Citigroup Breakup!

Is a Citigroup breakup just around the corner? Well it came one step closer a few months ago as Citigroup Inc agreed to get together with Morgan Stanley on its brokerage business. Citigroup’s Smith Barney brokerage firm will merge with Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division.

Lets see how far Citigroup goes before they announce their latest quarterly results in a couple of weeks. On October 22 Citigroup is expected to announce another bad quarter of losses.

Question: What Flooring Material is Most Eco-Friendly?

Which flooring material is most eco friendly? Is it tile flooring, wood flooring, bamboo flooring, linoleum, or carpet? Well when it comes down to manufacturing, each of these products take a lot of natural resources to create and ship, but when it comes down to durability, there are some real winners. Natural materials like bamboo and tile will last a long time due to its durability while other materials like carpet and linoleum are more prevalent to wear and tear.

A Low Tech Life Saver

Here’s an interesting fact that you may not be up on — what could the first technological solution to collision avoidance be? Well here is a hint — it was invented over 100 years ago! What could it be? The good old car horn, of course! I was reminded of this fact in an article from Slate magazine. The horn was on the first model T when it rolled off the assembly line and its been with us ever since. Low tech? Yes. Responsible for saving countless lives and people from injury? Absolutely! Let’s give a honk for the horn.

Question: Will Barcodes Be Used in the Future?

Think about this one -- will barcodes exist in the future? I mean, barcodes have always been like a "futuristic" idea with barcode scanner machines scanning people's neck tattoos, cars and products. But I feel like barcodes will not be int he future. Instead, RFID will be the prevalent technology. The "barcodes" will be hidden as tiny RFID chips and they will be read wirelessly. No more barcodes in the future!

Imagine That Auto Show!

With the North American Auto show in full force this week in Detroit, lets take a moment to think back to a simpler time in the American Auto Industry. Forget having to decide between GPS Navigation and AWD — can you believe there was a time when you couldn’t even pick your car color? No seriously — the Model T came in only one color between 1914 and 1925 - Black. Why’s that? High tech answer - black enamel paint back then dried a lot quicker than the rest and this meant efficiency on the production line. Pure genius. Here are some original specifications of the 1908 Model T:
• 4 cylindler, 4 cycle, 20 horsepower engine
• Artillery wood type wheels
• 10 gallon gas tank
• 1200 lbs weight
• Price $750 from the factory

Question: Will Old People Look Younger in the Future?

Here's something that's crossed my mind before -- will all these wrinkle cream products out there actually make old people in the future look better an younger than old people from the past? I mean, the proof is in the pudding and the future. When people who have taken good care of their skin and used these products for 30 years hit old age, will they look better than "regular" old people?

The Worst January in Years! Is 2009 Over Yet?

Remember back in January? The last week ended the worst January ever for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500. For the month of January 2009, the Dow lost 8.8% and the S&P 500 lost 8.6%. The one bright spot? The Nasdaq didn’t do so bad — at least it wasn’t a record. The Nasdaq lost 6.4% in January, which was not the worst on record. The worst Nasdaq January was a 9.9% loss last year in January. Will anyone make any money in this market? All I can say is keep on buying securities and get your dollar cost average lower and lower. The future will one day be bright again and you will love all the low price stocks you bought.

Question: Will the Government Bring Affordable Health Insurance?

Will the U.S. Government finally bring affordable health insurance with universal coverage to reality? Well I belief there will be some sort of reform this year but its not guaranteed that the reform will include universal coverage. There are many other aspects of health care reform which could be also useful including:

• Tort Reform
• Health Insurance tax credits
• Preventing insurance companies from using pre-existing conditions
• Putting a cap on medical expense growth
  

Question: What is the Wayback Machine?

Think of the Wayback Machine as a digital time capsule where the web is archived over time and can be accessed for reference or for laughs. Created by the Internet Archive and maintained with content from Alexa Internet, this service allows users to see archived versions of web pages back through time. Check it out for yourself -- try out old versions of Amazon.com.

Question: Is Off-Shoring Dead?

How much the world can change in just 5 years. Five years ago everyone was talking about off-shoring resources and inbound call center operations in India and China. Now, after the global recession, we see the trend reversing and mutating. Reversing in the sense that some jobs are going back home to whence they came. Mutating in the form that India and China are becoming less popular countries as opposed to newer developing countries like those in South East Asia. What a difference 5 little years make.

Question: What Does ALEXA Stand For?

Alexa Internet was founded in 1996 as a way to improve internet searching by tracking web search behavior and using the results in improving search. The name Alexa originally stood for Address Lookup EXperts Authority. In 1999 (at the height of the Internet Bubble), Alexa was acquired by Amazon.com for about $250 million in Amazon stock. Now Alexa does a lot of stuff including tracking website popularity and offering SEO capabilities.

Question: What is A9?

A9, as in A9.com, is a part of Amazon.com and is located out of Palo Alto, California. The company develops search engine technology and data center services. When you are running a company that depends on search as much as Amazon.com does, it only makes sense to have your own sophisticated search engine capabilities. That is what A9 does for the big A.Next time you are on the Amazon.com website, keep your eye out for the A9 symbol on the site.

Question: Will Joe Wilson Win Reelection?

Do you know who Joe Wilson is? Surely you must after all the media coverage in the past week about the President's Address to Congress. Joe Wilson is a Republican politician from South Carolina. After shouting "You lie!" at President Obama during a nationality televised speech, Rep. Wilson has received over $1.5 million in campaign contributions for his reelection! Crazy? Well consider this -- his future challenger for his SC office has received just as much (and even more) for his election campaign.

Question: What Doesn't Qualify for CARS?

CARS, better known as the Cash for Clunkers program, does not accept every vehicle, so don't expect to be able to sell motorhome if you don't want ti anymore. Here are the rules:

• Vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date.
• Only the purchase or 5 year minimum lease of new vehicles qualify.
• Generally, trade-in vehicles must get a weighted combined average rating of 18 or fewer MPG (some very large pickup trucks and cargo vans have different requirements).
• Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in.
• Trade-in vehicles must be in driveable condition.
• The program runs from July 1, 2009 until Nov 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
• The program requires the scrapping of the eligible trade-in vehicle and that the dealer disclose to the customer an estimate of the scrap value of the trade-in. The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate.
• The new car bought under the plan must have a suggested retail price of no more than $45,000, and for passenger automobiles, the new vehicle must have a combined fuel economy value of at least 22 miles per gallon.

Question: What is the PEG Ratio of Financial Analysis?

In the subject of financial accounting and stock valuation theory, PEG ratio stands for Price/Earnings to Growth ratio, that is, the PE ratio compared to the growth ratio. Why do this? Well high growth stocks usually have high PE ratios since their earnings are low but growing fast while their stock. The idea here is that by dividing the P/E ratio by the earnings growth rate, the resulting ratio is better for comparing companies with different growth rates.

Question: How Often Should You Shop for Insurance?

I like to use 2 years as a rule of thumb for shopping for new insurance. But what types of insurance qualify for this rule? Sure you can get life insurance quotes online, but I don't recommend changing your life insurance so often. Actually this rule generally applies to property like car insurance, home insurance and personal property insurance. Other insurance like life insurance and health insurance should do be shopped around so often -- but only when there is a significant reason to do so.

Question: What is Earnings Yield?

In the world of financial analysis and financial ratios, the Earnings yield is the quotient of earnings per share (EPS) divided by the share price. For all you non-math types, quotient means the result of a division operation. If the EPS dividend is $3 per share and the Share Price is $300, then the earnings yield is 1%. It is the reciprocal of the P/E ratio. To allow an easy comparison to other rates of return (like bond rates), the earnings yield is quoted as a percentage.

Question: Why Are Empty Houses Being Broken in to?

With hundreds of thousands of homes vacant across the U.S., either from foreclosures, short sales, or newer-sold new developments, combined with a horrible economy, there has been a rise in the break and theft of building and raw materials. Thieves are breaking into homes and stealing everything that's not nailed down (well, actually that stuff too). From copper pipes and lighting fixtures to fireplace stones and hearths, empty homes are being broken into and ransacked for anything which can be re-used or re-sold. Are there homes in your neighborhood at risk?

Question: How Much is the U.S. Deficit Growing?

Scary news out this weekend -- the U.S. federal deficit grew by $181 billion in the month of July! That's as much as the deficit grew in entire years of the Clinton administration. So just how much does the U.S. government owe creditors as this point? The officials at the government are projecting that the one year (2009) deficit to reach $1.8 trillion by the end of the fiscal year. That's 3 times+ more than the previous annual record of 455 billion.

Question: Why Buy Leads?

Buying leads in business, whether they be new car interest leads or insurance marketing leads, is one way to jump start your sales business. There are many ways to generate new clients but buying leads is one of the easiest. It may not always work out as you planned, but it is a quick and dirty way to generate leads for your sales staff.

Question: What is the DJIA?

DJIA stands for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Other names for it include just the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or the Dow. It is an index which weighs the relative performance of 30 stocks and its movement is widely held as a generally indicator to the health of the U.S. (and global) economy. Here is a list of DJIA stocks:

• 3M Co.
• Alcoa Inc.
• American Express Co.
• AT&T Inc.
• Bank of America Corp.
• Boeing Co.
• Caterpillar Inc.
• Chevron Corp.
• Cisco Systems Inc.
• Coca-Cola Co.
• E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
• Exxon Mobil Corp.
• General Electric Co.
• Hewlett-Packard Co.
• Home Depot Inc.
• Intel Corp.
• International Business Machines Corp.
• Johnson & Johnson
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Kraft Foods Inc. Cl A
• McDonald's Corp.
• Merck & Co. Inc.
• Microsoft Corp.
• Pfizer Inc.
• Procter & Gamble Co.
• Travelers Cos. Inc.
• United Technologies Corp.
• Verizon Communications Inc.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
• Walt Disney Co.

Question: Why Keep an Older Car?

Well it could be nostalgia. It could be for classic looks. But for me, keeping an older car and driving it till it falls apart is all about saving money. Without a car payment, you are literally driving for pennies a mile. Think of all the money you save -- it will be enough to pay for a new paint job, clear head lights and new dash kits well into the next decade. Even when it comes to gas mileage -- its usually cheaper to drive a less fuel efficient clunker than to pay $15000 for a new car just to get more gas mileage.

Question: What is Communication Management in Business?

In Project Management, a Communication Management Plan is the document which describes how communication will take place during the project. It addresses the needs of the project in terms of communication and plans out how these needs will be met. It can include an org chart with contact information, a plan on which regular meetings will take place, and how changes to the plan will be communicated to the team and stakeholders.

Question: What is User-Generated Content?

User-Generated Content is the term to refer to the method of creating content, usually on the Internet, by a volunteer group of people. The people can be preselected or anonymous and they can often delete, revise or rework other people's work. Think Wikipedia! But user generated content can take many other forms from the Lipofuze review you read on a blog to the book reviews you see at Amazon dot com. When you leave comments on this blog, its a form of UGC.

Question: Where Does Money Market Fund Money Go?

A Money Market Fund is an bank account or investment account where in the cash is invested in very short term low risk securities. These are often short term bonds and overnight lending. Why the setup like this? Two reasons -- first, to guarantee the money will never go down in value. Second, to provide depositors a reason to keep their money in the bank. Getting something on your money is better than nothing and the 0.5% to 2% return on a money market fund is nothing to laugh at. The money in the fund is guaranteed by the bank as if it were a savings account. The money is used as the bank likes but its FDIC insured.

Question: Should I Try Debt Consolidation Now?

Well it could make sense depending on your situation. Interest rates are at a low point right now which means if you have higher rate debt then you could save money with debt consolidation. Also if you need to cut your monthly costs, reducing your debt payments would do a service to you. But make sure you understand all the fees and charges associated with debt consolidation. If you consolidate to a lower rate but your pay a large sum in fees up front, it doesn't make sense!

Question: Does a Hybrid Car Make Personal Finance Sense?

Sounds like a no-brainer, doesn't it? Buy a hybrid car and save big money on gas. But it actually is more complex than that. Basically there are three modes of cost savings and one mode of higher costs. All four need to be considered and determine whether the savings outweigh the costs and after how long.

Higher Costs:

1. Hybrids cost more than non-hybrids -- Between $2000 and $20,000 more for a hybrid than the identical model in non-hybrid form.

Costs Savings:

1. Gas! -- Save $100 to $500 on fuel per year.
2. Tax Credits! -- Save $1500 on some hybrid models.
3. Higher Resale!

Question: Have You Seen How Busy Value Village Is?

Well maybe you haven't, but the message here is that a lot of thrift and second hand stores are seeing a real uptick in business this year due to the recession. From Value Village to Goodwill, you can find gently used clothes in these stores for $5, $3 and $2 a piece! That's really wholesale clothing when you think about it. These types of stores are seeing this gain and so too is WalMart, the largest discount retailer in the world. Have your shopping habits changed? Have you ever bought second hand clothes?

Question: How Much Did the S&P Rise Last Week?

Sure the U.S. Stock market gave back some gains in trading today but last week was just spectacular! The major U.S. stock indicies rose around 7% last week! That's quite a gain for a Bear market. All in all, this year to date my aggression 401k is up over 7.2% -- that's not too shabby considering the market turmoil seen this year and its great compares with the 40% drop last year!

Question: What is a Stay-cation?

This blog is all about saving money, so I'm always looking for new ways to share with you. One buzzword in the culture right now is the stay-cation. Its a vacation where you "stay" where you live. Visit your local city center or just stay in your backyard with your family. Sure you can buy some new outdoor dining sets to make it a little more luxurious, but its still probably cheaper than buying plane tickets or driving hundreds of miles on the road.

Question; What is a Project Management Baseline?

In Project Management, the baseline is defined as the approve work plan (e.g. schedule, budget, scope) with the approved changes added or subtracted from it. When the actual progress of the project is different than the baseline, a delta can be determined. This is useful in determining project metrics like work completion, cost projections and labor estimates to complete.

Question: What is Business Resiliency?

Business Resiliency is all about creating an organization which cannot be easily destroyed or ruined. Think about it sorta like diversification but without necessarily having different product lines. Its more like being able to get things done in different ways. Its about suppressing - not like appetite suppressant but like keeping the unexpected from taking over. Suppress issues and learn from them and grow your business into a resilient organization.

Question: How Can I Manage Assumptions?

In Project Management, assumptions can be defined as things we believe to be true during project planning. These things are taken to be true without necessary proof (although backup could be useful). Assumptions made during project planning have risk associated with them which needs to be accounted for. This follows into Risk Planning.

Question: Who is Recycling in Home Decor?

Google "Recycled Building Materials" and you will get millions of hits. So what's the big deal with this? Well there is something very chic right now about recycling building materials and building new homes made of old stuff. From reclaimed wood to antique chandeliers, its big business right now to recycle old materials and build beautiful new homes.

Question: Is the Widescreen the Computer Monitor Winner?

Yes, its true -- the standard 4:3 ratio monitor is becoming harder and harder to find. There has been recently an unofficial shift in the lifecycle of computer monitors. Many manufacturers have announced end of lifecycles for traditional 4:3 aspect ratio screens. From hear on out, the standard will be the 16:9 widescreen variety. If you are not a big fan of widescreen monitors, then hurry up and buy your 4:3 now before they are impossible to find.

Question: Are Online Pharmacies Safe?

Sure you can go online and get diet pill reviews and price comparisons, but is it safe for you to actually buy your medicines on the Internet? Well the appeal to save money and spend less is large but is it actually safe? The jury is still out. I mean, many large website state they are safe and list their safety records and protocols online, but how can you really trust them. I think Consumer Reports should make an article about safe online pharmacies.

Question: How Much Stuff for a Trillion?

The war in Iraq has cot the U.S. so far up to $1 trillion. Someone already thought about this large sum and wrote a book about it. Its called "What We Could Have Done With the Money: 50 Ways to Spend the Trillion Dollars We've Spent on Iraq" by Rob Simpson.

Some extracts from the book:
- Provide every high school student in the U.S. a free college education.
- Pay off every American's credit card Debt.
- Buy a new Buick for every senior citizen still driving in the United States.
- Put another 663,000 Police on the street for 32 years.
- Buy 6.6 million Habitat for Humanity houses, enough for 43 million Americans.

Question: Why Shop at Buy.com?

Why shop at Buy.com? Well here's the secret that the other sites don't want you to know. Buy.com will show you their price along side the price of all their competitors on the web for items they sell. They feel is they can't give you the best deal around that they will tell you where to find it. Its all about getting the absolute lowerst price for the hottest tech and home goods. Buy.com also has their famous weekly sale page where you can find amazing sale and closeout prices on stuff. I always check that page out once a week. Usually these deals are limited stock, so check back often and snatch up some amazing deals.

Can't get enough of those funny Buy.com commercials on TV? Well you can watch them all online. Just search for user "BuydotcomCommercials" on YouTube to find their page. Its really quite funny and refreshing. How exactly did Howie Mandel make this great breakout in U.S. pop culture? From his game show to his Buy.com commercials it has really been fun to watch him succeed.

1401 and Counting!

This is post number 1401 at Ask Jason and its been a long journey. Those 1401 posts took over 2 years to make. Still when you think about it, that's an average of almost 2 posts a day for two solid years. Thanks to all the readers who have visited this site and make it one of the top rates search results for ASK JASON on Google. Here's to 1400 more posts!

Question: How Can I Save Money on Flooring?

Is the current economic downturn making you think about fixing up your home. I mean, lets face it, with prices down you are probably going to be living in the same home for at least the next 5 years. So why not beautify your home? But how to do it for less money? I like looking at high quality wood flooring from innovative materials. I love bamboo as a price conscious and very eco-friendly choice. Bamboo is useful because it grows to fast and it is so durable and strong. It can save you money now and then in the future as it wears very well.

Question: How Will the New iPod Shuffle Evolve?

The new Apple iPod Shuffle was released a short while ago and it is certainly an amazing device. So small -- so advanced -- can you imagine that they fit 4 GBs of memory into such a tiny footprint. Here are the next steps for this amazing device:

1. More colors -- so far, its only black and white. Come one Apple! How obvious is this one? Its always the same pattern.
2. Cheaper Price / 2nd Model -- its always the same, start with one model, say 4 GB for $79 and then 6 months later, offer a larger storage version for the same (or higher price point) and /or drop the price of the original size device. I predict $69 for 4 GB and $89 for 8 GB in six months from now.
3. ???? - Here's the wild card of the pattern. This would be a special but not fundamental change in the device. What could it be? A mirrored front? Textures? Glow in the dark? What do you think?
   

Question: How Can I Get Style?

Are you dude who just can't get it together? I mean, you're not into fashion and you could care less about shopping for clothes, but you don't want to look like a schulb at the office... Here's my tip for style for dudes -- get a magazine subscription! No seriously, get a subscription to Esquire Magazine. Its a fun read, with lots of girls, tech, girls, and jokes, and, if your read it, you might pick up some style tips. From picking out a tuxedo to making sure your pants match your jacket, you can learn a lot my reading a magazine!

Question: Who Are the Gold Bugs?

No they are not termites who eat gold bar! When we hear the term "gold bug" is refers to someone who invests heavily in gold as opposed to stocks, bond, real estate or cash. A Gold Bug usually is very bullish on buying gold and holds it as a great store of wealth. The only problem I see with being a gold bug is where to store all your bullion? Under your bed? In the bank? In a buried chest in your backyard?

Question: How is Memory like Inflation?

Think about this one -- when you see a compact flash card for sale at a store, what determines the price? Moreover, when technology improves and more memory is available for less money, what happens to the existing inventory? Well the price of the existing cards must be slashed. Its sorta like a type of inflation -- for technology. Why would Target want to stock 2 GB memory cards for $9.99 each, when in 6 months you can buy 4GB for the same price? If they haven't sold all the 2GB cards, they will have to slash the price to $4.99 or less in order to keep it worth it. That's a 50% loss!

Question: Should I Just Cash in My Accounts?

In investing, some of the best advise I've ever gotten is "Stay the Course". This means sticking with your long term plan through thick and thin. An amazing example of this was seen last week. With all the meltdown on Wall Street on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, some investors would have gotten out of the market. If they had, they would have missed Thursday's and Friday's great rally. Look at my returns on Friday last week:


These were my favorite mutual funds and ETFs I hold in my retirement accounts. If I would have sold into the panic on Tuesday, I would not have recovered this much on Friday! Sure I was down for the week overall, but I would have been a lot more down if I had sold into Wednesday's panic.

Question: What Will Happen to the Beach?

What will happen to the beaches and other ocean front property as global warming and climate change start to raise global sea levels? I mean, think about it -- those beach vacation rentals and property will start to go underwater as ocean levels rise. A 10 foot ocean level change would displace hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Where would they all go -- what would happen will at that property?

Question: How Do You Calculate a Stocks' PE?

A PE ratio, also known as a Price-to-Earnings ratio is a measure of a stocks inherent value. To calculate PE, you take the stock's current selling price and divide it by the earnings per share value of the stock. For example, if a stock trades for $30 a share and the EPS (Earnings per Share) is $3, the PE ratio is 30/3 = 10.

Question: What is Whole Life Insurance?

There are many different types of life insurance out there and one is called "Whole Life Insurance". Here is what it means. As opposed to term life, whole life covers your for your entire life. When you die, your survivors get a benefit or if you live super-long, you get the benefit. If you want details, there are 6 different variants of whole life insurance: non-participating, participating, indeterminate premium, economic, limited pay, and single premium. See Wikipedia for more info.

Question: How Can I Improve My Meetings?

Well there are many things that you should be doing -- its up to you to read this list and determine which ones you are missing and whether they would fit your business environment:

• Publish and agenda ahead of time
• Stick with the agenda
• Post meeting rules
• No cell phones
• Set a start time
• Late people don't get recaps
• Late people must pay fine
• Late people must take minutes
• Table (for next time or new meeting) non-agenda or sidebar discussions
  

Question: Should I Buy Generic Food?

Sounds creepy -- "generic food" -- but I think we're talking about store brands or no-name brands of common foods. In my opinion, to save money, buying WalMart brand products for beans and pasta and milk is perfectly fine. If it means the difference between having to set pantry moth traps in your bare pantry or having enough food to eat, make sure you and your family eat well. The food is just as healthy (if not as tasty) and it can save you hundreds of dollars a year on grocery bags.