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There is a wild card in the upcoming election that has garnered virtually no attention. Altho the bailout bill was a Bush/Paulson scheme, it was supported and pushed mainly by democrats. They disregarded the will of the people in passing it. Will the voters reject their representatives at the polls for voting for the bailout against the wishes of their constituancies? It may well turn out that Obama may be facing a lot more republicans in congress that is believed. I for one can only wish. I'm a gridlock guy. It seems when there is gridlock in Washington, they spend most of their time posturing and making a lot of noise about the other side. Not much gets done and from what I've seen over many years of observation is the less they do the less harm is done.
..........al
see saws are great if you're into swing trading. The old "buy when there's blood in the streets" may be a good mantra to go by very soon. Support level on the dow in around 7000 from what I understand. Stock market right now I like the Canroyals. Healthy returns up to 30% with monthly dividends. Canada's economy will fair far better than the US as they are resource rich and our biggest exports are dollars and jobs. They are also a play on the Canadian dollar. Best of luck to you also.
........al
That's exactly the reason I like silver better than gold right now. I hold gold but am not buying any more. Silver in addition to being also a store of value is a highly consumed industrial metal with more uses for it being found every year. There are some that believe there is more above ground gold available than there is silver. Most gold used in jewelry or industrially is recovered eventually. Some silver is recovered but most goes away due to low price and high cost of recovery.
..........al
Historically, coins and bars could be bought at spot + 3-7%. I know as I have purchased it over the years at those premiums. If you can find anything available right now it will cost you in most places 40 to as high as 70% over spot. Spot price may control the paper markets in metals, but the reality in the real world is telling a different story. When delivery at the comex is demanded by too many holders and the comex must take drastic actions once again to avoid default of delivery the cat will be out of the bag. Time will tell all.
............al
I am aware of the Hunt debacle. It's what got me into precious metals in the first place. I made a lot trading silver back then and reinvested in high grade silver dollars at a premium. Lost my profits when congress legislated collectables out of retirement plans. I know the scenario as you posted and it is true except for one small item. The Hunts did not demand delivery. No doubt they would have but it was only the rumor of their possible demand that set off the price explosion.
..........al
Maybe just a rhetorical question here, but what happens when some holders of comex contracts decide it's worth it to take delivery and resell into the retail market? If one buyer figures it out so will others and we know the comex cannot deliver on more than a few percent of the outstanding before defaulting. We can agree to disagree but I think the spot will catch up to the real price rather than real dropping to the spot. In addition, what will happen to gold and silver if all this bailout money being thrown around electronically actually becomes monetized?
........al
I may not agree with what you say, but have fought and will continue to fight for your right to say it. USArmy 1966-1975
Best info board on Ihub:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=12189
Before reading this know that John Embry is pro gold and has been for quite a while.
http://www.sprott.com/pdf/investorsdigest/digest.pdf
......al
more free publicity:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/WestVolusia/wvlWEST02101908.htm
October 19, 2008
Baby boomers behind new direction of funeral offerings
By RAY WEISS
Staff writer
Convention goers scooted by the beautiful Brazilian model and into the display booth, where an unconventional line of merchandise caught their eye.
The empty caskets and urns sported the colorful logos of several major league baseball and college football teams -- the ultimate in eternal comfort for a diehard New York Yankees or Purdue University fan, sans the beer and bratwurst of course.
"The theory is people identify with certain brands. Coke. Mercedes-Benz," said Nick Popravsky, a vice president for Eternal Image, a company debuting its line of licensed coffins. "So we felt: Why not the funeral business? Why not go out this way?"
Personalization -- capturing the essence of an individual's life -- was the catch word at the National Funeral Directors Association's annual convention this week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
Hundreds of wholesalers on a floor the size of three football fields offered their wares to 5,000 morticians from as far away as Europe and the Far East.
Plenty of traditional stuff -- wood caskets, black hearses, sympathy cards -- was on display. But so were cutting-edge products that bordered on Addams Family eccentric. They included earrings that carried the etched fingerprint of a loved one, custom-made Hong Kong clothes and urns shaped like shotgun shells that fit into the rifle butt of someone wanting to remember a departed hunter.
"Personalization is big now, and I don't think it is going away," said Popravsky, whose background is in corporate America, not funeral homes. "People love their brands, whether it's beer, cigarettes or sports. A few years ago, I'd say there was not a chance I'd be selling caskets. But no one was filling this need. So why not us?"
Kurt Soffe, a Utah mortician, has overseen several unorthodox funerals. During one, the departed person's corvette was used as the hearse, while in the other a farmer's tractor and attached wagon led a procession of 18 tow trucks.
"More personalization is the big trend. It can help a family with their grief," Soffe said, generating fond memories of what made that relative so special. "They can focus on feelings about that life."
Robyn Constantino, a funeral home owner in DeLand who attended the conference, said a growing number of families in this area are going with more personalized services.
"It makes it more meaningful to the surviving family," she said. "You're honoring the way the person lived and what they liked."
Aging baby boomers are the current target for many in the afterlife trade. That generation has been the driving economic and advertising force from birth and beyond, starting with Howdy Doody and continuing through the Wall Street investment years. And as the end draws closer, the trend continues.
"The change (in the funeral business) is coming from baby boomers. There are so many more options," said Jessica Koch, a spokeswoman for the organization, which represents about half of the country's 20,000 funeral directors. "They've always done things their way."
And "their way" now includes environmentally correct, biodegradable caskets and urns, which can include a tree or bush as a marker, instead of a gravestone.
Take Spiritree, designed by Jose Fernando Vazquez, an architect from Puerto Rico. The seed-shaped urn is the size of a bread box. As the bottom section decomposes, the ashes inside help nourish a sapling that's planted at the center of the urn. Eventually, the ceramic top will crack as the tree grows.
"I designed it when I was doing my master's in industrial design in 1999," he said, recalling his late great aunt, his inspiration, who was cremated. "It looks like a seed, or pregnant belly. Death is part of the natural cycle of life, like birth, growing up and aging."
He signed a distribution deal with Batesville Casket Company, the largest in the industry.
Batesville's display at the convention matched its image, looking much like the showroom of a car dealership. Caskets were everywhere. The latest high-end models offered rounded corners ideal for displaying personalized "life symbols," markers made to celebrate a profession, accomplishment or favorite sport.
One honored the life of a firefighter, complete with folded American flag and sporting the shiny "meteorite" metallic finish of an Aston Martin luxury car.
"Consumers are focusing on shapes, colors and finishes," said Batesville spokeswoman Teresa Gyulafia of the 2008 caskets. "They have very high consumer eye appeal."
ray.weiss@news-jrnl.com
from John Mauldin:
Posted Oct 16 2008, 01:08 PM
by John Mauldin
Dear Friends:
Exhale for a moment, forget your losses for the time being, and try to appreciate the fact that you're living through the single most important development in global finance since Bretton Woods. This is a "tell the grandkids about it" moment, when governments all around the world have essentially decided in unison that it's time to rewrite the rules, the very framework, in which financial transactions take place. Stock trading, interbank lending, commercial paper, the very concept of private sector ownership are all up in the air right now.
The only thing I can tell you with certainty is that if you try to evaluate your investments using the same metrics you've always relied on - P/E ratios, market share, interest rates, etc. - you're going to be as successful as a football-turned-baseball coach evaluating a pitcher by the number of touchdowns he throws. The rules are changing, gentle reader, changing at least for awhile from market-driven inputs to government-driven inputs. If you try to apply what you know from the "old game" without understanding that you're playing a "new game," the rules might not make sense.
I'm sending you today a piece from my friend George Friedman on how his company Stratfor looks at economics. More precisely, this piece explains how they look at Political Economy. And from here on out, it's political economy that's going to be driving markets. If the old rule was "Never fight the Fed." It's now, "Never fight the Fed. And the Treasury. And the ECB. And the Bank of England. And the Bank of Japan...." You get my point.
George has very kindly arranged for a special offer on a Stratfor Membership for my readers. I strongly encourage you to click here to take advantage of this offer. Now more than ever, you need the kinds of insights that you can't get from traditional finance sources. You need a wider lens, and there's no one better than George and his team at Stratfor at this kind of analysis. I know you'll find them as valuable as I do.
Your Taking-It-All-In Analyst,
John Mauldin
By George Friedman
Stratfor's focus is on geopolitics. That means that it focuses on the behavior of human societies organized into complex, geographically defined systems. In our time, that means that we study nation-states. In order to understand the behavior of nation-states, it is necessary to focus on three major dimensions: economics, war and politics. The nation has to be studied in terms of producing wealth, defending (and stealing) wealth, and the internal and external relations by which humans shape their lives.
Economics, war and politics are not separate spheres. They are a single entity together constituting the reality of the nation-state. There are those who argue that economic life should be left alone, not interfered with by political or military power. We won't engage in that argument. What we know, empirically, is that political and military power constantly impinge on economic life, and vice versa. It is impossible to imagine war without taking into account politics and economics. It is impossible to think of domestic or foreign policy without considering economic and military issues. By the same token, it is also impossible to think about economics without thinking about military and political matters. If it can be made otherwise, then someone will do so and then we will change our opinion. Until then, we cannot think of the free market as a meaningful independent reality. It is always shaped by other factors. Perhaps it should be otherwise. It isn't.
An integrated approach to social reality requires that these distinctions, so important in the organization of a university or a newspaper, be overcome. They were created in order to organize human activities into manageable pieces. Our argument is that in so doing, reality is only apparently made more manageable, and in fact is falsified. The standard approach to these issues creates distinctions that don't exist and complexities that conceal rather than reveal the nature of the problem at hand. A general who tries to wage war without consideration of political ends and economic means is going to fail. An economist who tries to understand and predict the behavior of the economy without a comprehensive understanding of the political and military realities which shape the economy will not do particularly well.
Geopolitics is in one sense also an abstraction, but it has the virtue of not creating artificial distinctions. The price that the geopolitician pays for a comprehensive view of reality is a forced simplification: there is just too much happening to state it comprehensively. Geopolitics is the search for the center of gravity of reality, those overwhelming forces that drive the system in the direction it is going to take. These forces are never solely political, military or economic in nature. Usually, they are in plain sight and are overlooked because, being simple, they appear insufficient. Indeed, they may be insufficient, but others can add the details. Our goal is to lay bare the essentials and identify the general direction in which things are moving.
Take, for example, our recent analysis of the Russo-Georgian war. It derived from this central reality: Russia by the 19th century had achieved the borders essentially held by the Soviet Union. In 1992 it had collapsed to a position in which it had not been since perhaps the 17th century. That condition was untenable. Either Russia would implode or it would reassert itself fairly quickly. By early 2000s, it was our view that it would choose to assert itself. When the United States tried to make an ally of Ukraine, which Russia sees as crucial for its economic, military and political well-being, we became certain that Russia would push back. As the Americans got bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, a window of opportunity opened up and the Russians began the process of reassertion.
There are, obviously, endless things left out of this analysis. People of every discipline could rip it apart as being insufficiently sophisticated. In one sense they would be right. By avoiding the complexity of sophistication, we could see the fundamental shape of things -- which was that the Russian collapse, if halted, would have to reverse itself for economic, military and political reasons. There were obviously many details we could not predict and some we didn't know. But we captured the essential geopolitical condition of Russia in order to understand what it had to do. We left it to others to do the important work of mapping the complexity. Our task was to capture the simplicity.
In our analysis of the current financial crisis in the United States -- and the world as a whole -- we have sought the center of gravity of the problem. We approached that simply by asking one question: is what is going on simply another inflection point in the business cycles that have occurred since World War II, or does it represent a systemic failure such as that which happened during the Great Depression? This struck us as the urgent issue.
We noted that in the Great Depression, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by nearly 50 percent over three years. It was an unprecedented calamity. Bearing this in mind, we compared the current situation to other events since World War II to see if there was a framework for measuring it. We found that framework in the Savings and Loan crisis of 1989, when an entire sector of the U.S. financial system collapsed and the federal government intervened -- essentially guaranteeing or purchasing commercial real estate, whose price decline had triggered the crisis. We noted that the total amount allocated by the federal government in that crisis was about 6.5 percent of the GDP (and the amount actually spent, before recouping of costs via sales, was less than 3 percent). We noted also that in the current crisis another sector of the financial system -- the investment banks -- were devastated, and that the federal government intervened, this time at about 5 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, the equity markets had not declined as much as they did in 2000-2001, and as of the second quarter of this year the economy was still growing by more than 2 percent. From this we concluded that the U.S. economy was moving into a recession but that the recession would not break the framework of the postwar economy, although clearly the degree of government intervention will reshape the financial markets.
From the point of view of many Russian experts in 2001, our analysis of the future of Russia was seen as simplistic and naïve. From the standpoint of professional economists and traders in the markets, the same is being said of our current analysis. But just as our critics among Russian experts failed to see the main thrust of Russian history, many economists fail to see the main thrust of what is now happening. The United States is a $14 trillion economy with a potential problem amounting to $1-2 trillion (and probably far less than that). If the government intervenes, it will create inequities and imbalances in the system. But between the size of the economy and the government printing press, the problem will be managed -- particularly because there are underlying assets -- houses -- that can be monetized in the long run. The gridlock in the financial system will undoubtedly create a recession, but there hasn't been one for seven years and it's high time.
One can like or dislike the outcome, and we certainly agree that this will cause long-term dislocations and imbalances. But we also know that America as a nation-state has the resources to manage its way through this crisis if the government intervenes. And that intervention is as hard-wired into the American political-economic-military system as the law of supply and demand.
We do not speak the language of economics. There are numerous economists who can do that. And we certainly don't speak the language of the financial markets. We speak our own language, designed to reveal the elegant essence of the problem rather than its enormous complexity. Certainly, if our analysis is wrong because we failed to identify a crucial problem, then we haven't identified the center of gravity properly. And we will be wrong, which is far worse. But as in February 2000, when we published a piece called "Recession Time?" which forecast the market collapse that happened a few weeks later and the recession that followed it, we will be criticized for not understanding some essential point -- in 2000 it was that we had no understanding of the impact of increased productivity on the business cycle. They were right. We didn't understand it and we were right not to. The complexities of productivity did not trump the obvious, which was that the NASDAQ had reached unsupportable levels and there had been no recession in nine years and that was way too long.
So, too, we are criticized for our failure to understand the spread between T-Bills and LIBOR or myriad other things. But we do understand this: The political reality is that the size of the American economy, deployed by the state, trumps the financial problems created by the fall of the housing markets. It will be ugly and painful for some and there will be a recession, but things are always ugly and painful when there is a recession.
This series is about the economic problem, therefore, but is not written about the economy and certainly not by economists. Their work is valuable but it differs from ours. Rather this is about geopolitics and therefore about the different regions and nation-states of the world. It is a geopolitical analysis subsuming economics, politics and military affairs in a single system. And it is designed to extract the obvious rather than drill into the complexity.
We hope this series has some value to our readers in clarifying the current moment. That is its intention: to highlight the main tendency, not to detail the complexity. Understanding the trees has value, but seeing the forest clearly has value as well.
Personally I for one didn't think this company would be any major threat to the established funeral industry. Like gov't, the funeral industry is like a dinosaur, slow to change. I saw this as a niche market in an established industry. Inroads to niche markets have proved successful in many old established industries. As far as a business plan, it seems to be working quite well for a startup company. Will it succeed? I think so, but I wouldn't give a 100% guarantee. It comes down to the old risk/reward. It's why most people play penny stocks. It's far more likely that a 1¢ stock will go to 10¢ than a $10 stock will hit $100. It's also far more likely that a 1¢ will go belly up than a $10 stock. Mistakes have been made in the past. Yet they have patents and products(see posted pics). The uplisting will provide the transparency needed to stimulate investment. I don't look for "to the moon" numbers in the initial K and Q. I will look for rising numbers in the future Ks and Qs. Those are the stats that investors look for in a growing company.
........al
12,000 new wireless cameras arriving at the warehouse could explain the dilution that I suspect. I'm sure they ain't cheap. If it is so and they have outlets for all those cameras, then I could very well support the dilution. It all comes down to communicating with shareholders. JMHO
.........al
Both my senators that voted for the bailout got my opinion on this one.
FOXNEWS.COM HOME > U.S.
AIG Executives Rack Up a Reported $86,000 Tab During Hunting Trip
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — First there was the $440,000 American Insurance Group Inc. spent entertaining executives days after receiving an $85 billion lifeline from the Federal Reserve, now it's $86,000 for a hunting trip in England as the faltering company reaped another $37.8 billion in taxpayer funded loans.
News of the hunting trip emerged Wednesday as New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo ordered AIG to do away with golden parachutes for executives, golf outings and parties while taking government money to stay afloat.
"Even after the taxpayer-funded bailout of AIG, the company paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for luxurious retreats for its executives, including an overseas hunting party and a golf outing," Cuomo wrote in a letter to the New York-based insurer.
He said the spending could be "fraudulent conveyances" under a state law regarding debtors and creditors and noted that beyond those excesses millions were paid to executives who were running AIG as it faced dissolution with government help.
Cuomo said he has the power under state business law to review and possibly rescind any inappropriate AIG spending as long as the Federal Reserve is propping up the huge insurer with almost $123 billion in loans announced since Sept. 16.
Company officials said the hunting trip in the English countryside was an annual event for customers that had been planned months before the bailout. The company pledged — as it did following the September trip — to do everything possible to end such extravagances. They declined to say which AIG executives attended.
"This was an annual event for customers of the AIG property casualty insurance companies in the U.K. and Europe, and planned months before the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's loan to AIG," company spokesman Peter Tulupman said Wednesday morning.
In a prepared statement later in the day, the company said, "We will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure that these activities cease immediately. AIG's priority is to continue focusing on actions necessary to repay the Federal Reserve loan and emerge as a vital, ongoing business."
The company said last week it would stop "all nonessential conferences, meetings and activities that do not clearly maximize value and service given the current conditions."
Last month, and just days after the U.S. government stepped in to save AIG with the $85 billion taxpayer-funded loan, the company picked up a $440,000 tab for a weeklong retreat at the posh St. Regis Resort in California for top-performing insurance agents.
Lawmakers investigating AIG's meltdown said they were enraged that executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary spent a lavish amount on the retreat, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings. Last week, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino called the event "despicable."
At that time, AIG issued a statement saying that the "business event" was planned months before the Sept. 16 bailout and that it was held for top-producing independent life insurance agents, not AIG employees. Of the 100 attendees, only 10 worked for the AIG unit hosting the event, it said.
The insurer said Chief Executive Edward Liddy sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson "clarifying the circumstances" of the event. In the letter, Liddy assured Paulson that AIG is "reevaluating the costs of all aspects of our operations in light of the new circumstances in which we are all operating."
The insurer then said it canceled a future California retreat that was to be held later this month.
Regarding the recent hunting trip, "We regret that this event was not canceled," Tulupman said Wednesday.
Shares of AIG fell 37 cents, or 13.2 percent, to $2.43 in trading Wednesday.
OS count updated in iBox. eom
picked up by trading markets: same story
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1945636/
......al
Orlando Sentinal:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-coffins1508oct15,0,278218.story
Fan spirit is grave matter at funeral directors expo
Jerry W. Jackson | Sentinel Staff Writer
October 15, 2008
For die-hard Tampa Bay Rays fan Dale Gunter, there could hardly be a better way to spend eternity than in a comfy, custom-designed coffin with the Rays logo and colors.
"That's my team," said Gunter, who was at the National Funeral Directors Association Expo on Tuesday in Orlando, checking out the baseball-themed and other latest casket offerings from Eternal Image, a Michigan outfit that offers licensed brand-image caskets, urns, monuments and vaults.
Gunter, owner of Gunter Funeral Home and Cremation Services in St. Petersburg, said that while custom coffins are a small slice of the multimillion-dollar burial business, more families these days look for a way to honor their dearly departed in a personal way.
That might mean a scarlet and gray Ohio State Buckeyes casket, a snazzy blue and gray Star Trek coffin, or maybe a nice New York Yankees urn sitting atop a home-plate base.
Related links
*
National Funeral Directors Association Expo National Funeral Directors Association Expo Photos
Nick Popravsky, vice president of sales for Eternal Image, said the Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company gets "a lot of requests for SEC schools" and right now is working on agreements with Florida colleges, including the University of Florida and Florida State.
For fans who would like a Gator or Seminole casket, Popravsky advised them to be patient and careful.
"Hang in there, and look both ways," before crossing a street, he quipped.
Actress Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie fame was at the booth at the Orange County Convention Center, pitching the custom coffins. She said she was assured the company could make her a casket modeled after the genie's bottle she spent so much time in during the 1960s sitcom.
"Not for a while, though," Eden said.
The custom coffins typically cost about $1,000 more than regular ones, Popravsky said, but for many families it's a small price to pay for a special send-off.
Kurt Soffe, owner of Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Chapels & Cremation Center in Murray, Utah, said his family has been in the funeral business for four generations. The folks who run funeral homes now are as serious as they ever were in respecting a family's loss, he said, but they do tend to be less stodgy than in his great-grandfather's day.
"Most are still small, family-owned businesses," he said, trying to make a living as traditions change and profits are pinched. Cremation costs less than a burial and more families are opting for that, he said, while burials are changing in other ways. More funeral homes, for example, are using the Internet so families can see the service on live webcasts from home.
But tradition still means a lot to many families -- and especially for those who may have Celtic blood in their veins.
Official Irish Dirt is now available, for people anywhere in the world who need a little earth from the old country, to ensure their eternal rest.
Three Irish entrepreneurs, Pat Burke, Tim Macdougald and Sean Carty, partners in The Auld Sod Export Co. Ltd., have a booth at the funeral expo, pitching their product -- black, peat-like soil packed in little green containers embossed with gold letters. Prices start at about $10.
"It comes from four [Irish] provinces -- fields, mountains and bogs," Burke said.
Many people are ordering it online at officialirishdirt.com, he said, to mix with the ashes of a loved one, to sprinkle on or around coffins and even for family members who may be long-gone but not forgotten. A trip to the cemetery with a handful of the old country, he said, can bring tears of joy and a flood of memories.
"Some people will say, 'You know, my mother was Irish -- and she never got to go home.' "
In my neck of the woods, I am seeing more and more people engaged in bartering. I think the average citizen is getting fed up with the way Washington is abusing our tax dollars. More and more people will be going underground as much as possible to avoid the taxman. I wonder what kind of public outcry will surface when Bush and Paulson come to congress for more money. 700 billion will not come close to doing much good in a quadrillion derivatives mess. I enjoyed your post on Peter Schiff. He was probably right on.
.......al
Real products, a major showing at THE convention of the year for the funeral industry, it's my guess that this company may be going somewhere. A couple of years ago I found this company and decided from my investigation that this would be a long term hold for success and not a typical pinkie to swing trade. Over many years of trading I've made a lot of mistakes as have many others. It's all a gamble anyway. This one could very well prove to be the ultimate success story. Any anxieties in the past are now replaced with patience. Best of luck to all.
.........al
Orlando Sentinal:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-coffins1508oct15,0,278218.story
Fan spirit is grave matter at funeral directors expo
Jerry W. Jackson | Sentinel Staff Writer
October 15, 2008
For die-hard Tampa Bay Rays fan Dale Gunter, there could hardly be a better way to spend eternity than in a comfy, custom-designed coffin with the Rays logo and colors.
"That's my team," said Gunter, who was at the National Funeral Directors Association Expo on Tuesday in Orlando, checking out the baseball-themed and other latest casket offerings from Eternal Image, a Michigan outfit that offers licensed brand-image caskets, urns, monuments and vaults.
Gunter, owner of Gunter Funeral Home and Cremation Services in St. Petersburg, said that while custom coffins are a small slice of the multimillion-dollar burial business, more families these days look for a way to honor their dearly departed in a personal way.
That might mean a scarlet and gray Ohio State Buckeyes casket, a snazzy blue and gray Star Trek coffin, or maybe a nice New York Yankees urn sitting atop a home-plate base.
Related links
*
National Funeral Directors Association Expo National Funeral Directors Association Expo Photos
Nick Popravsky, vice president of sales for Eternal Image, said the Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company gets "a lot of requests for SEC schools" and right now is working on agreements with Florida colleges, including the University of Florida and Florida State.
For fans who would like a Gator or Seminole casket, Popravsky advised them to be patient and careful.
"Hang in there, and look both ways," before crossing a street, he quipped.
Actress Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie fame was at the booth at the Orange County Convention Center, pitching the custom coffins. She said she was assured the company could make her a casket modeled after the genie's bottle she spent so much time in during the 1960s sitcom.
"Not for a while, though," Eden said.
The custom coffins typically cost about $1,000 more than regular ones, Popravsky said, but for many families it's a small price to pay for a special send-off.
Kurt Soffe, owner of Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Chapels & Cremation Center in Murray, Utah, said his family has been in the funeral business for four generations. The folks who run funeral homes now are as serious as they ever were in respecting a family's loss, he said, but they do tend to be less stodgy than in his great-grandfather's day.
"Most are still small, family-owned businesses," he said, trying to make a living as traditions change and profits are pinched. Cremation costs less than a burial and more families are opting for that, he said, while burials are changing in other ways. More funeral homes, for example, are using the Internet so families can see the service on live webcasts from home.
But tradition still means a lot to many families -- and especially for those who may have Celtic blood in their veins.
Official Irish Dirt is now available, for people anywhere in the world who need a little earth from the old country, to ensure their eternal rest.
Three Irish entrepreneurs, Pat Burke, Tim Macdougald and Sean Carty, partners in The Auld Sod Export Co. Ltd., have a booth at the funeral expo, pitching their product -- black, peat-like soil packed in little green containers embossed with gold letters. Prices start at about $10.
"It comes from four [Irish] provinces -- fields, mountains and bogs," Burke said.
Many people are ordering it online at officialirishdirt.com, he said, to mix with the ashes of a loved one, to sprinkle on or around coffins and even for family members who may be long-gone but not forgotten. A trip to the cemetery with a handful of the old country, he said, can bring tears of joy and a flood of memories.
"Some people will say, 'You know, my mother was Irish -- and she never got to go home.' "
well, I guess those "facts" are no longer up to date. It's only just begun. Info not put out by company. It's being put out by shareholders on the scene. It doesn't get much better.
"Never buy stock in a company that if the share price goes down by half you wouldn't be willing to buy more."
Peter Lynch
another little blurb:
..........al
http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=32591
U.S. Funeral Business Untouched By Economy
Reported by: Web Producer
Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 @07:26am CST
U.S. Funeral Business Untouched By Economy, Brits Can't Bury Poor
(Orlando, FL) -- The credit crunch may mean Americans aren't living it up as much, but they're still dying expensively.
Business is booming for funeral industry execs who gathered for their annual convention in Orlando, Florida this week.
The National Funeral Directors Association says people are still willing to tap into retirement plans or cash in a life insurance policy to bid a costly farewell to loved ones.
The trade group says Americans spend 11-billion dollars a year on funeral services.
That's likely to grow as baby boomers reach their peak dying years between 2020 and 2040.
Convention attendees said people will still pay top dollar for a great send-off.
One mausoleum reported its top-of-the-line cast-stone tomb-for-two is still a bestseller at 15-grand.
When casket maker Eternal Image began offering sports insignias last year, business took off.
Now the company also offers other logos, including the Star Trek insignia.
The largesse of grieving Americans contrasts sharply with Britain's response to the credit crunch.
English undertakers are now refusing to bury the poor without a guarantee from their government that it'll foot the bill, reports London's "Daily Mail" tabloid.
The British government pays about 12-hundred dollars to cover a no-frills burial for the poor.
Funeral homes often front the money to hard-up families and then collect the money from the state.
The credit crunch has made that impossible, and poor families report having to wait two months or more before receiving their government check.
Hundreds of bodies remain in cold storage in the meantime.
I do believe we all owe a debt of gratitude to our fellow shareholders that have attended the convention. They are there on their own time and at their own expense doing real DD for all of us. And if that isn't real DD I don't know what is. So as not to slight anyone I am not going to mention names lest I leave anyone out. So I am just going to pass on a big THANK YOU to all of you for what you have unselfishly done for the rest of us. Pillar #1 is completed successfully.
........al
4Godnwv- excellent post. Anyone worried about their own financial future would do well to read it.
..........al
From Dancy's neighborhood:
..........al
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24495946-23109,00.html
Funeral industry bucks economic downturn
By Barbara Liston in Orlando
October 14, 2008 04:28pm
Article from: Reuters
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BUSINESS is holding steady for the US funeral industry as consumers shrug off worries about the economy to give their loved ones a costly send-off.
"Everybody's affected by the economy. But people die. They all go to room temperature," said Bob Hanson, who sells pre-paid funeral insurance for an Idaho company and spoke on the sidelines of a National Funeral Directors Association meeting in Orlando.
According to the association, funeral services are an $US11 billion ($15.8 billion) industry in the United States. And business, actuarially at least, is on track for an upswing.
The association projects the US death rate will increase from eight people per thousand in 2007 to 9.3 people per thousand in 2020 and 10.9 per thousand in 2040, as baby boomers die off in growing numbers.
Underpinning future growth, spokeswoman Jessica Koth said the industry doesn't follow typical consumer spending patterns.
"People don't borrow from the 401k to buy groceries or gas," Koth said, referring to retirement savings accounts.
"This is a major life event, like a wedding, so people are willing to borrow from their 401k or cash in that life insurance."
In more cases than not, funeral directors and suppliers at this week's meeting said that business is holding steady, and even growing for some niche products.
Fortress Mausoleums' cast-stone, above-ground tombs range in price from $US5000 to $US15,000, but the $US15,000, two-person model is the most popular and still selling well.
"Our business is booming better than ever. It's a true story," said Fortress co-owner Don Magallanes.
Andy Lopez of Affinity Caskets sells caskets for military veterans, and he said his company has kept busy meeting the needs of World War Two veterans.
"When it comes to the military service, if the family understands the legacy that is there, the pride, the sacrifice, cost is almost never an issue," Mr Lopez said.
Traditional suppliers like Dick Stein, national sales director for Newman Bros, maker of bronze markers, urns and other grave monuments, and Larry Stuart, owner of Advanced Crematory Technology, both said business is on par with last year.
Filling the void for branded funeral merchandise, Eternal Image last year began selling the official caskets and urns of Major League Baseball teams.
They also offer caskets and urns with the insignia of several universities, including Purdue, Texas Tech and the US Military Academy at West Point.
Products branded with the stamp of the Vatican library, the American Kennel Association, the Cat Fancier's Association and the Star Trek television and movie series are also on offer.
"Because of our niche, we're growing. We have not been impacted (by the economy). We've even made a decision to roll out new products," said Nick Popravsky, Eternal Image's vice president of sales and marketing.
Not every funeral-related business has been untouched by the economic downturn, however.
Sales dropped 50 per cent in the past two months at Accubilt. The company makes three brands of hearses and had been gaining market share earlier this year thanks to a new hatchback model with an innovative pop-up urn carrier, according to Nathan Hurst, vice president for sales and marketing.
At McWhite's Funeral Home of Fort Lauderdale, the largest black-owned funeral home in Broward County, Florida, Albert McWhite said his customers had started cutting back on expenses so they can bank more of the life insurance payout.
"I think they're more alarmed by the (economic) news than anything else," Mr McWhite said.
It seems now almost the whole world is throwing money at the banking problem. It will recover eventually as will the stock market. The problem is even if the stock market hits it's old high, what will be the purchasing power of the dollar? The dow could hit 20,000 but if what costs today $1 then will cost $5 what has been gained? The tax man loves it but the serious inflation coming out of this mess will hurt just about everyone. Get ready for gold $2000 and silver $65. And those may be quite conservative.
............al
On the lighter side-
Back in 1990, the Government seized the
Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by
law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are
trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nit-wits who couldn't make
money running a whorehouse and selling booze?
I hate to read anything into this Orlando news, but this sounded interesting;
More colleges, as well as NFL and NBA teams to choose from are on the way.
..........al
Orlando news:-
http://www.wesh.com/news/17705695/detail.html
Funeral Caskets Get Major League Makeover
Sports Teams, Other Personalization Offered
POSTED: 4:56 pm EDT October 13, 2008
UPDATED: 5:22 pm EDT October 13, 2008
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- The funeral industry is seeing a change. Caskets are going major league.
Caskets can be donned with images of the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox -- just to name a few.
Video: Personalization Offered For Caskets
"As baby boomer are making the decisions, we came out with the baseball urns last year and that was huge, and so this year here in Orlando we thought we’d roll out the caskets. The reception has been overwhelming," Nick Popravsky of Eternal Image said.
Olympic gold medalist Jason Lezak was on hand for the unveiling at the national funeral directors trade show at the orange county convention center.
"For me this is a pretty special thing," Lezak said of his gold medal. "So I could see myself having this on there."
"If you went to a funeral home and you wanted the Mets. It's about $4,500. Authentic Mets casket," Popravsky said.
"This is a neat idea. I come from very traditional but this something, it's interesting," Pennsylvania funeral director Vince Fuleno said.
The appeal is to the younger generation to provide a more personal funeral for sports fans.
More colleges, as well as NFL and NBA teams to choose from are on the way.
Meanwhile, Lew Hall, the President Of Florida Funeral Directors Association said the national average for a funeral is $6,000, but he said his industry is not seeing the layoffs and closures that others have in flailing economic times.
"At this time what we're seeing a lot of people coming to us for employment from other careers for some stability," Hall said.
The face of funeral service is also changing -- currently 60 percent of morturary science students are women. That's a 71 percent increase from 12 years ago.
Those involved in the industry are bracing for the worst, but, in the meatime, Hall said they are working on legislation to help the jobless make the transition into the funeral industry.
Heppie- it seems just a simple thank you is not adequate for your time and troubles. I'm just not eloquent enough to find better words. You have done us all a great service. Thank you.
........al
Hi dancy- we're having the first pillar this week and I understand out 4th pillar (heppie) might be there. Looking forward to updates from people that attend. I would hope funeralguy will give us an opinion post also. Haven't heard from him in a while. So we now look forward to pillers 2 and 3. Uplist and national distributor.
......al
Looking forward to your next newsletter. You have great insight on what's going on around us.
Thank you
.........al
JMHO, but I honestly don't think the financial system will crash and burn. I don't discount the possibility though. I think the crash will take place, in fact as we speak it is happenning. The burn? I just don't think the powers holding an economic groip on the world will let it happen. I think they will inflate their way out of this mess and we'll be left with dollars worth less than the old Hong Kong dollar. The economy will eventually adapt and the business cycle will proceed. I'm thinking they should have left the business cycle go without any interventions. It seems the more they mess with it the worse the end consequences will become. That's not to say I'm not unaware of a crash and burn. We can and dehydrate our own grown foods. I heat with plentiful wood. May have to get a good horse for transportation but am not going that far for now. I can hand pump my well and good clean water is plentiful. I wouldn't want to do it, but I could live without energy if I had to. I am also prepared to defend with whatever means necessary my little corner of the world. That would be a biggie in an energyless collapsed society.
..........al
I think most likely is they are waiting to make a report to investors on the convention. It makes sense.
.........al
It's because anyone with any insight into what has been happenning the past few decades can see what Ron Paul is saying is true. Every session of congress he introduces a bill to abolish the federal reserve bank. It is jokingly said that if it ever gets any serious attention that Dr Paul would end up dead in a "freak" accident. I don't think it's a stretch. Myself, I'm writing in Ron Paul for president this election. Neither of the candidates are offering me any hope. There are millions out here doing the same. The hope is to send a message to the run of the mill politicos that business as usual is no longer tolerable. I think the only thing that will save the US is a hugh dose of fiscal discipline. It will certainly hurt almost everyone and as such is politically unpopular. Meanwhile the empire continues to crumble.
.........al
Amen Rick, we are in total agreement there. GL2U
............al
Short Ron Paul interview:
http://news.goldseek.com/RonPaul/1223841654.php
.....al
The share structure as of 8/20/2008 is:
Total Authorized (Number from Transfer Agent) - 750,000,000
Preferred - 220,000,000
Common Available (Total Authorized MINUS Preferred) - 530,000,000
Common Outstanding - 378,244,044
Restricted Common Shares - 184,919,925
Float - 195,324,119
Treasury - 267,571,988
Rick, fair enough response. Based on our experiences trading penny stocks we have a difference of opinions. Good healthy debate is always good and we can agree to disagree on this. For my part, I sincerely hope that you are right and I am wrong. I have serious doubts but for my investment here I'm rooting for your camp. I've already sent in my 1040ES for this quarter but by the end of the year I'll be looking for some offsetting losses. I think that is plenty of time for Clayton and company to prove me wrong. And again I hope they do. I'd rather pay more taxes on the gains. What I am not going to do is keep posting my suspicions and point of view. I've said it once or twice and to keep on saying it is counterproductive. I'm in a wait and see mode. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
...........al
I see a share price heading slowly but steadily south. I see enough volume in a week to more than cover the supposed float. Yet there are enough shares accounted for right here to cover the float. I'd say dilution. As I haven't sold my shares as of yet I am certainly willing to listen to counter arguements. But please don't give me "Clayton said". His credibility is suspect at the least. I want to be convinced to change my opinion, but kindly give facts. All I've seen is PRs that seem to have no merit as nothing has come to fruition and the share price is declining. Please, convince me.
..........al
Think and say what you want, but I'll take the word of a TA before a CEO. A TA gives false info and the SEC is all over them if a complaint is filed. A CEO or IR can tell you anything over the phone. So you have to spend thousands to hire a lawyer to get back some part of your investment because you've been lied to by a pink sheet stock CEO from a company that has few if any assets to settle a judgement. Good luck. And lastly back to the TA, they can do nothing on their own. Whatever is done to the share structure MUST come from the company. We have dilution and I've neither seen nor heard anything that makes a convincing arguement otherwise.
.......al
Agreed, why increase the authorized if you have no plans to issue shares. We can only hope that they don't start dumping them anytime soon. Have faith in the company but keep close contact with the TA.
........al