If you currently use “rabbit ears” or use another type of attached antenna to receive your television signals, you will lose your signal. (If you have digital television or your stations are supplied by your cable company, then you should be okay.)

In order to watch your analog (non-digital) television without a box supplied by your cable company, you will need to purchase a converter box. Digital broadcasting should provide a clearer picture and more programming options for you. If you act now, the U.S. Federal Government will give you two $40 coupons for converter boxes through the TV Converter Box Coupon Program created by Congress.

This might be a good thing to mention to older family members. And if you have relatives without internet access, you can give away your coupon to help.

Read the details at http://www.dtv2009.gov/. You’ll discover why you need the converter box and where you can buy one in your area or online.

It is so easy to become confused about real value.

The news channels inundate us with persistent information about the decline of our economy … even the dismal world economy intrudes into our homes. Listen to it long enough and you may find yourself growing numb, fearful and down.

Few companies are immune and, therefore, we as individuals are all touched by the economy … if only because the companies where we or our loved ones work are responding to the recession. The economy is about finances - global finance, national finance, corporate finance - and consequently, personal finance. Without doubt, personal finances impact our ability to function in our modern, capitalistic society. Enough.

The economy is not about value. Wealth is not value.

Discover grace and peace during the holidays by focusing on real value. Appreciate the treasures you have. You may find peace in the joy on a child’s face, or the sound of laughter and greetings. It may come from the silent starry night, or the sound of music. May you find meaning in the meaning of Christmas!

Due to Wheatworks’ focus on developing financial software for the financial services industry Wheatworks has accumulated a sizable portfolio of financial and finance-related domain names.

Learn more about domain names like LargeCaps101.com, MidCaps101.com, SmallCaps101.com and MidCapInvesting.com. Developed web sites like LendersAndLoans.com and FinancialShareware.com are also available.

Explore Wheatworks Software’s Portfolio of Financial Domain Names …

The MSNBC.com story is titled, “Fed rate cut sparks a rush of refinancing“.

If you are interested in refinancing, the Refinancing Calculator in Real Estate Calculator Suite is a great tool to use for determining the effects of refinancing. It shows you the savings a refi can offer in terms of time and money. And it’s easy to use.

For those with good credit and the ability to make a healthy down payment, the current rates for refinancing into a fixed, conventional loan are now as low as 4.5%.

But how do you determine if refinancing will be a good financial move? Sometimes it’s not. There are many scenarios where refinancing is almost always a bad idea. If you plan to sell your house next year, you’ll probably not live in the house long enough to recoup the costs of refinancing through the monthly reduction in payment. If you already have a very low interest rate, refinancing with costs may be only a break even effort over the long term.

With rates as low as 4.5% though, refinancing will look good to a lot more people. But a caution is in order. Refinancing is best done when only the remaining balance is refinanced. Suppose the purchase price of your home was $200,000 and you’ve paid it down to a $150,000 balance. A simple refi of $150,000 is usually the best approach. If you refinance the full value of your home (also called a “cash out refi”), your payment will be higher than a simple refi and your debt will be greater. You’ll be buying your entire home over again!

The 16 real estate and mortgage calculators in Real Estate Calculator Suite, $39.95 US, give you the ability to play with your own numbers as you consider a real estate purchase. The Refinancing Calculator is an example of how Real Estate Calculator Suite “makes real estate math easy”!

Download an evaluation copy of Real Estate Calculator Suite and try the Refinancing Calculator. Here’s a screenshot to give you an idea of how simple it is to use.

(Click the screen shot to see the full sized image)

Lately, that’s how many feel about the Federal Reserve Bank’s “Beige Book”. We don’t like it, but it is what it is.

This morning, MSNBC.com has an article titled, “Fed: Economy darkens before holidays“. The subtitle is “Beige Book suggests economy is sinking further into recession“. So what is this Beige Book no one seems to like?

The Beige Book is a report about current economic conditions which is published by the Federal Reserve Bank eight times per year. It’s public information available for anyone to read.

The Federal Reserve Bank (aka “the Fed”) gathers information from each of it Districts. The information includes data on current economic conditions, interviews with significant business persons, economists and market experts. This information gathered by the Fed is then summarized and reported by District and sector.

The twelve Federal Reserve Districts are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco. The sectors vary by District but include areas of business activity like consumer spending, tourism, construction, real estate, manufacturing and related services, etc.

The Beige Book is public information. And it is not an academic treatise beyond the comprehension of the public. You can read it online just like all the economic experts and talking heads do who talk about it and try to explain it.

To read this year’s Beige Books, point your browser at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2008/

You will notice at the bottom of the page, there are links to previous years, too, all the way back to 1970.

Enjoy the Beige Book!

I am traveling this week and I am seeing sorry customer service. Out in the “real” world, great customer service seems to be the exception. However, in the current economic environment, small and large businesses may pay dearly for the refusal to provide exceptional customer service.

Here’s an example. Traveling through the Houston airport yesterday, the importance of customer service was driven home in a graphic way. In line to board a connecting flight to Phoenix, I approached the desk where the airline employee was scanning boarding passes. The gentleman in front of me handed her his boarding pass. She scanned it and then scanned it again. She muttered to herself.

Looking to the other lady standing behind the counter she asked, “What is Smith’s new seat?”

“My name is Smithdale,” the man said. She ignored him and continued to talk to her co-worker about “Smith.”

My last name is Smithdale,” he offered again in case she had not heard. She ignored him. With more agitation, she asked her co-worker again, “What is Smith’s new seat?”

Mr. Smithdale said, “Excuse me, Ma’am. My last name is Smithdale. It is not Smith.”

She turned on him. “I know what your name is. We were having a conversation about you. Not with you,” the grumpy lady responded shortly. “Your seat is 6D.” His shoulders dropped and he shook his head as he walked away from her and toward the plane. “Never again,” he muttered.

When she scanned his boarding pass and realised his seat had been changed, it would have taken so little effort for the airline employee to say, “Oh! Welcome, Mr. Smithdale. Your seat has changed. Let me get your new seat number for you.” Instead she was rude.

Sorry customer service like that will help kill businesses … especially smaller businesses. While a multi-billion dollar airline may be able to afford angering customers with rude customer service, a small business cannot.

Aware of this, in my experience, most smaller businesses work hard to provide exceptional customer service. Those that do not disappear.

Today I actually did it. I’m sore.

But the view of the colored leaves on the trees and into the woods is great. Things looks so much better from the patio because I did what I’ve thought about.

Life is like that. So many lost opportunities pass us by because we only entertain ourselves with thoughts about our intentions.

If you read this blog, chances are good that you live comfortably. You have enough money to read a blog that is generally about financial matters. I think many readers have entertained themselves lately with thoughts of helping others. It’s that time of year. And in spite of what you hear in the news, I find that most people are actually very thoughtful about the plight of those in need.

Allow me to take this Thanksgiving Eve opportunity to encourage you to move beyond thinking about helping others. Take courage and do it!

Find a local shelter, a soup kitchen, or other social service that needs your support and do what you’ve thought about. Volunteer or offer a resource you have that is needed. You might give an old coat to a coat drive, write a check for a food bank donation, or give a few hours of your time. Do something about your good desires for others.

Like my view of the leaves changing to golds and reds, things will look so much better to you because you’ve stepped from entertaining yourself with thoughts of helping others to really doing it. And that’s a good thing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of yours!

Perhaps, aside for the financial history it offers, the most important function of the presentation is that it puts the current bail out in perspective. For example, it’s so much bigger than it seems when compared to the entire NASA expenditures. The Hoover Dam at $782 million (adjusted for inflation) is a pittance compared to the incredible amounts currently being spent to rescue banks and public corporations.

Don’t miss “Milestones in Government Spending“. It’s an eye opener!

I don’t understand. And I believe anyone who claims to understand our current financial circus is not being truthful with himself or others. There are so many data points that simply make no sense.

You’ve heard the phrase, “too big to fail”. It’s used in reference to an entity believed to be so large and necessary that all possible must be be done to ensure its continued “success”. The weekend bailout of Citigroup, Inc. is an example of an action to save a company believed to be “too big” to allow “to fail”.

The Citigroup bailout is reported to be worth $30 Billion. It happened quickly, over the weekend, and didn’t stir up a lot of questions on the national scene. Why not?

Recently, all the big three automakers wanted was $25 Billion. They didn’t get it. Congress held hearings. The CEOs of the auto makers begged. The autoCEOs drove home empty handed.

The chaos that seems rampant in the U.S. may be a consequence of what I believe is a corollary to “too big to fail”.

If you’ve ever interacted with the different departments of an insurance company (I recently talked by phone to more than a dozen employees of my insurance company during a three week period) you begin to wonder if the corollary to “too big to fail” isn’t “too big to succeed.”

What if companies (and economies) become too big to succeed and the manipulative efforts like those being attempted now are doomed to failure.

Politicians proclaim, “I believe in a free economy.” But they don’t. Google the name Bush with the phrase “free economy”. You’ll see that “free economy” has become a political cliche. There is no free economy. A “free economy” implies that those companies which are “too big to succeed” are actually allowed to fail. They would not be bailed out. Instead, perhaps in a future iteration, something better would be given birth.

Nature has an object lesson: no tree grows to the sky.

It’s not a pretty picture, but “Economy Crashes, Washington Watches“, sketches it well.