tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.comments2012-09-13T22:43:30.448+03:00Winters in IsraelDavid Stolowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-80671842044429460192012-09-13T22:43:30.448+03:002012-09-13T22:43:30.448+03:00This comment has been hidden from the blog.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-44803176839205964992012-09-13T16:50:11.210+03:002012-09-13T16:50:11.210+03:00This comment has been hidden from the blog.ed g.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-62336167035879419762011-03-25T08:06:07.179+02:002011-03-25T08:06:07.179+02:00Robin Scherbatsky might take offence!Robin Scherbatsky might take offence!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-12480469692640708052011-01-10T17:42:48.743+02:002011-01-10T17:42:48.743+02:00Beautifully said, David. I learned Not By Might, ...Beautifully said, David. I learned Not By Might, Not By Power from Debbie as a 15-year old during a JFTY conclave. I had the surreal experience of watching my daughters sing the same song with her onstage during a Hazamir concert 30 years later. It is hard to think of an artist in any sphere that has had such enduring and personal influence.Marilynn Jacobsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-72289137206189308982010-12-28T19:09:43.289+02:002010-12-28T19:09:43.289+02:00Thank you for the kind words and the spelling less...Thank you for the kind words and the spelling lesson. What's amazing is not that I can't spell Jack's last name but I seem to have gotten Jorma's correct. I will correct the blog.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-69053660084695096602010-12-28T18:16:49.061+02:002010-12-28T18:16:49.061+02:00Nice blog!
Glad you got to see Tuna.
By the way, ...Nice blog!<br />Glad you got to see Tuna.<br /><br />By the way, Jack CASADY has had his name misspelled more than any musician I know of...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-47487237057229423312010-12-25T17:51:16.318+02:002010-12-25T17:51:16.318+02:00My sincere apology. In the world of IP and science...My sincere apology. In the world of IP and science one must always give credit for another's work. Particularly when the work was graciously provided for the occasion. So, the photographs were taken by Daniel A. Chamovitz, Ph.D.,<br />Director, Manna Center for Plant Biosciences,<br />Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants,Tel Aviv University, a/k/a my cousin, Danny.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-38465981109740642622010-12-25T13:31:36.538+02:002010-12-25T13:31:36.538+02:00Picture credits?Picture credits?Daniel Chamovitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17269065302481334622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-63718265199600393682010-11-13T15:50:29.765+02:002010-11-13T15:50:29.765+02:00Thank you Professor. I'm sure your math is rig...Thank you Professor. I'm sure your math is right. But the problem I've always had with long term statistical analysis is that the results don't apply to my specific investments. Yes, if I'd bought the stamps in 1952 I'd be way behind. But I bought the stamps at the cusp of the Great Recession and I think I'm still ahead. My yield, pathetic as it may be, is still ahead of the CD, Treasury Bill and money market fund rates I could have had over the same period of time. This I attribute, of course, to dumb luck. With the cancellation of the January 2011 rate increase and the inevitable rise of the interest rate curve I expect that at some point in the future my money market accounts will overtake my stamps. Looking on the bright side, however, I'll be able to post a blog about how I held on too long. Which I'll have time to write because I still won't be standing in line to buy make-up rate stamps.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-56987664235679935622010-11-13T03:21:06.427+02:002010-11-13T03:21:06.427+02:00Mr Stolow,
There is a fundamental flaw in your pl...Mr Stolow,<br /><br />There is a fundamental flaw in your plan. You write, "Forever Stamps could be one of the greatest inflation hedges," but therein lies the problem. As stated indirectly by commenter Marilynn above, <b>postage stamp rates are pegged to inflation</b>. According to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (<a href="http://www.usps.com/postallaw/" rel="nofollow">2006</a>), postage prices will always stay at or below inflation. So by definition, <b>your stamps are always losing value.</b> [see this <a href="http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2166475" rel="nofollow">Slate article</a> from 5/17/2007]<br /><br />Furthermore, from 1952-2009, stamp prices have increased at an <b>average rate of 4.825%</b>**. There are many other investment vehicles that could easily beat that mark without undue risk. Heck, bank CD rates outperform that over time. [not right now, of course]<br /><br />Sorry, unless you follow other commenters' advice and sell the stamps now to capitalize on the arbitrage, you're sitting on an investment that loses value like cash but lacks the flexibility of use. <br /><br />Note: I'm a finance professor and use this exact situation as a bonus question on my students' midterm exam.<br /><br />**The crude calculation: a stamp in 1952 was $0.03, a stamp in 2009 was $0.44. Using the future value of a single payment equation, you get 0.44=0.03(1+r)^57. Solving for r (the rate of growth) gives 0.0485.Davidhttp://whenthewhistleblows.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-753710312239751602010-07-25T16:44:55.286+03:002010-07-25T16:44:55.286+03:00Dave: An excellent blog post, and Alan's vide...Dave: An excellent blog post, and Alan's video on the Fortune site is hysterical!<br /><br />And, although you may not have intended it to be so, it's also very timely: the USPS has just invoked one of the provisions in the most recent reform law (intended to try to save the Post Office from its own foolhardiness) and filed an "exigent case." This means that they can ask for a rate increase above the CPI. While this may seem like pennies to the average first class stamp user, to the publication/catalog/direct mail industry--who move billions of pieces of mail--it's a, well, fortune. That's why hundreds of major mailers have banded together in an unprecedented coalition to try to force Congress to deny the Post Office its greediness, and get them to seriously consider cost cuts and efficiencies instead. If you'd like, you can read more at http://www.minonline.com/news/Affordable-Mail-Alliance-of-Publishers-Forms-to-Fight-USPS-Hikes_14696.html<br /><br />BTW, now that you have such a cushy margin on your Forever Stamps, you should consider flipping them: if you resold them at 43 cents a piece, you'd still have a decent return, and the buyer would save nearly 10% off the new rate. You could target the heavy mailers, like parents of children going to camp, or people who send those year-end family newsletters. Just think: you might single handedly spawn a whole Forever Stamp after market, which would make people rush out to buy their own cache of Forever Stamps so that they can get in on the action, which might create enough revenue to prevent the USPS' need for an exigent case. Among thousands of people in the mailing industry who have been lobbying and working on this issue for years, YOU may have just figured out how to save the Post Office.Marilynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-87364564797525694752010-07-22T22:01:03.121+03:002010-07-22T22:01:03.121+03:00Dave J
Not really. My stamps are currently worth ...Dave J<br /><br />Not really. My stamps are currently worth the 44 cents it takes to buy a stamp. No rational person would pay me more than that for them. Yes, selling off stamps at today's price would be taking a profit but if I then turn around and buy more stamps, even Forever Stamps, they will cost exactly what I got on the sale. In other words, a complete waste of time. I bought the stamps so I would never have to buy stamps. So why would I sell the stamps to buy stamps?David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-24258585760557273732010-07-22T19:19:32.072+03:002010-07-22T19:19:32.072+03:00David J said:
Perhaps you could bundle the stamps...David J said:<br /><br />Perhaps you could bundle the stamps into groups of 100, and now that your investment has appreciated, you could take your profits and go buy more stamps. I see a cottage industry in the making.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-73850996056577965322010-07-21T23:26:38.130+03:002010-07-21T23:26:38.130+03:00Rae - Not to leave you in suspense, Liz and I go t...Rae - Not to leave you in suspense, Liz and I go to the Post Office to mail packages or over weight or over sized letters. Also, it's a hang out for us retired folks.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-12349683033049838472010-07-21T23:22:03.447+03:002010-07-21T23:22:03.447+03:00And what's wrong with cocktail party stories? ...And what's wrong with cocktail party stories? Truth is the chance to publicly mock a nationally prominent financial writer while not having to hassle buying and using bunches of "little" stamps, is too much to pass up. It did, however, occur to me at the time that the stamps might be a good hedge against postal rate inflation. That's when I told Allan Sloan what I had done and that's when he began mocking me. As for financial acumen, I never have or will make such a claim. When I happen to come out ahead it's either luck or my Financial Advisor. When I lose, it's usually my own fault. Just this once though, I'm both ahead and get a funny story out of it - the perfect investment.David Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-68175084477089592802010-07-21T21:00:22.498+03:002010-07-21T21:00:22.498+03:00Dave -
Congratulations on your Fortune Magazine...Dave -<br /><br /> Congratulations on your Fortune Magazine post! <br />Two comments:<br /> <br /> I prefer the triumphal, gloating ending of the version posted here on your blog to the sheepish, deflated ending of the Fortune version. Editors. <br /><br /> Both Jon and I had to wonder why, having recently gained access to a lifetime-plus supply of Forever Stamps, Liz would need to go back to the post office just a week after your heroic purchase. What attraction could the post office hold for the woman who owns the postage?raehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090795707632987612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-25732587666510454922010-07-21T20:04:14.762+03:002010-07-21T20:04:14.762+03:00Don't even TRY to pretend that you bought the ...Don't even TRY to pretend that you bought the forever stamps for investment purposes. I am 100% certain that you did this with nothing more than "cocktail party stories," both US and Israeli, in mind. I know you too well to let you imply you're a financial genius!jen znoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-45177345304390772372010-07-21T18:09:02.230+03:002010-07-21T18:09:02.230+03:00Undoubtedly, a future Fortune story will read some...Undoubtedly, a future Fortune story will read something like: <br /> Town Wacko, in competition with US Postal Service, sells stamps in front of Shoprite! Local High School band plays pep songs to urge him on. "He gives a good discount," a polyester pants wearing senior wearing senior citizen was over heard commenting to his wife.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12108686094703871105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-38833784924546668362010-07-21T15:17:52.588+03:002010-07-21T15:17:52.588+03:00May I suggest that the Forever stamps make wonderf...May I suggest that the Forever stamps make wonderful gifts, particularly if you have elderly friends or relatives. You save them a trip to the Post Office and give them something they will almost definitely use. You might even save yourself a shopping trip by slipping a few stamp booklets into a card.<br /><br />I hope you'll be with us long enough to use all those stamps yourself, but you may get more joy from them by sharing with your loved ones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-20708349979314526912010-07-21T00:22:58.146+03:002010-07-21T00:22:58.146+03:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-74281303709591930062010-07-21T00:21:27.262+03:002010-07-21T00:21:27.262+03:00Very well written. Thanks for the post.Very well written. Thanks for the post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-43483317881551528282010-07-20T10:00:45.599+03:002010-07-20T10:00:45.599+03:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Daniel Chamovitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17269065302481334622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-45289998651860771412010-07-20T10:00:01.565+03:002010-07-20T10:00:01.565+03:00This is great. I posted it on my facebook and eve...This is great. I posted it on my facebook and even got comments!Daniel Chamovitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17269065302481334622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-6586601927925495752010-01-25T01:34:30.434+02:002010-01-25T01:34:30.434+02:00Lynn -
You cook with gribenes? I'm coming ove...Lynn -<br /><br />You cook with gribenes? I'm coming over when I get back in country. Sender's kneadles are the tightly packed variety. None of that fluffy stuff here. My Grandmother would put the gribenes in the middle of a kneadle about the size of your fist and, after boiling, would bake it. OMG!<br />DavidDavid Stolowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305086604696152007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604623333696504999.post-22996838887069059332010-01-25T00:11:15.499+02:002010-01-25T00:11:15.499+02:00David, it all sounds yummy. I still make helzel u...David, it all sounds yummy. I still make helzel using turkey necks. My Bubby would approve. The only food item missing from the menu you describe is mashed potatoes with shmultz and gribbenes. Another artery clogging delicasy of years gone by. We may come and feast at Sender's with you and Liz. Take care, Lynn JacobsUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348204292035137829noreply@blogger.com