| The term red pill and its opposite, blue pill, are pop culture terms that have become a common symbol for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue) and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red). |
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Put Unused Gift Cards to Use
Did you get some gift cards for Christmas that you aren’t going to use? Resell them – you’ll get cash and someone else can get the card they want – or you can buy a different one at a discount that someone else didn’t want!
Gift cards are such an easy gift – and most of the time we remember to use them – and most of the time we actually like the stores that we receive them for. But… what if you receive a gift card that you know you’ll never use? Instead of them sitting in a drawer until you figure out “what to do” with it – sell it! You can always opt for the old fashioned way – via Ebay, but after fees your net will usually be less than using one of the many new resale sites that have popped up for just that purpose.
Trade it or sell it. Many people don’t know that you can sell unwanted gift cards online for cash. Even if your card is not affiliated with a major national retailer, or if you’ve used some of the funds and an unusual amount remains, you can still capitalize on your card.
Try card-swapping and selling sites such as
- PlasticJungle.com
- SwapaGift.com
- GiftCardRescue.com
- CardHub.com
- CardPool.com
- Giftah.com
- Gift Card Granny
- Gift Card Rescue
Donate it. GiftCardGiver.com stockpiles cards, then combines them into higher value gift cards that are donated to the needy. The Long Island-based Michael Magro Foundation collects them and either recycles them into gift baskets for fundraisers or gives them to families coping with children with cancer.
Regift it. Maybe you have no use for that card, but your best friend might. Most stores allow you to trade in old gift cards for new ones, so there’s no need to worry about giving a card that bears outdated branding, says Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive of CardHub.com.
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Gold vs Gold Stocks – Goldman Releases “2012: A Gold Odyssey? The Year Ahead…”
As one can glean from the title, in this comprehensive report by Goldman’s Paul Hissey, the appropriately named firm deconstructs the divergence between gold stocks and spot gold in recent years, a topic covered previously yet one which still generates much confusion among investor ranks. As Goldman, which continues to be bullish on gold, says, “There is little doubt that gold stocks in general have suffered a derating; initially with the introduction of gold ETFs (free from operational risk), and more recently with the onset of global market insecurity through the second half of 2011. However, gold remains high in the top tier of our preferred commodities for 2012, simply because of the extremely uncertain macroeconomic outlook currently faced in many parts of the world. The official sector also turned net buyer of gold in 2010 for the first time since 1988, and has expanded its net purchases in 2011.” And so on. Yet the irony is, as pointed out before, that synthetic paper CDO, continue to be the target of significant capital flows, despite repeated warnings that when push comes to shove, investors would be left with nothing to show for their capital (aside from interim price moves of course), as opposed to holding actual physical (which however has additional implied costs making it prohibitive for most to invest). Naturally, this is also harming gold stocks. Goldman explains. And for all those who have been requesting the global gold cash cost curve, here it is…
- We feel there are some obvious solutions to the flight to physical gold ETFs. In order to entice investors away from the gold ETFs, producers
must- Reduce perceived operational risk
- Deliver to market expectations (which includes managing those expectations)
- Demonstrate volume- (not just price-) driven EPS growth
- Return cash to shareholders
- Continue to replenish resources and reserves
- It is also likely that some of the derating we have seen recently has been as a result of changing sentiment towards sovereign risk. With a skittish view toward equities in general, and a decreasing willingness to pay for future earnings, it appears as though the market is less inclined to favour exposure to companies in locations where the perceived risk is higher – rightly or wrongly (West Africa, Philippines, etc.).
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Second Great Depression of 2011 with Nomi Prins
Nomi Prins:
Nomi Prins is a journalist and Senior Fellow at Demos. Her latest book is a dramatic historical novel about the 1929 crash, Black Tuesday. Her last book was It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street (Wiley, September, 2009/October 2010). She is also the author of Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America (The New Press, October 2004), a devastating exposé into corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception. Other People’s Money was chosen as a Best Book of 2004 by The Economist, Barron’s and The Library Journal. Her book Jacked: How “Conservatives” are Picking your Pocket (whether you voted for them or not) (Polipoint Press, Sept. 2006) catalogs her travels around the USA; talking to people about their economic lives.
She has appeared on numerous TV; internationally on BBC World, BBC and Russian TV, and nationally on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, ABC, CSPAN, Democracy Now, Fox and PBS. She has been featured on hundreds of radio shows globally including for CNNRadio, Marketplace, Air America, NPR, BBC, and Canadian Programming.
Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, Fortune, Newsday, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Slate, The Guardian UK, The Nation, The American Prospect, Alternet, LaVanguardia, and… Continue reading
Banker Bailouts by Governments Conceals Ticking Time Bomb
So how does what’s going on across the pond in Europe, with Greece and the Eurozone affect Americans? Well, US banks are a great place to start. They’ve reportedly sold a lot of insurance against credit losses to holders of risky Eurozone debt — the number went up from $80 billion to $518 billion in the first half of the year according to the Bank of International Settlements. And Bank of America has taxpayers behind more than 53 trillion in derivatives via the FDIC as their positions keep rising. We talk with Nomi Prins — senior fellow at the think tank Demos, author of Black Tuesday, and former managing director of Goldman Sachs — about how we got here, and where we’re headed.
Nomi Prins:
Nomi Prins is a journalist and Senior Fellow at Demos. Her latest book is a dramatic historical novel about the 1929 crash, Black Tuesday. Her last book was It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street (Wiley, September, 2009/October 2010). She is also the author of Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America (The New Press, October 2004), a devastating exposé into corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception. Other People’s… Continue reading
WRAPUP 1-CFTC commissioner views MF Global darkly
CFTC commissioner suspects nefarious MF Global activity
- Trustee proposes quick claims process for customers
- Customers seek representation on creditors’ committee
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – A U.S. regulator said he thinks “something nefarious” occurred at MF Global, deepening the criticism facing the fallen futures brokerage.
As customers worried about whether they will recoup the full value of their accounts, a trustee winding down MF Global’s broker-dealer unit said separately on Tuesday that clients may be able to submit claims for losses within weeks.
Bart Chilton, a Democratic commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told Reuters Insider that U.S. regulators are closer to finding out what happened to roughly $600 million in missing customer money.
“The money is not where it should be. I think something nefarious has happened, potentially something illegal,” he said.
MF Global , which lost on big bets on European debt, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31 after a deal to sell itself to Interactive Brokers Group fell apart.
A huge shortfall was discovered in the customer accounts of the company’s brokerage, and the CFTC is among the authorities investigating whether MF Global may have improperly mixed that money with its own funds.
An MF Global representative was not immediately available for comment. Neither MF Global nor its former chief executive, Jon Corzine, has been charged with wrongdoing.
