| |  | | Lynn Carpenter | All the letters that have come into IDE Central are fun to read, but I really laughed at this one from TJ: “Today's article on volatility, as well as earlier series on charts, is very well worded, educational, and respectful to your reader. Thank you for the free education. “Your male colleagues at IDE would do well to learn from you! However, they remain obsessed with ruining otherwise great market advice by including poorly reasoned political views.” Awww, c’mon. The guys aren’t so bad. I like the devils, myself. In fact, I suspect Charles’ politics are different from mine, but I thought he did a great job on the different candidate’s economic positions. I have this to say about politics—boy, I sure did like Ike. Closer to the current day, I am keeping my mouth shut. More or less. Over the last 30 years, we have had some presidents that I thought were going to be disasters, one I really, really disliked, and none that made me all misty-eyed for Camelot. But I always remember that even the one I can’t stand got a big chunk of votes. So it’s highly likely that if I insult him, my readers who voted for him are not going to appreciate hearing me shoot my mouth off. I try to be respectful—of my readers, anyway. This is hard, too, because I’ve always enjoyed politics, and I do think it is extremely important to keep your eyes on what our elected reps are up to. So you might hear some political talk from me once in a while. But I have watched what’s happened to my pals, and I can tell you this: I’m not mentioning Hillary, nuh-uh. Not good, not bad, not any way. She’s like the third rail of financial newsletters—touch her and die. In another letter, Bill, would like to know if there is a website he can go to for more basics like the chart and volatility series. I wish. I’ve checked out several investment advice websites over the years but I’ve found they all fall a little short. Oddly enough, some of the best content at one time was on Yahoo’s Motley Fool. That was before they started recommending every stock that exists and selling access. But it’s gone. So the best place left is Investor’s Daily Edge… if you can stand the guys’ poorly reasoned political views. Jim wrote to say that for once he could teach me… he mentioned Seed Savers as a source of heirloom-non-hybrid seeds for gardeners. Good source, Jim. I should have put them on the list. Seed savers has lots of fans, Michael P. mentioned it, too, along with Maine Potato Farm. The address is www.seedsavers.com. Maybe I can turn the guys onto organic gardening so they won’t have time to write poorly reasoned political views. I also got some great letters remembering how prices used to be. Mike mentioned eating out: “ In 1969 I and my fiancé had chateaubriand for two dinner with before- dinner cocktails and wine with for $25 total. We vacationed in Hawaii where I remember walking into the Kauai Hilton coffee shop and being outraged at thirty-five cents for a hot dog.” Boy do I sympathize. A few years ago, I got stuck at a resort hotel for a conference where everything was outrageous. Mike, you will be surprised to know that the 35-cent hotdog in Hawaii has a new $8 cousin in the Bahamas. And that does not come with chips, soda or a foot massage. The worst of it, was when I grabbed the overpriced dog, I was already in a bad mood because I’d been listening to some guys’ poorly reasoned political views. Bruce brings up a great point. Let me quote him first: “I got my very first job in the summer of 1960 working part time at a Flying A gas station. I earned $1.00 per hour. (Gas station attendants were not covered by federal minimum wages and $1.00/hr was the Oregon state minimum.) That $1.00 was convertible to silver coin. Based on the current price of silver coins, that would be about $12.00 to $15.00 in today’s money. The problem appears to be that inflation has outrun wage increases, especially during the Bush 2 years.” Sometimes in the financial world, you meet some pretty smug characters with little sympathy for anyone who labors at minimum wage. So I thank Bruce for the reminder that some of those people are us—where we started out in our early jobs or in our summer jobs as kids. Others are working at low wages because we want them to. I don’t really see how I can sneer at the guy who gives me the $20 manicure, when I darned sure am not planning to pay him enough for him to earn $75,000 a year… but I still want my nails tidied up. And anyway, at least he never gives me any poorly reasoned political views. MWN mentions higher wages: “Very few people being in the labor market actually make minimum wage after a few years however 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 times I think is average for most. But all and all a good article.” Very true, but you are also right, MWN, that most lower-scale wages are tied to minimum wages as a multiple. That’s why an increase in minimum wage is something many politicians like to delay, since there is always a ripple effect when the base wage goes up. I have more examples of price memories to share from other readers, but I’m saving them for the next time. I have this book of poorly reasoned political views I’m dying to read. Until then, take care. Sincerely, Lynn Carpenter P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: feedback@investorsdailyedge.com. INTERNAL ENDORSEMENT Winners Cherry Pick!
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