The Capital Finance
Recently, I had a great shopping experience at the downtown mall. I set out for the day needing to find four different gifts for Father’s Day. I needed a gift for my father, my husband’s father, my stepfather, and my uncle Joe, who has always been a father figure in my life. Anyone who has ever shopped for a man can tell you that they are very hard to shop for. This is especially true when a man has everything. This year I decided that for Father’s Day I would just keep it simple by purchasing items that I knew they would use.
Within one hour, I had every gift that I needed. I found my dad’s favourite cologne, my husband’s dad’s favourite music CD, my step father’s must have shaving lotion, and even my Uncle Joe’s favourite gourmet coffee. I was almost lost when it came to Uncle Joe. All that I can say is thank God for Costa Coffee. The store had not been there for very long and I had never even noticed it there before but now there is the Costa Coffee voucher available. I was thrilled to see it there, set up between the exit doors and the restroom.
Thankfully, my Father’s Day shopping is over for the year. The best part is I found all of my gifts in a very short amount of time. That is my kind of shopping.
When Benjamin Franklin flew his kite and discovered electricity through a bolt of lightening, he probably didn’t know how important or how far this discovery would go.
Over the centuries, we have come a long way. When we pay our monthly electric bill, we take it for granted. We come home and turn on the lights. We sit down and turn on the television, dvd player, computer, coffee maker, and maybe even cook on an electric stove. For those who have a long day at work, they probably come home and cook something really fast in the microwave which is also run by electricity. Our refrigerators keep foods safe and healthy and without electricity they are useless. Our homes and apartments need electricity to keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Just a simple slice of bread in a toaster needs electricity to toast it to that perfection that we enjoy as part of our morning breakfast.
There are so many things that we plug in without thinking about them that when a storm hits and the power goes out, we feel helpless. We can’t wait for that electricity to be restored. Remember that the next time you plug in your electric toothbrush or shaver that Ben Franklin practically risked his life to discover this much needed resource for the sake of living our much easier lifestyles.
Display clothing items on clothes racks if possible. If you are selling clothing it is important to display that clothing in a way that makes it easy for buyers to find what they want. If a wardrobe or clothes rack is not available try stringing a clothesline or piece of rope between two trees on your property. Make sure that the prices of all clothing items are clearly marked as well. If you are selling all items for a set price be sure to display that information prominently.
Display books, CDs, videos and other such items in boxes or racks to make it easier for customers to browse. No one wants to look through a big pile of CDs or books. Make it easier for your customers to find what they want by displaying the items properly. If the CD racks or bookcases are for sale as well be sure they have a prominently displayed price tag.
Be sure to check with your township and your homeowner’s association before planning your yard sale. Some municipalities and associations place restrictions on the number or type of yard sales residents may have. There may also be restrictions on signage, especially the placement of signs on public streets. Determining the rules before you start will make your life a lot easier. After all the last thing you want is to have your yard sale profits eaten up by a big fat fine.
Present all merchandise in an attractive and professional manner. As you prepare for the yard sale take a step back and look at the display with a buyer’s eye. Is the merchandise displayed in an attractive manner, or are items strewn about haphazardly? Think about how people shop and arrange your displays accordingly.
Whether we currently stand at the end of the recession or on the brink of a new downturn, it is important to position yourself for the recovery now. No matter how deep the current recession gets – or how long it lasts – it will be followed by a period of recovery.
Trying to time the recovery can be an exercise in frustration. After all even highly paid Wall Street types failed to see the downturn coming. Expecting the average person to know exactly when the turnaround is underway may not be impossible – but it is certainly close to it.
So instead of trying to pinpoint the exact day the economic recovery will start, take the time to look at how the recession has affected you and your family. Some of the changes you made out of economic necessity may help you to save more going forward. And the new priorities you had to set may serve you well as the economy recovers.
Consider consumer spending as just one example. Many factors played a role in our current economic troubles, but consumer spending certainly did play a part. For too long ordinary consumers have been spending too much and saving too little, and that is a recipe for disaster no matter what the state of the overall economy.
There is no doubt that we are living in challenging economic times. In fact many people have never experienced an economy quite as bad as the one we now find ourselves living through. From a savage stock market environment to rampant job losses and company bankruptcies, this is one economy few of us will ever forget.
In fact the current economic climate has gotten so bad that it is forcing many of us to change the way we live our lives and alter the way we look at our finances. While these changes can certainly be painful, those forced changes can actually lay the groundwork for a better financial position going forward.
Live Below Your Means
One of the hallmarks of financially successful people has always been their seemingly remarkable ability to live on far less than they make. The current economic climate has forced many of us to live on much less, and in the long run that can be a good thing.
Get all the permits you need to! Don´t think you can sneak around doing all this work, making all that noise, and creating a huge mess with everything you are removing from the house – with no one noticing. Get your permits and display them for all to see.
Prepare for the worst. Even the best home inspections can easily miss damage that can be hidden behind walls or in ceilings. If you plan on doing any sort of demolition work – tearing down a wall, replacing a floor, etc. – you never know what to expect when original materials are removed. If you are redoing a bathroom, for instance, and remove the tub…you could find some significant water damage behind or underneath. Water damage leads to mold, which leads to quarantine as soon as a building inspector sees it. And he will!
Before even buying a property, find contractors you can trust. Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, landscapers, flooring experts…anyone you might need to help get the house fixed and ready to sell. Don´t wait until you pull out the kitchen cabinets to try to find someone to put in new ones, and then find out you can´t afford to have it done. Develop relationships, get estimates on possible projects that could come up, and get references!
This latter point is important for investors, as opposed to market traders who thrive on getting in and out of the markets to turn a profit quickly. On 9 March the S&P 500 closed at a recent low of 676. As of writing it is around 830, an increase of some 154 points or over 22%. But is this a much-feared bear market rally or the start of a genuine bull run? Let\´s see what the charts tell us.
A Simple Indicator for Investors
In contrast to the above definitions for a bull and bear market, the best and simplest indicator of the long-term market trend is the 200-day moving average (or 200-DMA). This is a simple average of the previous 200 trading days so covers data from over 40 weeks. The 200-DMA for the S&P 500 is currently at 1,019, some 200 points above the index itself and a strong indicator that, as we all know, we are in a deep bear market. The last time this 200-DMA resistance level was tested was back in May 2008 and it has been seriously downhill since then. A genuine and long-lasting bull market will only happen once this 200-DMA has been breached and the stock market index sits comfortably above it. Using this measure, we are not yet ready to call a new bull market.
