World wide QE appears to be the new norm for now

I am no financial analyst but the news that I continue to read regarding the devaluation of the United States dollar as well as other currencies is staggering.  The following graph shows that quantitative easing (QE = printing money) isn't just going on in the US but around the world.  This graph basically suggests that in 2008 and 2011 roughly one third of the world's market capitalization was on world federal bank balance sheets that resulted from the federal banks printing money through some form of quantitative easing.

Read the full article from which this graph was taken titled Living In A QE World at Ritholtz.com.  They provide much more information and shares more detail on each of the 8 central banks.

Apple iPod Packaging Re-imagined... the Microsoft Way!

In a world of contrasts, there is none like the contrast between Apple and Microsoft's approaches to marketing and packaging.  This video re-imagines what the packaging of the 2005 iPod might have looked like if Microsoft had been in charge.  Enjoy!

What does 15 Trillion look like?

Ever wondered what 15 Trillion US dollars looks like?  This US Debt Visualized site does a great job of visualizing it.

Brad

Why are these accounting practices legal in the US?

Background on four strategies that American companies use to reduce their taxes.  No wonder so many US companies have so much cash outside the US.

Super Bowl XLV Sex

This morning our part of the world was covered by several inches of beautiful white snow.

That was an interesting backdrop to the news that I read about the upcoming Super Bowl XLV.  I learned via Fox News and other sources that Super Bowl XLV is anticipated to be a huge target for Human [Sex] Trafficking activity.  That is to say that that there are people out there enslaving children and selling their bodies for profit.  According to Traffic911, the average life expectancy for a child forced into sexual slavery is 7 years.

If you know anyone going to the Super Bowl, please encourage them to participate in the "I'm Not Buying It!" Tail Gate party, Saturday, February 5th.  At this event, you will learn how to help put a stop to the buying and selling of American children.

If the stories about the Super Bowl Human Trafficking weren't bad enough, the Planned Parenthood organization makes it even worse by endorsing sex ring activity.  The following two videos tell the whole story.





If you are planning to enjoy the Super Bowl either from home or in person, please pray for our and take action to protect our nation's children.  If you see children at risk that are exhibiting any of the following Red Flags, call 911 and the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1.888.373.7888, if you suspect something. It’s better to be wrong than not to report it. A life might just depend on it.

• Scripted answers. 
• Inconsistencies in story. 
• Branding or tattoos, especially that reflect ownership or money.
• Bruising, including handprints or thin marks like an extension cord or wire. Varied stages of healing with black, purple, blue, yellow shades.
• Coming on to several men.
• Appears helpless, shamed, nervous.
• Malnourished.
• Inability or fear to make eye contact.
• Chronic runaway; homeless youth.
• Dating much older, abusive or controlling man.
• Not attending school or has numerous school absences.
• Clothes that say, “Daddy’s girl” or inappropriate for weather.

See the Traffick911.com web site to learn more.

Blessings to you and yours!

Brad

Is NTTA Scam Is Paying Off?

In a previous blog post titled "NTTA Put to the Test..." I asserted that despite a relatively constant  toll road transaction volume that the revenue would remain at the nearly doubled level or worse yet increase compared to previous years.  My hypothesis was that the increased revenue is derived primarily by increasing toll violations through prolonging the automated toll collection process.

The NTTA has provided a new report for investors (http://www.ntta.org/AboutUs/Investor+Information) that shows an estimation of the 2010 transaction and revenue volumes.  Lets look at the numbers presented in this report.

It does appear that the overall transaction volume has increased slightly since the end of 2009. However, the transaction level throughout 2010 seems relatively constant.

Now lets look at the revenue side of the equation.  Unfortunately for toll road users, the story appears to be the same.  The revenue is roughly double what it was before the NTTA implemented its new automated Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) booths and correspondingly the potentially fraudulent invoice and collections program (a.k.a. Scam).

It will be interesting to read the final report to see if the numbers are consistent with these projections.

Before closing, the following stories seem to substantiate that the NTTA's scam carries on through 2010.

* Woman Slams NTTA for Arrest Warrant over Tolls
* Unpaid Tollway Authority bills can land you in jail
* The NTTA machine and me
* Tolls to Warrants
* NTTA Complaints - Zip cash

Brad

QuiBids: A LottoAuction Gambling Frenzy!

Perhaps you have seen banner ADs from QuiBids showing the absolutely amazing deals like those found in the advertisement to the right.

Wow!  67% to 90% off Apple products.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I decided to dive into this "Penny Auction" service to learn more about how it works.  My summation of the whole experience is that it is a frenzy driven LottoAuction with a gambling twist.  In addition there appears to be clear deception in QuiBids advertising and representation of product value as well.

Lets look at a real auction that I watched over the weekend to see what we can learn.  Click on the Apple iPads 16GB Wi-Fi auction below to see the full view of this screen capture.

There are several note worthy items to glean from this screen capture and what the data implies.

The advertised value of the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad listed in this auction is $699.  However, Apple lists the advertised price as of the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad for just $499.  This is blatant fraud or misrepresentation at best.

The caption below the picture of the iPad says that this item was "Recently sold for $0.94".  I went back through the history of iPad's sold and the lowest auction close price that I found from the data that was available online was $47.83.  $47.83 is quite a bit off from $.94.  Again, fraud or just misrepresenting what is "Recent".  See spreadsheet below that lists all if the iPad auctions available through QuiBit's search feature.

Note from the spreadsheet as well that the amount that you pay for the auctioned item is the Auction Closing price PLUS your bid amount.  For example, the very best deal from this spreadsheet was where the Auction Closed for $48.83.  However, the winner had to pay that price, plus the sum of his bids which was $25.80  Add into that the $15.99 shipping and the grand total cost to the winner is $89.62.  That is certainly a great deal for an iPad.

If you didn't win the auction, you can use the "Buy it Now" feature which gives you the opportunity to preserve your bid investment by paying the difference between what you bid and the retail price of the iPad.  In this case, you would pay something less than $699 which is $200 more than the actual retail value of the product as listed by the manufacture.  Also, you have to buy bids up front at a cost of $0.60 per bid to participate in the auctions.

If you bid on the product but elected not to buy the product now, you forfeit all bids invested into the auction.  If no one used the "Buy it Now" option for the data that I collected, then the average amount forfeited by bidders per auction for the data that I collected was approximately $5,918.28.  That is a pretty good profit margin for selling a $499 iPad.

This begs the question, what is the "break-even" Auction Close amount required to meet the cost of the $699 iPad?  The answer is simple.  Take the cost of the item and divide it by the bid price divided by 100.  This gives a rough break-even Auction Close amount of $699/$0.60/100 =~ $12.

While researching this topic, I saw several suspicions of QuiBit using bots to artificially stimulate the bidding process in order to drive up the bidding.  While watching a a few bids, I could neither confirm or deny this.  One thing was clear though, there is often a frenzy of bids near the end of the auction.

One last item to be warned about is that none of the iPads that I saw could be returned if there was any issues.  It is up to you to verify that the iPad functions properly before the shipper leaves your home.

The key takeaway from this article is that while you may be able to get a good buy through QuiBids, it is also very possible that you could loose a lot of money in the process of getting that great deal.   So, bidder beware.

If you would like to learn more about penny auctions, check out http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com.

Brad