Light, Sweet and Crude

Sorry I'm running a bit behind today but as they say...better late than never! I was hoping that the market would turn itself around by this afternoon but no such luck. It's a strong blood red on this hot and sticky August Monday! The biggest news of the day, Consumer Spending. It seems spending is down .2% whilst (my new fav word) prices are the highest they've been in at least 3 decades! Who you tellin?! I took chicken breast off the shopping list cause it was $10 for 3 breasteses. I thought I could keep my tacos. Nope! I went to buy a bag of shredded cheese and I almost passed out when I saw the price... $7.89! You wonder why America is fat? Back in the day, the fattening stuff was cheaper. Now I may be forced to graze in my neighbors yard for roughage!

You can thank Tropical Storm Edouard for a plunge in light sweet crude. They make it sound so yummy. It seems Edouard was so appalled at Exxon's profits that even he couldn't think of coming ashore! It's down below $120 a barrel which means...well no one ever really knows what that means. Bla bla they will send out a fearogram over supply and we'll be at $5 a gallon before you know it. I'm sorry...that was suppose to be a good bit of news. Seems it turned bitter. Apologies.

Perhaps Uncle Ben (not the rice giant...the money man) can help us out? He and his pals at the Fed are suppose to leave rates unchanged when they meet on Tuesday. With the spike in unemployment, energy prices and foreclosures...I think we can all say, "Amen." Home prices are expected to drop another 10% based on available inventory. Shocking.

If you are a frequent flyer on JetBlue, you better start packing your pillow and blankie. It seems the airline carrier is going to start charging $7 a pop for these creature comforts! Good Lord! How can we keep track of everything involved in flying these days? Let's see...I get one checked bag or I get charged, that one checked bag can't be over 50 lbs or that's $25, I get 2 carry ons including my purse, then I have my blankie and pillow...does that count as three? Can't be sure! I think we should start charging them for too many rules and not enough service! Flying first class is a joke unless you are among the few who can consume $500 in liquor to make up the difference in the coach fare. I'm not saying I could or couldn't but one should crunch the numbers before making such decisions.

Hollywood is full of juice as always! First and foremost, a big "Get Well" shout out to Morgan Freeman. He was in a car accident late last night and is listed in serious condition. Witnesses say his car went airborne before landing in a ditch. They used the JAWS of life to remove him from the car. Observers say that people on the scene were trying to snap photos of the star with their cell phones. Shameful! Freeman joked, "No Freebies." The first pictures of the Brangelina twins are online at people.com. The mag paid $14 million for the pics. Wait until they find out Brad is secretly in love with me. How much will they pay for that story? For all of you football fans out there, it seems Favre is back at camp with the Packers. My husband tells me they will most likely trade him or make him fight for top quarterback. This could be my new favorite scandal.

That's all for now!