{"id":53772,"date":"2019-03-16T02:15:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-16T09:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=53772"},"modified":"2019-03-19T04:45:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T11:45:54","slug":"black-coffee-16-mar-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id53772-black-coffee-16-mar-2019.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Water, Water Everywhere …"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"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

I hope everybody is having a great weekend! Okay, away we go …<\/p>\n

While boasting of our noble deeds we were careful to conceal the ugly fact that by an iniquitous money system we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Horace Greeley<\/strong><\/p>\n

The future ain’t what it used to be.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Yogi Berra<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A woman won $10,000 after discovering a hidden contest<\/a> in the often-ignored fine print of a travel insurance contract. No, really. However, as one commenter on the story wryly observed<\/a>: It’s one thing to read<\/strong><\/em> the contract; but getting an insurance company to honor<\/strong><\/em> it is a completely different story. (h\/t: Thom Paine)<\/em><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, thanks to elevated mortgage interest rates, the house-flipping industry continues to get dicier by the day, as profits from housing-market speculation fell<\/a> to their lowest level in seven years. And for those who are wondering if all of those home flippers who have been riding the Fed-induced decade-long low-interest-rate gravy train have finally started heading for the exits, well … see for yourself:<\/p>\n