Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

You Were Probably a Stamp Collector As Well

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February 7th, 2012

Remember what stamp collecting was like back in the 60’s?

Back in the sixties collecting stamps was all the rage. There were articles in the newspapers and every city had stamp dealers. Most of the collectors did it for the hobby while others thought about future values. 50 years later I’m sitting with a cupboard full of stamp albums. Stamp collecting went out of fashion when countries began issuing huge numbers of stamps. The hobby also faded against the competition of electronic games and computers.

I never thought twice

I too moved into the computer age, and my stamp collection occupied valuable space in my study. I knew it was there within easy reach any time I got the urge to pull out the magnifying glass and check the little pieces of paper for a misprint that would make it worth millions. The years passed and every time I saw my wife eyeing the stamp cupboard while in search of extra storage space, I would quickly explain that inside the cupboard was not a stamp collection, but our retirement fund.

I take a Payday Loan to make sure

Last summer when the humidity went through the roof I thought of all those mint stamps and how the humidity might be affecting them. I decided to hermetically seal the stamp cupboard and I called in a carpenter for a quotation. The price was horrendous. My wife yelled about the new shoes that I had nixed the week before. Our retirement fund, I explained and settled with the carpenter.

Back to the future

With possible humidity damage to my valuable stamp collection safely behind me, I went back to writing the great American novel. I was on page 323 and all was going according to plan. There were a few anxious moments like when the sub-prime mortgage scandal surfaced. I read the papers, shuddered, cast a glance at my hermetically sealed retirement fund and started a new chapter, always a milestone event. I reckoned I was halfway through the story and that the second half would be a breeze.

More money problems

One day there was a twitch on the stock exchange where the other half of my retirement fund was living in secure comfort. I groaned, sent a few choice four-letter words in the direction of Wall Street and lovingly stroked the stamp cupboard. We don’t need that old stock exchange, do we? I whispered. Cupboard remained silent but I took it that he agreed. I continued with chapter 59.

Out for dinner

At the Simpsons the other evening I was introduced to Phil, a well-known philatelist. I settled back to let him bring me up to date on the stamp market and my collection. It didn’t take long. “It’s all gone down the drain. Very few stamps have any value. The whole market collapsed,” he explained angrily. I guess he had a retirement fund as well.

Now what?

I grabbed my wife and we raced home. Between us we typed the final chapter of the novel, leaving out the last 200 pages. I need an editor urgently. I want this book, aka my retirement fund, in the bookstores by Easter.

Tags: Philately, Retirement fund, Stamp collecting
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Finance, Money, Payday Loans, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

You Are A Facebook User, Right?

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February 5th, 2012

So where were you on Day 1?

To my everlasting disappointment I regret a missed opportunity. I was junior clerk in an engineering office downtown. Next door was a small insurance company. One of the clerks working there was a neighbor of mine in the street where I lived out in the suburbs. He was a few years older than I and we were only on nodding terms, both at home on the street and in the office corridors. From experience gained while working at the insurance company he started up his own insurance company. He collected money from friends by way of $1,000 “investment lots” and gave them shares in exchange. For some reason he never offered me any shares. His new company took off and became, and still is, a major international insurance company and his friends who invested became rich.

The Facebook story

Now it’s Facebook time. At the very start of the Facebook story, a guy called David Choe was asked to paint murals on the walls of the offices. Choe, who says his “dirty-style figure paintings combine themes of desire, degradation, and exaltation”, took shares in Facebook instead of a cash payment. He chose to gamble his fee and now the shares look like being the hottest property on the US stock market.

Street artist

Choe calls his painting style “dirty.” In his documentary, he says his smeared and smudged painting method comes from being left-handed when he was little. He told an art magazine, “dirty styles is painting on found object besides a blank piece of paper or blank white wall … so even before you start there’s some history, there’s some spills, chills and marks, then you keep creating more history on top of that, spilling, spraying, dripping, creaming, collaging, making a mess. I create hope from dark beginnings.”

The Facebook IPO

With Facebook being pitched in the $75-$100 billion range, those murals could turn out to be more expensive than the $140 million paid in 2006 for Pollock’s No 5, 1948, or even the $200.7 million paid at auction for a collection of Damien Hirst pieces in 2008. Jackson Pollock may lose his record for creating the most expensive painting ever, not to another enfant terrible of the art world, but to a minor Los Angeles mural painter who happened upon the Facebook offices in 2005.

New-found wealth

Although Choe declined to speak about his new-found wealth, his Facebook fanpage tells his story: “In 2005, internet entrepreneur Sean Parker, a longtime fan, asked him to paint graphic sexual murals in the interior of Facebook’s first Silicon Valley office, and in 2007, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg commissioned him to paint somewhat tamer murals for their next office.”

Millionaires and billionaires

David Choe could be the unlikeliest of all the millionaires and billionaires who will be minted by the social network’s flotation this year. If the company hits the top valuations being talked about, then Choe will have been paid about $200 million for the “graphic sexual murals” that adorned Facebook’s walls in its early years. Is he a good artist? Who cares?

Tags: facebook, IPOs, Shares
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet, Technology | No Comments »

I’m Checking My Diving Equipment This Weekend

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February 3rd, 2012

Anyone interested in a diving expedition to Italy in March?

In case you missed it, there’s a fortune lurking and waiting to be lifted out of the sea off the coast of Italy. It’s in a safe place, it’s in shallow water and there are no sharks. All you will have to do is avoid the police and other treasure hunters.

FAQs

The size of the reward? Unknown, but it could run to zillions.

What will we be looking for? Cash, diamonds and other gems, precious metals, and anything that can be easily converted into cash.

Where is the treasure hidden? All over the SS Costa Concordia, which for your convenience is lying on her side.

What are the dangers? Thousands of other treasure seekers.

What accommodation is being offered? None. You sleep anywhere.

How will the weather be? Cold with the first hints of spring.

Why aren’t you waiting for the weather to warm up before you start diving? The authorities will get themselves organized by then and you won’t be able to get near the ship.

The race is on

Unlike the Titanic which sank in deep water with a fortune of treasure aboard and hard to get at, the Costa Concorde is on the surface of the sea, meaning that just about anyone can become a treasure hunter. You don’t need diving gear and you don’t have to have diving experience. If you can swim you will be in the game.

Personal treasure

The items of treasure should be easy to find. The moment the boat hit the rocks everyone seemed to sense there was a major problem. The order to ‘man the lifeboats’ confirmed their fears and they dropped everything and made for the decks, leaving their possessions where they were. Everything is still there and will remain there until the first wave of treasure hunters arrives and starts digging around, emptying closets and suitcases, scattering unwanted clothing and other objects everywhere in the mad search for valuables. If you are in the second wave you will have a rough time looking for things.

Company treasure

Besides the goods that the passengers brought on board there are valuable items which belonged to the ship. First of all there is all the restaurant and kitchenware which will emerge from the sea in perfect condition and is eminently saleable. Much of the furniture and furnishings can be salvaged and sold. Odd trinkets from the wreck have started washing up on the shore and have already found there way to eBay. Anything with the Costa Concorde logo or emblem is considered a collectors item.

What is everyone waiting for?

Firstly the water is very cold. Secondly the ship is apparently moving slightly and is considered to be highly dangerous. Thirdly and most important, there are still 15 people listed as missing. They are probably on the ship, meaning that it is technically a grave. Once all the bodies are out there will be a mad scramble to get on board. I can’t wait!

Tags: Costa Concorde, Salvage, Shipwrecks, Treasure, Treasure hunters
Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

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