{"id":83676,"date":"2024-06-22T01:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=83676"},"modified":"2024-06-25T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:51:14","slug":"black-coffee-22-june-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id83676-black-coffee-22-june-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Back to the Future"},"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 had a wonderful week. And with that, let’s get right to this week’s commentary, shall we?<\/p>\n

The truth is, time travel is hard, and people are lazy.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Margaret Petersen Haddix<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sooner or later, a gold monetary system will return with the force and inevitability of natural law, for it is the money of freedom and honesty.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Hans Sennholz<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? What used to save you money – cash payments – now costs more, as the war on cash intensifies. A recent visitor to Yankee Stadium found this out the hard way after being forced to use<\/a> a \u201creverse ATM\u201d when trying to buy food from one of the baseball park’s concession stands. The man inserted $200 into the machine only to receive a debit card with $196.50 – after he was hit with a $3.50 service fee for the ‘convenience’ of going cash-free. Sounds like Utopia, doesn\u2019t it? Oh, and speaking of convenience fees …<\/p>\n

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(h\/t: @SpillTheMemes)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, the insane California real estate market has been cooling down for a while now. Then there\u2019s Silicon Valley<\/a>, where the owner of a condemned house just made a small fortune selling it anyway. We get it; the sale was for the lot<\/strong><\/em>, not the home. But still, the modest seven bed, two bath 124-year old house – replete with an incredibly-dated interior, scuffed walls, broken doors, dated appliances and a pink tile bathroom – sold for $755,000, surpassing the $699,000 asking price. Ironically, this home was deemed \u201cunfit for human occupancy\u201d while cardboard shacks are allowed to remain on city sidewalks not far from there. Makes sense.<\/p>\n

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As you can see, even here in the People’s Paradise of California, $755,000 doesn’t buy what it used to (although the Great Dane doggy door is a nice touch).<\/p><\/div>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of high prices, cocoa is also selling near it recent all-time high. However, Mondelez International, which makes Oreo cookies – and lots of other sweet snacks – remains optimistic that cocoa prices will drop at some point next year despite the current weather-induced global shortage. Even better, the company reassured investors this week that, despite skyrocketing cocoa futures, it won’t raise prices<\/a> on Oreos and their other chocolate-based products to protect its sales volume. So … is this a sign that better economic days are in store for all of us? Well … like everything else, it’s all depends on your perspective:<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Here’s some trivia for you: Did you know that at least 46% of all American employees – roughly 62 million people – are employed by small businesses? It\u2019s true. It\u2019s also true that a new survey has found that 67% of small business owners are fearful about the economy<\/a> as it stands today, marking a 10-point increase from sentiments two years ago. And it’s not just your everyday mom and pop stores that are struggling. Last week we went to buy a toaster oven and they gave us a bank. Then again, maybe it was just an innocent mistake …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, it\u2019s not just small business owners who have lost confidence. Sixty-five percent of middle class American households – defined as those earning $60,000 or more annually – say they are struggling financially and expect to do so for the rest of their lives, with 33% of survey respondents reporting \u201cextreme stress<\/a>\u201d over paying their bills. Ironically, 25% of people in households with incomes above<\/strong><\/em> $150,000 a year also feel hard-pressed financially. Yes; that’s hard to believe. But on closer inspection, they certainly seem<\/strong><\/em> to be in a surly mood …<\/p>\n