DTEJD1997

There is no shortage of work needing to be done in this world! I think a great example would be demolition crews in Detroit. There are literally TENS OF THOUSANDS of structures that need to be torn down in Detroit. Lot of them are brick. Bricks can be easily reclaimed, but it requires labor...There is also metal buried deep in the structures that urban miners didn't get to...There are probably also some fixtures that might be salvaged... Oddly, there are hundreds of thousands of people just wandering around Detroit with nothing to do... There will also be vast empty fields that could support crops, orchards, grazing, farm animals and all manners of agriculture... Some of the roads near Detroit are impassible...I made the mistake of trying to go to "Northland" mall the other day. I had to put on my hazard lights as I could only travel about 10 MPH down the road and had to swerve from lane to lane to avoid bottoming out. I've never seen a paved road in as bad a condition as this! Vast areas of the city are already abandoned and reverting to nature...people could go in and chop down the vegetation.... Lots of city parks are shut down...could be reopened with a little money and a LOT OF LABOR. So two suggestions: A). If you are able bodied and on the dole, you need to work 3 days a week at demolition, gardening, road building etc. B). If you are NOT on the dole and need something to do...work for the civic program, get $25 a day, a meal, and maybe learn some skills. You put in a full 8 hour day, you get paid at the end of the day. Work one day or a hundred...only requirement is that you put in a full day. Unfortunately, the powers that be would probably not agree with this at all...

Hey all: The illegal drug industrial complex is much larger than most people realize... Just think how many people are employed in the criminal justice system just to deal with drug problems...Judges, lawyers, guards, jailers, probation officers, etc. I would think that amounts to hundreds of billions per year. If drugs were legalized, 85% of these people would lose their jobs. What would happen to inner cities? What would happen to the people in the "justice" system? Think of how many people in the inner city are employed directly, OR indirectly in drug trafficking. If dealing drugs was no longer a possibility how would they get money? Would they have to get "regular" jobs? A lot of things would change, that is for sure!

Hey all: One of my favorites for the next few years is Nevsun Resources (NSU). The good points: A). company is making money. They made $.15/share in the last QUARTER. This is with some minor problems with the mine and distribution. B). There is a good chance they will make $.80/share in the upcoming 12 months. C). They have an incredible balance sheet, they have close to $500MM in working capital. This is for a company with a market cap of $790MM. Of course, they have no debt. D). They pay a dividend of about 4%. I suspect this will be raised in the near future. E). In a few years, they will start to extract zinc instead of copper. F). They have several development projects that are promising. Now for the negatives: A). They are located in Eritrea! B). They have one mine at this point. C). They are mining almost exclusively copper at this point. Management appears disciplined and makes good decisions. They are likely to make an acquisition outside of Eritrea. They are also likely to further expand in Eritrea. So I think this a great company, at a great price. Any one else looking at this?

Hey all: I'll "chime in" on this discussion... I'm originally from Detroit, and spend quiet a bit of my time there now... Detroit is a city absolutely DEVASTATED by poverty, drugs, single parent households, etc. It is FAR WORSE than what is even commonly portrayed in the media. I can assure you that the figures cited in the original article are probably OPTIMISTIC when you look at poor people in inner city Detroit. i would doubt very much that 2% of inner city Detroit's population reads recreationally . I do not think the figure would be that high. It is ADMITTED to that 40% of Detroit's population is functionally illiterate. The VAST majority of it's citizens do not graduate from high school. It is estimated that the GRADUATION rate is lower than 25%....there are rumors that the majority of graduates are female... So yes, there are some bad habits being picked up. It is also exacerbated by single parent households and welfare. Whole generations are "lost" and it has been this way for generations now. There are generations of people in Detroit who have never held "regular" jobs. Welfare is the biggest industry. I could go on and on and on...but suffice to say there are hundreds of thousands of poor people who are completely broken down here...There is not a doubt in my mind that drugs, welfare, and the breakdown of the traditional family are responsible for a vast majority of the misery in Detroit. Very sad, very unfortunate.

Wow: Interesting story. I actually had one of the Stroh family members in my class in the late 1970's. His parent's house abutted the south end of the school I went to in Grosse Pointe Woods. Once a year our class would go to their house for a picnic. They had a rather nice house... I wonder what ever happened to him?

There is talk in Detroit that there will be "clawbacks" on some of the city pensions. It is my understanding that the argument is that in some prior years pensions return's did not match what was required. The city then sold bonds to make up for the difference. The theory as I understand it is that they are claiming the pensioners were not entitled to the returns they got in some past years as bonds were sold to make up for it. There are reports that some workers will have to repay $600 a month for 25 years out of their future pension disbursements. No doubt that Detroit pensions will have to take a hit, but clawbacks don't quite seem right to me.

Paying a check that is drawn on the bank is a service? That is an OBLIGATION & liability of that bank. What if they don't want to provide the service? They don't have to pay it? That is one of the reasons that banks are allowed to exist, they are supposed to facilitate commerce & trade. A great way for companies to make money is to pay their debts at less than 100 cents on the dollar!

A great way for banks to make money is to pay checks at $.90 on the dollar. Maybe even take half. This is not an issue about making money. It is an issue of a bank paying a check that was drawn against it. If you can't have reliability of getting $1.00 on the dollar of a check, then what good is a check?

Paychecks are pretty rare nowadays, pay is mostly done with direct deposits. It is possible that business with a lot of empoloyee turnover do a lot of payroll using Paychecks. In any case, this has nothing to do with MA or V's business. FWIW, I came back from a vacation and had a hell of a time to get a 100$ note "broken down". Most transactions are done using credit cards or debit, so business don't have much cash in their register, maybe a few twenties, few tens and one $ notes, but no more. I have not got a paycheck in about 20 years. I have no idea how common/uncommon they are. I just wanted to cash a check and get $900 walking around money for the next week or so. I also have a few different bank/brokerage accounts...so I don't often go in person to cash checks outside of my bank. I just found it OUTRAGEOUS that BoA is trying to squeeze $ for something that they are obligated to do. I won't be doing business with them in the future, that is for sure. I also sympathize with people who are getting squeezed by the banks every time they turn around.

They are ALL projected to have $100k+ in student loan debt FOR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES! One of these persons is going to University of Texas, and two others are going to lesser known skewls. So the person is paying 'in state' tuition to go to UT and is going to have 100k in debt? I find that hard to believe. My guess is the person paying out of state tuition, which is their decision. There aren't any good schools in their own state? Sounds like a poor decision on their part. No, the young lady is "in state". She is living/studying in Austin and will be studying nursing. I didn't ask to see a breakdown of their daughter's expenses, but took them at their word. I think it is the "all in" cost which includes books, fees, housing, etc.

Hope I don't come across as a "fire brand". Here is a link to an article about a professor in charge of a "Poverty Center". Crazy thing is, he is a central factor in creating poverty! http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/18167/ He gets paid over $200k to teach ONE CLASS PER SEMESTER! How many students are hopelessly buried in debt because of this guy?

Once again, the NYT is a week late and $1,000 short.... The article is complete BS. I know several people in the last 24 months who are starting college. They are going to "in state" skewls. They are ALL projected to have $100k+ in student loan debt FOR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES! One of these persons is going to University of Texas, and two others are going to lesser known skewls. The legal project I am working at has a tremendous amount of attorneys. Most of them are young. The ones I've spoken with ALL have tremendous amounts of educational debt. The older attorneys generally don't. The "edukational" system in the USA has gone completely crazy. In the near future, I hope people will come to the realization that it is one of the major factors leading to income inequality.

Yes, shockingly it is legal. There is no cap as the fee they can charge. They don't even have to cash if they don't want to... How is this not a hinderance on interstate commerce? If a bank wants to be allowed to operate, they've got to help commerce. It is not a one way street. Perhaps some of the states AG will start to change this if attention is brought to it. If you want a bank charter, cash the damn checks drawn on your bank. If don't want to be a "check cashing place", don't open a branch on every corner! Here is the other thing....the amount of ILL WILL that BoA just earned with me is off the charts. I will limit my business with them to an absolute minimum...

Hey all: I would suggest is that the problem is not so much income inequality...it is about the lack of earnings & ability to "move up". At the legal project I am working at...the woman sitting in the cubicle next to me is well dressed, articulate, etc. She is in her late 20's? She claims she was #4 in her graduating law skewl class. This is the first job she has been able to get. She has sent out just over 100 resumes and applied to dozens of jobs. She had two other interviews before taking on this job, which is temporary in nature. She has WELL over $100k in student loan debt. You have people who are educated, intelligent, hard working and wanting to work in the field for which they studied & trained, but there are few jobs available. They are also hopelessly buried in debt. This isn't limited to the law field. I would say the problem is that a huge amount of people are not employed, are underemployed, have huge amounts of debt, AND NO CLEAR PATH FOR ADVANCEMENT.

Hey all: I'm in the wilds of Michigan working as a contract attorney... Got a few paychecks. My bank is located primarily in Texas, and I missed going to one of the few branches in MI by about 10 minutes... Bank of America has a branch down the road which is open later. So I stop in to present my check for payment. The friendly clerk tells me there is a $6 fee for cashing the check. I said she must be mistaken, as the check is drawn on her bank. She says NO MISTAKE, if you aren't a customer you pay the fee. I think she is confused, and ask for the branch manager...she informs me that she is not a "check cashing service" and if they cashed checks, "we would have lines out the door". I ask her about the fact that her bank has an obligation to honor the check as long as the law firm has $$$ to cover it. She says sure, but we charge a fee for dispersing cash. How is this legal? What if the check was $5? I would owe them a $1 for cashing it? WTF???? These jokers take taxpayer money as a bailout, no management is fired, and they stick it to us. Now if the check was NOT DRAWN ON THEIR BANK, then fine...Cash it, don't cash it, take 50%. If it is drawn on your bank, you've got an obligation to honor it when presented for payment. The state's banking commission should be doing something about this...

There are many ways around this... A). You could assemble the transport ship in space by using multiple launches from Earth. Over time, you could build something huge... B). There may be alternative methods for getting some materials into space. For example, using a "gun" to launch water, steel, etc into space. There has also been talk of using magnetic acceleration, perhaps other methods? C). Perhaps the best method of all would be a "space elevator". There have been studies that suggest that this could be built with our current technology. If not, could we build it in 5-10-15 years if we put concentrated resources towards it? If successful, a space elevator would lower the cost of getting most stuff into space by a factor of 250X? It would also get cheaper the more we sent up. This would be a great way to start colonization. If lifting a pound of material cost $5 instead of $1,000, just think of all that could be done. Also, we could work almost 24x7. Elevator would also be easier/safer than launching stuff. I think the space elevator is the way to go, and would be a complete game changer.

Two lawyers getting married? How are they going to afford to have ANY children? Most attorneys do not make very much money at all... In Boston, the lowest paid person in the courthouse are the new PD's. http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/05/21/indefensible/23OMcEGsJe1151YT0Q43PJ/story.html This is not an isolated example or story. Most newly minted attorneys are unemployed OR underemployed. They also typically have $100k+ in student loan debt which makes things tricky. Perhaps a better example would be doctors OR portfolio managers of people being able to afford to have children.

Does anybody remember the Chris Farley SNL skit about the "El Nino" professional wrestler skit? Very funny....

You're not getting into value investing heaven now. I can hear Dee, the sarcastic sister from What's Happening, "Ooooo, you're in trouble!" To complete my apostasy, I will say that I don't much care for the "aw shucks, I'm just a simple guy" act that Mr. Buffet puts on. He is a ruthless competitor and has a very carefully crafted media image. If you are across the table from him, you better watch out...

If Buffet not selling KO at 35, 38, 41 back in the late 90's was NOT a mistake, then nothing is a mistake...He could have sold PART of his position, or maybe sold covered calls... Buffet is pretty darn good, but I don't think he is infallible, he makes mistakes from time to time.

I bring it up as KO has been a very poor investment for a large group of people, for a large period of time. KO didn't just spike up for a month or two. If you bought in 1996 to something like 2001, you have not really made that much of a return. Even Buffet made a mistake with KO, he refused to sell at or near the top. So I question your assertion that KO provides investors to make returns that will make them fabulously wealthy "forever until forever".

Matts: I think you misunderstand what I am complaining about... It is not about the seller dodging responsibility to the seller for their purchase... IF a seller ships an item ON TIME, via approved carrier AND UPLOADS tracking information showing and confirming ALL of that, and the shipper loses the package, they are still "marked down" by Ebay. The seller did everything correctly. The buyer is still getting a replacement item OR their money back. It is not about the loss of the package, it is about the seller's markdown by Ebay. The controversy is that the seller gets punished even when they do everything correct, and have confirmation to prove it. Sellers are getting punished simply for a carrier losing a package. That is going to generate a tremendous amount of ill will amongst their sellers. As to Chinese sellers, there is all sorts of rumors floating around that they don't pay any fees OR pay vastly reduced fees. The Chinese fee structure is totally different than the American fee structure, but that is another topic...

How do you figure that Coke has been a good investment? It certainly has NOT been good for shareholders since the late 90's. KO is only now starting to see the high prices it was in 1997/1998. If you have been a long term KO shareholder, you have done very poorly until just recently. Now KO certainly has been a good investment for upper level management. Shareholders not so much...

In the USA, there are essentially 3 courier services. Those are the US Post Office, Fed-Ex & UPS. The seller should be held accountable for which of those 3 they chose? How does a seller have any influence or sway over those companies? All of these companies are good, reputable companies. It isn't like sellers are choosing "Larry & Jimbo's fly by night deliveries". The many changes in Ebay policies are designed to increase revenue. If Ebay wants to increase their revenue, that is fine. They need to do it in a forward, evenhanded way. They don't need to resort to tricks and unfair policies. They should just set the bar high enough that nobody (or virtually nobody) qualifies for discounts. They don't need to be sneaky, or retroactively changing terms of service. Come August 20th when the new rules come into effect, Ebay is going to find that a lot of sellers leave the system.

Hey all: Has anyone noticed lately that more and more business seems to be conducted by "trick"? Here is a good example: Ebay has policies for being a "top rated seller". This is very important for various reasons, lower fees, better item placement, etc. Sellers strive to attain this rating level. It is meant to show which sellers provide good service and do the right thing. So here is where Ebay is pulling two "tricks". A). You are supposed to ship an item and provide tracking information to the buyer. If the buyer does not receive the item in a timely fashion, it is counted as a defect, and counts AGAINST the seller. Sounds good! Here is a problem...Seller ships item via Fed-Ex, UPS, USPS in the allotted time frame and uploads tracking information. Carrier mis-routes, loses, destroys the item. Buyer gets refunded their money and seller has to work it out with carrier. HERE IS THE TRICK! It now counts as a strike against the seller that the carrier LOST, destroyed, stole the item. Seller has no control once they turn over the package to the carrier. This is manifestly unfair, seller is being punished for carrier's misdeed. Seller should only be punished for items under their control. or consider: B). A buyer on Ebay decides they don't want the item, OR they don't have money to pay for the item. They request to cancel the transaction. Seller has to send "Cancel transaction" request. Buyer then has to say "I agree, I don't want the item". If the buyer does not do this in 7 days, it is automatically closed and COUNTS AGAINST THE SELLER, even though buyer didn't/won't pay and requested the item cancellation. This is serious business. Some sellers can not compete without the "Top Rated Seller" because of fees and placement issues. Ebay should not be "punishing" sellers for items that are obviously out of their control. If I were cynical, I would say Ebay is doing this to increase revenue. Their revenue is increased because as time passes, more & more sellers lose "Top Rated Seller" status and have to pay higher fees. There are other businesses like this out there, but Ebay seems to do this on purpose. Anybody have any experience or thoughts about this?