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College Classes Coming to a Start
Aug 29th
I have finally finished moving into my apartment on campus and begin my classes tomorrow morning. I am excited to have transferred to a new school which is ranked as one of the top Universities in the Midwest, with an excellent business program.
I begin this semester as a Junior, by one credit, and hope to graduate with a dual major in Business Economics and Finance by 2012.
Are We Really Out of the Recession?
Dec 22nd
Economic indicators are pointing to a recovery, but I’m not so sure many working-class Americans would agree. With official unemployment in my home state of Michigan at 15% and the realistic number in the 20′s, I don’t see an economic recovery anytime soon, especially in Michigan.
Home sales are up, economic growth is up, jobs are still being lost (albeit at a slower pace) and more Americans saving rather than spending is what will keep the downturn/recession stretching into 2010. Much of the increase in home sales could be attributed to the government stimulus expiring and buyers rushing to make their purchase to claim the $8,000 tax credit. Employers continue to belt tighten in anticipation of further economic difficulty and in turn are essentially compounding the problem by supressing payroll numbers to save costs.
In 2009 I earned most of my income working in another state because of the lack of jobs in my own. At the same time I have seen my college tuition rise at unprecendented rates making it increasingly difficult to gain the degree needed to work in my desired profession. At what point does it not make economic sense for me to invest in a college degree? That point is fast approaching.
Get 25% Off at GoDaddy
Dec 10th
I received a renewal notice from GoDaddy today and decided I should get it taken care of and also discovered a 25% off coupon code for purchases over $100. I decided to go ahead and renew ShaunCarter.com for 9 years using that coupon code and was able to bring the per year cost of the domain down to around $6 by renewing a couple other domains to bring the order total to $100 – not a bad deal.
BTPS255 – 25% OFF $100 purchase at GoDaddy.com
Tiger Woods Saga Better For News Outlets Than Michael Jackson's Death
Dec 8th
I don’t really care about Tiger Woods’ personal life and think what he does is his own business. But apparently the hoopla surrounding the unfolding “transgressions” has proven extremely lucrative for news agencies, specifically Yahoo and The Wall Street Journal according to The Huffington Post. They claim that web traffic is exceeding what was experienced after Michael Jackson’s death.
While Yahoo and WSJ were the only ones to publicly say that the web traffic generated by Tiger will substantially increase ad revenue for the quarter, it will undoubtedly help out many other online news agencies as well such as, MSN.com, CNN.com, Google.com and others. Could this create a “Tiger Effect” that could boost results for these companies in the fourth quarter of 2009? I think it just might and if so this could be a good time to enter into long positions in these companies as the market has taken a bit of a beating the last few sessions and pricing is a bit more attractive.
On a side note, Tiger lost his first endorsement – although Gatorade claims it was already planning to phase out the product, their timing is quite a coincidence.
Repaid TARP Funds Being Hijacked
Dec 7th
I think it’s appalling that the Obama administration is trying to find a way around provisions in the TARP legislation to use the extra funds for job creation stimulus instead of for paying down the deficit as was originally agreed and laid out in the law.
The government recently announced that the losses incurred by TARP will be $200 Billion less than was originally projected. Any monies left over from TARP are to be used to pay down the spiraling federal deficit. I am in 100% agreement that this “extra” $200 Billion be put toward retiring some of the debts incurred by TARP, but now Obama is trying to find a loophole to use it for more stimulus spending.
I have long been a proponent of paying down the national deficit because, quite frankly, it makes good financial sense. In the long run, reducing and eliminating the federal deficit would allow LOWER tax rates AND increased government spending because of the savings on interest payments. In 2008, 18% of all incoming taxes to the federal government went toward interest payments on the national debt. This percentage is artificially low because of historically low interest rates and will climb significantly higher in the future as rates increase.
That 18% is $454 Billion… imagine what we could do with all that extra money lying around. Lower taxes, better schools, and much, much more.
Laziness and Internet Success
Sep 16th
So I’ve decided that it is pure laziness that causes my lack of success online. While it works in college, the way I don’t study and yet still maintain my place on the Dean’s List, in the world of online income, laziness kills. I have achieved moderate success with my proxy server Unblock YouTube and credit card comparison website, but I have yet to take my efforts in Affiliate Marketing seriously.
I read story after story of people generating five to six figure incomes per month sending traffic to affiliate landing pages and getting them to convert. The concept seems simple enough, but the execution is much more difficult to get a handle on. I’m beginning to think jumping in head first is the way to go and trial and error the secret to success.
Happy Labor Day!
Sep 7th
To those of you that hail from the USA, today marks the 115th annual Labor Day holiday. The holiday is a celebration of the worker, who was key to this country’s industrial revolution and rise to a world power.
The first Labor Day was held in New York City by the Central Labor Union and caught on across the nation after that.
To me, Labor Day culminates into two extra days off from school and maybe a family barbeque. Some good Labor Day sales in the stores can sometimes be found but I haven’t seen much evidence of that this year.
Cheers!
Getting Settled In At School
Sep 4th
Another school year is upon me and I am almost done moving into my on-campus apartment. I have successfully applied for a transfer to Grand Valley State University for the Winter semester and am eagerly awaiting that. The business program at GVSU has a proven reputation and since graduating high school in 2003, the school has become quite a bit more competitive for admission.
A change in major may also be on the horizon as I become more and more attracted to the field of economic theory and analysis. This should be a smooth semester as I’m only taking 13 credits and four classes – Creative Writing Fiction Workshop, World Politics, Psychology, and Latin.
Technorati Tags: college, economics, grand valley, on campus
Working the Summer Away
Jun 6th
I have been working this summer at one of the world’s largest amusement parks and for that reason, posts here have been non-existent. I’ll try to get some written during my time off, but that doesn’t come very often. Have a great summer!
Happy New Year!
Jan 1st
Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009! I celebrated the new year with very little fanfare. But I’m glad to say that 2008 is history and I can start a new year.
Happy New Year Everyone!
