TOP DRAWER INK NEWSLETTER

 

Here's the latest issue of Top Drawer Ink, the newsletter written by author HL Carpenter that's chock full of humor and common sense information.

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October 18, 2008
Volume 6, Number 20
ISSN 1554-6330

In this issue:

1. Carpenter Country
2. Top Drawer Article
3. Top Drawer Tips
4. Top Drawer Satire

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CARPENTER COUNTRY
What's Happening in Our Neck of the Human Experience

 

It’s almost Halloween – time for ghosts, goblins, witches, and things that cause shivers of fear. But this year, All Hallows ghoulies may not be the most frightening vampire on the block.

The nightly newscasts about bank failures, trillions lost from pension funds and turmoil in the stock market, could easily win first prize for the scariest event. Throw in the word recession and the fright meter goes even higher. Mention depression and most everyone’s heart skips a beat.

A depression is not a good thing.

In Carpenter Country, the short one is happy to say she’s actually too young to remember the Great Depression. But a quick look at a few pages of research made some of the week’s bad news seem less scary.

During the lowest ebb of the depression, unemployment stood at 25%, the stock market declined a whopping 75% and the number of bank failures was approximately 4,000. Last month the unemployment rate was 6.1%, the market is off about 40% and 15 banks have failed.

Right now, the experts are avoiding the word depression. Mostly they’re predicting that a recovery will not come quickly. Yet history tells us by the time bad news hits the headlines the crisis is usually half over.

This morning the short one pulled on her witch’s hat and climbed out on a limb to make her own prediction. When the media drops the ‘toxic’ economic stories, and starts hyping the next perceived disaster, consumer confidence will go up and the economy will improve.

Meanwhile she’s thumbing her nose at the fear factor and throwing a Halloween party.

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TOP DRAWER ARTICLE

History of the FDIC
by
HL Carpenter

 

What independent agency of the United States government celebrated its 75th birthday on June 16, 2008?

Read the entire article here

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TOP DRAWER TIPS
Topics and Tidbits

 

Tip: You get automatic insurance coverage from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation when you open a checking, savings, or money market account, or certificate of deposit, with an FDIC insured financial institution. The coverage limit is $250,000 through December 31, 2009, but you may be insured even if you have more than that amount at one bank. The determining factor is the category of ownership of your accounts, such as individual or joint. Check your total coverage using EDIE, the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, an online calculator at the FDIC web site.

Glossary Term: Bank run. Rapid, simultaneous withdrawals by a bank’s customers when they fear the bank will not have enough money to repay all its depositors. Following the Great Depression, the FDIC was established to prevent bank runs by insuring deposits.

Financial Horoscope: If you listen to the relentlessly grim news coverage, you may feel the economy is as out of control as a California wildfire. Fortunately, October is National Fire Prevention Month. Keep fear-fanned flames out of your financial house by taking refuge from the media’s winds of doom and gloom. Clear the smoke from your mind and make sound decisions in the resulting peace and quiet.

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TOP DRAWER SATIRE

Riding The Market
by
HL Carpenter

 

Thrill seekers anxious to jump into The Market, a popular roller coaster, may want to reconsider. According to the US Department of Grim Pronouncements, the ride can be hazardous to your health.

Read the rest here