profitable

The summer is starting to look long and hot in terms of business.  By hot I mean that companies are showing less losses than the previous quarter and if the losses start to slow down, we might have things warm up in terms of business.

Personally I still don’t get it because businesses need to hire people and get folks working in order for them to have money to spend.  If people don’t have cash they won’t spend and the businesses will have to close their doors.  It is that simple.

There are companies that have been turning a profit but a lot of them are realizing gains from cutting costs.  At a certain point, you hit the bone and once you start cutting marrow you end up walking around without an arm or a leg and your business isn’t generating any income.

There should be incentives for people to make money and hopefully salaries won’t be flat for the rank and file employee while the upper management team pats themselves on their collective backs with large bonus checks.

It may be hot that sales will drop like they are hot potatoes as well.  We can only hope for the best and again, write your Congressional representatives and the Governors to get them to get more money getting down into the lower levels of infrastructure fast.  There are a lot of people who are living on a string, a wing and a ding with their prayer and they are almost out of strings, their wings are tired and they have been dinged enough.

In terms of investments, look for things that can help people cool off, save money or help themselves and I think you might be on to something. 

Have a great weekend and may the heat translate into cash for you!

May 15 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.  

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Long Hot Summer For Business

Question from a reader:”What is the likelyhood that the Fed will raise interest rates?  I am probably in the minority but I am scared of inflation.”

First, the word, “likelyhood” should be spelled “likelihood”.  Small point but things like that get to me.  If you were texting me I would get it.  Maybe you did send it through a cell phone so I apologize in advance.  Anyways, to business..

My answer is that you probably aren’t in any minority and the giant prehistoric elephant in the room is higher inflation.  The tusks it has are the two prong push of double to triple digit inflation.  We aren’t going to hit it in my opinion in the next year or two unless the consensus is that the housing market has recovered (not likely for at least 2-10 years depending on who you believe) and there is incentive to get jobs going.

I see higher wages as a trigger to get the Fed to raise interest rates and right now, companies are still downsizing, laying people off and outright firing.   People are taking work where they can get it and they aren’t quibbling too much about their salaries if they want the job.  That is how business is these days.  People are behind on mortgage payments, their rent, can’t afford medical insurance and it doesn’t seem like the Federal government will raise rates.

Of course since they are not consulting me personally I could be dead naughts wrong. 

There is a large group of people (myself included) who see inflation if not hyper inflation down the line.  How far down the line is the literal billion dollar question, isn’t it?  For now I think we are one to two years off before the Fed can even think of raising interest rates.

Bottom line is that your mortgage rates won’t go up but don’t go looking for any deals in terms of savings interest rates either.

I am not an investing specialist nor am I licensed to dispense financial advice.  That being said, you may want to do your own due diligence and look into covered call investing if you are looking for an income stream.  You should also pay down debt if your interest rates are low.

Credit card interest rates are being looked at by Congress but expect that banks will try and make up the money by fees and service charges.

Hope the information helps and good luck.

May 14 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.  

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Likelyhood of Higher Interest Rates

Question from a reader:”What shouldn’t I say at a job interview?”

My answer is there is no way of knowing for sure if there will be a chemical match at a job interview to go along with the skillsets and the dynamic personality that you are going to shine with at your interview.  I do have some thoughts on what not to say:

“My raiding party is one of the most successful at WOW”.  That tells a potential employer that you waste too much time playing World of Warcraft though it isn’t a bad thing to say if you are looking for work at Blizzard or a video game company.  Might show that you can work with others, at least virtually.

“I really need this job.”   You and everybody else who is unemployed in the 8-20% of the nation that is out of work and looking desperately.

“If you don’t hire me, I will kill you.”  That one is a real killer comment all right.  Security, crackpot number 123 up here.  Come up with the machine guns, please. 

“Say, did you hear the joke about the (insert racial or ethnic insult here).”  That is right up there with saying that you are going to kill the human resources person.  There are dozens of laws about equal opportunity and a safe work place out there and generally jokes, especially if they are considered in very poor taste in this day and age, can keep you from getting a call back for another shot at the job.

“I am not flexible when it comes to my hours.”  If you aren’t there are two dozen people coming in after you who are so you might want to rethink this comment.  If you need to be home or at school or to pick up the kids after work, make other arrangements at least temporarily until you can get secure in your employment.

“I have no opinion one way or another.”  The chances are that you didn’t do your homework with this particular company.  If there is a question where they want your thoughts on subjects, if you did your homework you might see that it is a question to get you to think on your feet or something to do with their corporate climate.  A vague answer may not be what they are looking for you and it may get you dropped to a second tier offer instead of being on their “A” list.

“I am going to redo your corporate structure and get everything going the right way.”  The chances are that they have been doing a decent job if they are still in business up to know and before you stick both feet in your mouth, make sure that you know what you are getting into and make sure that the position is going to have you actually redo the entire corporate environment.  You may be stepping potentially on toes and you will be giving the overworked human resources person a reason to reject you and move on to the next person.

May 13 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.  

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Things Not To Say At A Job Interview

With all the websites posting great dating and personal relationship tips I think it is time that I jumped on the bandwagon.  I already have some items for men in my post from yesterday.  The same information can apply to both men and women but the media loves to separate and create an artificial brain divide between men and women so I will jump along (and yes, I know there are differences but there are a lot of similarities in men and women, too).  Here are ten things women shouldn’t do in a relationship:

1.  Don’t represent yourself as that you can do something but can’t no matter how hard it is to resist.  If you say that you are a person who loves to go hiking but don’t know the first thing about a compass and can get lost crossing the main street with a green light, you need to rethink you game and that goes true also for the opposite.  If you think the guy doesn’t hike and you do and he is willing to try it, make sure that you are okay with it.  If he claims to hike and is lying, that is another story altogether.

3.  Same for women, this is a big don’t.  Don’t tell your date how much you make right away.  I hate questions like “What do you do for a living?” followed up by “OOh, I bet models  make a LOT of money (or fill in whatever job you want-I chose models  because people assume all good looking women are models or are trying to get into that business).  My stock answer is always “No, I don’t make a lot of money being a (insert your vocation). ”  If it turns out later on that the person is looking to be a keeper, you can disclose a little about yourself at a time.

4.  This next point as touched on yesterday is a follow-up to point 3 if things are going great.  Don’t hide your college debt or credit card unpaid balances if you are getting to the point where things are looking promising as a couple.  If you are serious and going to get married, you better disclose your finances and get your potential mate to do the same thing.  If you need to do prenuptial agreements, it is better to get them out in the open to resolve any issues if there are previous marriages involved (or ex-spouses or kids).

5.  Don’t order the most expensive item in the menu.  We are in a Depression and thrift is very sexy.

6.   Don’t be a clam and not talk throughout the date.  Talk and listen and get to know the other person.  It is okay to size up the date but give the person a chance to get to know you. 

7.  Don’t be a yakkety yak non-stop talker.  Give your partner a chance to talk.  That is something to remember for business as well.  It is always better to listen and speak to add to a conversation.

8.   Don’t expect the date to go dutch treat on a date unless you discuss it up front.  That goes hand in hand with finances.  Talk about how you both should pay for your own meals at first unless you want to be a sport which is a decent thing to do.

9.   Don’t be somebody else – be yourself.  Despite all the tips above, if you are an easy going person who doesn’t like crowds, make sure you are going out with somebody who isn’t a party person who wants to be and go everywhere.  Mismatching like that can be draining in terms of energy and cash.

10.  Figure that guys are simple creatures and generally, unless they are conmen or wanna be players are straightforward.  Don’t be evasive or expect them to be but if they are,  make sure you aren’t going into business with them.  Potential business partners should be willing to have full disclosure and share information.

May 12 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.  

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Ten Business Things Women Shouldn’t Do In A Relationship

With all the websites posting great dating and personal relationship tips I think it is time that I jumped on the bandwagon.  Here are ten things men shouldn’t do in a relationship:

1.  Don’t represent yourself as something financially that you aren’t no matter how hard it is to resist.  If you say that you are the vice president of Microsoft in charge of game design you better be ready to hire your date in case she keeps pressing you for a job in this economy.  Unless you are a VP from Microsoft and are hiring.  Then carry on.

2.  Never compare your current partner with previous partners.  Ever.  Ever ever.  I don’t care if they ask, you always diplomatically point out that they are the best and thank them for forgiving you for you lying and saying you were a vice president from Microsoft.

3.  Resist the urge to tell your date how much you make right away.  I hate questions like “What do you do for a living?” followed up by “OOh, I bet coroners make a LOT of money (or fill in whatever job you want-I chose coroners because people are dying to get into that business).  My stock answer is always “No, I don’t make a lot of money being a (insert your vocation). ”  If the potential partner/mate/date/hookup walks away or stops texting, you win!  You’ve saved yourself a lot of aggrevation.

4.  If you are deep in the relationship, don’t hide financial info.  Come clean now about your money and debt.   If you are serious and going to get married, you better disclose your finances and get your potential mate to do the same thing.  You can see on my blog that the number one problem at tax time is people not talking about money and ending up in a higher tax bracket.

5.  Don’t overwhelm your date with your personality all at once unless of course you are a celebrity and the potential date/mate is really into you and you are a total jerk.

6.   Don’t try to borrow money from your partner/date.  Eesh and it is pretty tacky and self-explanatory.  I get it that you may be under the gun for your mortgage payment etc but your partner/potential soul mate may be in the same boat.

7.  Don’t be a yakkety yak non-stop talker.  Give your partner a chance to talk.  That is something to remember for business as well.  It is always better to listen and speak to add to a conversation.

8.   Don’t expect the date to go dutch treat on a date unless you discuss it up front.  That goes hand in hand with finances.  Talk about how you both should pay for your own meals at first unless you want to be a sport which is a decent thing to do.

9.   Don’t be somebody else – be yourself.  Despite all the tips above, if you are an easy going person who doesn’t like crowds, make sure you are going out with somebody who isn’t a party person who wants to be and go everywhere.  Mismatching like that can be draining in terms of energy and cash.

10.  Don’t assume that your partner is sending signals that you are understanding.  When in doubt, take the time to communicate so you don’t misinterpret her smile as an invitation to put your arm around her shoulder or worse things.

Okay, girls – tomorrow you are next.

May 11 2009

If you are looking for a day job, part time work, suggestions for saving money or investing, please check out my book, Practical Money Making, that is listed right after his paragraph in this very post.  There are some great suggestions and ways to survive the Depression we are in.

  Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement

Interested in any of my books?  You may want to make a stop over  here. Please click through to purchase my books and some other interesting items that actually ARE on sale.  

Have you read my book, “Bad Tax Idea, Good Tax Idea“?   Please order it today.  The tips inside can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars!  Tax planning should be done year round and not just two weeks into January or later. 

Part of all the proceeds from the sales of that book  go  to Rett Syndrome research.  One girl is born with Rett Syndrome worldwide every fifteen minutes.   My daughter Arianna has Rett Syndrome and we are working to do all we can to make her life easier and find a cure in her lifetime.  Boys born with the Rett gene generally die at birth.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Ten Business Things Men Shouldn’t Do In A Relationship