Peter Myers' Blog

Extra! Extra! Getchar Guvvament Bailout Money Hee-ah

Have you gotten these emails from various spam-like sites advising you to make sure you get "your piece of the government bailout pie"?  If ever there were a reason to be suspicious of a government that promises it is "here to help," this appears to be it.  It is common knowledge that TARP funds, named to allegedly direct my bank to relieve itself of the "troubled assets" it purchased (in between buying companies, paying bonuses to executives, and spinning off commissions to the Birkenstock-clad mortgage broker), has not really gone to buy any such "troubled assets."  Because the first hastily-passed Act did not tell the banks what to do with this money, now we have to set up a "bad bank" to buy bad assets, and we have to pay for that - again. 

I Have Decided to Save the World Economy

I am going to bite the bullet for everyone here and save the world economy. Here's how (bear with me, because this requires some explanation).

The Sea Changes in Clients' Attitudes About Financial Advisors

Yesterday morning, Schwab released its fifth semi-annual survey of independent registered investment advisors.  More than 1200 independent advisors with more than $300 billion in assets under management completed the survey, which was conducted from Jan. 20-Jan. 30, 2009.  It reported a phenomenon that I have observed but only anecdotally:  there has been a sea change in how Americans view their financial advisors and seek financial advice. 

    This is my version of the "Sea Change"