The December 2, 2008
PinFeed Almanack
The Price is Right
The Almanack is annually pleased to observe the arrival of December, meaning
'tenth month', which is the twelfth month of the year. To Christians, it's
Advent, or 'beginning', which is the end of the year. If the sign of a
superior mind is the capacity to simultaneously accept contradictory ideas,
then December surely indicates human superiority.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we celebrate 'The Holidays', the 8% of
the year when retailers make 40% of their income. This year we may also
mark the end of recession and the beginning of depression.
It's a time for Values: family values, religious values, shopping values,
doorbuster values.
So how do we know the value of anything? If you're asked what's most
valuable to you, is the answer automatic, or do you have to take awhile to
sort a list of things, make some comparisons, consider some 'desert island'
scenarios? Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?
Perhaps the simplest way to evaluate anything is to do what the markets do:
put it up for bids, and decide how much cash will make you sell it. Most of
our stuff can be fairly priced, and fairly easily these days, but it takes
commitment. Just balance the need for green against your attachment to that
Pancho Gonzalez tennis racket, and see if Ebay agrees. Be ready to ship it.
Nobody knows the value of a thing until an offer is tendered and accepted.
Just because my neighbor got 600 large last month for a bungalow like mine
doesn't mean I can get the same next month.
The only way to know for sure what it's worth is to be ready to cash it in.
We suppose non-fungible assets are subject to the same considerations.
Have you cashed in an asset lately? Hugged someone you love? Hugged an
asset . . .
Happy holidays.
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prquirke@aol.com:
Thanks Earl, and keep em coming in '09!
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