GM IS DEAD, BUT MY BLOG CHALLENGE IS LOOKING GOOD

General Motors is bankrupt, but the stock market rejoiced, zooming up 221 to 8721, as did all world stock exchanges. I should be in mourning, as I plunked down a few bucks, hoping for a miracle. But his was a hedge on my Ford holdings. I should mention that I still also have useless United Air and Enron certificates from the pre-challenge days.

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That article above had a telling table: GM will have nearly ten times more retired people to be supported by those working. Further, two decades ago, GM had ten times more hourly workers than today.

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Some of you might remember my blog stock challenge when the market dipped in early November. It dropped again that month, which triggered a second buy, then I waited until March before picking up Ford. Including the GM debacle, today, I am 65% ahead. That means your $1 investment should today be worth $1.65. Remember, too, I implemented a virtually insane plan: buying only those companies into sustainable resource development. Dumb because I caught the price of oil as it was plummeting, and no one with any sense should be investing in renewable energy development firms when the crude price was heading to an almost all time low. Remember, it was in 1998 that oil hit bottom (yes, even lower than 1973, in current dollars). My Chapter 1 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth goes into these details.

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Now, the price of crude oil has doubled from that low (but is not even half of what it was on July 11, 2008) and the stock market is more than 2000 points higher and rising, so the challenge is looking better and better.

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Gold dropped $5/toz to $974 and oil prices are still creeping up towards $70/barrel (see right).

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Cyclone Aila's death toll is finally approaching the 300 predicted last week. This is the storm that devastated Kolkata and Bangladesh. Of course, our hurricane season starts today. Meterologists are worried about the unpredictability of Atlantic storms and are suggesting above average conditions this year. The Eastern Pacific is expected to have an average year, but that still means more and worse compared to the Atlantic.

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