Random Thoughts, Notes, & Incidents

Shocking new economic news: People and companies with no money sometimes end up spending less!

Apparently this came as a shock to EMC, a hi-tech B-2-B firm whose earnings were less than expected this last quarter. According to a press release from Joe Tucci, EMC's President and CEO, "The earnings results for EMC's major customers -- the bulk of the S&P 500, for example -- have been like a ball rolling down a hill for each of the past three quarters. When our customers earn less money, most of them have less to spend on IT, and they take a longer time to spend what they do have. That means lowered revenue and profitability for EMC."

On the consumer side, sales of $1,000,000+ homes are down 21 percent in the Bay Area for the first half of 2001. Santa Clara County had a drop of 38 percent. "There are fewer millionaires, for one thing," explained Michele Musy, a real estate agent in Menlo Park. "That equates to fewer people able to be cavalier about what they pay for houses." Ahh, good. The problem isn't that pretty basic 1,200 square foot shit boxes of homes are overpriced at $1,000,000. No. The problem is we, the consumers, are not cavalier enough. Glad we got that straight.

Eighteen days to go: I'm running out of time to be a millionaire before I turn 40.