A Real News Update

In case you haven’t heard, the market is actually up! Surprised? You shouldn’t be, unless your only source of information is found between the hours of 5:00-7:00pm on one of the three doom and destruction….I mean….quality news networks. Seriously, when is the last time you watched the local or national news and heard more positive stories about the economy, people, and cultures than you did about the bad things taking place? More than likely the answer is never. I’ve heard that “if it bleeds, it leads.” Unfortunately that phrase is all too true from the majority of today’s media outlets.

So if you’ve only been listening to all the garbage (IE. ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN’s “news cast”) coming out of the tube, here’s a quick reality check of what is actually taking place in the local and national scene:

1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up to 8,500.00 and climbing. This is an increase of 29% from the market low just 3 months ago, and it’s up 6% in past 30-days!!! Where’s the news on that story? Even if the market didn’t move an inch up or down until March 2010, the annual return would 29%, and yet we still have another 7 months in the year to take advantage of the low market prices!
2. There 304,059,082 people out of 304,059,724 in America that are not infected with the Swine Flu (there are only 642 confirmed cases in the USA as of today, and only two people have actually died according to the CDC). In case you’re still concerned that you may become infected with the “world-wide pandemic of the decade” and you’d like to know your chances of catching this new flu bug, here you go….you have a .00000211% of a chance. If you happen to catch this little bugger you should buy a lottery ticket the same day because you must be one of the luckiest people alive according to the numbers!
3. Mortgage interest rates are near 50-year lows, meaning you can get a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.5%, or a 30-year fixed rate mortgage under 5.0%. If you avoided the stupidity of interest only, “arm” loans, and other terrible mortgage products that we’re being offered everywhere during the past few years, then you’re in a great position to go buy that first home. (PS – There’s plenty of inventory to pick from, especially if you’re fond of Phoenix, Detroit, or anywhere in Florida!)
4. The Seattle Mariners are actually leading the American West by half a game and it’s May (Hey, it’s my blog so I can be proud of my hometown teams if I want to be).

“Town Hall for Hope”

There is an awesome event coming up this week that will be taking place at over 6,000 locations this Thursday (April 23rd) called “Town Hall for Hope”. Dave Ramsey, the nationally syndicated radio and television host of The Dave Ramsey Show, will be discussing the TRUE state of our economy, how we got here, what it will REALLY take to get out, and then he’ll spend an hour answering your questions live!

There are already over 1,000,000 people registered to attend at one of over 6,000 host sites internationally. Visit the “Town Hall for Hope” site link below to find the host site location nearest to you, or if you’re in the north Seattle area come join me at The Rock Church in Monroe, WA with seating available for 500 people, with the event beginning at 7:00pm sharp!