What a year this has been. So much has happened this year; some of it great and some of it a bit more hair-raising. I can’t say 2008 was boring.

On a personal level this is ending as an incredible year for me. It has been such a fun year working with all of you. And I was really honored to have been voted 2008 FIVE STAR: Best In Client Satisfaction^SM I can’t tell you how surprised and touched I was to find out that my clients had voted me for this distinction. For those of you who did; thank you so much!

Another really exciting event is my purchase of Quorum. It has been my goal to be in business for myself for quite some time and that goal has just been realized. My husband and I have purchased the Quorum office. The new corporation name will be Quorum – Laurelhurst, Inc. I am so grateful to be buying a business that has such a great legacy and great real estate agents. I am really looking forward to building upon that legacy and working with all the agents to take the Quorum office to the next level.

I am excited about the possibilities and adventures that are headed our way for 2009.

Thank you again for everything and have a wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year

 
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So I’ve been trying to figure exactly what all was included in order to “sweeten” the Bail Out package enough to get it to pass. I can’t beleive how hard it seems to be to find out exactly what is included, and I can’t beleive some of the things I’m hearing/reading are a part of it. It really bugs me that so much that had nothing to do with the bail-out is included in this package. Talk about pork barreling.

 

Here is the list I’ve compiled so far…Let me know if you know of more.

1. Almost a $200 million tax rebate for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico’s rum production  
2. Tax credit that exempts wooden practice arrows used by children from an excise tax of 39 cents per arrow (2 million)  
3. Tax credit for race-track owners. (100 million)  
4. A tariff relief measure for US worsted wool fabric producers that use imported yarns (148 million)
5. temporarily raising the FDIC insurance cap to $250,000 from $100,000
6. Tax credit for bicycle commuters
7. Extends a number of renewable energy tax breaks for individuals and businesses, including a deduction for the purchase of solar panels.
8. Research and development credit for businesses and the credit that allows individuals to deduct state and local sales taxes on their federal returns.
9. In addition, the bill includes relief for another year from the Alternative Minimum Tax
10. Insurance companies would have to provide coverage for mental health services comparable to what they provide for other health care.

I’ve got a bailout alternative idea. Since this whole crisis started with sub-prime loans being made to people who could not afford the loan once the adjustable rate started going up. Why doesn’t the government step in and mandate that the mortgage companies return those adjustable rates to the initial rate that the homeowner’s qualified for and set it as a fixed loan.

Instead of the tax payers being left holding the bag for some unknown number (since 700 Billion is just an estimate). The mortgage companies will just be forced to take the impact as if all of those had been fixed rate loans. So they won’t make as much, but they are going under at alarming rates anyways. And then the homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to afford their loan again, thus not being forced into foreclosure. Then the number of homes on the market will go back down….

what do you think?

Because I think we all need this reminder….I am posting an email I recieved from Motley Fool…to stay calm.

Dear Fellow Fools,
This morning, markets around the globe dropped further, due in no small part to the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Fools, we understand that the current state of the financial markets and industry can be disconcerting. But please know that we, your advisors, are paying close attention to these events, and we spent much of the weekend analyzing the potential impact on our recommended companies. We encourage you to come to the discussion boards for your services for updates on the credit crisis and its effect on our companies.

More important, we ask you to remain calm. You may be tempted to act rashly, but please remember, this too shall pass.
Like every other financial crisis our markets have faced, this situation is part of the cycle that has allowed so many investors to generate great wealth in the markets. Warren Buffett and his teacher, Benjamin Graham, are right: Over time, the market is a weighing machine. Companies cannot make poor financial decisions without eventually having to deal with the consequences. By allowing the collapse of Lehman Brothers to happen, the federal government and industry giants have indirectly decided to allow the capitalist system to do its work. We believe this is a good thing; it is a statement of hope, and we believe you should embrace it.

During the next few days and weeks, the markets promise to be extremely volatile. The response from Wall Street and the financial press will range from euphoric to despondent, and much of the advice you hear will be emotional and short-term in focus.

We also recognize the very real risks in the market today. More companies are sure to struggle. But at the same time, we urge you not to panic or react in haste. If we retain our wits, we can’t help but make better decisions than the majority of investors.
History has shown that after virtually every sudden drop the market has experienced, it recovered within a few years. Case in point: Six months after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the S &P 500 had gained 17%, and six months after the lows of September 2001, it was up nearly 19%. Even if the rewards aren’t immediately obvious, in the long term, objective analysis of the opportunities and risks will prove superior to an emotional reaction.

Thank you for continuing to put your faith in us and The Motley Fool during these volatile times. We will continue to monitor these events and keep you apprised of our thinking in our issues and updates, on our websites, and most immediately on our discussion boards. To read our latest opinions on the situation and the impact on the companies on our scorecards, go to the Discuss tab of your newsletter website. We also encourage you to check Fool.com for regular commentary as the situation develops.

Foolish best,
David Gardner, Tom Gardner, Bill Mann, Seth Jayson, Jim Gillies, Andy Cross, James Early, Philip Durell, Ron Gross, Robert Brokamp, Amanda Kish, and Shannon Zimmerman