More Green = Less Green?

I've long been a supporter of the so-called green movement and I'm encouraged to see it succeeding in everyday life, from people determined to buying cars with better gas mileage to shoppers using fewer disposable bags to homeowners replacing their incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights.

The increase in these types of actions, to me, is all great news. It means we're conserving our resources, helping to make our world more sustainable, and also in many cases saving money.

Which is where I'm getting increasingly curious as to whether or not the green movement is causing at least part of the readjustment in the stock markets.

Considering the fact that Americans are driving less year over year and that cars are getting more efficient, it should help to cut back on money spent on gasoline. Additionally, if people are using reusable bags to carry their groceries, that's another huge source of petroleum that is not wasted. Or having people use more energy efficient light bulbs means saving money on electric bills. All of these initiatives and others inevitably will result in less money for the oil, electric, and industrial companies. And as these initiatives increase across the country and worldwide, it will have a major impact on corporate bottom lines... read: less profit.

So perhaps part of the sell-off on Wall Street and other stock markets around the world is a result of this fundamental change in society of being more green. If less money is being wasted on oil, electricity, etc. then it means more money to spend elsewhere, but it would also mean less money for those industries and fewer jobs. The net result could end up in people saving more money, or it could result in deflation which could shake up the entire system. Perhaps it will be the starting point of taking wasted money away from companies and putting it back in consumers' pockets, which means a fundamental change in the way we spend money in the future.

I'm clearly not an economist, just a rational observer of what's going on and I would be curious to learn more about the impact of green practices on the bottom line regarding corporate greenbacks. Eventually we'll start to see long term trends, but in the meantime we will have to do our best to adjust to the changes.

FedEx and Today's Lingo

I just heard a fascinating quote by Alec Baldwin on Real Time with Bill Maher.

It's not the content of what he was talking about, but the wording he chose to use. The quote, as best I remember it, with specific names left out, went something like this...

"Somebody needs to FedEx [a script] to [John & Jane Doe] right away so they get a clue real fast."

This fascinates me because just think about that. He could have said any verb to insinuate "get something to someone FAST". He chose to use the branded term "to FedEx" rather than to "fax", "email", or even "PDF" the document, to imply fast delivery. Wow. That's a pretty impressive marketing coup.

It always amazes me to hear brand terms become standard lingo or verbs, such as Kleenex, Xerox, or Hoover... names that have become synonomous with a generic item, i.e. facial tissue, copier, or vacuum, respectively.

Well done FedEx, you've made the brand-turned-verb list. Score one for the marketing department!

I Hate People that Litter!

I really, really try not to be someone who complains or criticizes others all the time, but then again I often find myself doing just that on this very blog. I guess it's difficult to keep totally quiet when something causes much aggravation, and I suppose it's a cathartic relief to vent about it in the blog world, at least for me.

So, where was I?

Oh yeah-- I hate people that litter!

This morning I was outside cleaning my yard and found a couple of scraps of paper sitting on my lawn. Strike 1.

Then I walked around a common area in my neighborhood and saw McDonald's cups and a Pepsi can sitting on the ground. Strike 2.

The last straw for me was watching a twenty-something girl in the passenger seat of a car driving by my house drop tissues out the window like it was no big deal. Strike 3.

Look folks, if you drop stuff on the ground, be it from a car, bike, or as you walk somewhere, you're ruining things for every other person around you. Nobody wants to see garbage all over the street/sidewalk/grass/garden, and nobody wants to have to pick up after you. Get a clue!

Ok, that's my rant. Next time I'll find something positive to write about. Promise!

Where to Entrust Your Money

Getting down to the core of it, investing in stocks means you entrust people that work at public companies to get a better return on your money than you would be able to do on your own. In other words, when you have extra money sitting around, you can either spend it, put it in an interest bearing product (CD's, savings account, etc) or put it to use in another vehicle like stocks to try and get a better return. This entails higher risk obviously.

But with all of today's talks about bailout plans of financial institutions by the government, failing banks and investment companies, and a failing credit system, why should anybody trust other companies to get a better return than I can?

Okay, I'm being a little extreme, but all of this turmoil definitely has a negative reflection on the viability of blindly trusting other companies to do better than you can on your own in terms of getting return on investment. For better or worse the stock market is still the best system we have for building wealth, but now more than ever it's important to realize that you're still risking your trust in someone else to excel. Buyer beware and let's hope this whole thing shakes out soon and proves to be an improvement over where we've been.

Where Would Women Turn without Chocolate??

I work with a lot of women in my office. And hardly a day goes by where I don't hear something along the lines of:

"I need chocolate!" or

"Do you have any chocolate?" or

"I have such a chocolate craving!" or

"Oh my god, does that have chocolate in it? That looks so good, can I have some?"

Well, you get the idea.

My question is, what would women do if chocolate was never invented? I doubt you'd hear something like:

"I need a turnip!" or

"Do you have any parsley?" or

"I have such a chard craving!"

Well, you get the idea.

I guess that really goes for anything though. Once you get a taste for something (be it a food, drink, or even just a personal preference like driving fancy cars) then you don't want to go back.

But the next time I hear "Oooh, I need some chocolate!" I'm tempted to respond with "Sorry, chocolate's been officially banned. Can I offer you some monkey brains?" That'll stir some things up around the water cooler...

Quote of the Day

Hurricane Ike has ravaged Texas and I feel for and fear for what the residents there have gone through and will have to go through in coming times. While reading this news report about the damage done, however, I just had to simultaneously chuckle and sigh when I came across this blurb about one resident of Southside Beach:

South of Galveston, authorities said 67-year-old Ray Wilkinson was the only residents (sic) who didn't evacuate from Surfside Beach, population 800. He was drunk and waving when authorities reached him on Saturday morning.

"He kinda drank his way through the night," Mayor Larry Davison said.

Wow. 'Nuff said.

My Dream Bridge

After sitting for a half hour at 9:00pm last night in traffic on the dreaded eastbound I-76 Schuylkill Expressway, and after seeing the effects of a major accident on I-295 South in Cherry Hill this morning, I would like to call on all inventors and engineers to develop an "instant bridge" that can be quickly erected to allow traffic to simply go over an accident or small construction zone with only minimal interruption in traffic flow, and no imposition on the work being done underneath. That way, everybody's happy and there is no major mess on the roadways.

Yes, that's my dream bridge. Are there any smart people out there who can make this dream come to life?!? Or if such a thing exists, can we please find a way to implement it?