{"id":34100,"date":"2015-10-24T03:30:14","date_gmt":"2015-10-24T10:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=34100"},"modified":"2024-04-27T10:29:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T17:29:24","slug":"black-coffee-the-winners-and-losers-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id34100-black-coffee-the-winners-and-losers-edition.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Winners and Losers Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Well … I was out of town most of this week, so I’ve got a very brief espresso edition of Black Coffee for you today. But I promise I’ll be back next week with a full-sized mug.<\/p>\n

Okay, off we go …<\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Can you believe more than half of all American workers — 51%, to be exact — currently make less than $30,000<\/a> per year? It’s true. The official poverty level for a family of five is $28,410.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, collapsing commodity prices<\/a> for everything from corn and copper to oil and iron ore are now threatening the livelihoods of even more Americans — especially those living in “flyover country.”<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The truth is, America’s middle class is dying — and the pace keeps picking up. Nevertheless, that hasn’t managed to stop rents across the nation from skyrocketing<\/a>; you can thank the Fed’s relentless market-distorting monetary policies for that.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> It’s no secret that many retirees are getting slammed too; in fact, some union truck drivers may soon see their pensions slashed<\/a> by as much as 60% because their underperforming funds are essentially insolvent.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> And it’s not just union trucker pensions that are in trouble. As financial analyst Dave Kranzler notes, one reason why the Fed is devoting significant resources to propping up the stock market is that pension fund insolvency risks are widespread<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> The good news is retirees who were relying on insolvent pie-in-the-sky pensions to get them through their golden years still have Social Security to lean on. Oh wait<\/a> …<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> More good news: In sharp contrast to the struggling Americans on Main Street is Google’s Larry Page; he earned $2.5 billion<\/a> in one day<\/em> thanks to Friday’s gains from Google stock after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Then again, Larry has his problems too: US banks are beginning to charge wealthy customers for large cash deposits because it’s becoming too costly to keep. No, really<\/a>. Even so, I’m sure Larry will manage. Somehow.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn’t just Larry Page who had a big earnings day on Friday. Here’s how four other “tech titans” — and one also-ran — fared after Friday’s stock market gains:<\/p>\n

$2,912,000,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Jeff Bezos (Amazon)<\/p>\n

$2,423,000,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Sergey Brin (Google)<\/p>\n

$1,117,000,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Bill Gates (Microsoft)<\/p>\n

$1,074,000,000<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)<\/p>\n

$7.80<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Len Penzo<\/p>\n

Source: USA Today<\/em><\/p>\n

The Question of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

[poll id=\"85\"]<\/code><\/p>\n

Last Week’s Poll Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you need the most?<\/p>\n