Random Thoughts: Things don’t go boom

Times they aren’t a changing

Given this week started with a possible disaster in New York, it seems to be ending with hopefully less oil being expelled into the Gulf of Mexico and a possible election on the horizon in Canada? The big financial news in Canada was possible Mortgage frauds in Western Canada (on BMO), but a possible election may cause a lot more interesting discussions for the coming summer.

My View of the Week

• Remember When Things were better? Remember when things were better? Were they really? Nostalgia really ain’t what it used to be.
• Happy May day Well, May day was actually on Saturday, but for we working folk, May Day should be celebrated on Monday, to show the Bourgeoisie Aristocracy, that the working man will one day rise up!
• Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics Statistical analysis can be a tool, but it can also be used to fool you.
• Random Thoughts for Tax Day in Canada Pay those Taxes Today! Hope you have finished your taxes because they are due today hope you are procrastinating any later than say, now, we look to see what other exciting things may have happened.

From the Blogonauts

What is new in the Financial Blogosphere? Just read on, Gentle Reader:

• Michael James asks the lyrical question Do Stocks Only Go Up?, and the answer is, depends on when you look. If you only look at stocks on days when they go up, it might seem like that.
• Preet asks Why Does Door Knocking Work? because parasites need to eat and there are far too trusting people out there as well. Anybody who comes to my door to offer something, without my solicitation is not welcome, but I try to make them go away in a polite way (some really don’t take the hint).
• What to do with your tax refund? Larry MacDonald posts a link to another bloggers ideas of what you should do with your refund. I was just glad I paid my wife’s owed money off before April 30th
• Canadian Financial DIY talks about Retirement System Redesign Ideas (and I respect his opinions in this area, given he is retired), but it worries you to read The Peter Principles.
• Ellen Roseman discusses Complaints about tax collectors and tax software where Ellen points out that even after you file, you may need to follow up to get all you deserve in your refund.
• According to Gail V-O you are Flirtin with Disaster (to quote Molly Hatchet ) if you haven’t done an Emergency Dry-run which is a cornerstone of any plan, you need to at least attempt to walk through it to see if there are any major flaws in it, before you are in the middle of your disaster.
• Promod from Riscario Insider has been enjoying CALU 2010 and has a post about Billionaire Sir Terence Matthews On How to Compete with India and China (Mr. Matthews is actually Welsh, not Canadian), interesting prescription, but at least it does not advocate ridiculous tarifs and taxes to keep North America competitive.

Enjoy a quiet weekend, put up your feet, and watch to see if we get a pop election call next week!