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	<title>My Two Cents</title>
	<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog</link>
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	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:04:44 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Be a tourist in your own city - Weekend on a budget</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My birthday was a few months back and some friends bought my girlfriend and I Seattle City Pass tickets.  I&#8217;ve lived in Seattle quite a while so I&#8217;ve been to most of the standard attractions at least a few times, but the City Pass had an expiration date and it was quickly approaching so this [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/saving-money/be-a-tourist-in-your-own-city-weekend-on-a-budget/84</link>
			</item>
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		<title>The second big drop</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems as though we&#8217;ve hit a second big drop in the market. We had a good bump last week due to the election results, but my portfolio is now hitting fresh new lows once again.
Selling at the bottom is an &#8216;amateur&#8217; play, but nobody knows where the bottom is exactly. 
Not sure whether to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/the-second-big-drop/124</link>
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		<title>Where is the bottom?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Where is the bottom in this market? Of course company earnings will suffer with a credit crunch and lower consumer spending. Lower earnings means a drive to cut costs, which will mean layoffs. The threat of layoffs will mean consumers spending less. Consumers spending less means lowers corporate earnings&#8230; See a cycle here?
Now, the million [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/where-is-the-bottom/125</link>
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		<title>When will Omniture get acquired?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
Omniture just reported earnings for Q3 2008. Revenue was up 108%. They are still turning in losses quarter after quarter, but that will turn around with time. They are still a new company. What really matters is where they sit in the market. I think they&#8217;ll be acquired in the next 12 months, or their stock [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/when-will-omniture-get-acquired/120</link>
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		<title>Yes, the cereal box DID get smaller</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The &#8220;Tough Customer&#8221; column in November 2008&#8217;s SmartMoney magazine has some interesting tidbits in it.  Anne Kadet, the author, talks about how her favorite chocolate bar was reconfigured from 16 squares to 12 one day for no good reason.  Turns out, they did it to distract her from the fact that it had gotten smaller. 
Kadet goes [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/uncategorized/yes-the-cereal-box-did-get-smaller/118</link>
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		<title>Making a difference through local scholarships</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been giving some thought lately on how to give back effectively, how to contribute a relatively small amount and make a large difference for someone.
There are a lot of great charities out there, many of which have very little in the way of operating costs that eat up your donations.  The operating costs aren&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/making-a-difference-through-local-scholarships/114</link>
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		<title>Planning Ahead Can Save You Big Bucks</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m guilty of wasting money.  It used to be that buying local meant supporting local business and encouraging entrepreneurship.  Today, with the dissapearance of the mom and pop shop and the proliferation of the big box stores, buying local just isn&#8217;t what it used to be. 
The main reason to buy local now is for convenience [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/saving-money/planning-ahead-can-save-you-big-bucks/109</link>
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		<title>Back From Vacation in (mostly) sunny California</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, I&#8217;m back from a great four day vacation to sunny California.  My girlfriend and I flew down to Los Angeles, stayed the first night at the Radisson Hotel in Culver City (booked through Priceline), rented a car (booked Hertz through AAA), stayed a night in an awesome room in San Luis Obispo (Courtyard [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/travel/back-from-vacation-in-mostly-sunny-california/112</link>
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		<title>Way to go out on a limb there UBS</title>
		<description><![CDATA[UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter lowered his price target on Google today to $525/share.   He lowered his targets on Yahoo from $28 to $20/share and eBay from $28 to $18/share.
Sounds like a strong indictment on tech stocks right?  Schachter is putting himself on the line, making a bold prediction that the prices on these stocks will drop [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/way-to-go-out-on-a-limb-there-ubs/107</link>
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		<title>Wamu sold for 2 billion, but JP Morgan wrote down 31 billion in bad debt?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m confused by the wamu/jp morgan.  JP Morgan paid 1.9 billion for Wamu retails banks and deposits but apparently had to take a 31 billion dollar write down. 
How can that be? Did they assume 31 billion in bad debt? Who takes ownership of the 300 billion in Wamu mortgages?
Confusing stuff, smells fishy to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.smashingthoughts.com/blog/investing/wamu-sold-for-2-billion-but-jp-morgan-wrote-down-31-billion-in-bad-debt/102</link>
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