Money, Get Away!

All I’ve heard about for the past couple of weeks is how money is destroying our lives.

The people that had it, lost it, those that don’t have it still don’t have it and the folks that need it, can’t get it.

Reports from the entertainment industry have mirrored the general markets. As of October 10th, the numbers for the major music companies are as follows:

• WMG - $5.95 off a 52 week high of $11.50
• Sony - $23.51 off a 52 week high of $57.19
• Apple- $88.74 off a 52 week high of $202.96
• Sirius XM - $.40 off a 52 week high of $3.94*
• Viacom - $20.68 off a 52 week high of $44.95
• Live Nation - $11.74 off a 52 week high of $24.03
• RealNetworks - $3.63 off a 52 week high of $7.61

*NASDAQ normally de-lists sub $1 stocks, but the exchange is considering an exception based in current market conditions.

This looks very depressing but on the other hand, we can’t give up on our entertainment. What keeps us working day in and day out is the thought of Friday night’s rock show, catching a good flick at the theater, buying that awesome home entertainment package and inviting good friends over for a entertaining evening!

Let’s take some lyrics from the classic Pink Floyd tune, “Money”:

Money, its a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise its no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.

To solve this problem, I vote for Emma’s plan on the latest episode of “News and Views”. She encourages us to put our cash in a shoe box and stash it under our beds. That way we are responsible for our own piggy banks and can get back to the basics of enjoying our short time on this earth…

Jodi

Money, Get Away!

Forbes 2008 Billionaire List

Today I have not stopped thinking about the released list of Forbes 2008 Billionaires. Hearing about the list of people in the world that have all this money just boggles my mind!! It initially shocked me that Bill Gates reign of number one billionaire has ceased and has dropped down on the list to number three. Ahead of him two new men. Number one billionaire is his friend and sometimes partner Warren Buffett worth an estimated $62 billion dollars! Gates is only worth a measly $58 billion, psh what happened to him!
To me the most shocking on the list is not the top leaders of the list because they have worked their adult life towards those dollars and it’s based upon companies, stocks, investments and what not… all things that hurt my brain to comprehend. What I sit in disbelief about is Mark Zuckerberg. The 23 year old creator of Facebook, who has an estimated worth of $1.7 billion. Somehow Mark has more money than I think four generations of my children after me will ever possess in accumulation, for creating a social online network that, if anything, has cost me nothing but hours of nothingness entertainment. I sit on facebook for hours upon hours doing nothing truly productive, and even so addicted to the point I have my Blackberry set up on alerts so I know when I receive notifications.
I am a recent newbie to the age of 23 and I feel the only thing I have accomplished is two diplomas, one from high school, one from college, two maxed out credit cards, phone bills and who even knows what other bills sitting high on my desk as I eat ramen noodles about once a day because that is all I can afford. Yet, Mark Zuckerberg can blow his nose in dollar bills if he so desired. One word: UNFAIR.
I seem to have my best ideas while I dream, so hopefully by the time I turn 24, I’ll have a billionaire idea of creating something that expands as quickly as google, monster.com, facebook and myspace has for their creators. I don’t need a billion dollars even, just a few million would do! I won’t be greedy!

Forbes 2008 Billionaire List