Archive for August, 2009
Mega Millions August 25, 2009 – No Winner!
Aug 26th
There was no winner in the August 25 Mega Millions drawing, bringing Friday’s jackpot to $325 Million! The cash options pays out a whopping $204.5 Million.
Technorati Tags: mega millions, shaun carter, jackpot, drawing, lotto, lottery
Michael Jackson's Death Ruled a Homocide
Aug 24th
In an expected turn of events, an unnamed source divulged that Michael Jackson‘s autopsy showed his body had a lethal level of propofol in it at the time of his death. While this certainly will warrant a successful wrongful death lawsuit and medical malpractice charges, it appears that Jackson brought this on himself. He had been shopping for drugs, doctors and was obviously negligent on his own.
Technorati Tags: michael jackson, shaun carter, propofol
Economic Recovery Not Supporting Stock Market Gains
Aug 17th
I have been very cautious about the stock market since its meteoric rise from March lows. The economic recovery will be slow and tedious and will most definitely not support this 40%+ stock market growth over the past 6 months and is due for a correction. Already we are seeing oil prices and gold fall. Soon enough, the market will endure a correction and I believe it will be led by the banks and energy companies. The fundamentals just aren’t in place to support the prevailing P/E ratios being paid for the major indices
The wildcard right now is inflation and the value of the dollar. I find it hard to believe that inflation is a non-issue considering the trillions of dollars the government must raise to finance the ballooning budget deficit.
The way this plays out should be interesting to watch and I believe most sectors will be correcting downward through the end of 2009 as the economic recovery forecast becomes weaker and weaker.
Technorati Tags: economy, shaun carter, economic recovery, stimulus, stocks, investing, oil, gold, dollar
Student Loan Changes
Aug 16th
I am very much intrigued and supportive of the proposed changes to the way student loans are issued nationwide. This is a topic that is very dear to me because of the substantial sum of student loans I am currently carrying and will need to take out in future years in order to continue my education.
Under the current system, many students whose parents aren’t able to pay for their tuition and room expenses, loans must be taken out. But the Federally guaranteed Stafford Loans don’t even begin to cover the cost of attendance at most public schools. Private loans must be sought and at a much higher interest rate of up to 15% or more.
The new program will eliminate private lending and make Stafford-like loans sufficient to cover the cost of attendance. The savings provided by the change will amount to over $85 Billion through the first 10 years.
“Among other things, the savings will be used to significantly boost Pell Grant scholarships (need-based grants given to low-income students), to keep interest rates low on need-based federal student loans for years to come, to simplify the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, to invest in strengthening community colleges,” Rachel Racusen, the deputy communications director of the House Education and Labor Committee, said in an e-mail.
Traditional education lenders are opposed to the plan because it will immediately eliminate them from a very lucrative market. Since the new bankruptcy laws of 2005 went into effect, all student loans including those issed by private lenders are protected from discharge and must be repaid, virtually eliminating loan loss to the corporations that fund them.
I am looking forward to the passing of this new legislation and the savings it will bring myself and millions of fellow college students around the country.
Technorati Tags: shaun carter, college, university, student loans, stafford, pell grant, education loans, sallie mae
eRepublik.com – Virtual Strategy Sim
Aug 15th
I have become addicted to an online strategy game called eRepublik. You get to create a citizen to live inside this virtual world. There are jobs, a working (and fairly sophisticated) economy, and political parties. You can start your own business, publish a newspaper, and run for senate or even president!
eRepublik has garnered awards and recognition from all over the Internet including Tech Crunch, Webby Awards and LeWeb 3.
I’ve made it to level 6 with a little effort and hope to see some of you join me!
Technorati Tags: erepublik, shaun carter, strategy game, sim, online game
Shaun Carter Has Re-Entered the Blogosphere!
Aug 15th
After a long absence from blogging, I have returned and now have plenty of time to devote to new posts! The last few months have been a rollercoaster ride for me personally and I’m hoping to return to a level of normalcy that will keep me sane.
I’ve missed blogging and working on my Internet projects and I hope to build them some more over the next school year. I will be returning to SVSU in a couple of weeks and working toward my degree in a combination of English, Finance and/or Economics. I realize that double or triple majoring is a crazy thing to do consider how much I already owe in student loans, but the job market is still rough and I don’t expect it to recover anytime soon and I’ve become very fond of English, particularly creative writing over the past year. I would be very happy making a career out of writing, specifically short stories and novels. Perhaps I will post some of my work here on ShaunCarter.com for all of you to enjoy!
That’s all I have for now, stay tuned for some posts about the current economic and stock market situation. I have plenty to discuss as it’s a very interesting and turbulent time in world economics and finance.
Technorati Tags: shaun carter, blogging, finance, economics, english, creative writing, short stories, novels, stock market, college
