Humidity and Smoke is a bad combination

People here in US are crazy about going in an open car. I was going out with my friend here the other day and he rolled down all the windows of his car while traveling in a freeway. Not only did it make a lot of noise, but it felt like the dust was blowing all over my face. After the ride, I kind of felt dirty.

That reminded me of my days in India, when I would travel in a motorcycle with my friend to work. If I don’t wear a helmet, I can be assured that I can take a layer of carbon out of my face. Humidity and Smoke is a bad combination. In India you have no other choice but to take a shower every time you go out and come back home. That’s why I have always hated traveling in open. Here in US, even though the pollution is well controlled, I guess I just couldn't redeem myself from my past experiences.

Characters

Lately I have been using ‘characters’ to scare my kid off to get things done during crunch situations (like getting to do some stuff when we are running out of time to go to work). Every time he refuses to do something, I say that the ‘cops’ are going to get him and he immediately agrees to do it. It’s been working pretty good so far.

Once in a while, I feel bad about doing it. But looking back, I was raised like that. I was scared of some fictitious character my parents used to come up with and they used it to get things done. But you eventually grow out of it. So I don’t think it’s a bad tactic. It definitely works in crunch situations.

Any advice / suggestions?

Directions

When I first came to US, one thing I really found it difficult to follow is the directions that people give. In India people usually direct by asking to ‘go right, take left’ etc. But here in US when I first stopped in a gas station to ask for directions, he told me something like ‘go south, take east and then go west’. I had no idea which way was east or west. But now after 7+ years I am getting comfortable with this east, west, north, south directions. But it certainly was quite confusing for me initially. Even now sometimes I have to map in my mind that ‘Facing North, east is my Right Hand Side and west in my Left Hand Side’.

Interesting contrast between Indian and US economy

Indians are earning more and spending less. Average Indian is now saving and investing more rather than spending. This is in direct contrast to Americans. Here in US, people are earning less and spending more. Check this out

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070601/consumer_income_spending.html?.v=4


I guess I didn’t need a financial expert to say this. It’s a very obvious fact that we Indians are big savers. But it’s nice to see the proof in numbers.

Other interesting numbers

1. US GDP this quarter is 0.4%. Indian GDP is 9%
2. Indian key Inflation is 5.5% vs US 2.57%

Indian market is roaring right now. But it'll be interesting to see whether this kind of growth is sustainable in the long run. That's what is going to define whether Indian economy will transform from developing economy to developed.

Best Value stocks

If you ask me, what the best value stocks are in this heated market, I would say Finance/Bank stocks.

Banking stocks are good buy now I think. Look at Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Citigroup ( the 3 big banks).Their P/E is very low and I think the stocks will go up when Fed begins to cut rates, which is most likely to happen in the next 6 months. Also take a look at their dividends. If you want to minimize risk, buy XLF – Financial ETF which comprises of a good percent of all bank Stocks. Overall I think Finance stocks are cheap right now.Also the housing and related stocks are cheap. But I am not sure whether it's the right time to buy them now.

What do you think?

P.S. I am not a financial adviser.