nate mcguire

Yesterday M$ released the new Xbox “experience” update for the 360.  I’ve yet to tool around with it hardcore, but from initial observations, its very uhh…different.  I guess I was a fan of the blades, and seeing as my xbox goes straight to CoD4 on boot up, it wasn’t really an issue.

Obviously the first thing that you’ll notice is the pairing of xbox and netflix.  This is probably the single most important update that they’ve provided, and I’m thinking I may renew my netflix account just to watch the streaming movies.  At 5.99 a month you can get unlimited online access to their movies and a one real movie in the mail at a time. Oh, and its in HD. I’ll mess around with it more tonight/this weekend and fill you in.

So, seeing as the house of cards that is our financial system is collapsing, I thought I would give an update for today.  The Dow closed at around 7500 today, which I was thinking might be the bottom.  Today I’d like to revise my statement and say it could go even lower than 7k.  This crap is going to be around for a while.

The S&P closed down 6.7%, undercutting its low from the 2000-02 bear market during trading today.
Here are the numbers, enjoy:

and for the “more” part:

Texas Tech plays OU this weekend in Norman. This will be the first time that I’m cheering for OU hardcore. I’m looking for a 3-way tie and us on top of the BCS. SOLID.

I’m feeling a little more up to speed following my lunch, therefore I actually do have some knowledge to bestoy upon you today. There are quite a few things going on in the marketplace this week and last that are going to have a lasting affect on our economy and many corporations’ futures.  With all of the hoopla surrounding President-Elect Obama (I had never heard this term so much before this election), the media outside CNBC is largely ignoring the current economic crisis to the best of its ability.

So here is the short and dirty of what is going to fuck us in the coming days.

• The government decided that $70bn wasn’t enough for AIG - how does $150bn sound? Oh and how about a $40bn stake in the nation’s largest insurer? No big deal right?
• Not really big news, but sort of funny, mostly because I’ve always hated them: Circuit City is filing for Chapter 11, aka they suck at making money. They’ll be allowed to keep operating while they develop a restructuring plan.
• DHL is cutting 9,500 jobs and is closing its US service centers. As in you won’t be able to send something domestically via DHL anymore. At all. Only service from the US to other countries. Good news for UPS and FedEx though!
• Google hit a 3-year low. Enough said.
• And Oil is back up, whoo. China’s stimulus plan will help to increase demand, even though OPEC is cutting production, oil has fallen from approx $150 a barrel to around $60 today.  Good news for us, seeing as comparatively, oil is still way too expensive.
• The iPhone has also been the best selling phone, even in the downturn. I really hope that RIM goes out of business so my freakin’ company will support iPhones with email and stuff. Expensing my phone would be nice.

With an expected jump in the financial markets today, I thought I would ruin all of your hopes and dreams and fill you in on what is probably just a dead-cat bounce.

Although the markets will most likely end up today (foreign markets were up as much as 14% and US futures were high), there is some very negative news on the horizon. Investors are always hoping that the downturn is going to end so they can throw their money back in the ring.  Hold off on that, especially since the markets and a lot of our elder’s retirement accounts have already lost approximately 40% in the past month.

Today the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) was released (last Tuesday of each month), with some historic news, and not the good kind. The CCI is low. As in the lowest it has ever been. The Conference Board’s confidence index decreased to 38, less than forecast and the lowest since monthly records began in 1967. With Americans’ wealth disappearing, $2 trillion in the past 15 months [US News & World Report], and corporate layoffs on the horizon, the outlook for the economy is bleak.

Most people have heard of the CCI and understand that it is an index of consumer confidence, and an important indicator of future economic prosperity or downturn. A lesser known index, but probably more important, is the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI). The PMI is a measure of the manufacturing sector’s outlook and is released on the first of the month for the preceding month. A rating of 50 or above indicates economic growth, while below 50 indicates downturn. Although the US has turned into a service industry driven by consumer purchases, manufacturing is still where recessions tend to begin and end. Because of this, investors (you should too) follow the PMI closely. Right now we’re is at a delicious 43.

With this in mind, follow the markets closely, keep track of your money, and don’t lose your job. Happy Tuesday.

So this weekend in Austin was great. TJL and Erik hosted me up at my old house and endless excitement ensued, minus the whole only winning by 4 points to the okies.

Moving on, not to ruin your Monday or anything, but it appears as if the wost of the financial crisis isn’t over.  If you’ve been living in a hole the past 3 months, we’ve been experiencing the worst series of events for our economy, likely since the great depression. The state of our economy and this crisis was predicted by a few, who at the time were considered loony, like my professor of money and capital markets last semester and this guy, Nouriel Roubini. Roubini, one of the few ‘loonies’ to predict this crisis, is on another tour of doom throughout the world stating that, and I quote, “I fear that the worst is yet to come”, and the financial crisis is nowhere near over.

In my limited experience and knowledge, as well as the fact that this dude was right last time, leads me to believe that we are more screwed than most people realize, including the fact that the so called ‘bailout’ is going to cost us billions and not really speed up the recovery all that much.

“What does Roubini think is going to happen next? Rather worryingly, in London last Thursday he predicted that hundreds of hedge funds will go bust and stock markets may soon have to shut – perhaps for as long as a week – in order to stem the panic selling now sweeping the world.” [Times Online]

start hiding money under your mattress, that is, if you still have a job.

welcome to thirsty thursday, you’re so close to the weekend.

you just got gary coleman’d.

In honor of me being ready beforehand, I give you Tuesday lunch-a-palooza!

No, not the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission. Thomas Ave Beverage Co, stupid.

So the roommate and I had a man-date for lunch, he’s into that kind of thing (he refuses to read the site, so I can make fun of him as much as I want). I chose TABC because it seemed like a place I would like (it combines drinking and eating) and came recommended by someone with similar tastes.

Things started well, I liked the atmosphere, not too much like a bar, but not too much like a pure restaurant, either.  It was fairly full, but we didn’t have to wait, and decided to get a seat at the bar.  I’m sure you’re going to notice a reoccurring theme because again, I ordered the burger.  This particular burger goes by the name “Gourmet” and has some fancy lettuce on it or something, but basically it was a standard burger; meat, bun, cheese.  I’m surprised I’m saying this, because it usually is an afterthought, but the bun was actually really good. They cooked my burger to the requested medium rare, and again, did it right. The burger was more flavorful than most, but it lacked that crispy outside that a great surface of the sun hot griddle will provide. The fries were not very memorable, but I was full afterward and the burger was definitely above par.

Something that was a little odd to me was the lunch menu was honestly pretty small.  Something I did not try, but apparently is awesome, is the turkey melt, but it just doesn’t sound like my thing. I heard about some other things that I wanted to try, but they weren’t on the menu for lunch. Maybe I’ll have to go back and check it out for dinner as well.

TABC had a good atmosphere for lunch, pretty laid back, combined with a front and back seating (rear is quieter). The speed was okay, a little slow, moderate price ($$), and plently of overall tasty goodness.

Welcome back to work, folks.

In the news of the day, the olympics are offically over, and Phelps has all the medals. All of them. And he listens to lil wayne. Awesome.

Russia is dominating Georgia, and I’m pretty sure there is going to be WWIII.

and our favorite gymnastics girl from Plano got shafted out of gold.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Wednesday, may I take your order?

This week we’ll be taking a look at Angry Dog, a burger and hot dog joint on Commerce street here in Dallas.  This restaurant is right down the street from Twisted Root, and unfortunately for me, also a downgrade in terms of deliciousy-burger-goodness.

Another one of my coworker lunches, Angry Dog started off with high hopes. You walk into a dimly lit and crowded bar and eatery, which smelled like my favorite thing, charred and tasty beef. The services here are pretty standard, and apparently the night bar crowd is something of a people watching extravaganza.

I ordered Angry Dog’s famous “Burger“, plus cheese and one of my favorites, avocado. My burger arrived shortly thereafter looking nicely charred on the outside and next to a heaping pile of what looked like fries that I could buy at Sam’s Club.  I still had high hopes because the burger looked nice and juicy and I had a melty piece of cheddar and slices of avocado on top.  After biting into the burger, I was pretty disappointed. For all of its fake juicy goodness, the burger was suspiciously too round and resembled a frozen patty both in shape and flavor.  It was a decent burger, just left me wanting and longing to walk down the street back to Twisted Root’s messy goodness.

On a side note, a coworker of mine ordered the “Angry Dog” which resembled a bowl of chili with a hot dog hidden inside topped with a shredded block of cheese.  He said the dog was “slightly above average, and passable with nondescript chili, although the bun was pretty decent.”

Overall I was pretty disappointed with Angry Dog, especially with the build up. It was speedy, but the food was lacking in flavor, and well, just not very awesome. Cheap ($) though. Pretty much just go here for a passable food fare and and speedy eats. Otherwise go down the road to somewhere better.

I’m always looking for decent places to have lunch during the work week, outside of the typical fast food black-hole that it seems most people fall into.  If you’re one of those people, well, you should really take a good long look at yourself, because you suck.

The plan is to review at least one good lunch place every Wednesday, give you guys the breakdown on cost, speed, and of course how awesome it is. Hopefully this will facilitate your move away from nasty fake food and into the real world where you can get a real lunch for a few bucks more and actually enjoy it.

Pricing Scale:

$$$$ Entirely Too Expensive, $$$ Nice and Affordable, $$ Moderately Priced, $ Cheap

Today you get a little extra treat; I’ll be reviewing Twisted Root Burger Co, a burger joint in Deep Ellum.

There are things few and far between that I enjoy more than a tasty burger, hence my meat centric food reviews. My first experience with Twisted Root was with co-workers during lunch.  The place was highly reviewed by a coworker whom I didn’t know very well at the time, and I wasn’t sure if his burger standards were quite up to mine. As we walked into the restaurant I had a good feeling about my impending experience. The line was out the door and the place was packed with yuppies from all over town (which was a little out of character for deep ellum).  When you order, you’re dealing with a pretty ‘quirky‘ waitstaff and instead of getting a number you get a random famous name which is then announced over a loudspeaker, usually accompanied by a joke, song, or both.

If there was a subspecies of things that I liked under burgers, it would be burgers made out of different tasty animals, like buffalo, venison, and other things that don’t typically moo. Twisted Root has all of the above, and ostrich, which is seasonal. After a short wait in line, I decided on the Western Burger: “Pepperjack, Bacon, Jalepeño & a Big, Fat Onion Ring” with a buffalo patty, a little extra but oh so worth it.  I almost forgot, get the curly fries, they’re quite awesome. For how crowded it was, we received our food at a fairly standard speed, but I would have gladly waited longer for this burger.

Some people may disagree with me and say the Angry Dog, which I’ll review soon, is the best burger on the street, but I highly disagree.  Twisted Root has my vote, with a highly awesome burger (and other options), moderate cost ($$), and a quick, delicious meal.

“It’s slap-yo-momma good!”

Twisted Root Burger Co.

2615 Commerce St. / Dallas, TX 75226

So this is for sure not sound financial advice that you should bank on, but I was sitting here thinking today, how can I still do what I want but not waste money on so much crap, like delivery food and crappy lunch.  This list is in all honesty just for me, because I don’t care about you guys, but I’m always looking for a way to live more efficiently and still actually have some fun and I figure there might be some other people that find it useful.

I wish that my site was big enough that this could be a shameless plug for a site sponsor, but never the less, this is a shameless plug for Mint.com. This site is crazy useful for keeping track of your money, budgeting, and seeing where you actually stand in terms of trying to be less poor. I found in a while ago on lifehacker and I’ve been using it ever since.  It is especially useful if you have bank accounts at two different places, a credit card or two, or even an investment account, because it tracks everything.  It also added a loan feature recently that can track your massive student loan debt or mortgage if you’re a fancy pants homeowner. Now on to the list.

How to Save Money (and stop spending so much on crap)

1. Check Mint.com daily now that you have money and aren’t afraid to look at your bank account
2. Make your lunch and eat it
3. Only go out to lunch twice a week (max)
4. Only go out to dinner once a week
5. Don’t order food for delivery, shit is bad for you anyway.
6. Minimize gas usage by walking places and taking less trips
7. Don’t go to Studio Movie Grill and order a bunch of food, its not nearly as good as Alamo, just get drunk ( see number 8 )
8. Drink at home
9. Drink before going out. Dallas is way too expensive to drink that much
10. Work longer hours so you get free meals.
11. Play more CoD4 so you don’t go out and spend money (most important)