Tis’ the season for giving gifts, spreading joy & living in excess!
Here are 10 tips on how to become a lean, green holiday machine.
-We all love getting holiday cards in the mail, but this year save a tree and some money by sending out e-cards to your loved ones.
-If your family will gather around a tree this year why not make it a potted, living tree that you can either keep around for next year, or plant in the backyard as a reminder of a great holiday spent together?
-Purchase LED lights to make your tree sparkle! I will admit they take some getting use to, but you will be thankful when you energy bill comes due.
-Make your own ornaments from dough. This is a great activity for the whole family to take part in, and it only costs pennies.
-Pine cones can be used in all sorts of nifty ways. They can be made into a beautiful, inexpensive centerpiece with just a little spray paint or glitter, you can make bird feeders out of them with some peanut butter & bird seed, or you can give them as gifts by dipping them in candle wax to be used as a fire starter.
-Plan a holiday decoration swap meet! Invite your friends and family over to exchange their unwanted decorations. This is a great way to have fun, save money & get new-to-you decorations!
-Buy carbon offsets as a gift for friends & family who are traveling for the holiday season.
-Green your gift giving by hand making your own, re-gifting items, or buying LOCAL and/or battery-free gifts.
For more green gifting ideas you can visit treehugger.com and look through their 2010
Gift Guide.
After acquiring all of your groovy, green gifts remember to go light on the wrapping. Get inventive with your wrapping techniques. Use items around the house to make your own wrapping, or buy recycled wrapping paper.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Gracie Mohr
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Practical Prosperity
December 2010
“Lucy – Incidentally, I know how you feel about this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want! I always get a bunch of stupid toys, or a bike, or clothes, or something like that.
Charlie Brown – What is it you want???
Lucy – Real estate!”
It’s the holiday season and I thought it would be perfect to quote one of my favorite holiday shows “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Whatever holiday you celebrate this month, Lucy may just have a sound solution to your gift giving problems.
Real estate is cheap and buyers are still in command of the market. This year has been an interesting year in terms of the economy. Many expected real estate to have turned a corner and the unemployment rate to be falling. While manufacturing is up, corporate profits are strong, and prices are being held in check, our economy is still not firing on all cylinders yet. Let’s take a quick look at where we are as of November 30, 2010.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
2% - 2.50%
Inflation (Core CPI)
0% - 1.50%
Unemployment Rate
8.00% - 9.00%
Federal Funds Rate
1.00%
S&P 500 Return
8.16%
Bond Market Returns
4%
While it is shaping up to be a decent year for stock market returns, GDP and unemployment are still just barely hanging on. This prompted many to begin speculating a double-dip recession might be on the horizon. (We don’t believe that is the case.) What is most important is to remember, that things are growing. We may not be happy with unemployment and GDP, but they are slowly improving. Marrying these improvements with a reasonably priced stock market and strong corporate earnings, 2011 may also be shaping up for a pretty good year.
The amount of debt consumers took on was massive and we will see continued deleveraging for a number of years, however the savings rate is beginning to level off from its previous skyrocket. That means more money to put into the economy and if consumers feel good, that will happen.
On that note, its time to get merry! Let’s follow up on a tip I gave you in our December 2008 newsletter. Buy stock. Your $50.00 holiday gift would be worth this today:
Dow Jones $66.56 up 33.11%
S&P 500 $69.36 up 38.77%
NASDAQ $83.60 up 67.20%
Emerging Markets $92.89 up 85.77%
With return figures like that, if you were the lucky recipient, you should be quite merry. Giving a gift like this to a child or grandchild not only keeps on giving, but it teaches a great and necessary financial lesson.
Finally, each December it is also fun to take a look at the annual Christmas Price Index calculated each year by The PNC Financial Services Group. After little movement last year, the index had its 2nd greatest year of inflation in 2010, rising 9.2%. Gold rings surged 30% on rising commodities, and ladies dancing must be in high demand as their prices soared 15%. For some holiday cheer click here and waste an hour on a cold day laughing your way through an economics lesson.
So once again my calling, if you are just totally stumped on someone’s holiday gift, buy stock. Whether you have $50.00 to spend or $50,000 to spend, now is the time. Efficiently priced markets perform well independently of stellar economic returns. This is our environment and we should make the best of it. One of our missions at Mackey Advisors™ has always been for you to continually be prosperous. Whether that means giving gifts, volunteering time, hosting the family dinner, or helping a family in need make it your mission too this holiday season. A most safe and happy holiday to you and yours.
Andy Pulsfort
“Lucy – Incidentally, I know how you feel about this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want! I always get a bunch of stupid toys, or a bike, or clothes, or something like that.
Charlie Brown – What is it you want???
Lucy – Real estate!”
It’s the holiday season and I thought it would be perfect to quote one of my favorite holiday shows “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Whatever holiday you celebrate this month, Lucy may just have a sound solution to your gift giving problems.
Real estate is cheap and buyers are still in command of the market. This year has been an interesting year in terms of the economy. Many expected real estate to have turned a corner and the unemployment rate to be falling. While manufacturing is up, corporate profits are strong, and prices are being held in check, our economy is still not firing on all cylinders yet. Let’s take a quick look at where we are as of November 30, 2010.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
2% - 2.50%
Inflation (Core CPI)
0% - 1.50%
Unemployment Rate
8.00% - 9.00%
Federal Funds Rate
1.00%
S&P 500 Return
8.16%
Bond Market Returns
4%
While it is shaping up to be a decent year for stock market returns, GDP and unemployment are still just barely hanging on. This prompted many to begin speculating a double-dip recession might be on the horizon. (We don’t believe that is the case.) What is most important is to remember, that things are growing. We may not be happy with unemployment and GDP, but they are slowly improving. Marrying these improvements with a reasonably priced stock market and strong corporate earnings, 2011 may also be shaping up for a pretty good year.
The amount of debt consumers took on was massive and we will see continued deleveraging for a number of years, however the savings rate is beginning to level off from its previous skyrocket. That means more money to put into the economy and if consumers feel good, that will happen.
On that note, its time to get merry! Let’s follow up on a tip I gave you in our December 2008 newsletter. Buy stock. Your $50.00 holiday gift would be worth this today:
Dow Jones $66.56 up 33.11%
S&P 500 $69.36 up 38.77%
NASDAQ $83.60 up 67.20%
Emerging Markets $92.89 up 85.77%
With return figures like that, if you were the lucky recipient, you should be quite merry. Giving a gift like this to a child or grandchild not only keeps on giving, but it teaches a great and necessary financial lesson.
Finally, each December it is also fun to take a look at the annual Christmas Price Index calculated each year by The PNC Financial Services Group. After little movement last year, the index had its 2nd greatest year of inflation in 2010, rising 9.2%. Gold rings surged 30% on rising commodities, and ladies dancing must be in high demand as their prices soared 15%. For some holiday cheer click here and waste an hour on a cold day laughing your way through an economics lesson.
So once again my calling, if you are just totally stumped on someone’s holiday gift, buy stock. Whether you have $50.00 to spend or $50,000 to spend, now is the time. Efficiently priced markets perform well independently of stellar economic returns. This is our environment and we should make the best of it. One of our missions at Mackey Advisors™ has always been for you to continually be prosperous. Whether that means giving gifts, volunteering time, hosting the family dinner, or helping a family in need make it your mission too this holiday season. A most safe and happy holiday to you and yours.
Andy Pulsfort
Partnership and Win/Win as a new Business Model
The growth of Mackey Advisors has brought us to the threshold of buying our own building. Just recently, I found a fabulous, unique space and I was prepared to make the purchase, as I could see Mackey Advisors growing and thriving there. After weeks of exploration and negotiation, I sadly walked away. Negotiations involve give and take, but it seemed that Mackey Advisors was doing all the giving and the developer was doing all the taking. As I step back, I realize that fundamentally, we have different approaches to doing business.
Business has traditionally been conducted as a win/lose venture. I have something to sell to you. You want a bargain. The deal is consummated when one of the parties feel they have the upper hand. I have not conducted business in this way for many years. My attitude is one more aligned with partnership, where both parties’ needs are heard, respected, honored, and met to the fullest extent possible. Compromise is the name of the game.
If I am in need of a product or service, I want to exchange my resources with a vendor who will meet or exceed my expectations at a fair price. AND I want the vendor’s price to support their operation and to allow a profit. After all, if they do well, they will continue to provide the valuable service of being attentive to and meeting my needs.
In all of our ways of “coming together” financially, as vendors, customers, business partners, or even spouses, we can do so from a place of win/lose, or we can adopt a win/win form of “partnership.” Not partnership in the traditional sense, but partnership in the sense of mutual respect, knowing that we are both in this together, and that we both have needs that must be met. It’s still competition, but with a cooperative twist. After all, if I thrive at your expense, where does that leave me the next time I need to partner with someone to accomplish my goals?
From this place, where each party looks to find a way to support, cooperate with, and meet the needs of the other, win/win is created. You might call it “cooperative negotiation”, and it is a transformational place from which to conduct business. In this place of win/win, both parties thrive. In the place of win/lose, one or both parties are damaged by the relationship. Think of all the dysfunctions that occur around money because one person is trying to get more than the other. Think of the possibility in a world where business is conducted in a place of win/win. What world do you choose? It is yours to create!
Mackey McNeill
Business has traditionally been conducted as a win/lose venture. I have something to sell to you. You want a bargain. The deal is consummated when one of the parties feel they have the upper hand. I have not conducted business in this way for many years. My attitude is one more aligned with partnership, where both parties’ needs are heard, respected, honored, and met to the fullest extent possible. Compromise is the name of the game.
If I am in need of a product or service, I want to exchange my resources with a vendor who will meet or exceed my expectations at a fair price. AND I want the vendor’s price to support their operation and to allow a profit. After all, if they do well, they will continue to provide the valuable service of being attentive to and meeting my needs.
In all of our ways of “coming together” financially, as vendors, customers, business partners, or even spouses, we can do so from a place of win/lose, or we can adopt a win/win form of “partnership.” Not partnership in the traditional sense, but partnership in the sense of mutual respect, knowing that we are both in this together, and that we both have needs that must be met. It’s still competition, but with a cooperative twist. After all, if I thrive at your expense, where does that leave me the next time I need to partner with someone to accomplish my goals?
From this place, where each party looks to find a way to support, cooperate with, and meet the needs of the other, win/win is created. You might call it “cooperative negotiation”, and it is a transformational place from which to conduct business. In this place of win/win, both parties thrive. In the place of win/lose, one or both parties are damaged by the relationship. Think of all the dysfunctions that occur around money because one person is trying to get more than the other. Think of the possibility in a world where business is conducted in a place of win/win. What world do you choose? It is yours to create!
Mackey McNeill
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