I was sitting in a hotel room watching an interview with Jesse Ventura (you know, the pro wrestler turned governor of Minnesota) recently, and of course the subject was the presidential election.

He made a comment that really intrigued me: Have the two presidential candidates on the ballot, but a third option for “none of the above”.

Essentially, that would represent the folks who are taking the time to do their duty to vote, but don’t have enough confidence in any of the candidates to vote for either of them.  I kind of like that.

To be honest, I don’t see anyone in the running I’m convinced would make a good leader of …

Starbucks (SBUX: chart, web, Y!) has been making valiant efforts in marketing to combat the effects of cheaper coffee shops and gourmet coffee-selling fast food chains.  But they’re coming up short.

I could smell this one coming from miles away (pardon the pun).  The first thing to suffer from a falling economy is the discretionary purchases that have become most routine.  When you first start looking at your budget and ask yourself the question: “where can I save a few bucks here and a few bucks there?” the answer is easy.  …

I’ve been aimlessly wandering the business journals for the past couple weeks, and really haven’t been all that excited about the financial markets… until now.

The Fed is set to convene on Tuesday and is expected to announce another quarter point rate cut. Up until the last few days, most have expected a half point rate cut, but it appears the calm in the markets has lowered that prediction to just the 0.25% mark.

What would be better?

I think a pause in the cuts would do the markets even better. Over the past several months, rate cuts have been perceived as a way to help soften the blow of credit …

I’m starting to buy Provident Energy Trust (PVX: chart, web, Y!) again in small bits and pieces.  Natural gas ($natgas: chart) is holding its own even with rising temperatures, mostly due to increased use in electrical power generation.

I’ve also noticed that with the advent of LNG technology (liquified natural gas, where they cool the stuff off so much it turns to a liquid, thus facilitating shipping) we’re starting to see natural gas traded more on a global market.

It used to be that natural gas markets were very focused due to the infrastructure required to handle the gas.  Now that it’s exportable, …

It’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that our airline system is broken.  Today it has been revealed that airline pilots are raising concerns about the minimum amount of fuel carried on board aircraft, with several incidents being filed with the NASA ASRS reporting system of arriving at a destination or an alternate airport with minimum fuel.

It seems that the cost cutting measures management is employing at their airlines is starting to spread into the margins of safety mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

This is serious business, folks!

There is a fine line between efficient operating practices and infringing on the safety of customers.  I’m all for airlines having the ability …

Between the lousy weather and the battered down stock market, it’s been a very mundane weekend.  I’ve taken to, in large part, ignoring the day to day happenings in the stock market, and I think I’m a bit more sane for doing it.

Blogging about many of the financial headlines these days doesn’t seem to interest me as much… Are we in a recession or not?  Who cares?

For the last week, I’ve been checking in on the overall market trends about once a day, versus once an hour or so.  My investments are tied up in fairly secure long-term, proven companies, so it’s not like I’m hunting for the straw that …

I’m continuing to see how television is going to be a thing of the past. Well, not television in the broad sense, more the way television is delivered. Right now, my television programing, my internet connection, and my phone service are delivered over the same pair of copper lines. The same lines that just 5 years ago could only deliver voice service.

It used to be that you had a twisted pair running to your house for telephone and a coax cable running to the house for television and internet (of course before that, it was just rabbit ears…).

I am starting to see how digital data …

I just received the 2008 tax valuation from my county treasurer. It’s clear that my local housing industry is feeling the effects of the national housing “crisis”, as the appraised value of my house increased less than 1% this year. Compare this to last year where the increase was 4.9%, and the year before when the valuation increased 6%.

Truthfully I’m not terribly disappointed about this, nor am I shocked. Other areas around the country are seeing the value of homes actually decrease, so I’m counting my blessings that my area isn’t yet …

We’re starting to see the consolidation in the airline industry that we’ve need so badly for the last 5 years or more. ATA Airlines, Aloha Airlines and Skybus (which I wrote about almost a year ago) all quit flying this past week.

I gave Skybus a 3 in 10 chance of surviving, and it looks as if I was right. Rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment got the best of them after only one year. Of course, when you offer tickets for $10 per seat, it doesn’t take a financial analyst to figure out that you might not be in business for long….

Failure is such a harsh word. I have to wonder why. After all, don’t we learn more from our failure than our successes?

Capitalism lives and breaths by failure and success, and the fact that you are given the opportunity to succeed is what makes America great.

For that, I’m sorry to say that I felt a little bit of relief to learn that the Senate today killed a bill that would have bestowed upon judges the power to cut interest rates and principal on troubled mortgages to help desperate borrowers trapped in sub-prime mortgages keep their homes.

The fact that naive people were taken advantage of on the front of …