The James Dicks Blog

Wow!  That’s all I can say.  This past Saturday I decided to run out to the annual gun show here locally at our fair grounds.  I figured that I would be there for the opening; spend an hour or so and still make an 11 o’clock appointment.

Well, it started off just fine. No traffic and I got there just as the doors opened; but wait – there was one small problem. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was perplexed as to why there were so many cars already in the parking lot.  People were scurrying around with rifles pistols and guns of all types I couldn’t believe how many cars were already there.

So, I squeezed into a spot and walked quickly to the entrance.  Then I saw the LONG line – some 200 people and I was thinking, “Okay, maybe they are running late or something.”

I can say this for sure, you would not want to have an Obama sticker on your car or an Obama shirt on your back.  This was bigger than any anti-Obama crowd and as you could imagine the topic of conversation with everyone in line around me was Obama and our Second Amendment rights.  It seemed a bit weird almost like paranoia all around.

The crowd was made up of all races; mostly men I guess, but lots of elderly women as well I thought that was very interesting.  As I was standing in line a spokesperson was asking if anyone wanted to sign up for the NRA.  It was $10 off and you got one free admission into the gun show which was $35.  Best of all, you could go to the front of the line and they would give you a free NRA hat!  Pretty good deal especially keeping in mind that you could avoid the long wait in line.

Anyway, as I finally got to the front of the line they opened a new line (Doesn’t that always happen? It does to me!).

I finally got in and still had time to browse.  I walked through the door and it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder; people politely making their way through the crowd to look at the tables and most were three people deep.  You could buy anything that had to do with guns and knives.

After getting through the exhibit hall, I headed out the door and realized that the hand stamp I got was to get me in the next building; and when I walked in I couldn’t believe it! The building was huge and packed from one end to the other, probably 500-1,000 people in the place, and it was crazy.  People everywhere – same thing, shoulder-to- shoulder, three deep at the tables, and the vendors were endless… probably several hundred vendors.

The atmosphere was almost like organized panic, certainly filled with anxiety and anti-Obama for sure.  People were buying ammunition by the case full and wheeling it out on dollies.  The ammunition tables were so crowded you couldn’t even get up to them to buy if you wanted.  Guns were selling at every vendor.  I specifically noticed two elderly ladies buying some hand guns at one table.

I think the point here is that we all need to be better informed.  Regardless of whom you voted for, or whether you got the outcome you wanted, we have to deal with what we have today and, in the end, we must protect our Constitutional rights. Once we let someone start messing with our Constitutional rights, everything else will change and probably very quickly. Our Second Amendment allows us the right to bear arms, for your protection and mine.  Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.  Get informed, we can’t have our Constitutional rights amended or changed.

The problem with all of this is that we have some creative legislators, and with many things already drafted.  If you want to keep your Second Amendment right you must speak up!  Registration of all guns, serial numbering ammunition which brings a new tax will affect your true right to keep and bear arms.

For information on your Second Amendment rights go to www.NRA.Org.  If you don’t agree with what I have said or with the Second Amendment, GREAT! You have a constitutional right to think something else; that’s what makes this such a great country!

We have all heard that old adage and it fits just about every situation we experience in our lives but none more than right now.  As our economy continues to suffer, so do all of us.  Some of us are business owners and some of us serve.  Some of us are employed but to the individuals who are currently unemployed the message is very simple – - you just have to keep moving the ball along.  Every day is a new challenge and, if it’s done right, the ball moves forward, inch by inch, and that’s all that can be expected in these troubling times. 

No matter how tough or grim you perceive the situation to be always remember that you are blessed in so many ways.  If you find yourself among the ranks of the unemployed, you just might have to think about that for a while; and it might take a lot of reflection.  But no matter what happens, each day is glorious and opens the door to new possibilities.  It will always get better – it always does. 

There is a catch though.  You have to do something and sometimes that something is just getting off the couch to try and make something happen.  Most times it is the small things that turn into the big things and sometimes the things you try your hardest at turn out to be nothing.  But whatever you do will always give you new light into what you have already done and that’s when inspiration springs to life.

Just yesterday I was consulting with a very successful business owner and like the rest of us he was down a little on his business.  Like all good business owners in these volatile times he has stayed the course and made some very tough decisions but in the end was moving the ball along.  He told me he was becoming frustrated not “seeing the trees because of the forest” thing so I told him to start something new.  Of course, he said that now is not the time and if you look at logic that might make sense.  But in fact, it is the time.  When times are tough and you feel that you have done all you can; when you’re just out of fresh ideas, it’s time to start something new; it’s time to try something different.  Don’t worry if things don’t work out every time – one thing is for sure – you will never know if you don’t give it a try. 

I am not saying to throw everything you have at an untested initiative or to risk everything.  I am just saying to start a new project.   Here’s why and here is what you will probably find out.  As you work on your new project two things will happen; you will be successful or fail pretty fast.  There is also an in-between.  While you are waiting for the lull in your existing business to subside, you will be focused on something completely different allowing you to be creative in other directions.  Sometimes you will end up with a brand new course to explore and other times it is all you need to get re-energized with your existing business.  You just need to step back and look at things a little differently and developing new projects will do that for you.  They always have for me.

Don’t worry if you aren’t a business owner; this exercise works just as well either way.  You can personally go out and volunteer some time.  I can guarantee you that volunteering will give you a great perspective on what others are going through and you just might find your situation isn’t as bad as you thought.  Even if you are looking for a job full-time right now, a few hours of volunteer work at your local hospital or Veteran’s Administration will allow you to see first hand the possibilities that still exist in this great country of ours. 

All you have to do is get up and do it -

All my best

James Dicks

I was sitting around this weekend, and as I often do, I check my credit reports. I try to examine my credit reports at least once a month; that seems like a lot and probably is for the average consumer.  But for me my credit standing is vital for my business and its success.

I am probably not the best person to talk to about credit, or at least the credit bureaus; since I believe the credit bureaus are the biggest scam of all.  I mean they give you one free credit report a year so you can see what’s on it, but that only happened after they were forced to do so.

I pay for credit report monitoring and, unfortunately, I suggest you do the same.  Be assured I don’t get paid for recommending this but it’s the only way to really know what is going on with your credit reports.  All three bureaus have a monthly service that will send you alerts as things change on your report.  You probably don’t need all three just chose one, that way if you get an alert you can check it and then you will know most likely the other two reporting agencies will have the same information.

I have been keeping track of my credit reports for many years, and I literally have a three ring binder for each bureau that is five inches thick full of old reports. I keep very close track of what is on my file.  Listen in the last few months I have had several things hit my report that were erroneous.  It pays to check.

The first error involved a bank I had a loan with; they said I was 30 days late on a payment which wasn’t even close.  I had to actually show them my receipt of the payment to prove I wasn’t.  Then I had to diligently stay on top of the bank to make sure that they fixed my credit report. In the last year, I have had at least three or four separate instances where a payment was not recorded correctly.

Here is a good story for you.  I had a car that I wanted to trade in. I went to the dealer, bought a new one and traded in the old car.  Thirty days latter I received an alert that something had changed on my credit report.  I logged in only to discover that I had a 30 day late pay for the first car – the car I traded in!  After tracking down all individuals involved I came to find out that the car dealership didn’t pay off the first loan.  Can you imagine that!? Apparently this is going on far more than one would imagine.  Anyway, I finally got the dealership to do what they were supposed to do and, from that point, it took about a month to get my credit report fixed and back on track.

In the past, I have had erroneous inquires, people and organizations pulling my credit that shouldn’t.  Each inquiry can affect your credit score so you want to make sure that your credit report isn’t being pulled unnecessarily.

These examples are extremely important and fairly common, especially in today’s economic climate.  The credit bureaus are very busy right now and lots of people are having issues.  With all the reporting going on things are getting messed up more now than ever.  That’s why it’s ever so important to stay on top of your report and credit score.  If your score goes down you could be paying a lot more for your credit in the future.

The whole credit scoring system is just simply broken.  In fact, the FICO scoring system is one of the reasons the whole housing industry is crashing.  The credit reporting agencies were supposed to provide a score that helped lenders lend money, but obviously it didn’t work out well for them or for us.  In addition, I hear the major banks are in the process of suing the credit reporting agencies because of their scoring systems.

Just recently Experian pulled out of its agreement with myFICO.com, which had been the only place where consumers could buy their FICO scores from all three bureaus.

The FICO scoring system is suppose to be a leading credit scoring formula used by most lenders. Experian will continue selling it to lenders, acting like it’s no big deal by not offering it to consumers anymore. In my opinion, it is just another way for the credit reporting agency to keep us in the dark.

Experian spokeswoman Susan Hensen wrote in a recent e-mail, “There is no one credit score that all financial institutions use to make decisions, and there is also no one credit score that consumers must use to help them understand and manage their credit. There are many reputable credit scores on the market that consumers can use to evaluate their creditworthiness before making financial decisions.”

Experian Executive Vice President Peg Smith downplayed any disadvantage to consumers, saying Experian will still offer individual customers its own credit rating scoring system.

Yeah, whatever…don’t you believe that for a minute!  Bottom line – you should check your credit reports often.  It should be illegal for these reporting agencies to hold us hostage; basically extorting us into having to pay so that we can see what is on our credit reports but they do.  They pay a lot of money each year to lobbyists to push their agenda on us.  So it’s time to fight back, write your Senator and your U.S. Representative and tell them it is time to overhaul the Fair Debt Credit Reporting Act. 

To learn more you can visit www.JamesDicks.com

As always,

Happy Investing

All my best

James Dicks