ManyPeaks.com

Facts in regular type.. My smack talk in italics.

- The Bucs, Redskins, & my Bengals lost their 1st games of the season.. all 3 were close battles. On the other side of the league, Green Bay wins its first ballgame in impressive fashion,notching 52 points against “everybody’s 2nd favorite team,” the weary New Orleans Saints.
1 undefeated team remains: Peyton’s Colts.
- I’m an awful football gambler — I took the Saints +3.
- Unlike college football, there’s real parity in the NFL.

- Oprah apparently offered $100,000 per non-registered sex offender brought to justice.. 2 have been caught.
- Money once again talks… & Opie is a verified unstoppable force. (wonder what happens when she meets an immovable object?)

- Regarding response time to the huge earthquake, Pakistani president Musharraf referenced the US response to Hurricane Katrina while defending his performance.
-Way to set the bar nice & low.

- The White House has authorized $50 million of aid for Pakistan after the country was hit by an earthquake two days ago.
- A mere $50 mil of aid for one of our primary friends in the middle east? I’d have thought that friendship was more valuable.

- Scientists are developing cars that drive themselves. In a “race” this weekend, Stanford’s entry came in first.
- No shocker. What recent good idea didn’t come out of Palo Alto?

- This 6% realtor commission issue is getting absurd. ABC early news interviewed an NAR (national assoc of realtors) spokesperson.. lots of smoke & mirrors, as expected.
- Stock trading commissions are now as low as a penny per share, or $5 for unlimited shares.. down from hundreds of dollars per trade just 10 years ago.
- The services are analagous.. brokering an exchange. So how has this legacy price fixture lasted so long? Not thru legit competition, I promise you.
- Fannie Mae (another govt protected industry) has already been exposed as unneccessary.. a story in itself. I suspect the NAR is next.
- ps. I’ve taken this position since about 2001, though suprisingly nothing has changed. Now the stakes are literally twice as high, as home prices have essentially doubled in that time.

- U.S. online shopping sites are likely to benefit as more customers shop online in a bid to cut gasoline costs.
- Mall owners (REITS) will face a tough environment if this continues.
- If energy prices remain near these levels over the next decade, I believe urban residential properties will significantly outperform suburban ones in price appreciation as mid & upper income folks migrate back to walkable city centers. (it’s already happening here in Lexington).

- So called “reality” TV shows are losing popularity, possibly having peaked out. Even pioneer “Survivor” ratings are down.
- Finally !