GM capping gas prices at $1.99

GM announced that in California and Florida they will be capping gas prices for consumers who purchase one of their gas-guzzling hogs. People who purchase a new 2006/2007 Tahoe, Suburban, H2, H3, or Yukon will get rebates on their gas prices over $1.99. To receive the rebates they will have to sign up for OnStar but this still seems ridiculous to me. I have very little sympathy for someone having high gasoline bills when:

a. They chose to buy a living room on wheels as a status symbol
b. They paid $40,000 - $50,000 for the vehicle to begin with

Why is GM catering to the rich assholes that are going to drive like idiots, ride my bumper in traffic, and weave in and out of cars in the snow like 4x4 means instant stopping?

Please advise.

Exchange Traded Fund Gains

I wrote an entry a few days back on starting a portfolio with only $100. MSN has put the portfolio into action and at this point seems to be up about 9.3%. Not bad. Although it would appear they cheated because the article was published sometime last week and there portfolio already has like $250 dollars in it. Regardless it looks like something that I may want to consider.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

After reading an article a few weeks back about starting to invest with as little as a $100 I started to give some thought to Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). I hit up one of my buddies who is a financial planner and asked for a few ETFs to consider. He came back with a few suggestions and I have been watching them rather closely. The problem I have with ETFs is that they are so boring! I only own a few positions and all of them are high risk - high return stocks. I enjoy watching throughout the week as my stocks go up 10% in a day then drop 12% the next day just to go back up 5% the following. It is a small jolt of excitement in on an otherwise mundane work week. The ETF's just kind of sit there and only move based on credible market elements. I prefer the rollercoaster ride of the news driven, yet to turn a profit, gambler stocks. I am fully aware that this is not a strong basis for anyone's portfolio but I figure that is what my 403B is for, this is to try and score the big one. I have yet to hit anything big that sustained it's growth but I figure by the laws of probability I should hit at least hit one before I die. The laws do say that, right?

How to start Investing with only $100

I came across an article on MSN that offers a plan to start investing with a $100. The premise is to begin buying Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) using Sharebuilder as your broker. I have never used Sharebuilder but the fact that they offer $4 trades makes me wonder why I am using E*Trade. The plan lays out five different ETFs and advises you to balance your portfolio between them by purchasing $100 worth of ONE fund per month. The idea of only purchasing one particular fund a month is to lower the comission costs. Start by setting specific allocation percentages for each fund you intend to buy and hold to them by using the new money you invest each month to balance your portfolio. For example if one of the funds took off and now holds a dominate percentage of your portfolio you will want to invest your new money into one of the funds that is furtherst behind your target allocation. It seems weird to invest in the underperforming fund but the author stresses DISCIPINE is the key to solid investing. I am going to try something similar to this idea. We'll see how it goes. Based on my track record I am going to guess poorly.

Stocks poised for a fall

What a dismal beginning to a week. I walk in Monday morning, grab a coffee and a bagel, sit down at my computer to read the financial news hoping for some kind of breakout day for at least one of my stocks and I find this article ruining the stock trading day before it begins. I'm not really up on this "futures" deal but I think I might hate it. It seems like it could almost be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I came in this morning thinking about buying another position and after reading what the futures predict I am wondering if I should sell everything I own. Do the big boys just do this to cause a sell off and then buy everything up at cheap price?

Estate Sales and eBay

I mentioned to a coworker today that I might get up early-ish tomorrow and hit up a few estate sales to look for items for the home I intend to buy so I won't have to buy everything after I move in. When I said that she kind of chuckled and told me she wanted to show me something. We went into my office and she proceeded to login into eBay. Apparently this women spends most of her free time either hunting for things to sell on eBay or researching the items she has acquired. The thing I can not get over is the profit margin on some of the items. She must have a magic eye or something because she showed me probably a dozen items, keep in mind she has over 80 listed, that she bought for a few bucks and sold for $30, $50, or even $100. It's not even like they were all precious antiques or something either, some of the items were from outlet stores like dishes and kitchen items. So with that said I am going to every Estate Sale within a hundred miles tomorrow and buying anything and everything. I have no idea what I am doing or what I am looking for but I assure that come tomorrow evening I will have a pile of shit consisting things I don't need and probably can't sell. I am a simple minded idiot.

Stern and CBS Broadcasting near settlement

Apparently CBS Broadcasting and Howard Stern are near a settlement in the case over Stern's move to Sirius Satelite Radio. I am hoping and praying that after this stupid suit is settle Sirius will finally stop sliding. I think the stock is at like $4.32 right now and is at a new 52 week low. This sucks!

Customer service improving at Ford and the Big 3?

For as long as I have been alive it has been an obvious, yet hushed secret that the customer service of Big 3 is not actually concerned with serving the customer. It always seemed that they would sh*t on your loyalty for a $3 part. Well, long behold, the times might be changing. A few days ago a friend of mine was driving to work and hit a pothole in his Mercury Sable blowing out one of the front springs. Apparently their had been a recall on the springs due to their propensity to break and puncture tires causing serious accidents. My friend took his car in and instead of fixing the faulty spring they fixed a shield around it to prevent the spring from puncturing the tire. They did nothing to fix the actual defective spring. So when it finally blew he called Ford expressing his discontent. Amazingly after 45 minutes of banter Ford told him they would warranty his springs for 150,000 miles and that he could take his car into any dealership and have it repaired at no cost to him. I am still amazed. Maybe the Big 3 has seen the error of their way and no longer intend to treat the customer as the enemy. I really hope so because I just bought a GMC.

Truth about Credit Card Debt

As the myth goes Americans, on average, carry around $9,000 of credit card debt. In reality most Americans carry $0 and of the households that do carry over a balance the figure is actually closer to $2,200 according to an article that appeared on MSN today. The article goes on to claim that over a quarter of American households do not even have credit cards and another 31.5% of people paid off their cards. Together that means that over 56% of all American households have ZERO credit card debt.

The article, siting a recent survey of 4522 people, also found that the amount of non-mortagage debt held by Americans is much lower than previously thought. Of the people surveyed 40% had a credit card balance less than $1000 and 15% had a balance over $10,000. Minus mortage debt 48% of all consumers have debt balance less than $5000. A far cry from the idea that on average we all have 9K.

Is it a good time to buy Sirius Satelite Radio

I already own about 200 shares of Sirius Satelite Radio (SIRI) and I am thinking I should buy more. Sirius released their first quarter earnings last week and although their losses had almost doubled their subscriptions beat expectations. It was the second quarter in a row that Sirius had beat XM in subscriber growth. I am well aware that Sirius has all kinds of costs mostly related to Howard Stern's contract but, for whatever reason, people love the guy and are willing to pay $13 a month to listen to him rant and rave. The kicker for me is that come June Sirius expects to have the capability to listen to the Howard Stern Show via the internet. I have a feeling that the ability to listen to Howard at work on your computer is going to appeal to a ton of people and even persuade some of the people who are on the fence to sign up Sirius. I am also wondering if the crazy amount of traffic to Sirius's website would also create another revenue channel since they could put ads on the website, something they can not do on thier satelite radio stations.

Kentucky Derby Jockeys get Stiffed

I had no idea how bad jockey's get dumped on. If you watch the movie Seabiscuit it looks as if jockeys spend thier time riding horses, drinking booze, starving themselves, and occasionally boxing. Turns out it is way worse. This article explains the call for reforms and how bad those little guys really have it. Most importantly did anybody see the Simpsons episode with the jockeys? Guess they actually don't live underground in a fiberglass tree, the owners don't pay them enough to buy a shovel.

Websites to help pass the work day

Work sucks! Here are a couple of websites I visit, outside of pfblogs.org, to pass the workday.

• www.break.com - funny videos
  
• www.ebaumsworld.com Famous site with videos and sound boards
• www.bored.com - More videos
  
• www.shittystories.com (my site) - True, funny stories about people that couldn't hold it
• www.strangereports.com - Online pranks
  

Exxon CEO has solution to gas prices

Exxon Mobil CEO claims he has the answer to our gas price problem and it is rather simple. "Use less of our stuff". Clearly this must be something he learned in one of his Ivy League MBA courses because that fact he would tell us to use less of his product or "stuff" seems too easy. There must be some hidden, message that I can not decipher. The article I read claims that there is nothing that the lawmakers can do and, I believe that, but must he patronize us by saying things like "Be efficient with it, don't waste it." Eat shit, oil guy! On the efficient tip, I just spoke with a lady that bought a Toyoya Prius and she claims she gets 55mpg with a high of 59mpg. Not bad. Buy a Prius seems to me like a more beneficial tip than "use less of our stuff".

Vices hurting your finances?

I read an article today on MSN that for the most part ruined my day. As the Pistons get ready to make a run at the NBA championship and I get ready to make a run at every sports bar in Detroit I stumble upon a study about how vices(read things that make you happy) kill your budget. I really don't care about the cigarette part since I don't smoke but the beer and coffee really hit home. Why would did I read this article? I knew it couldn't be good.

Student loans help sidestep marriage?

Hindsight is 20/20. I am kicking myself for not taking out more student loans. According to this article on CNN Money having more student loan debts is the key to perpetual youth and happiness. Apparently a large student loan debt can delay adult-type things like buying a home or marriage. If I would have know I could have borrowed money to not work and party in college then after graduation use my debt as an excuse to prolong growing up I would have been all over it. DAMNIT!

Credit Card Tricks

Article on MSN about stupid credit card tricks that lenders use to screw consumers over. I'll admit when I was in college I got crushed by Discover. I was late on a payment or two and my APR went up to around 23%. I had no idea what was going on until I got a real job and was seated next to a frugal, little dude that paid attention to his finances. Consequently he now owns a condo, a house, and a business and all I own is this stupid blog.

This week's IPOs

Four IPOs are scheduled to be released this week. Delek U.S. Holdings, DynCorp International, Novacea, and Northstar Neuroscience are all expected to be sold in the $11 - $17 range. The one I am most curious about is DynCorp, keep in mind I know very little about IPOs or DynCorp but, from what I have read they are a private contractor for military services which to me looks pretty promising based on the state of the world. Can a little guy like me get into an IPO using E*Trade or do you have to have a certain amount of assets in your account? If you are interested here is an article with more info.