Random Thoughts

Yes, it is time for the Clown Prince of Financial Blogging to do the dastardly deed of unmasking our Financial Crime Fighting heroes!

Did you guess any of these Financial Writing Do-Gooders? Some are blatantly obvious, while others are more clever in their concealing their secret identities.

First, the accursed Money Media Maven, you have seen him, I know you have (unless you don’t own a TV), but you have seen his postings here as well. He is none other than… Preet Banerjee! I bet you didn’t know for his affinity to drive race cars, did you?

If you did not guess The Voice of Money, you aren’t looking very hard. That is none other than Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a lovely lady and a very plain speaking lady.

Who is  Judge Financial? That one is a little trickier. He hides his love of all rules and regulations well but never gets in an argument with him about rules. You will most assuredly lose! Da Judge is none other than Michael James.

As for Mrs. Financial Transmographier, you should know that one just based on the $3 HD TV antenna comment,  but that is, of course, Kerry from Squawkfox (in fact, you see her a great deal on TV and in Magazines these days).

The Summer here in Ottawa continues, with wonderfully oppressive heat (I am not sarcastic, I still remember those days in January where I complained about how cold it was) and tremendous storms. My only problem with this summer (and all summers) is that they pass far too quickly!

My Writings for Week Ending July 25th

Did you realize you missed both Ice Cream Day and Hammock Day this week? I need a calendar with this kind of important information.

• I was interviewed by Sheryl Smolkin and she published Big Cajun Man Shares RDSP, RESP Expertise, which is a very kind title (I am no expert, just a grizzled user). I also must work on my interview technique, noting I start most sentences with “Well”, dear me, I need to talk to the Financial Media Maven about his techniques.
• While missing out on Hammock Day, Stats Canada did point out that Inflation Stayed Up in June, which is not a good thing, even if loose money policies still prevail at the Bank of Canada.
• I do have a very good working relationship with one of my advertisers, so I figured I could ask the question what is the difference between Disability Insurance vs. Critical Illness Insurance, luckily I got a very good answer to write about.
• I am very much a geek at heart, and yes I did (and sometimes still do) read comic books (I read them WAY before they were cool), so I wandered farther afield with Comic-Con International and Financial Super Heroes, I suspect I may be in trouble with a few of those Financial folk, we shall see.

Read More »Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek

So the World Cup is finally over. Congrats to the German team. We hope this means the beginning of a thousand years of supremacy in Football (maybe that isn’t the right phrase to use, but congrats). Exciting game to watch, glad it didn’t go to penalty kicks.

For those that may have missed it on le 14 juillet it was Bastille Day, which might explain why any of your French associates seemed overly patriotic on that day.

The baseball All-Star game was played this week, in Minnesota. This game actually matters since the winning team’s League will have home field advantage for the World Series this year. Who won the game? Tokyo?!? I didn’t really watch it, but I heard it was good. Did the Human League win?

Weird Al Yankovic has a new set of videos out, and a topical one is included at the end of this article. I enjoy Al’s parodies of current hits, but nothing will ever top his classic White & Nerdy (with Donny Osmond).

Word is that Montreal would be an excellent site for a Major League Baseball team, as a die-hard Expos fan (I was in the original Rusty Staub fan club), I can only hope, but they better not play in the Big Owe. Must Keep Calm on this one (there is a video about that too at the end).

My Writings for Week Ending July 18th

I have varmints eating my tomatoes and peppers in my back yard, aside from a shot-gun, can someone tell me the best way to get rid of them? A falcon sounds like a good idea, but I don’t know where to get one on short notice.

• Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek some of the better stories from the week of July 11, 2014.
• Employment in Canada continues to be better, but unemployment is still up last month as well, when will we see the boom of jobs that has been promised? Old farts like me are finding jobs, but the young folks are having a harder time, as Stats Canada Pointed out.
• Meet the new Budget, same as the Old Budget was the initial title of my “New” Ontario Budget 2014 article, but I didn’t want the Who’s lawyers to call me about copyright infringement.
• If you have half an hour, a kindle reader and $1 please read How Millenials Can Get Rich Slowly, by William Bernstein, it is well worth the time and money.

Read More »All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek

I finally finished “the Stand” a novel by Stephen King, but I listened to the audiobook, and it was 48 hours long (I am not kidding, click here to see it on Audible), but I am glad I listened to it. I am in a Stephen King mood right now, and I have always wanted to finish this book (never got passed the first 1/3 before), but now I can check that book off the list. Yes, I am bragging that I listened to a book.

Many funny jokes have been written about the latest alleged incident at the World Cup of Football, where Uruguayan striker Suarez allegedly took a bite out of an Italian opponent in their previous game this week. I have seen a lot of weird sports things in my life, and this just adds to the list. We have seen biting in Hockey, but mostly players biting each others fingers and such, a shoulder bite is a much more exciting occurrence. The Banks have their rules and their ways of doing things, but hitting an injured soldier with a $7K penalty while selling his home (that he could no longer afford due to his injuries), is a bit of a nightmare scenario. The unfortunate part is I am sure if someone in the head office, say in the media relations side of things, had heard of this earlier, they would have done something about it, but having it come out in the Media now paints the Bank as being heartless and uncaring. Funny how decisions at the local level can harm the reputation of an entire firm? (but not really).

My Writings for Week Ending June 27th

Canada day this weekend, and most folks with sense (who are allowed to take vacation) are taking Monday off as well, thus creating an awesome 4 day weekend:

• Yes, I think the Red Flags are up, and I write about them with Who said Inflation ? CPI Up in Canada, with Gas prices now a little out of control, we may see less economic stimulation from the Bank of Canada (soon).
• The Electricity Quandary is a two-pronged discussion of the new “Smart Thermostats” that Ontario Hydro is pushing and a debate about the future of the Electricity Grid in North America.
• I have a massive archive of posts, so I am going back through many of them, so Thursdays looks to be Throwback Thursdays for a while, and with that I brought you, A Financial Plan B (revisited), do you have a Plan B yet?
• I also appeared in this weeks Carnival of Risks #211 over at Workers’ Comp Insider, well worth a read if you are paranoid about lightning (like I am).
• You do realize I have an odd sense of humor with Joke of the Day: Chickmunks .

Read More »Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial

What happens around the World at half time of the World Cup Final? Is it like Flushed away? Is there a sudden tsunami? Who knows?