Fire the Policy Makers

Totaling up the market movements in my accounts this morning I discovered that I lost more money in a single day yesterday than the entire principal that I've paid on the mortgage all year long! And I pay double the mortgage minimum every month.

It is time to fire the people making economic policy decisions. Start with Bernanke. Then it should be Timmy at Treasury. Every congressman at the fed and state level that proposes more tax increases and spending boondoggles. Cap it all off with firing the president for lack of leadership.

It sucks to be anything but a ward of the state any more. Is that the plan?

Sign of the Times

Looks like I waited one day too long for this sale...

PlanetOut Running Out

It would appear that PlanetOut, the owner of many well known gay publications and businesses, is slated to run out of cash later this year:

The San Francisco owner of Gay.com, along with the Advocate and Out magazines, disclosed this week that it will run out of money before the end of the year without an infusion of cash.

The company, which debuted in a 2004 IPO, is apparently having serious problems with their travel business, specifically RSVP cruises, in addition to fewer paid personal ads and a decline in advertising revenue (in print, I would assume). According to CEO Karen Magee, it will take 2 years to conduct a turnaround. That means that if cash runs out before the loan comes due, they will need to either get a fresh capital investment from somewhere, or move into bankruptcy protection.

Although I wasn't aware previously that they were draining cash, I figured there must be something serious happening with the cruise line. Advertisements were almost every 3rd page in the Advocate, with supplementals and on several occasions a copy of another periodical, Out Traveler. Also to be found many times in the Advocate were "articles" about cruises that weren't much more than a wordy advert.

I'm hopeful that they get the chance to enact the turnaround, although the capital infusion isn't going to come from their stock, which has been tanking almost since the day they IPO'd. But I do hope they are successful, especially since I am a fairly good customer. I participate at (and pay for) gay.com, subscribe to The Advocate magazine, and am giving serious consideration on going for a cruise. (Yes, the advertising and "articles" worked on me!)

Now if they would just do something to freshen the magazine that would help them avoid collecting comments about them such as "by then the news will be so old even The Advocate will be reporting it" !

A Possible Stock Opportunity

Recently while perusing various fitness information, I somehow ended up at Wikipedia after googling the word "anaphrodisiac." (How I got there I cannot remember, somehoe related to testosterone). From there I followed a link to aphrodisiac, curious as to what it had to say.

From there, I came across the following statement:

Bremelanotide

A new drug called Bremelanotide (formerly PT-141) seems to be the first real aphrodisiac. It stimulates sexual desire in both men and women, and clinical trials are currently testing it for the treatment of sexual arousal disorder and erectile dysfunction.

That sounded very interesting to me. Everyone has heard about Viagra and it's brethren. But the problem with those drugs is that they affect the cardiovascular system. Basically they cause an erection from a physical perspective. And although an erection can make a man feel sexy, the better course is where feeling sexy causes an erection. Or at least, that is my theory.

Or to put it into an analogy: Current drugs are like putting air into a balloon. This new drug is like putting gas into a balloon. One will fill it up and make it eassier to float, whereas the other will cause it to float, bouncing along the air currents.

What makes Bremelanotide interesting is that it affects the sexual urge, or the mental urge. That just seems more natural. Or, in other words, an actual aphrodisiac.

Since sex sells, I see an opportunity here. The first prescription aphrodisiac. It is in the testing phase now, having passed phase II and entering III any day now. The company that is developing the drug, Palatin Technologies, is trading at a ridiculously low $2. I've scarfed up a bunch of shares and plan to hold until the end of the current testing phase.

One interesting trivia about this drug is how it was discovered. They were apparently testing a sunless tanning product when they noticed that men were sporting an erection. Now there is a side effect I've never heard in the TV commercials!

Sodium Bicarbonate

Okay, consider this a lesson learned. It all comes down to the packaging when a consumer is purchasing a commodity. In this case the commodity is sodium bicarbonate.

Last week the motor to the pool was finally repaired and I was able to get to work at bring the pool under control. In the 3 weeks it took for it to be fixed, the water had turned a decidedly fluorescent green, as you can see in this picture!

After testing the water, I found it measured very low on alkalinity, about 30 ppm when it should be over 120-150 ppm. I think the oak leaves must raise the acidity a lot because this happens every spring! Anyway, I guestimated I needed about 40 pounds of "alkalinity up" product to bring it up to the proper level. Having 10-11 pounds on hand, I visited Lowes and bought another 24 pounds. It sold in 12# boxes and averaged out to about $1.16/pound.

Knowing I could buy it in larger quantities than 12#, I called the local pool supply store. The largest they had was 10# and it averaged $1.60/pound. Yikes, it's going up!

But what is the "alkalinity up" product? It's just plain old sodium bicarbonate. Otherwise known as baking soda, like that Arm & Hammer box you put into the fridge. And how much does that cost at the grocery store? For a 1# Arm & Hammer is was $0.69, and if I went with the store brand it was just $0.59 a pound.

What this lesson for me really proves is that when a product is intended to be used on a pool (this also applies to boat owners), the price is automatically doubled. And the marketing and packaging is everything in pricing for a commodity. Meantime, next year I'll purchase it at the local super market!

Quandry - Where to Use the Money

I've put myself into a quandry about where to stash extra money in my paycheck. To be honest, it's a nice dilemma, and I'm not complaining. I guess I am more asking for peoples advice or suggestions on what to do.

Background: Last month I received my annual bonus at work. I wanted to sock most or all of it away in my 401(k) account, so I finagled my contribution to 50% that month and it all went in, when combined with regular pay. But because such a large amount when in all at once, I needed to put in a lot less each month, otherwise I would hit the $15,000 limit for contributions this year, probably maxing out in August and thereby losing the matching contributions.

So I adjusted the monthly contributions, and this months paycheck shows that I hit it just right. I will max out the contributions in December, and receive the matching contributions. That worked out perfect.

So now I am bringing home an additional $250 a month in pay. Which kinda sucks in that the 401(k) contribution was reduced by $370, meaning I am paying $120 more in taxes each month, or another $1200 a year! Can't help that though (I think!).

So it comes down to two questions: 1) Do I have $250 or $370 a month extra to put somewhere? and 2) Where should it go?

Question one probably sounds strange to you, in that actual take home is only $250. But by my convoluted way of thinking, I used to be putting $370 aside for later, so I should maintain that level. Of course to do this, it means I would need to squeeze that $120 out of other areas (which is managable, barely). The amount also depends on the answer to question 2.

Two, where should it be go? Spend, save, or pay down debt? Most financial advisers would recommend paying down debt, but the only debt I have is a mortgage and it's already gettting many hundreds extra each month. Based on estimates from numbers I plug into this amortization calculator I use, each additional $100/month would end the mortgage approximately 4 months early.

Save is always a good choice, and I could use it to fund the Roth IRA for next year. Spend? I like the idea, especially since I don't do nearly enough shopping to be a "proper" gay man! If I do spend it, then question 1 is easily answered, it is only $250. After all, the extra $120 would come out of this category to begin with.

Am I missing anything? What would you do?

Dilbert is 54 Years Old

Okay, so nobody probably pays any attention to Dilberts age. I've always assumed he was youngish. But as it turns out, there is a good probability that he is 54 years old. As evidence, here is the todays comic:



By coincidence, a front page article in WSJ today reports on research ($) that shows that people reach their peak financial expertise when they are 53 years old, plus a couple of months:

The [researchers] found that middle-aged adults tend to borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees than younger and older adults. The age at which consumers are least likely to make financial mistakes: a few months past their 53rd birthday, despite all the pressures that accompany middle age.

The researchers evaluated the loans made at a large financial institution, unnamed but assumed to be in the north east, and found that repeatedly the interest rates on loans were lower for that age group. Plus there appeared to be a greater ability to spot those "gotcha's" that banks use to charge higher fees and rates, such as applying payments to lower interest rate balances first. This chart from the article makes for a pretty clear picture.

I've noticed in myself the last few years that I am becoming much more financially savvy, even if I ma still many years away from the "prime" age in finances. I always assumed it was because I starting working for a bank, but that may not be the case.

The research is not yet published, nor peer reviewed, so take the information with a grain of salt. I just found it very interesting, and with the timing of todays Dilbert, it was also illuminating.

I see from my categories that this is my first finance related article. I guess I need to get busy in that sector, such as explaining why there is exactly $1.00 difference in your checking account when it lists "available" and "current" balances.