web analytics

Monthly Archives: August 2008

I.O.U.S.A.

August 6, 2008
By

A few months ago, finding myself in Chicago with nothing to read, I picked up the book “Where Does the Money Go?  Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis” in a bookstore.  I didn’t just pick it up; I bought it. And I read it.  For a financial book, it’s light reading, with plenty of graphs and pictures, all geared toward getting regular people to think hard and intelligently about a major problem. The problem, of course, is that the U.S. is deeply in debt and digging itself deeper every year, thanks in large part to the decisions...

Read more »

Cost of Oil Leads to Telecommuting and Wind Farms

August 5, 2008
By

Two articles in The New York Times Sunday edition caught my eye and I wanted to share them with you. One of the articles is a discussion of how employers and employees are coping with rising gasoline prices. Some are telelcommuting more, while others are working shorter weeks with longer days. This is particularly relevant today as oil has hit a three-month low. The other article is actually a Q&A with T. Boone Pickens, who Brendan Coffey wrote about in a previous post. The interview doesn’t reveal much, except that Pickens still thinks that the Swift Boat campaign against...

Read more »

Keep on Trucking

August 5, 2008
By

Today I’m suggesting you take a look at trucking stocks, which have been acting very well since fuel prices began coming down. One of our recent recommendations is Werner Enterprises (WERN), which has more than 9,000 tractors, 25,000 trailers and 14,000 employees and independent contractors, spread throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Asia, Europe and South America. Werner earned a spot in Cabot Top Ten Report last week, and here’s what editor Michael Cintolo wrote. “Trucking firms have enjoyed some heady gains in the past couple of weeks, and many of them have stretched out to new peaks. So why...

Read more »

Wal-Mart Denies Telling Employees How to Vote

August 1, 2008
By

I just noticed this interesting news article on Yahoo! Finance and thought I’d share it: “LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, denied a report Friday that it had pressured employees to vote against Democrats in November because of worries that a bill the party supports would make it easier for workers to unionize. The measure, called the Employee Free Choice Act, would allow labor organizations to unionize workplaces without secret ballot elections. It was co-sponsored by Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, and opposed by John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee. A...

Read more »

Gasoline Prices Fall Again

August 1, 2008
By

A little update on the gasoline front here in Massachusetts–last night I was driving and saw gasoline for $3.79 a gallon! I only needed a few gallons, but I couldn’t resist stopping. What’s even more shocking is that less than a mile away, I saw gasoline selling for $3.99 and $4.15 a gallon. Apparently, gasoline prices have fallen for 15 staright days and the national average is now about $3.90 a gallon. That’s definitely good news for consumers who’ve been pinching pennies just get get to work. Last week in Cabot Wealth Advisory, I asked readers to let us...

Read more »