It almost makes you wonder whether the “government” is doing this on purpose… reporting large GDP numbers then revising them lower months later when nobody is paying as much attention.  In the recent quarter, GDP was originally at 3.5%.  It was then revised to 2.7%.  Today, they revised it even lower to 2.2%.  What in the heck is going on?
2.2% is very different than 3.5% and represents a very, very large miss.  I’m not sure how they are able to get it so wrong.
I expect the exact same scenario to …

While a long term inflation believer myself, there are definite deflationary forces in the economy today.  Battling these tough forces is the Federal government, pulling out every stop possible to fight this war.  My question that I’m posing today is: are these forces really a deflationary disaster that must be avoided at all costs or is it merely the economy being restructured based on market forces?  How you answer that question determines much.
Deflation is typically marked by decreasing demand across the board.  Consumer demand contracts which causes retailers to drop …

Much of this blog is typically about getting started early in work, career, saving, investing, blogging, whatever.  Just as important as these areas is the area of life.  If you’re like me, you graduated college (which we call the fun/free days) and then “got serious” about a career.  Sure, I still had and have tons of fun after college even while focusing on a career, but it is very easy to get wrapped up in a job or a financial situation and lose track of living life.  I want to …

Taking a look at the 2009 chart of Exxon Mobile Corporation (XOM) reveals a pretty strong trend line support.

While typically not the type of company I am looking to in the energy sector (too big, not that high of a dividend yield), Exxon is still a great company and their recent acquisition of XTO Energy will be a good investment over the long term in my opinion.
I think it’s a pretty safe buy at current levels.  Put a stop loss in just under the trend line, in case the trend …

One of my favorite long term stocks is Philip Morris International (PM).  The company that sells cigarettes worldwide is a great core holding of your portfolio.  The international exposure (great with a weak dollar), the history of ever increasing dividends and the potential growth in certain international markets make this a clear winner.
PM has crept back up to levels we haven’t seen for some time, so the attractive entry point is likely in the past.  At current levels, the dividend yield is just under 5%.  Compare that to the yield …

Making the transition from a heavy spender to a heavy saver for the sake of financial independence can be a tough change for many people.  There are countless systems, tricks and methods that people implement in the name of changing their financial habits.  Like most people who are trying to lose weight, these systems or plans rarely end up working out.  I believe the reason for this is because something bigger, something deeper is required to change in order to implement lasting change, whether you’re trying to lose weight or …

This is a great video from this past week that I strongly encourage you to watch. Note that this is a heated debate between two Republicans.

This is a very important debate that most people are clueless about.  As you probably know, I stand with Ron Paul on this issue.  Control over monetary policy is always tyrannical.  Gregg’s argument that the Fed must remain independent in order to protect the dollar is laughable.  The Fed is “independent” and the dollar has been crushed since the Fed was created.
I will continue …

It is a beautiful thing when a website or a blog hits its stride with regards to growth.  Specifically, blogs, when they get over the initial hurdle of launching, can begin to expand its tentacles through the blogosphere and the web as a whole.  These tentacles, in the form of links, send visitors and “search engine juice” to the growing blog.
In just the last few weeks, i’ve enjoyed seeing a few significant backlinks come online with regards to 20smoney.com.  While I won’t reveal all of them, here are a few:

Wisebread’s …