Gas prices rise for 48th day but oil drops – Oil & energy- msnbc.com.

A-Hole reporters are at it again. I really cannot stand how reporters report news. Look at the graph on this article. The red line is gas. It says in the gray box that oil is $2.67 a gallon yet the red line is up over $3 on the graph. Why is the red line up that high when the gray line is way under the $3 mark on the graph? There are three possible choices. The first reason is the reporter is an idiot. The second reason is because the reporter is a sensationalist idiot. The third reason is both the first and second reason. I’ll take the third reason.

I find myself sitting in a weird position. I am fully invested in a market that has run up significantly lately. I read in the paper this morning stocks tend to trade sideways during the summer. This is probably one of those summers. The paper also said trading sideways has a way of reducing the “overbought” condition of the markets. If we are past the worst part of the downturn (I HOPE), and the following factors play out, I don’t see any reason to change my positions just for the sake of doing so. Since I am a sucker for small business news and information, my guess is you’ll probably be seeing a lot more of these kinds of posts from me over the next several months. Have a great summer!

Global airlines fear oil rally as losses mount – Yahoo News.

Another sign we are in for a rough road ahead if oil prices continue their rally. Jackasses on Wall Street should not be able to run up oil prices under the same conditions they are allowed to now. Yes, it’s a commodity. Yes its a limited resource. I’m not sure what to do. But I do know the economy is going to be in for a rough road if we cannot get a handle on oil speculation.

I hope the government has oil on its radar screen. The Europeans say we should stop complaining about high gas prices as they have been dealing with them for years. It doesn’t matter right now. If the US doesn’t find a way to deal with rising gas prices, our economic recovery is dead in the water. In my opinion, we’re in this mess because of oil prices last year. It was the little snowball that gained speed and turned into an avalanche. When gas prices went through the roof, Americans started getting squeezed on expenses. That led to homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments…and here we are.

Crude Oil

Webisodes: I Can’t Believe It’s Not a Commercial!-Minyanville.

We get tired of all of the retread marketing ideas out there. Every so often, someone comes up with a great “marketing” idea. The Potty Project by Pull-Ups diaper company is just such a marketing idea. They started the Potty Project to help parents through the potty training process. The “webisodes” are jammed with helpful information and a “we are all in this together attitude.” The results are listed in the article. They are seeing double the amount of visitors and customer response has been excellent. Great ideas usually get great results.

Today is a big day for many wondering about GM plant closings. Where I live, I know probably a half dozen people who are work at GM. The Spring Hill, TN plant makes Saturn cars and is one of the plants being considered. I spoke with one of the guys on Saturday and he has no idea what is going to happen. I read the stories about employees not being able to sleep, etc and feel for them. The auto industry is having a really tough time and it’s amazing how many people are affected by it. 

Dear Bernie and feeder fund managers:

You’re complete scumbags. Watch the PBS Frontline program “The Madoff Affair” and see for yourselves. I cannot believe how you convinced so many people to give you money knowing you were stealing from them or not doing any due diligence. You all get credit for one thing and that’s understanding greed. Every feeder fund manager or decision maker should go to jail. Not only were you negligent and stupid,  several of you actually appeared on the program trying to explain. It’s amazing how money and the pursuit of a lot of money can be the cause of  really stupid decisions. I suspect all of you feel really betrayed. Give me a break. You guys should have done a little home work before you invested OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. You had a FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY to protect that money! You just passed it along with no checks and balances and made your money.

Bernie Madoff

If I give you my kid and you decide to let another parent watch my kid (WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE) and something happens, whose fault is it? Your answer: the other parent. WRONG.

You all need to be brought out in public. People need to know who you are so you can never do work in the financial industry again. Go do something that doesn’t require the trust of other people. You don’t deserve it anymore. Let me be clear: Go do something else AFTER YOU GO TO JAIL FOR AWHILE. To me, it’s really that simple.

Sincerely,

Scott
of BobandScott.com

Is it me or are American cars getting pretty cool? Talk about your poor management/RD teams. The economy was pretty good between 2002-2007. American cars stunk. Now, the economy is in the toilet and American cars are pretty cool. If there was ever an example of how to react to business trends, American car makers are the textbook example. They have reacted to consumer trends over the last 10-25 years and are paying for it dearly. There is so much blame to go around but it’s to bad American cars aren’t being sold in a good economy because I might buy one.

Are you as tired as I am of small business owners using their kids in TV advertisements? We have a local car dealer “Carnival Kia” in Nashville who uses his kids to peddle cars. He has got to be the lamest excuse for a pitchman I have ever seen and he has his kids on every commercial with him doing something. Next to the word phase “cheesy advertising” in the dictionary, there is a picture of this guy. LAME. He is always so proud of himself too. I guess his employees want to stay employed. If any of you are want to get fired or are looking for a way out, bring up the cheesy ads.

We also have a chiropractor who has been using his son for TV commercials. Again, a very lame attempt at advertising by this guy. Let you kid stay home and play outside or do whatever but you define what appropriate advertising IS NOT.

Maybe these two guys are in the same “How to make cheesy tv ads” business networking group or something. I’ve done advertising I look back on and am not proud of like standing on the side of a road adertising a haircut sale or putting vinyl lettering on my car but using your kid in your ads? Enough already. It’s probably why TIVO was invented.

How else do you put it? The banks are in for another interesting ride today. As I continue to bum out over the missed opportunity on Citigroup (there is still a ton of opportunity probably but I’m just not ready), I comfort myself knowing I have USB, MTB, MS, and WFC. They have been great for me. Just not as great as C.