Tom Toles on Debt Addiction

Tom Toles delivers another scathing, hilarious cartoon. This one's from February 28, 2008 (Washington Post). I love the comment at the lower right hand side.

WaMu: No Safeguards Lead to Collapse

I have accounts with WaMu and am happy that JP Morgan has taken them over. JPM's James Dimon has the respect of many investors and Wall Street, and thankfully, my deposits are safe at WaMu. I just read this article in a legal magazine about WaMu, and it's no wonder the bank collapsed. Take a look at this story, where WaMu gave 43 loans (25 million dollars) to one couple, revealing a complete lack of safeguards or risk controls:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/1_family_43_wamu_mortgages_27m_in_likely_lender_losses

If the Fed is correct--that it is buying undervalued securities that will eventually increase in value when the real estate market stabilizes--then JPM would be a good buy. In effect, JPM has partnered with the Fed in its new debt issuance and stands to gain or lose like the Fed. I had considered buying JPM stock, but the stock increased 11% today. It looks like I missed the boat.

Malaysian Blog re: Racialism

The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, has a blog (www.chedet.com). He recently wrote a post imploring his people to set aside racial issues and work together. It reminded me of Obama's plea to Americans to come together. Malaysia has three major ethnic groups--Malay, Chinese, and Indian--and apparently, segregation is more common than not, and quotas favoring the indigenous Malays have hurt racial relations. See the post here:

http://test.chedet.com/che_det/2008/09/malay-unity-and-malaysian-unit.html#more

America is similar to Malaysia in the sense that we also have three major ethnic groups--Caucasians, Latinos, and African-Americans--and to some extent, de facto segregation, even in diverse cities. Americans should keep an eye on Malaysians to see how they deal with their diverse population. We may be able to avoid making their mistakes and learn from their successful policies.

Fantasy Sports

At Yahoo's (YHOO) shareholder meeting, I mentioned the curious lack of attention given to Yahoo's wonderful fantasy sports franchise. Today, I noticed an article listing Yahoo as the top online destination for fantasy sports. It looks like Yahoo has only recently begun focusing on increasing revenue from its fantasy sports platform. Better late than never:

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN1048236120080925?rpc=44

Also, ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote an article about how fantasy sports have finally moved into the mainstream, to the point where if you're not involved, you're considered unusual:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080919

Financial Illiteracy

Teaching our children financial literacy is essential not only for their well-being, but for ours. A nation of inept spenders does not bode well for any of us. On August 11, 2008, the Wall Street Journal published my one-sentence letter on the topic, which related to an article about teachers unable to handle their own investing. I wrote, "We are entrusting our children to people who can't handle basic investing and, somehow, we wonder why we end up with financially illiterate adults."

Braun Mincher wrote an article advocating for more financial education, and I am pleased to see more attention being given to this topic:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/ymincher;_ylt=Au9.v9TrfeKf7.D7gyr31AADW7oF

Sadly, research shows that financial illiteracy has reached epidemic levels with no end in sight.

I couldn't agree more. No child should graduate high school without understanding, at the very minimum, the impact of interest rates, the role of the Federal Reserve, and the wonders of compound interest.

Update on January 17, 2009: here is a link to my August 11, 2008 letter. I'm not sure if it's a permalink, but it's working for now.

Do American Bailouts Mean We've Become French?

An amusing article on how America has become like France:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1843168,00.html

Le Royale with cheese, anyone?

America's Account Deficit

An oldie but a goodie, from C. Fred Bergsten, Peterson Institute, February 1, 2007:

http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=705

Our external deficit has risen by an average of $100 billion annually over the past four years. It has climbed by an annual average of $80 billion for the past nine years. The trajectory, as well as the level of the imbalances, is clearly unsustainable.

In the background, you can almost hear Jack Nicholson bellowing, "You can't handle the truth!"