CHESSNOID

Last night, I watched Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor. I really like these reality TV shows. All the women contestants on Dancing with the Stars were pretty good. I must be really getting old because I didn’t know who the younger celebrities were. The Cheetah girl Sabrina Bryan received the highest score and she got the crowd and judges excited. I was really surprised. She seems to have a big fan base from all the sceaming I heard. I thought originally she was the Cheetos Girl and had something to do with those yummy but bad for you snacks. LOL. Jane Seymour and Scary Spice Melanie Brown tied for 2nd and both also did a great job. However, I thought Jane was the most elegant of the bunch. The other three ladies dancing were Jennie Garth, Marie Osmond, and Josie Maran. With the exception of Josie, all of them did really well. I get the feeling Josie will come on stronger on the next show if she doesn’t get the boot. Since this is somewhat of a popularity contest, I am leaning towards Sabrina as the front runner of the ladies side. Tonight they will show the men contestants. I haven’t seen any of them dance yet, but my unscientific prediction it will be a man who gets the first boot.

Now, the Bachelor was also a good show to watch. My wife and I really enjoy trying to figure out who will win the bachelor’s heart. I think there are 2 right now that will make it to the final 3. I will reveal them after the next episode. We are playing some online game on ABC to see who can pick the order of winners. The twist on this show is the bachelor has an identical twin and they will later use him to see if the girls will know the difference. By the way, I did pick Tessa over Bevin to win last season. Unfortunately, they are officially un-engaged. Wah, wah, wahhhhhh.

This season looks like a bunch of TV shows my wife will be Tivo-ing. My line up looks like this:

Dancing with the Stars–vote for me

The Bachelor–will you accept this rose

Dexter–serial killer of serial killers

Californication–Hell A Blogger

Boston Legal-Denny Crane!

Grey’s McNatomy-McDreamy, McSteamy, McVet

Project Runway–make it work.

The Apprentice -Ya Fired!

I know that is too many shows and takes up alot of time. I have a few more I can’t seem to remember right now. Tell me what shows must you watch and why.

The stock market was literally a see saw today bouncing up and down the breakeven line. When the final bell rang, they did finish up. Apple Stock made a new high. I am still all cash so up days like this always make me wish I had waited just one more day before I sold. It is what it is.

On the housing market, yahoo finance news reports:

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that sales of existing single-family homes dropped 4.3 percent in August, compared to July. Sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate dropped to 5.5 million units, the slowest pace since August 2002.

The S&P/Case-Shiller report, also released Tuesday, showed that the decline in U.S. home prices accelerated nationwide in July, posting the steepest drop in 16 years. The index of 10 U.S. cities fell 4.5 percent in July from a year ago. That was the biggest drop since July 1991.

Tuesday’s reports showing eroding consumer confidence and a further weakening of housing do not bode well for retailers, who are already bracing for a challenging holiday season. Merchants have seen spending slow all year amid falling home prices and higher gas and food bills. Financial turmoil in August and escalating problems in the credit market have made economists and retailers more nervous about the prospects for a decent holiday shopping season.

Such anxiety is further heightened by a weakened outlook for September sales.

I know this is a lot of mumbo jumbo, but in essence the domino effect will begin slowly and surely. It will hit different sectors in the economy one by one. For now, everyone is aware of the Subprime meltdown which first hit homeowners-investors-flippers-speculators to give back their houses. This hurt banks and mortgage companies which have reported record losses, which will cause them to layoff or just shutdown. The mortgage implode-meter is up to 160 since late 2006. This is a very good site to read if you want more specific information on the mortgage banking industry and how they are being affected. As inventories increase from high rates of foreclosure going back on the market, home builders sales will start to drag. Good example is Lennar posting crazy losses. This will hurt companies short term like Lowes and Home depot. Then people will start to watch what they are spending, maybe hold off on the big purchases like buying cars and making their old cars last longer, or just simply be more conservative in their spending habits ,etc, etc, etc. Again, nothing to really worry about since it is all part of the business cycle. I love talking about this stuff but will save it for another post in the near future where I can put it in a more coherent manner.
For now, I must get ready for Dancing with the Stars show.

Cheers!