car... serious-faced- she asked, "Dad, Life's good for you, right?" I was about to answer philosophically when she added, "I mean... better than most cereals?" I was prompted by Gregory Lohr to share that snippet. It was from my comment on his bl
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10/02/2008