America is happy. The economy sucks for some. But for most, life is good. Our youth (i.e. our future) are nicely obsessed with taking care of mother Earth. They adore organic food, farmers’ markets, the great outdoors, biking around town, the environment, part-time jobs (especially for young mothers) and living a simple lifestyle they can control.
Apple may dominate phones and MP3 players. Elsewhere, there’s no dominance. For our youth, it’s home-grown, tiny, regional businesses — micro-breweries, local bicycle makers, farms. restaurants, quaint clothing stores. I don’t know how many make it. They trade the corporate life (which they largely abhor) for control over their own destiny.
Out west, there’s a real tranquility to life. “Gone fishing” on Tuesdays is OK. I saw that sign often.
“Control” is what you get with your own thing. You don’t get it with stocks.
The average PE on the S&P 500 is 19. That’s not cheap. At the bottom of bear markets it’s typically under 10.
Buying stocks today is gambling. IBM reports good. Its shares fall.
Here’s a chart of the stocks in Dow Jones index sorted by P/E ratio. Find me the “bargains.” Most have dropped heavily since mid-April.
Some are now bouncing back a tiny bit, based on latest second quarter earnings. But don’t get excited.
Much of America has deserted the stockmarket. Can you blame them?
Cash and ultra-high yielders remain king. More on all this tomorrow.
Thank God for Apple. You see any other companies that are half as creative as Apple? It’s not any of the 30 above.
Planes are full and uncomfortable. I have no solution to the lack of leg room, the screaming babies, the horrible food and the fat passengers.
All I learned about biking: I rode 41 miles on Saturday and 33 on Sunday. Biking is fun. Oregon countryside is stunning.
You can’t ride as fast as your kids.
There are two types of bikes — those with upright handlebars and those with drop-down handlebars. The drop-down ones are more efficient, but you need to be “fitted” to your bike — otherwise your neck will hurt. I rented a bike and my neck hurt. It’s not embarrassing — except to your kids — if you walk up some of the hills.
I walked up some (actually, many) of the hills.
Son and future daughter-in-law didn’t walk up the hills. They’re 40 years younger.
Impeccable logic.
So Boudreaux asks Thibodaux, “Why dem Scuba divers always fall backways off dem boats?”
Thibodaux replies, “You dumb ass, if dey fell forwards dey’d still be in de’ boat.”
Harry Newton, who’s not excited to be back in New York’s stress.
Bikes are more complicated than that. You need to be fitted to all good
bikes. You rented a 'Road' bike – a racer. Light and fast, get flats easy
(skinny slick tires) and hard to ride up hill but easy to go fast(geared
high) and have drop down handle bars.
“Mountain” bikes are heavy, heavy knobbly tires, geared real low and you can
drop one 5 feet and it won't break. Great for fields and streams. Upright
handle bars. Easy to go uphill hard to go fast.
I have a hybrid or cross bike. mid weight, mid tires, upright handle bars
geared high to low. Easy to go up hills (not as steep a hill as a
mountain bike) easy to go fast (not as fast as road bike). If you ride it
on the street, you won't get a flat and won't get tired cranking away in low
gear.
“Comfort” bike real soft seat, real soft ride – just for tooling along. Not
going to go fast not going to climb hills. Like riding a sofa.
When I was a kid all they had in bikes with 5 speed and up was road bikes. Pain in the
keester. Bike design has come a long way.
RT & Harry – Cheers – I worked 28 years “FOR THE MAN” – I got started with “THE MAN” doing slug jobs proved myself & retired as a member of the board at 49 – started 2 separate businesses – I tried hiring several young men for both companies – I ran into many problems – one of them was especially spoiled and after working 2 hours with me – said he could not take it any longer – I flipped him 100 bucks & never saw him again.
I wonder – many things – what is their degree or specialty – Where are those jobs available – are they licensed – what were their grades – what was their attendance record – how is their physical appearance, hair, nose rings, attire, etc – do they have records with the law – do they have bad FICO scores (being checked by many companies these days) – Have they passed any professional accreditation during or after college –
Other than an expensive degree – What makes them stand out above the next guy coming through the door?
Harry & I have had conversations about employment in my area – IT SUCKS BE BE LOOKING HERE regardless of who you are or your back ground -but- I'll guarantee you, unless a family member owns the company you better be spectacular in all respects and have something they need, before you even get to talk to “The MAN”…SAD but TRUE
I don't know any of these things – just thinking & pondering – I'm no longer in the hiring mode but over the 20 years after retirement in 2 diverse job markets I saw many good ones, I saw some real flakes – you have to gear your job search to the your speciality and local economys needs… Then GO SELL YOURSELF
GOOD LUCK
Harry – I am not sure what you were smoking when you went west but I assure you “our youth” are not as content as you describe. Having a son that just graduated from a top private university (to the tune of $200k for 4 years) I can tell you he and many many of his classmates are without jobs. Many are not interested in the corporate life as you put it. They are interested in renewable energy, architecture/engineering, and even legal services meant to improve quality of life for others. Some would volunteer their time for Teach for America or the Peace Corps. BUT there are almost no jobs. Teach for America had 45,000 applicants for 4500 spots. Just how many micro-breweries, local bicycle makers, farms. restaurants, quaint clothing stores etc do you think it will take to get these very qualified and ambitious graduates to work. It is nice that your vacation left you relaxed and appreciative of nature and the low key life style but I fear the trip has left you void of common sense and our economic reality. Why is it always the guys with money that made it big in the business world that encourage the rest of us to relax and take it slow. Had you taken your own advise back in the day you would not have the money to invest and spend to atke all these wonderful trips. My son deserves a shot at whatever makes him happy and I am very sure he does not want to fix bicycles or run an organic farm. What does your son do?
Son Michael is working for a large company and actually loves it. If I were young and starting out, I'd spend a good part of my time asking myself “What am I good at? What turns me on?” And I'd spend the rest of the time researching hot companies in the fields I was interested in. When I found some, I'd go sell myself, even to the extent of taking an unpaid, apprenticeship job. Anything to get my foot in the door and giving me the opportunity to prove myself.
Renewable energy, biotech, environmental engineering and environmental law are all hot areas right now. Researching these areas and finding the hot companies is hardly original> the jobs are few and far between. In many cases they are even letting people go. Unpaid internships- apprenticeships as you call them are oversubscribed and have lately come under scrutiny by the labor department and can be considered abusive labor practices. It is nice that you have made your money in corperate America, nice that your son too works for a large company but disturbing that you would advise young people to work for free or start a micro-brewery or quaint clothing store. I think we have enough of those.
Trust me I'm not suggesting that young people necessarily start a micro-brewery or a quaint clothing store. I am suggesting that young people define their passion and follow it. The first job I ever had paid $25 a week. I didn't care what the salary was. it got my foot in the door and allowed me to do something I loved. The key is to pursue what you love.
PJ and Imtheman,
I'm having a hard time understanding why you are voicing your frustrations on this site after our good friend Harry made a very valid suggestion regarding our youth and their respective work choices. As Americans, we often believe that a job is a God given right…to the contrary, there are limited choices for each of us: Either start your own business or work for someone else. I chose the prior and, at 35, have built and sold 2 businesses(the first with $1B in assets, the other to a Fortune 100 company for $100M). Harry and I were both REWARDED handsomely for the RISK we assumed as entrepreneurs. We chose not to work for someone else and that is all he was saying regarding our youth opening stores, breweries, and other entrepreneurial ventures. At the end of the day, we offer our skills/services to employers during the work day. Our time is a commodity for the business owner and we are tasked with accumulating as many skill sets as possible so we are an attractive asset for the business owner. The owner offers a salary/compensation as a result of our time/output. Today's college graduate is feeling the devaluation of their asset class because their is an oversupply of more talented/tenured assets in the market. Harry makes a valid point that they will continue to be undervalued until they get either TOJ(time on job) or add additional skill sets to their asset class. In the meantime, they are better off taking internships/apprenticeships/etc or starting their own businesses. Until then, the market has spoken….
To RT ….another dose of wisdom from a guy who made it big in a different time and place. In case you haven’t been paying attention banks are not lending, raising money to start a new business is near impossible in today’s economic climate. So your idea that our youth should start a business of their own seems a bit unrealistivc. There are few if any internships/apprenticeships/etc to find even non paying ones. There are experienced professionals in all industries working for less or out of jobs willing to take those same internships/apprenticeships/etc just to stay active, visible, and in the game. The only frustration here is how you dole out advice based on your experience but fail to recognize that the dynamic and conditions of today are far different. As for finding and pursuing your dream all I ask you to do is observe all the actors, models, singers that currently are waiters and waitresses in NYC restaurants.
Timewarp,
Unfortunately, your assumptions are all incorrect…I grew up poor on a 3rd generation family farm that was sold for little gain after my grandfathers passing, I attended Indiana University on my own dime, and started a life from scratch at 21. I can relate to the current job market as I sold my company on 12/31/09 at 35 years old and I'm in the midst of commencing a job search now. While I'm blessed to have a nice reserve, I have a strong desire to build companies, people, and communities. With all of that said, I can empathize with anyone who resides in the unemployed arena. Like Truman said, “It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.”
These times require special skills and special energy. All job hunting, like real estate, is local. My heart goes out to the guys and gals looking and finding rampant rejection. For what it's worth, we've had tougher times and we survived and thrived. All this shall pass, in time, too.
To RT… I made no assumptions whatsoever about your backstory. As you just stated, you started out from scratch at age 21 (approx 15 years ago). My point was and still is that when you started out the economy was robust, banks were lending, companies were hiring , and businesses were growing. The whole tech boom – Silicon Valley era was in full swing. Regardless of your story book beginings when you got started it was a whole lot easier than it would be today if you had to contend with what our youth do. Congratulations on selling your company and since I assume you made some money your job search should be less stressful than the recent college grad living at home and struggling to pay back college loans and find a job.
I thought your son started his own business?
He did. But it didn't pan out. He closed it.
Graduating from a top university isn't worth much these days. Whats wrong with a solid community college, save the tuition and invest judiciously in the stock mkt. In ten years the 200k could grow to 500k.