Carl Crossman

One of the biggest subjects around the office is the state of the economy. Everybody has strong feelings on the subject and everyone seems to be concerned about the future. It seems that many people are really concerned about their retirement and how much money they will have. It’s a matter of much debate with everyone adding some input of their own. It’s a big issue and there seems to be no good answer.

Over the last several months, I have been doing some research on the subject when I have time. I gave everyone my opinion on the subject and told them that I believe they could do better with their finances by using a Do It Yourself portfolio management tool. It can be found online and is very effective because you are in control of your money. Why pay someone else to do when you can do it yourself.

Your retirement is very important. Using your money effectively to prepare for it can mean a big difference in the future. I found an Online Portfolio Manager that I like very much as well as some Portfolio rebalancing software that is very good. I feel confident that my future will be bright despite the poor economic news that is heard all the time. I hope the people at the office will heed my advice.

A new report came out today about the money it costs to make a penny. It turns out that it costs 1.62 cents to make each penny because of the cost of raw materials. That means the taxpayers are losing money at an alarming rate.

There has been some talk about eliminating pennies altogether. The idea has not been popular and so things will continue as they are for now. The budget is busting though and the pressure is building to eliminate the penny or change the materials it’s made of. For now, all we can do is turn in your pennies!!!

I must say that I was very incredulous when I heard the T.V. evangelist Pat Robertson told his “700 Club” that the penalties for marijuana possession were to harsh. Pat made the statement on air to his audience. He said that treating offenders would be a better option.

Some people claim that he was endorsing the legalization of pot but his spokesmen denied the claim. He was simply saying that using pot was wrong but that spending years in jail was not correct. I believe we will have to wait for further clarification on the issue.

One thing that I was not to happy to hear about today was that Senate majority Leader Harry Reid wants to legalize online gambling. Many people in his home state of Nevada want to break into the market and make big money. I know that gambling can be lucrative, but I am against it.

I believe it’s wrong for people to gamble at all, but that’s just my personal opinion. But I do think that allowing people to gamble online would be a huge mistake. It wouldn’t take long until some were hooked and they may lose everything they have. I hope congress decided not to support this bill!

The administration of President Barack Obama keeps telling us that the economy will soon recover. This is despite recent news that the private sector has been cutting jobs instead of creating them. We learned today that over 10,000 jobs were cut in august by private companies.

This trend is threatening to extend the recovery and possibly throw us back into the mess we were trying so hard to get out of. I hope that these big companies will find a way to hold on to the workers they have and maybe even hire a few more. It sure would be good news.