Common Cents
Brian Blackwell
Brian Blackwell is the newest reporter at the Southeast Missourian, focusing on business. A May 2008 graduate of the University of Nebraska, Brian is an avid Cornhusker fan. When he is not covering the business community for the newspaper, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife and church family, cheering on the Cubs and Cornhuskers, wishing for snow and hiking on the numerous area trails.
Happy birthday wishes to the King and sad news for Super Mario Brothers (January 8, 2009)
Cape Communications to relocate in early spring (January 7, 2009)
Budget Auto Repair relocates to former Precision Transmission building (January 6, 2009)
Business in 2008: Newcomers, expansions balanced cutbacks (January 5, 2009)
New Mexican restaurant opens across the river (January 2, 2009)
Can Detroit catch a break in 09? (December 30, 2008)
What business story was tops in 2008? (December 29, 2008)
Greetings from Birmingham (December 26, 2008)
Merry Christmas! (December 25, 2008)
Former Jackson Diner undergoing a facelift (December 24, 2008)
Joplin moves chiropractic office (December 23, 2008)
CRH Transportation acquires most of Elfrink's business (December 23, 2008)
El Durango moving locations (December 23, 2008)
AAA thinks you may be home for Christmas (December 22, 2008)
DeWitt to appear at baseball and softball instructional facility grand opening (December 19, 2008)
Gas prices rising in area (December 18, 2008)
Something's brewing at Elfrink (December 17, 2008)
Candlewood Suites coming to Cape (December 17, 2008)
Saturn of Cape Girardeau closing (December 16, 2008)
Be careful out there today (December 16, 2008)
What will become of Howard's? Speculation abounds (December 15, 2008)
Another tattoo parlor set to open Monday (December 13, 2008)
Karate school relocates (December 12, 2008)
Ribbon cutting tonight (December 11, 2008)
Ribbon cutting at Bahama Tan; NFL cuts staff by 10 percent (December 10, 2008)
Saint Francis announces partnership with Cape Girardeau Physician Associates (December 9, 2008)
Keeping an eye on the weather today (December 9, 2008)
Peanuts' Linus had it right (December 8, 2008)
Comfort Keepers of Southeast Missouri moves to new location (December 5, 2008)
West Park Mall says its gift card option a safe and secure Christmas present (December 4, 2008)
Fab u lous business opening in downtown Cape Girardeau (December 3, 2008)
Linus had it right (December 2, 2008)
Will it snow, will it snow, will it snow? (November 30, 2008)
Cape Girardeau Branding Iron closes (November 29, 2008)
Happy Black Friday (November 28, 2008)
Wieser acquires Suzuki franchise from Minor's Harley Davidson (November 27, 2008)
The Economic Earthquake (November 26, 2008)
Are you planning to shop on-line this holiday season? Or are you planning on getting bargains or getting up early on Black Friday? (November 24, 2008)
The business buzz: High hopes for Thanksgiving weekend (November 24, 2008)
New nail salon set to open next month (November 22, 2008)
What do you think of the auto bailout? (November 21, 2008)
Is the economy keeping you closer to home this Thanksgiving? Are you planning on doing anything to cut back on the holiday? If so, I want to hear from you today (November 21, 2008)
New hospice option offered in Southeast Missouri and my first trip to Marble Hill (November 20, 2008)
Austin's of Alto Pass, Ill., closing after 23 years in business (November 19, 2008)
Latest mall news (November 18, 2008)
Chambers adding members thanks to October drive (November 17, 2008)
The start to my Friday morning - running over a deer (November 14, 2008)
Guess who's moving into the old Fred's building in Jackson (November 13, 2008)
Bott Radio Network expands into four Southeast Missouri cities (November 13, 2008)
Renovations, expansion underway at Fireplace Center/River City Masonry (November 12, 2008)
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Arrrr! As for me, I am setting sail to the journey for the big bounty among the Seven Seas! Got me ship docked and loaded down with me canned goods, Pop Tarts, and crew. Cashed in all me investments for the journey. Join me on the High Seas!
Cap't Tom Dagger
You can't avoid a recession for ever. Loose credit encouraged mal-investments which have to be cleared. The FED, Bush and Paulson want to postpone a correction which will cause serious problems down the road.
Kaki:
What do you do next? Dig in and get ready. Put as much paper money as you can in gold, canned goods, and guns. Prepare to lose your job, your house, your investments.
This recession is coming. Government intervention is what made it this bad, and more government intervention is only going to make it worse.
Markets will fall because the bailout "did not pass" The rich will then buy a sheetload of bluechip stock. This weekend (probably Saturday before the Asian markets open on Monday) Congress will sneak it through on us. Stocks will soar. The bazillionaires will make a sheetload of money. Oooops they did it to us again. Anyone want to bet against this scenario?
I think it's kinda sad that we "voted" Bush in but we didn't trust him enough to let him do his job....OK now for the ones of you who stopped this.......What do we do next because I hope that NO ONE is UNEDUCATED enough to think that "we don't need help and it's gettin worse..EVERYDAY.......
Bush, Bernanke, and Paulson have made certain that there is a lot of fear and doubt regarding the markets, and bailouts.
A recession is inevitable, it's a very natural part of a free-market credit cycle (when interest rates go as low as the market will permit, increased borrowing will obviously bring them back up to encourage saving). What has happened in this case is that the Fed have stuck a penny in the fuse box, so to speak, by price fixing the interest rates. The markets have been lied to and tricked into what appeared to be perpetual, unbridled borrowing with no saving.
Unfortunately, the market's course is unchangeable -- you can only print money for so long before the inflation catches up with you and the interest rates become astronomical, and the recession becomes that much more severe because the money is worth much less.
What Paulson and Bernanke have proposed is much more of this same "avoid the recession" tripe. Giving another $700bn (or more) to buy out toxic loans (or whatever Sec'y Paulson feels like buying out) is not going to stop this recession from coming. It's going to devalue your money and drive your food prices up. Much like the other $700 billion dollars in bailouts so far this year, the market will bounce and then continue downward.
Congress cannot print nor borrow enough money to avoid this, as much as they're going to try. If we at least have our freedoms and our free markets, we can recover. But if they kill the free market, we are all in a very bad position.
I don't believe the sky is falling.
We don't need to bail out the failing banks.
This week alone, Bank of America bought out Merrill Lynch.... JP Morgan Chase bought Washington Mutual Bank's assets... Citgroup is buying Wachovia... etc.
In the long run we Americans would have been worse off with the bail out than without it.
I am very disappointed that it did not pass. Unemployed people like myself can not wait any longer for the economy to turn itself around. We can not afford for the bad times ahead when all credit for new and existing business dries up and there comes another wave of jobs gone and businesses close. Some of you people that are not for the bailout may be the ones effected next when you can not get a car loan, home equity loan or small business loan when your sales are down and you still need to make a payroll or expand have some other lose that you can not financially handle by yourself..
I am ashamed of our representative, Jo Ann Emerson. When will the voters of this area realize that she is simply an elected lobbyist for Farm Bureau and the AARP?
I have personally written Rep. Emerson on several occasions and on several issues. Of coarse I almost always differ with her, but I have never recieved a response.
I have even thanked her on the rare occasion that she votes correctly.
It is time for Emerson to go. She plays the game well, pantering to the area's biggest voting blocs, the old and the farmers and will difficult to beat.
Jo Ann Emerson is part of the problem in Washington. One by one these lifetime polititians must go.
Please contact Rep. Emerson and voice your displeasure with her vote today.
Of coarse her website is strangly unavailable.
Oops, there go those fingers again--"I'm glad it didn't pass."
My typing teacher would not be proud of my keyboarding skills. Brain tends to move faster than my fingers...
I'm glad it passed, however, I am not proud of our Rep. JoAnn Emerson. She was one of 2 Missouri Republicans to vote "Yes" (Roy Blunt was the other). Hulshof voted against it, FYI.
No, my column is Mondays. You'll be pleased to know I'm posting basic info of about five new business starts on my blog Tuesday.
So where is your column today about new business? Is it not Monday? Saw a new pawn shop opening up right by Sonic on Broadway called Money Time, got any info on that?