Holy Cow

Something I will continue to do until I can get me a stable and suitable supply of throat and kitty cat (any volunteers), will be to talk about the economy and some politics. Yawl know I try to be about money. Especially being the only person in my household in a position to provide food clothing shelter, oh and don’t forget the mortgage. But I have had to step my game up. I thought I was rather astute when I came to such but nowadays, you got to be on everything, or in a position to monitor every economic indicator, even new ones that pop up that never would have been considered as such.

My favorite indicator outside of my statements from my investments is the price of oil. Oil just hit the $130.00 a barrel mark today. Now I feel that the$150.00 mark will be just around the corner, maybe by the end of the summer or best the end of the year. If I were a commodities man, I’d lunge out there and say it is a good time to go long – maybe I should call my broker. I have read that folks are even purchasing oil futures almost a decade in advance.

What is really troubling, like I said were things that I use as indicators that I never have before like copper and wheat. Copper prices are climbing fast, so fast that even the Chinese government via the China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) is trying to bring down prices to cover fast-approaching short positions. Especially since one usd = 8.1 yuan. But that is just the short of it. Over here, although historically copper, a vital and frequently overlooked metal, from an investment perspective, to me it’s just as good or like Gold. I mean of al the metals used it ranks third.

But due to its increasingly rising cost, folks been stealing copper like it was cable. Namely because copper and scrap metal prices have soared 32 percent this year alone and because it is selling at about $2.65 per pound. Then add to the aforementioned, wheat contracts for May hit a record of $13.50 on the Chicago Board of Trade. And just like oil and copper, they are driven by global demand, a weak dollar and a shortage of supply. Which means they drilling in the regular budgets of folk like u and me.

Don’t even mention that World food supplies are shrinking while the population worldwide is increasing. And don’t sleep, they all connected because higher food prices is are correlated directly with higher energy prices. And they way this sexless mind thinks, things can and will only get worse. And places like the Ukraine and the US are stock piling wheat now.

So the next time you buy that slice of pizza, I wouldn't be suprised if you screamed "holy cow", cow refering to copper, oil and wheat.

Side Bar: BigBoi of Outkast stopped by the store today - good look folk and enjoy the book.

also interview on npr is tonight, i think, i mean i know he with kabc in los ang.

What’s it made off

As many of you know I do not like to write about entertainment, but today I will digress and do such. So please bear with me on my new endeavor. Down in this camp, the ATL, there a social event that will go on tonight called “Hot on the Runway.” It is a fashion show and concert that will be held it this joint called the Compound, which was founded by the Black Mafia Family (BMF). Performances are slated to be made by Atlanta’s own Blood Raw of CTE, Mario, Ray-J and Ashanti among others.

Now there is nothing wrong with fashion, or fashion shows. I even went to a fashion show once (my daughters mother was in it and said i never came to see her model) and although I cannot recall of the designers, and didn’t attempt to get any of the models phone numbers, what I recant most was that it was outside and that the had a barb-q pit and he was serving pork – and I simply loved that.

However, at this show, they have a promotional contest in which the will be giving away a $5000 red Dolce & Gabbana Crocodile Purse. Now correct me if I am wrong, but what can a purse be made of that make it worth $5000? Sure I know the obvious, but when I lived in Nigeria you could get them for $50 US dollars. I tried to find a picture of the purse but could’t because didn’t know WTF I was looking for, so one of my favorite beverages has to suffice for this post.

Now the way I see it, which may be foul, I could get 68.7 shares of National Oilwell Varco (NOV) or 40.7 shares of PBR (Petroleo Brasileiro), although it could by me a lot of Pabst Blue Ribbon also. But that is just me. But on the real, with the recession, and the high cost of education, and folks losing teir houses, why not give away a scholarship, or a down payment on a home, or even offer to pay $5000 on someone’s mortgage?

I just don’t get, I really don’t. To me, such action play into sterotypes tha are already debilitating. Such as buying cars over homes, spinners(Sprewell’s) over stock, and last but not least the ubiquitous flossin’ and frontin’ – which by definition means pretending like you got loot when you do not. As a people, we command a GDP of $688 billion. That’s way more than the highest GDP for an African nation (Egypt), which has an estimated annual GDP of $290 billion. Our estimated GDP is in the ranks with countries the likes of Spain and Mexico.

So what gives folk, when we gone stop and look at the big picture. 5 stacks could get me central air and heat for my home, and at least a years worth of gas. I just want to leave you with this think, cause if I spent 5 stacks, and it wasn’t on stocks, it better be some aluminum siding or stucco on my crib.