Archive for January, 2008
Stock Market Rollercoaster
Jan 23rd
It’s hard to tell what is going on with the markets lately. Today began with the Dow Jones Industrial Average being down a little over 300 points and in the last part of the day it surged to finish almost 300 points up for the day.
One of the stocks I have a position in, E*Trade Financial, was a beneficiary of the late day surge, posting a 15%+ gain on the day ahead of an earnings announcement scheduled for tomorrow. E*Trade has been beaten down by the subprime mortgage fallout because of their exposure to the industry, but I see their trading business keeping the business viable while they sell off their mortgage business one piece at a time.
Technorati Tags: etrade, mortgage, shaun carter, dow jones, investing, stock market
Google Stock Takes a Beating
Jan 23rd
Google stock is down significantly in the last couple days of trading, along with the market as a whole. Google is reporting earnings soon and has been growing at an impressive pace each quarter but there is now some doubt about the company’s earnings going forward.
Specifically there has been a lot of talk that Adsense revenue for web publishers is down considerably since Google shrunk the “clickable area” of their ad units. This change has caused some major websites to see 50+% declines in clicks and thus a decrease in revenue as well. Google is surely taking a hit from this new policy as earnings per click are not increasing to offset the decline in the quantity of clicks.
Since web publishers generate 40% of Google’s earnings, unless the company begins to take a bigger percentage of click revenue away from these web publishers or make it up with increased revenue from Google.com, the coming quarterly earnings could be a disappointment and send the stock down even further.
Technorati Tags: google, adsense, adwords, publisher, ctr, epc, shaun carter, clicks, pay per click, earnings per share
Federal Reserve Slashes Fed Funds Rate 75 Basis Points
Jan 22nd
In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by three quarters of a percent today. This response was most likely fueled by the massive global stock sell off that occurred over the United State’s holiday weekend. In two days many global markets sold of over 10% of their value because of US recession worries.
The massive rate cut wasn’t enough to hold the market in positive territory as the Dow Jones Industrials traded down more than 150 points at the open. This move will hopefuly bolster hopes that the Fed knows how bad the situation is and that they will take any action necessary to stave off a recession that could quite easily push the global economy down with it.
Technorati Tags: federal reserve, economy, recession, fed funds rate, interest rate, shaun carter, united states, dow jones
200 Posts and Counting
Jan 21st
I completely missed the fact that the Katt Williams Hustlin video post was the 200th for Shaun Carter dot Com. I purchased this domain and began blogging as a way to talk about whatever I wanted and keep my writing skills sharp while waiting to go back to college.
This blog started in April 2007 and has had its share of bumps along the way, but posting has been pretty frequent for the last couple of months. Traffic is up and so is revenue from the blog, something that comes in handy when the bills arrive every month. Maybe someday it will pay all of my bills…
Technorati Tags: blogging, posting, shaun carter, earnings, katt williams, hustlin
Hummer HX Looks Like a Dune Buggy
Jan 20th
Is it just me or does the new Hummer HX concept look like a dune buggy? The HX was just debuted by General Motors recently as a concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.
The HX is a bio-fuel concept vehicle targeted to the younger consumer looking for a balance between styling and environmentalism. The concept Hummer is packing a 304-horsepower 3.6 Liter V-6 engine that is E85 capable.
I also have to commend General Motors on their investment in a biofuel startup that is producing ethanol out of waste products rather than corn. They expect to be producing ethanol at a cost of less than $1 per gallon by 2009, which is considerably lower than the production costs of ethanol from corn.
Most people know my position on ethanol is that I am strongly against it because it disproportionately impacts the lives of middle and lower income Americans by raising their prices paid for nearly all food products that are impacted by higher corn prices. The positive impact of E85 ethanol on our consumption of middle eastern oil is smaller than a rounding error, but the damage it is doing to our economy is remarkable.
In the end there were no prices disclosed for the HX or whether it will enter production at some point in the future. I would still with an H2 if I had a choice, unless I wanted to go riding the dunes along Lake Michigan, the HX does not look practical or even appealing to the eye.
Technorati Tags: hummer, hx, general motors, gm, shaun carter, ethanol, corn , biofuel, lake michigan, dunes, dune buggy, h2, h3, e85, north american auto show, detroit, michigan, auto show, concept car
Katt Williams Hustlin
Jan 19th
Here’s a great clip of comedian Katt Williams doing a routine to the “Everyday I’m Hustlin” track by Rick Ross.
Office Space For The Self Employed
Jan 19th
One of the problems someone who works from home has is a lack of presentable office space for meetings with clients, business executives and maybe even a group of venture capitalists. Wouldn’t it be great to rent a conference room or office space so that you can have a professional look when you need it, but maintain your work from home status?
There is a solution, a company called Business Suites. Some of the locations include Maryland, where they offer Baltimore Office Space, Nevada, Texas, and Virginia.
Business Suites offer a full-service office solution that includes a private office, receptionist, local phone number, monthly meeting room time, lobby directory listing and many more amenities. For those who don’t need a full-service setup there is the virtual office solution that includes meeting room time, receptionist, local phone number and use of a local mailing address.
Let’s face it, holding your meetings in your kitchen or at the local Starbucks is not professional. For the work at home individual, this is a perfect solution to present yourself with a level of professionalism that some meetings deserve.
*This is a sponsored post.
Dr. Phil Under Investigation
Jan 18th
I have to say I am extremely happy to see that the California Board of Psychology is investigating Dr. Phil, of book and television fame, for his run in with Britney Spears recently.
When I heard him spouting off on the news about his evaluation of Britney Spears I immediately knew it was inappropriate and that he was more than likely violating the doctor-patient confidentiality privilege. Phil McGraw stepped so far over the line by showing up at Britney’s hotel room and then announcing he would air a special episode dedicated to her problems.
It turns out that Dr. Phil doesn’t even have a license to practice psychology after he failed to meet terms of a disciplinary determination against him in Texas where he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient.
If this man lost his license in such a fashion, why did Oprah Winfrey catapult him into television and book writing? Now that he has willfully violated Britney Spears right to privacy I hope she files suit and recovers damages against him and that some sort of criminal charges are brought as well for practicing without a license. I also have to wonder why his television show isn’t considered to be a psycology practice, because he works extensively with the people he features on his show and then he displays their case to the viewing public.
Britney Spears has been having one helluva quarter-life crises lately, I’m just glad Dr. Phil won’t be able to make it even worse.
Technorati Tags: dr. phil, britney spears, shaun carter, psychology, medicine, license, california, texas, investigation
President Bush Speaks About Economic Stimulus Package
Jan 18th
President Bush has a press conference today at 11:30am to announce his plans for an economic stimulus package to try to shock the United States economy back into conciousness. He stated a desire for a stimulus the size of about 1% of GDP and no tax increases.
The two requirements President Bush gave for the package include tax incentives for businesses to encourage growing their operations and providing more jobs. Direct and rapid income tax relief for Americans to spend as they see fit that will last through at least 2010.
I don’t care for the idea of a tax rebate being issued around the same time of everyone getting their tax refunds anyway. The economy will surely get a small boost in April and May when everyone entitled to a tax refund gets their check or direct deposit and goes out to buy that big HDTV.
Another problem is that people may not even use the money for economic stimulated activity. Many will use the money to pay down existing debt and pay their mortgages, which will have no positive effect on economic consumption.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 35 points during and immediately after President Bush’s remarks.
Technorati Tags: president bush, tax cut, hdtv, shaun carter, rebate, economic, stimulus
Cheap Address Labels
Jan 17th
One thing that I grow tired of doing is addressing envelopes. While I can’t get around writing the mailing address, I can use return address labels to avoid writing out my address on every envelope. I’ve been doing a lot of ebay sales lately and my mailing volume has increased significantly in that time.
Vista Print has some great cheap address labels available and I order quite a few different business supplies from them including business cards and some stationary. If you keep an eye on their website you can catch some great deals like free products and you only pay a small charge for shipping and handling.
Right now the address labels start as low as $7.99 for 140 (5.7 cents each). Make sure when you place your order that you take advantage of the special offers they will display to you along the checkout process – that’s where you can pick up some real steals. You can also grab 250 free business cards right now by themselves or add them to your address label order and save on the overall shipping.
