Hillary 'Wins' Presidential Nomination

According to CNN, Hillary Clinton won this year's Democratic party presidential nomination.

An article appearing in their online portal reports that she is the first woman candidate to have won the nomination.

The article was penned at 5:50 pm EST and was still incorrect as of 8:50 pm EST.

For such an re-known media house, this is a big failure on their part. This is despite the fact that the plunder has been highlighted by readers in the comment section.

On the other hand, it could be an attempt by CNN to stir up readers by making the controversial statement.

We'll see how long it takes before it is corrected.

On The Money

With Barack Obama about to take stage and accept his nomination to run for presidency, you can feel the excitement in the air. I've counted no less than 10 television stations that are broadcasting from the Democratic convention, including CNN and CNN International.

While CNN has always been my station of choice during presidential elections, I have switched sides this year to MSNBC. Unlike CNN which has chosen to invent controversies so that they create headline news, MSNBC seems to be doing a better job in providing election coverage. In addition, CNN has got too many talking heads in it's election team. On average there are 8 political analysts and anchors all battling to out do each other.

I can't help but wonder if the Republican convention will attract this much attention. Even if they do, I doubt if they can out do the Democrats. And if they try, they'll probably be accused of imitation. If anything, they must do it different in order to out perform the democrats. Even then, I doubt if the nation will tune-in in record numbers.

It is my hope that Obama's address will capture the hearts of the voters. Like many of these people, I may not be in agreement with most of Obama's policy but I am with him on the issue of change.

Business As Usual

If you asked me earlier in the year what I'd be doing in August, I'd wouldn't have guessed that I would still be struggling to launch my business.

Eight months after I registered my business and almost one year of planning, I'm still a long way from opening shop. While none of my plans have changed, circumstances beyond my control have kept me away from launching.

In between I must say that I'm a lot wiser than when I first began my journey. Thanks to the many books that I've been reading, blogs in my area of interest that I've subscribed to and chit chats with others in the same business field, I can say that I am better prepared for the launch.

For now, I've decided to let matters progress naturally. If I launch by the end of the year, so be it. If not, then it will be January next year after the Christmas and New Year festivities.

PS. My sabbatical from blogging seems to be taking longer than expected. It's almost certain that the new business may take me away from my financial activities, especially during the formative stage.

An Army Of One

The numbers for July presidential fundraising are out. As expected, Obama hauled in almost twice as much as his challenger. With almost a similar amount of money in his coffers, Obama has so far raised $390 million.

Backed by 2 million donors and counting, Obama has the ammunition required to take on the cash rich Republican party. What's more is that Obama, who is seen as a weaker commander in Chief against McCain, is out collecting six times as much money from troops deployed overseas.

You can be sure that I'll be donating again towards Obama's kitty. Having given to his campaign, twice during the nomination battle and once for the presidential race, I'll be donating another $50 towards the end of August.

PS. If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you can do the same at his website.

One Dollar Homes, While Stocks Last

In some areas in the U.S., the housing market seems to be taking the brunt. Even though Florida, California and Nevada seem to dominate the headlines, the housing market in Michigan seems to have gone to the dogs.

Driven by job cuts, especially in the auto industry, Michigan home owners are taking it in the chin. It's no wonder that the Wolverine state has turned to advertising on cable in a bid to lure businesses.

With houses going for as low as a $1 in the crime infested city of Detroit, its only a matter of time before they start dishing houses for free.

Investing In The Prosperity Bubble

Gold, commodities, oil and emerging markets underperformed the market this last few weeks. So far, Oil is down more than 20% from its July high with demand destruction being touted as the driver for reduced energy consumption.

Without going into details, I believe that this 4 sectors will continue to outperform the market. At least for the long term. Short term, we might see some depreciation but long term the rest of the world has bought into the American dream.

Lifestyles overseas, especially in emerging markets, are improving and the luxuries of yesteryear's are now the basic necessities of tomorrow. More people are moving into urban areas and they are embracing materialism or consumerism made in America.

Health-care and Tech are two areas that will also continue to perform well in addition to the four sectors that I have mentioned. As far as commodities, Russia and Canada will be the best performing economies as their economies are based on production of natural resources.

Unfortunately Russia is one of the most unstable democracies. Vladmir Putni seems to have a destabilizing effect on the country and this is evident in the current skirmish with Georgia. Like Hugo Chavez, the guy seems to have little respect for private property and has no regard for the rule of law.

As for Africa, South Africa will continue to dominate the continent as it is the most industrialized and also has a stable democracy. On the downside, Thambo Mbeki's successor, Jacob Zuma is seen as the biggest risk their continued economic prosperity.

Those looking to invest in the above mentioned countries can do so through the following ETFs; iShares MSCI South Africa Index (EZA), Market Vectors Russia (RSX) and iShares MSCI Canada Index (EWC).