Unwinding

If I were to make a poll today about the state of the housing market, where would you be? Which side of the line? As foreclosure listings get larger and larger, every week a new market seems to drop. Whether south florida, Vegas or LA, there are a miriad of smaller towns that are the latest in the list. The hardest thing will be to predict if this downturn will have any legs and if it will affect in a serious way the economy in the coming quarters. Although expected, most tend to think the real estatet market wasn't a bubble of gigantic proportions, however, increases of 30+ percent a year were the norm and there is no doubt speculation became rampant. I personally expect a lot more unravelling and at some point in a year or so, a large drop in housing prices. You should do your homework and see where you are at and what precautions should be in place. Save for a rainy day.  

Picking up speed

These days we hear about a new online innovation every second, make it every nanosecond. Noone doubt the world has changed since the internet revolution. But is it any better? Can you positively say there is more love being spread around? Have delinquencies ratios dropped to levels never reached before? And has poverty and famine become extint?

Among many consequences and side effects, the eruption of the wired-collective has allowed for massive transference of wealth. Granted, many low-life and many decent small fishes have benefitted from this (I am raising my hand) but more and more it appears that larger corporations and broad based conglomerates stand to benefit the most. It isn't a surprise to see that, once again, after the gutsy pioneers juiced out the initial gold rush, the bigger fish starts to get hungry. I am somewhat less optimistic about the benefits of a universal cybernest, however, when I come across smaller, humble, shoe-string endeavours like this I have reasons to smile again.

There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of small intitiatives out there that do not require deep pockets, large IT departments and sophisticated machinery. Many garage-like entrepreneurs or even just warm-hearted fellows who would like to provide a free service have found ways of implementing useful ideas.

I can only hope to see more and more of this.