Short post today - Thank you Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs will stay on as Apple's Chairman

...but alas has given the CEO seat to someone else. I do feel bad for Jobs and his family - particularly since I can see his clavicle under his sweater in this photo. I deeply suspect, like many others, that he is stepping into the chairman position because he will soon be too ill to continue as any executive. An intermediate move to chairman will help keep the company stable during what will be a very rocky end of week and months for the market.

He has been lucky. While most patients with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis get a few weeks, he has been very fortunate to have nearly a decade. I didn't think I would feel like this, because, well, I don't know him. I do genuinely feel remorse for Jobs and his family.

While Mr. Jobs and his family and company are preparing for his move to the backseat, I can't help but wonder what this will do to the markets Thursday and Friday. Apple is a cornerstone of the American markets right now (more money than the U.S. Treasury apparently). Thursday was predicted to be a swell of trading and setting up positions ahead of Bernanke's speech Friday. The Jobs resignation might change that - hasten it, introduce additional instability. It's odd to think that such a horrible event for one person and their family could actually affect what the exchange rate will be....how much money I will be able to put aside...what my retirement savings will be worth next month.

I'm not very consumerist, but I do enjoy having a stable and speedy laptop, a simple and tiny machine that carries my music, an apple store that I can walk into 24/7 to fix my computer problems no questions asked. My work life is easier because of simple perceptions of ease and subsequent alterations to personal electronics. It's kind of sad to see the master of taking the complex and sophisticated and making simple and accessible, step away from the helm.

Dear Mr. Jobs - my best wishes to you. In the last ten years, you have changed my life for the better. Thank you, and Mr. Wozniak and Wayne.

S&P downgrades US bond, but Adele is going country....so stay calm

I am iterating a constant stream of four lettered words right now. M#$%^# F#$%^r.

Well, at least my vocabulary has grown.

On a related note, it would seem to me that this unequivocably one of the worst things to happen to global finance and especially the little guy in the last 70 years. Millions to billions of people will wake up Monday to mutilated retirement savings and 401ks. People might lose their homes and people will definitely lose their livelihoods. Why the hell do I care that Adele wants to take up country music? CNN, yeeesh...get with it.

I hadn't intended for this blog to focus on global finance. I really just wanted to chat budget and pretty things and how to deal with bad bosses and low cost everything.

I don't think anyone needs to me to remind them of what most people can plainly see. We are still in tough times. I think a lot of us knew that these times were a lot tougher than we were led to believe.

That said, I felt it would be remiss if I didn't post the downgrade here....if not just as a reminder of what happens when someone thinks you can't pay the interest on your debt.

Market volatility: holy s$^% snacks

I'm trying to figure out of this was a joke. Above is a screen shot of two weeks of Dow data taken after market close today. Note how the blue line dives so far after July 29th, it actually dives off the chart.

Obviously this pic isn't accurate, because the market wasn't that volatile on July 29th. Since August 2nd, a lot of panic has generated. I guess it's a combination of things - the Euro debt (Italy in particular has experienced some insane market shaping happenings in the last 24 hours, including elected officials busting into rating agency offices and tossing the places around), the U.S. debt ceiling fight, the growth report have each triggered panic.....and panic, triggers more panic which leads to these extreme up and downs. It might be market contraction. It might be insanity. One thing is for sure, volatlity like this is not good for you or me.


I'm trying to find some deeper lesson in this insanity. I'm trying to remember how last July and August felt. The market dove back then, and people panicked. H's firm reduced hour allowances and started laying people off. I know things are worse now. I'm deciding how much of me I'm willing to give up to worry. I guess there is just something about gettin a lip split by the worst market crash in 70 years that makes this current contraction 3 years later seem like a slap across the face and drunken joke at the same time.

I'll be on the job market in a few months. H and I are down to one income now. All I can do is try to stick to our budget, reduce our debt, keep an eye on our stock holdings and wait this out. I'm pretty confident that the companies I've put money in will be okay in the end. That said, in the market can stay volatile longer than any company can stay liquid.

S&P plunges: analysts freak and I look for cheap vacation options

AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......kerplunk.

I don't know why anyone is surprised by the S&P 500 taking a nose dive this week. The entire month of July was filled with insanely and somewhat arbitrary news about U.S. bonds facing a potential downgrade on August 2nd. How anyone can be knee deep in margin calls today is kind of beyond me. Given the ambivalence and verbosity of the rating agencies, the dismal jobs report and the public furor over political cockfighting there is no scenario that I could see a market spike initiated by any debt ceiling agreement being sustained. Someone will be unhappy, spark panic and fill the market with sell orders.

Still, this sort of speculation is what makes the market go around I suppose.

I don't doubt the seriousness of our economic woes. I live in the one city where every person is aware of what the market is doing, even when the bloggers that fill CNN's front page are consumed with human interest stories. There is more than enough information out there saying that the economy is no growth, that the market might still be undergoing a contraction. I'm just saying this isn't a black swan. Yesterday and today were entirely predictable based on the last month.

Still, things are not looking good. While my holdings in the market have dropped, I'm not in any volatile sectors - so I feel okay holding my positions and escaping the global economic woes some other way. Since my approach right now is to make lemonade out of shriveled, discounted lemons I've decided that this is the time to hit the road....go on work vacation or a least a day trip. I managed to dig up some pretty cool vacays on Living Social and Expedia for really great prices. Check 'em out!

Day trip

Museum of Sex after hours with cocktails

Location: Midtown Manhattan
Vendor: LivingSocial

Deets: The science and social nerd in me thinks this is a really hot mini day-trip. The Museum of Sex has a bar at the end of it featuring aphrodisiac-based drinks and food. This day-trip/date-trip includes 2 hours of after hours museum wandering, and a free drink with oysters at the end. I actually think this is a great second date/date well into a relationship trip. If you are just getting to know someone, you'll find out pretty quickly if they have a sense of humour about sex or if their come-on style skeeves you out. If you are deep into a relationship talking about the funny aspects of sex and the sex industry followed by a stiff drink would be a lot of fun.
Cost: right now, $69. This is not a sex joke - it was $49 last week. Prices on Living Social sometimes go up as people buy the packages.


Two Day nearby trip at fancy locale

Location: Nantucket
Vendor: LivingSocial

Deets: 2 night weekday stay includes beach chair rentals, a room at the Center Street Inn, continental breakfast and a bottle of wine. The beach, shops and ferries are reportedly within easy walking distance of Inn. Sounds like a nice little break from the insanity of New York and the weekday stay means it is likely a break from the insanity of Summer weekend Nantucket.
Cost: For two people it is $205 for a room with a shared bathroom and $295 for a room with a private bath. You would have to find a way out to Cape Cod and then Nantucket - so a bus or car rental would likely have to be slapped on there too.
Almost a weeklong trip on a beach in another country

Location: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Vendor: Expedia
Deets: 5 days and 4 nights at the Presidente Intercontental Puerto Vallarta. I've actually stayed at this hotel and really liked it. It far enough away from Old City Puerto Vallarta that you aren't constantly pestered by vendors walking along the beaches, but is close enough to the city that a 5 minute bus ride gets you to the River Calle. The rooms are huge and very pretty. The oceanside rooms have balconies and expansive views. You can rent various kayaks and paddle boats at the hotel and take them out to Los Arcos to watch fish etc.. All in all, it's a great little spot. Puerto Vallarta was the personal love nest of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor while he filmed "Night of the Iguana", it is a fun and yet deeply romantic city. I loved every minute I was there.

Cost: a bit more expensive, and sadly out of my price range. It is $683 per person for Sept 26-30th - flight and hotel included. Great deal, but not for me....sigh.


So...I think H and I are going to start with the Museum of Sex. Who knows, maybe 9 months from now I'll blogging about deals on diaper services.

The Presidente Intercontinental, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

(the second to last hotel on the right before the penninsula)
(Photo credit: http://www.grandluxuryvacations.com)