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Christmas Present Tips for Guys

Christmas Shopping Tips for Guys

giftgreen1Most of us guys are useless at Christmas shopping. Here's a few tips I've picked up over the years.

Ladies, you might want to share this with the men in your family to avoid getting an undesirable and badly wrapped present this Christmas.

  1. Buying your Christmas presents at a petrol station or dairy on Christmas morning really isn't the done thing - apparently not everyone wants a funnel, box of biscuits or a car care kit. Don't do it.
  2. Get started early, no not on Christmas Eve, yesterday was already too late.
  3. First thing in the morning is the best time to Christmas shop, and I mean first thing, teenagers are still in bed.
  4. It's not the thought that counts, it's how MUCH thought that counts.
  5. Cash is a GREAT present for teenagers - and me.
  6. If you must give gift vouchers make sure they are from a shop the recipient actually shops in and try and avoid those with an expiry date.
  7. Wrapping and cards are important, you and I know it's just paper but for some reason they are important.
  8. Before you start browsing in a shop check that it does gift wrapping and accept the service - wait if necessary. If the shop doesn't do gift wrapping move on to the next. Unless you are an expert present wrapper - Yeah Right!
  9. Even if every present you buy is gift wrapped, buy plenty of wrapping paper and sellotape. You are going to need it because dairy's and petrol stations don't gift wrap and being a bloke you'll probably ignore number 1.

Guys ignore the above at your peril and have a wonderful Christmas.

Posted in Commentary on the Investment Environment.

US Sovereign Debt loses AAA Rating

Cheap LoansStandard & Poor’s downgraded US sovereign debt from AAA to AA+ on Friday 5 August 2011

This signals a new era in global financial markets. Given the unsustainable path for US debt if bold action is not taken, and the shenanigans around finally grinding out a debt-ceiling agreement that went only halfway towards the generally accepted minimum level of savings needed, S&P have decided that there are better bets around. French, German and UK sovereign debt are now all rated as less risky.

The US Treasury reacted angrily, and the Chinese Government, holders of more than a trillion of the stuff, put the boot in, with the official news agency commenting that “the US government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone”.

Now the question is how already panicky markets will react over the next few days. More equities carnage seems a given. In terms of rates, there will be some automatic liquidation of positions by those who have to hold a certain proportion of AAA- rated debt (though these rules may likely not be triggered until a second ratings agency follows suit). This could cause an initial sell-off. But this would run counter to recent moves in US Treasury yields, which have fallen as petrified investors seek safe(r) havens. So the move may not last long, as after all, a downgrade at some point was anticipated and the unsustainable path for US debt is not new news. The weak economy story is likely to dominate rates. In the long term, however, the downgrade is likely to cost the US Government and other US borrowers dearly.

For a real time view of just how much money the US borrows click the US National Debt Clock. At the ime of writing a little over 14.5 trillion dollars, expressed as a number $14,500,000,000,000!

Click here to download the full report "United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative" from Standard and Poors

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