February 2008

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AAAcckkk! If you are wondering about the blog posting dates and times being all weird and messed up, it’s just me learning how to do get this put together. Today, my work on the pudgandplum.com website consisted of getting graphics into proper places and scrolling through template designs. After a few hours of sizing graphics and viewing templates I am still not sure of what template I will be using. Once the template is chosen, I’ll be able to start the long task of adding content.

The first story has also been started once again for the 4th time. It should not be long for me to get into a groove to get the story to a point where I can test its “entertainment strength” (which basically means if it will have the ability to hold a child’s attention).

Over 5 years ago I started to get heavy into real estate investing and teaching myself how to beat the stock market. I studied all day and night, diligently trying to find all I could to make the most of the 2 investment vehicles I thought I could succeed at. At the time, I just got married and my research into both the stock and real estate market got me learning (or more like interested) in finding out about trends. Both of these investment markets have strong trends that can be studied and researched to used to an investors advantage. The “trends education” made me start to look hard into the global economy as well as the how the GOLD and SILVER market was effected by all everything.

Today gold and silver hit new highs and continue to spike along a steep rise in oil prices. This is NOT the concern I am worried about for our kids. It’s the lack of knowledge they have on how this is all going to effective everyone in the near future and how it will hurt them in the long run. A friend of mine recently asked me what I thought was going to happen in the real estate market. Here is what I wrote to her:

My estimates on the housing market are pretty grim, but could leave GREAT opportunities for those who know how to take advantage of it.

  1. We should see housing prices drop AT LEAST another 20% (maybe more) over the next year. The foreclosure problem is no where near being done yet. The GOOD news is that the rental demand is skyrocketing and property owners can demand more for rent and screen tenants better to choose from the best selection.
    1. Inflation will cause more and more foreclosures and buyers will hold out till they know the market is at its bottom.
    2. If a person studies the Art of Negotiation well, great deals will be available.
  1. Then in 2010 the market will maintain itself at its bottom for at least 3-5 years. This will be the best time to invest!
    1. Homes will be able to be purchased for 60% or more off the top of the market. This was seen in Antelope Valley (a place I moved to in 1996) in the mid 90’s by those who knew what they were doing.
  1. About 2015, if things get better and we are not stuck in a depression hole due to baby boomers collapsing the stock market, prices will rise again and skyrocket and anyone who invested wisely in the stock market should be very wealthy.

Of course, these are just my opinions. There is a lot of data backing up my assumptions, so I’m pretty confident it will be as bad as I think if not worse. I don’t know who President Bush is trying to fool when he says things can get fixed. The numbers just don’t lie.

I had just finished reading that President Bush said that we are not in a recession and we will be able to pull out of this. I know that it would be foolish of him to “tell the truth” about what his advisors are telling him to the American people. I do not believe he is the only one to blame for our problems. No one has done anything to really fix the problems that are getting us deeper into debt. Our social security problem, immigration problem, middle east war problems, sub-prime mortgage issues, and oil price crisis are all contributors to our US Dollar losing its value. The truth is, our country is going deeper into debt and cannot be immediately controlled.

Our children will suffer for this unless they know how to handle and control money, but first they will need to understand what money really is.

February 29th, Leap day 2008. The mission “To Change the Financial Future of Our Next Generation” begins! Website Domain (PudgandPlum.com) and this Blog (blog.pudgandplum.com) are launched today and the work has begun. (If have been redirected to this blog when trying to get to the pudgandplum.com website, this is being done temporarily until the site gets far enough for its initial launch.) Since the website will take a few days to put together, I’ve decided to start with the blog to get daily information out on what is being done daily to build the website and also to comment about daily money matters.

The goals and purpose of the pudgandplum.com website and blog are in the ABOUT section of this blog.