AS A MATTER OF FACT COMPANIES IN AMERICA SHOULD BE PATRIOTS

I am an American company. I am the invention of capitalism. When my country needed me, I built bombs for it. I modified production lines, conserved metals, and even altered my manufacturing processes. I made no arguments against it. I made no cries of hurting my profits. I made no excuses. I sacrificed and made a contribution for a greater good. I did what I had to do for the safety of the country, its people, and its very sovereignty. Because I know I am an American company. I am the invention of capitalism. Therefore, without America I cannot exist. Without a strong America I will not survive. Its protection is as important, if not more, as are my profits.

I write this little ditty as a message to the elites. I write it as a message to America's CEOs. I write it because I'm starting to get the distinct impression that a lot of people who sit at the top have sadly forgotten how it is that they ever had the opportunity to arrive where they are now. Yeah, through hard work. Yeah, through risk taking. I'm not discounting the efforts of anyone, here. I'm a capitalist too. I work hard, I invest my money, I take on some level of risk. Capitalism offers a reward for that. I know well and good that if my life is not the way that I want it to be, that if I am not making the amount of money that I want to make, that if I am not accomplishing to the degree that I want to accomplish, that it is not for lack of opportunity. It's for lack of effort. There is no one who owes me anything.

That is, with the exception of respect and appreciation.

To me those two things represent a fair wage. A clean, safe, and just working environment. It means that if I work hard for you, you'll work hard for me. I'm not saying at all that I want things handed to me on a silver platter. I'm not saying that I want something for nothing. You don't have to kiss my ass. Hey, look. I'm a big boy. I can take it upon myself to put to the very best use everything that I earn. And if not, well, that's my fault. I get that all too well.

I should, of course, respect and appreciate you as well. I should respect and appreciate that I have a job with which to feed my family, put a roof over their head, put clothes on their back, and to even put something aside for a rainy day, a better opportunity, or a shot at being just like you. And I should have no anger, either, that you are where you are. You represent the possibility I have to look forward to if I give my all.

But I'm having a hard time doing that these days because the respect and appreciation part is lacking for me. I'm being reduced. My life is getting harder. My opportunity is increasingly becoming less of a reality.

And hey, I'm making sacrifices too. I'm paying my taxes. Yeah, I'm not paying the bulk. You're right. But I'm not making the bulk either. A 15% snatching of my take siphons a much bigger chunk of real living money than 50% of say, a million. I'm doing what I have to and I understand it's a tough economy. Everyone's feeling the pinch. Yeah, maybe even the elites are in a bit of a pinch...but come on, let's not kid ourselves. You're not really going to tell me that it's the same kind of a pinch are you?

The thing here is that I love my country too. Just like that company in my little ditty above. I am a patriot. I am an American. I want to do my part. That whole American dream thing is important to me.

What American companies are doing today, what the elites are doing today, is unpatriotic. They are taking down Americans one person at a time. They are sending our good jobs away and replacing them with lower paying ones, if they replace them at all. The middle class is all but gone. The dividing line between the rich and the poor is a neon one.

I keep hearing about that risk. All the hard work at the top that's worth the millions in salaries and bonuses. You know, there's a ton of hard work at the bottom too. And if you don't think so, I encourage you to do what the average American does for a year. Live in their shoes. You'll get it, then, that they're not asking for anything that they don't deserve. They earn everything they get and lately they're not getting their due.

The current direction may boost profits. It may make the elite eliter. Eventually, though, it's going to hurt the country. And since we are capitalism, so too will it be hurt. Progress cannot be at the expense of the very people it is supposed to help.

So yes. Companies in America damn well should be patriots. Only this time it's not about a war. It's about it's very people's livelihoods. Patriotism equals success. Success equals profits. For me it really is that simple.

IT'S JUST ABOUT TIME TO RUN FROM GOLD

It's been a couple of times now that I've read somewhere, or overheard someone shouting that gold is heading for as much as $5,000 an ounce, and I can't help but think to myself that I've heard all this before. Say, back when oil was playing with $160-$175 per barrel. I remember hearing then that oil could reach as much as $500. The reality is that long before gold can ever reach such heights the bubble (and that's exactly what it is) will burst. As with anything money, there's a resistance.

Right now the dollar is in a world of hurt. The economy has still not fully recovered. Jobs are still not stable. Credit is still unavailable to a lot of people. Those facts fuel the surge of people (and nations) heading into gold as a way to hedge against a tough market and hoard cash. Just like I spoke during all the hype about oil falling like a brick, it did, and so will the price of gold. Realistically I think we can see $1,500-$2,000 an ounce, but much higher than that just seems unreasonable to me. And by the time it would reach that, I think an improved economy will already have worked to fade some of the interest in gold investing.

For me, when it gets a little far fetched, that's when it's time to get out.

PART FOUR: "HOW TO BRING HOME THE BACON" BLOG SERIES

Introduction
Part One: The Law of Averages

Part Two: When It Comes To Money, Don't Lose Interest
Part Three: Think Outside the Box on the Road To Riches

FREEZE YOUR ACCESS

We generally may think otherwise, but credit cards are the enemy. They are horrible destroyers of personal wealth and financial freedom. Each and every night that we lay, snuggled comfortably beneath our covers, they are robbing us blind. They aren't after our jewels. They're raiding our coin jars. They're taking a penny here and a penny there. We'll notice the diamond ring in the jewelry case has gone missing. But we'll not so easily recognize when a couple of pennies go missing from the jar. They (the credit card companies) are masters at nickel and dimeing.

When it comes to credit cards, the worst part of all is that we tend to cherish them. We tend to rely on them. In some cases, we may even love them. After all, credit cards give us the feeling that we have an unlimited supply of money in our pockets whenever we want it. We can have whatever our heart's desire. We can conquer any emergency that comes along to haunt us. I remember one guy I used to work with, who with great pride showed me his array of cards which were stuffed into the photo compartment of his wallet. "A couple of these are platinum," he told me through a grin. "I've got nearly $100,000 worth of credit in here."

Good for you, I thought to myself. $100,000 worth of used credit is $100,000 you owe somebody else.

Still, even I'm willing to concede that credit cards can be helpful at times. And they are not all bad. Like all things, moderation and responsibility are key. It's about leveraging, for example, and knowing the difference between borrowing and leveraging. You can, for example, pay for a central air-conditioning repair and use a credit card effectively to do so, if you can pay less in interest for the expense than you are earning on the money you are investing or saving that would have otherwise paid for it.

The little tip I'm offering this week is for those who need to keep a credit card around for a sense of security if something major comes along, who perhaps don't have much in the way of savings to cover major expenses, but who also feel the temptation to use their credit card for non-emergency purposes is simply too great.

Behold. You can have your credit card and use it too.

This is a great idea, and one I won't take credit for, though I can't recall the source. I just recall many years ago seeing this tip in an article somewhere and thought it was not only novel, but genius. It is simply to fill a small bowl with water and submerge your credit card in it. Put it into the freezer and let it freeze. You can, of course, thaw the ice and retrieve your card. But it won't happen as quickly as the impulse to use it will. And by the time the ice melts, so may your desire to go on a costly shopping spree.

Years ago when I was in the Navy, I actually did something similar to this, only in my case I was using a savings account. I opened an account in a bank 30 miles from the ship and made it so that the only way I could get to the money to withdraw it was to physically drive to the bank. No ATM access here, folks. The thought of driving 30 miles made me think twice about spending the money. And even if I hopped into the car in a fleeting moment of weakness, I had 30 miles to think about what I was about to do.

The "How to bring home the bacon without slaughtering the pig" blog series will take a short hiatus, but will return on December 1, 2009 with "Part Five: Keep Your Eyes On Your Money." Also, if you are enjoying The Springboard and would like to receive updates via email when a new blog is posted, send an email to porwest@yahoo.com and type "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

I THINK FORD MAY BE WARMING UP AGAIN SOON

I was recently at a birthday party for my wife's cousin's son. It's a pretty large group (30+), and so usually a line is formed to the food at serving time. On my way to pick up my plate, I happened to notice on one of the shelves a box with that unmistakable blue-oval Ford logo on it. Then, written in black magic marker the words, "Toilet tank parts." Pointing to the box I shouted out to the host, who also happens to be a Chevy man, "Are you trying to say something there?" To which he simply responded, "Yep."

Everyone's got their favorite Ford jokes, don't they?

Of course you'll note that I said back in March that I thought, not only was it time to buy a Ford car, it was time to buy the stock as well. And if you've been keeping track of the company's stock, it has done everything to prove my point so far. Just last November the stock was trading at a dismal $1.01 per share and seemed doomed for sure to fail miserably with the rest of the whole lot of American auto companies. The mere thought of it made me nauseous, considering I had been a shareholder for several years. I'd lost a sizeable portion of my investment, and more than once I considered just cutting my losses and being done with it. I did exactly that when my Krispy Kreme stock tanked. I did it again when my stake in Blockbuster Video went south.

Still, I saw upside. Ford Motor Company in my view would be able to weather the storm. They were making decisions to consolidate long before anyone else was, shedding Land Rover and Jaguar. They were ramping down production and making cuts, and they still owned the market with the best-selling truck in America. And so instead of selling, I decided to simply average down.

By August of this year, bolstered by a $700 payment protection plan as unemployment steadily rose, and then by the CARS deal, or Cash for Clunkers, and most importantly as a result of the company's stellar management performance and remarkable negotiations with the UAW, all of which were factors which allowed the company to say "Thanks, but no thanks," to President Obama's bailout offerings, the stock had gained as much as 780%. I took my profits back in September, mainly because I felt that the stock was becoming a little overbought.

My thinking is that, while I am not at all dissatisfied with my decision to take profits, my decision may well have been a bit premature. Ford is still the most attractive of all the US automakers. They have a great line of cars and those cars are getting good performance marks. And I think the Fiesta will provide a significant boost to Ford's compact car sales, especially considering oil prices are seemingly back on the way up again. The company and its line of cars are solid.

So, I'm presently considering reentering my position in Ford stock. I'm not exactly a buyer yet, but if the stock breaks $9 a share, that's definitely when I think it's time to get back in.

And what about that box of toilet tank parts? I think Ford will definitely outlast the toilet.

Jim Bauer does not currently own any shares in Ford Motor Company. Also, you can get email updates to this blog by sending an email to porwest@yahoo.com and putting "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

PUT VERY SIMPLY, MICHAEL MOORE IS AN IDIOT

Michael Moore's newest movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," will soon be out in theaters en masse, and honestly I have yet to decide whether or not I'll be watching it. Perhaps, being that I'm typically one who likes to take in all sides of an issue and draw my own conclusions as to who's right and who's wrong, I'll give the movie an opportunity to at least make its case to me. But based on what I've read and what I've seen so far, and especially based on the rantings of Michael Moore himself on the film's substance and context, I feel fairly reasoned in my thinking before seeing the film that, like its infamous director, the film is full of crap and so is Moore's harebrained ideology surrounding capitalism.

Let's face it, Moore likes shock value. No mystery there. He thrives on the disenfranchised and the I'm-a-victim-of-society crowd, which also happens to be the uninformed and (sorry) most intellectually inept portion of the American population. It's this same crowd that cheers whenever someone shouts out "We're going to stick it to the man." That's really what this movie is about isn't it? Sticking it to the man. This crowd thinks they are going to get something. Oh what little do they know. Yeah, we're gonna get something alright.

The man is the bank that gives us the loan for our house, that issues the credit card for us to buy that big screen TV, the government that we pay our taxes to and who determines how much we pay, and its also the person who gives us a job. If we stick it to the man, ultimately we stick it to ourselves. The more it costs a company to run their business, the more I'll be charged at the register. The more the government taxes the man, the less people he will hire and the less he'll pay in benefits and wages to each employee.

Granted, I'm not saying the man doesn't have its share of shysters. I'm not saying that the system is without flaws. But let's not kid ourselves. There are shysters at every level of the population. Everything is flawed to an extent. There will always be someone who will game the system, whatever it is, if they see an opportunity to do so. We won't count the millions who, at this very moment, are busy gaming the welfare system and that little thing we call disability.

One of Moore's biggest complaints is of course that the top 1% of the population owns 99% of the wealth in the country. Okay fine. And yeah, I'll agree that being in the bottom 99% stinks a little bit. It certainly doesn't have near the perks the top 1% enjoys. But it's possible that the majority of that 1% earned that wealth through risk-taking and hard work. It's possible that I too can have an opportunity to propel myself to these elite ranks through hard work and risk-taking, if I so choose to do so.

Which leaves me to wonder, but through capitalism, how else would Mr. Moore himself have risen into this elite top 1%? Yep. He's right up there with them. His films are shown in publicly traded theaters. They are distributed through DVD retailers, cable companies, and (wait for it) Netflix. Last I checked, all of these businesses are owned, run, and were started through capitalism. A vast majority of them are traded in the stock market, including the company that owns his own company Overture Films. But for capitalism, he would not have been able to find investors to capitalize his ventures.

Nasty, dirty, low-down rotten capitalism. Ptuey!

Which brings me to another thought. Why not just give away this wonderful little flick? I mean, after all, Moore is already a millionaire many times over. He doesn't need any more money. Why be greedy about it? It's only his hard work and his labor of love. Shouldn't that be given away?

I can say no more. My rant has run it's course. Simply put Mr. Moore, you are as dumb as a box of rocks. You are literally biting the hand that feeds you, and I hope that that hand bites you right square back on your ass.