In the Times where someone is late?

Farewell and Fare Thee Well

Farewell and fare thee all well.  Like Haydn, its time for a break so I may return or may not return.  Time will tell.

I've enjoyed writing here and particularly enjoy the feedback.  I hope it was useful.

Adeiu.... and on this day when Tiger's world is falling apart, some bard perhaps:


Being your slave what should I do but tend
Upon the hours, and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend;
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of not
Save, where you are, how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.
 
by the way, that is the only sonnet with adieu in it.

68 Years and we seem to have forgotten this.

I am going to abandon the financial news of the day as this is a special day in our history.  I watched the morning news and this didn't make the radar and it should.  Perhaps we are now war weary and embattled on so many fronts but it is important and the plain elegance of Roosevelt's address to congress the next day is memorable in that we have certainly regessed from his rallying cry. Again perhaps because we grow sick of wars and wars without declaration now fought almost precisely half a world away in a foresaken country, endless in its prospects and for the most part so out of sight and out of mind of many of us.

Roosevelt said (the next day):

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.

This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounded determination of our people-we will gain the inevitable triumph-so help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, 7 December, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

And yet another Ponzi scheme

Lawsuits abound as yet another Ponzi scheme unfolds here in South Florida.  Scott Rothstein seems to be another to fall of this cliff and one has to wonder what goes on the in the minds of some of these folks. One particularly has to wonder what goes on in the minds of investors and in particular why people fall for this stuff and with big bucks involved.
This one is a minor humdinger in the grand scope of recent schemes but $1.2 billion is no chump change, penny anti thing.  Now people want their money back but the twist in the tale (tail) is that more than likely all but a little of the money is gone and the recourse will be to get the money back from those he paid, level the field and try and give everyone something back, although at a fraction.  Unfortunately it will take years as Mr. Rothstein seems to have been a major league spender.

Even in my small home town of Westhampton (yes the Hamptons) in New York we have our own version of this. George Guildi, a local attorney got into the mortgage fraud business in a big way for such a little town (he is actually a neighbor of mine).  He and some of his friends including the owner of Magic's Pub (if you remember Breslin's book on Son of Sam and the recount of him driving to the Hamptons for a victim and spotting some potentials at an outdoor restaurant, that was Magic's) went around buying houses with straw buyers and pocketing a lot of the fees and rents.  We are talking $50 million in real estate here and in a town of 1600 full time residents, that is a mess in the local streets.   I guess 50 mil in a small town equates to 1.2 billion in Ft. Lauderdale but I still am constantly amazed that folks think that they can get away with this for any extended period of time.  Mr. Ponzi should be proud of his idea.  As we say in advertising, it has legs.

All hail Bank of America

The NYTimes ran a good piece on the Bank of America's plan to repay the government (the taxpayers).   I'm not an advocate for or against but let's at least look at how they came up with the $45 billion and why.

First the number is huge. Staggering even.  As the street tells it, BOA isn't out of the financial woods completely as of yet so to think in a year or so that they came up with bank profits to that tune of course made me and others suspicious.  Wouldn't the 45 billion be better served as cash on hand for the purposes of banking as we thought we knew it?  More on that later.

First 18.8 billion will come from selling shares of stock.  Last I looked BOA was trading at about $15.60 so they are going to dump a billion shares into the market? Even on a conversion to common stock basis that is a shoe waiting to drop on the little guy who owns but doesn't know to get out of the way of this or how to anyway.   Do I hear the call of dillution anwhere?  Wait wait, it gets better. Most of the remaining 26 billion comes from profits...but not from banking...rather from their trading areas formerly part of Merril Lynch.  Here is what the street said about BOA in general:

Bank of America (BAC Quote) upgraded at FBR to Outperform. $20 price target. TARP repayment will boost equity levels and remove a major overhang on the stock. Estimates also boosted.

The Times went on to write:

"Bank of America executives have insisted for months that the bank’s underlying businesses were far stronger than those of some other banks and that the Merrill merger would pay off quickly. Indeed, Merrill’s businesses have improved this year as Wall Street’s traditional business of trading and deal making picked up. At the same time, Bank of America’s core consumer lending units suffered greater losses as the economy weakened".   hmmmmmm.

Also nested in this is the desire to be outside of regulators or free from them. Remind me if being outside of scrutiny isn't what landed them in this mess to begin with?  Then there is the issue of compensation. How can BOA land a top notch CEO with some federal regulator screaming about the salary.  The answer is easy. Just put up 45 billion dollars and you can pay every and anyone whatever you please.

Probably this is just good business and I'm sure the government (us) is happy to get it's money back and probably BOA can get a hotshot in as CEO and pay him/her a 100 million dollar package to run the ship.  But when the peasants come to headquarters someday as a mob with pitchforks and hoes, spend a little on extra guards at the door because eventually they will come - perhaps second after Goldman - but they will show up.

Hey I can do that...

CNBC had a short segment regarding auto industry management and it brougt the General Motors Institute to mind.  Now called Kettering University it was, until the early 80s, a very special training school for GM engineering and management.

Now that Fritz Henderson has split with the GM board, the reports are that GM will "look outside" for a new CEO.  Amazing.

Things run amuck when business types don't understand the nuances of the core business.  That's a fact and it applies to all business.  CEOs brought in to "set the business right" are all well and good and perhaps their core expertise is in triming waste and streamlining things so the the business management is more up to date.  What that usually means is that 1. people with none productive jobs are let go and 2. people with jobs that are not understood in nuance to upper management are next on the chopping block. Without management that understands the business at its core ... well take a look at GM liquidation stock (MTLQQ.PK).  Berkshire could by it with with pocket change. 

Beware year over year

I am always amazed that marketplace analysts foist "year over year" data on the public. Listening to NPR this morning and "Marketplace", the initial reports regarding Black Friday sales figures indicate that they showed some improvement over last year.  Figures obviously aren't in but if you think back to the day after Thanksgiving in 2008, you might remember that our entire economic world turned upside down prior to that date (if not upside down, at least a horrific shake) so frankly anything that went on this year probably had to look good "year over year".  That's the rub in comparisons.

A look at the Dow about this time last year it was sliding toward the 7500 range and is now at 10,400 give or take.  We would "year over year" jump with glee at a 37% year over year increase and well we should. We could, however do a year over year 5 year and see that we are back to square one.....aside from dividends (which are scant) the Dow is down 4% over the period.

I bring this up, as the time frame for comparisons is the key factor. If we shorten the time frame to this month (Nov. 2009 all of it) we are up 7% that far exceeds the year over year rate amortized over 12 months (roughly double the rate of growth). 

We hear this year over year stuff all the time, housing starts for instance, or new mortgage apps.  Analysts must figure we don't have any memory for times past.  Just beware when someone trots out year over year verbiage.  It doesn't mean much unless you have a memory.

My friend Google

Google must be my friend as he/she knows me very well.  I spent half a day there recently as I have actual business with them and they are, giving justice its due, a wealth of information and data and if you use them right, they can be of great help.  Mostly they are idea people.  I was never sure what they knew about me so I asked to see my profile.

About 7 years ago I was looking at a web page next to a real life friend who was also looking at the same page.  Contents matched but those ads next to it that Google serves up were somewhat different. Digging in, I found the answer to be in Google's free analytics service.  You see, when Google places free analytics on a website (to see visitor traffic, who is coming to see you, how they go through your site, etc.) they capture all kinds of browsing information.  They traded a very good service that most people charge for to obtain tons of information on web use.  And you know that drop down window that asks (on many sites) registration (email address mostly), well Google in their wisdom started the practice of matching up your email to your site visits and not so amazingly they matched up where you appear online via email registration with you IP address and browsing habits. Then they did a huge "sort" on you and out you come, a friend of Google and over time, they have you six ways from Sunday.

Americans spend about 1/2 an hour surfing daily (on average) and at about a page a minute. Do this for 10 years or so and you can imagine the details they have, like them or it or not.  Google is ethical and the people there are smart and on a mission to maximize profits and provide services that, at the inception or conception of the Internet, could only be dreamed about. But they have you usually about 140 columns wide with everything from your sweater size to your choice of golf clubs (xxl and hogan's).  It was all there so they must be my friend.

Tom Turkey

Not for nothing, tomorrow is of course Thanksgiving and rather than fill the space with mind numbing financial talk (although the new unemployment filings are down a bit so that is good news and consumer spending is up slightly (does that include fuel and food???).  Speaking of food, I have a home in the Hamptons on Long Island and shop at the only place in our little village. ..  have for 20 years.  Each summer, with the influx of summer rentals etc. from the city (NY) the market jacks up the food prices and they used to lower them a bit when the big business rush went home and left us alone.  Not so the past 4 years at least. We have restricted diets in our household and we notice the change and it is acute. But back to Thanksgiving...and Tom Turkey... 47 million of the birds will bite the dust to satisfy the holiday.  So here are some tidbits for the table-talk after Uncle Ed tells his boyhood stories for the zillionth time and someone complains that the white meat is too dry.

1. Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be the national bird of the United States instead of the bald eagle.  When Jefferson won the argument, Franklin called the Turkey "Tom" - hence tom turkey.
2. Domestic turkeys (turkeys raised for eating) weigh twice the amount of a wild turkey; most are even too heavy to fly. On the other hand, wild turkeys fly and spend their nights in the low branches of trees.
3. Wild turkeys are the largest game birds located in this part of the world.
4. Male wild turkeys act much the same as peacocks when it comes to finding a mate; they puff up and spread their tail feathers to attract females.
5. Turkey eggs are tan with specks of brown on them. The eggs take only a month to hatch and when they do, the poults (baby turkeys) stay with their mother for up to a year.
6. The skin on the head and throat of a turkey can range in color from gray to a bright red depending upon the level of excitement or stress in the situation.
7. The turkey acquired its name by mistake; the English thought it was another bird that came from Africa through Turkey. The birds were not the same but the name stuck with the bird anyway.
8. The skin that hangs over the turkey’s beak is called a snood. The skin that hangs from the turkey’s throat is called a caruncle.
9. The scientific name for a turkey is Meleagris gallopavo.
10. Turkeys can have heart attacks and can drown if it’s raining and they look up.
11. A wild turkey’s field of vision is about 270 degrees.
12. Turkeys can run up to 20 miles an hour with short flight bursts up to 55 miles per hour.
13. Male turkeys gobble while female turkeys make a clicking sound.
14. The biggest turkey ever raised weighed a whopping 86 pounds!
15. Adult turkeys have about 5,000 feathers.
16. Over 45 million turkeys are cooked for Thanksgiving.
17. North Carolina produces the most turkeys annually at 61 million.
18. Most domestic turkeys love to have their feathers stroked.
19. Wild turkeys live to up 12 years while the domestic turkey is slaughtered at 5 months.
20. Turkeys have full color vision and a turkey’s gobble can be heard up to a mile away.
21. The ballroom dance called “the turkey trot” was named after the movements of a turkey.
22. Wild turkeys inhabit every state but Alaska.

 

While the Internet was still young...Walmart v. Amazon

Today is, by the way, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species and in case it isn't bedside reading (or bathroom reading), it obviously dealt with survival of the fittest or at the very least issues of natural selection.  Actually the book was written for the non-scientist and is a great read if you are into that sort of thing.

An article in the NYTimes today (Walmart v. Amazon) is coincidental. I can remember vividly early press and financil reports on Amazon when the CEO was asked if they ever ever ever  could turn a profit and he flatly said he didn't think so.  It was all about distribution, supply, warehousing etc. and a very tough nut to crack.  As to Walmart, I've known one of the Walton kids since about 1980 (brother is that a long story) and it was before he joined the family business which at that point was all about Target v. Walmart.  Walmart's plan was simple. Price.

I encountered  the Walmart price issue first hand in the middle 90s when I headed a  madia planning and buying team for video releases (vhs of theatricals), and we had discussions (if you can call them that) with Walmart regarding the pending release of Babe - the pig movie. 

They were the 800 pound gorilla and would pre-buy a million but at a price that simply had to be the best price or no deal. They also wanted guaranteed advertising (we spent about 8 million $ in 2 weeks) and all kinds of other things. They got it and frankly those million or so units shipped to Walmart were a lost leader both to us and to them.  They could do what they wanted because, simply, they could and there was no one biting at their heels.

Enter Amazon, now, a piddling orphan compared to Walmart but with enormous brand cache and recognition. They have fixed distribution and are doing as well as anyone in this economy.  But what they bring to the table is competition, niche as it may be.  In the 12 years or so of existence, it has morphed into an Internet giant and the online equivilent to the box store Walmart concept.

My issue here, and it relates to Darwin (which you must read) is that all big species faced their greatest threat when they had smaller species to contend with.  These smaller guys disrupted the chain - futzed with the food chain so to speak - and the big guys either had to adapt or die off.  It may take a while but that is the name of the game.  The  NYTimes quote is very telling:

“If you are Wal-Mart, you want to have your proportional piece of this change in consumer behavior,” said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps retailers sell online. “You can even paint a scenario where e-commerce one day is 15 percent of all shopping, and that could really start to erode Wal-Mart’s offline business.”

We are going to put it on display for everyone....

"It was a bargain - we were expecting to pay more," said Hoffman Ma, a Hong Kong hotel executive. "We're going to put it on display in our hotel. It will be free for everyone."

What in the world?  $350,00 plus commission, taxes, etc. so well over $425,000 when things are all counted and they "were expecting to pay more".

We take home several lessons from this:

1.  It was Hong Kong and not Vegas or Atlantic City which wil shed a spotlight on the Vegas and Atlantic City economies.
2.  It was  bought for a crowd drawing appeal item and probably will bring folks into the venue...so we have to ask where is this marvel to excess going to be placed?

This later question is a big issue.  How far would people be willing to travel to view said glove, (as a marketer), be willing to travel to see it? It obviously will be a big draw but let's say that the town of Bay City, Michigan (population 50,000) bought it and put it on Main and Center streets to draw people downtown to shop. And here is the marketing rub.  After a month or so, all of Bay City's shopping traffic will have seen the glove and unless you want to go from afar to Bay City to see it then the glove purchase won't pay out. Or will it?

A study showed that the average downtown Bay City shopper spent just under $60 per shopping visit. That means the glove would have to pay out to the tune of 7,000 new shoppers and not just viewers.  Amortize the  glove's attraction to 10 years and thats about 2 new shoppers a day.  Fairly likely and very possible.

Now with our Hong Kong friend, say he runs a 500 room hotel (for instance) and at Hong Kong rates of $500/night what does he have to pull in? Maybe 1000 more room bookings in total?  Put that to an average stay of 2 nights, meals etc., and he is down to perhaps ONE (1) more booking a day FOR A YEAR to make this pay out.

Nice buy.  A steal actually.  Our Hong Kong friend probably estimates that he will make 10 times profit on his investment and that's not counting street traffic who may dine at the hotel or otherwise use it's shops or facilities in some way.  The word of mouth publicity is probably alone worth the purchase price.

Did you hear that Vegas? Atlantic City? Penny foolish.

Its funny what people like to read about

This isn't a swipe at Sarah.  This is a swipe at news that purposefully gets it wrong or makes lame apologies for "inadevertant mistakes".

I've been in advertising for over 20 years and let me tell you advertisers "watch" where their advertising dollars go.  When the likes of a Glenn Beck call the President a racists it causes viewership trouble and advertisers pull out - not only because of the perceived association with the remarks but because there might be a problem with ratings.  Rarely does a show "shoot up" in ratings because of a fire...they may short term as folks tune in to see what the ruckus is about....but after they do, they generally leave.

Now we have had two Fox News "inadvertent mistakes" in a week.  Let me remind you that the folks in the control rooms of major cable networks usually don't get things wrong...and when a script emphasises "footage" you can darn well be sure that things were checked.

You can't watch the news and have to wonder if the stuff you are seeing in background to illustrate the story is real or not. 

This isn't Sarah's fault. Frankly it is our fault.  Journalism, or what passes for it nowadays, is given special status in the constitution.  The obligation is to "get it right" and don't hide fabrications behind a constitutional protection. Truth is too important.

Morgan Stanley’s Mack: ‘We Cannot Control Ourselves’

I'll just put Mr. Mack's picture over there on the right for a while until I understand him a little better.  You might want to read Sorkin's "Dealbook" at the Times this morning.  Seems Mr. Mack has more to say about regulators and the ability of a firm like Morgan Stanley to "police itself".

I am wondering what this has to say about the human condition.  The illustration bouncing around in my head is of a mother of a diabetic child.  The kid loves candy and she knows it isn't good for him but gives it to him anyway so the kid will feel less deprived. The kid can't help himself and the mom, who is in charge of the kid, sees the short term solution but neglects the long term consequences.

Where do people learn not to abide by common sense and self restraint?  Mack seems to be highly intelligent and by a measure of profits, extremely capable.  Does he, however, ever wake up in the morning and say "no, we shouldn't do that..it would be wrong".

I watched Cramer once on TV when asked the same moral question regarding the duty to society and the duty to the shareholders.  He laughed as if there was no question there worth considering. Suppose I have a lot to learn about the corporate world and the greater good.  Still, I wonder where people learn that stuff.

You just have to pick the "right" school....

So I spent the afternoon at yet another "learn how to trade stocks" seminar put on by some nare-thee-wells who go around the country renting hotel rooms, running late night infomercials, and taking poor innocents' money that they are trying to both save and grow.

I don't like these guys and guys like them one bit.

The entire seminar was one jawdropping "how would YOU like to be in control" question after another.....everything from "make a million" to "never have to work again". 
Just take our two day course and know all you need to know. It's regularly $6000 but if you sign up right now we will cut it to $3,995....blah blah blah.

If you sign up right now you get a 1/3 discount which is like the supermarket where the jack up the price of hamburger and sell it two for one. 

These guys remind me of the school in the picture. Foundation borded up and the upper windows open.  MORAL:  All schools aren't alike.  No two are.  Keep track of Prism Trading School (http://www.prismtradingschool.com/) ... we will never be like those guys.

Mr. Know It All

Remember?  Our good friend Mr. Know It All?...and cooking the Thanksgiving turkey....

Just how many Mr. Know It Alls prance around on our TV sets every night.  The redundit Kudlow, always looking for the silver lining, the hysterical Cramer, the pompous Dobbs, the bloviating Matthews, the incessant Obermann, the churlish Madow, the entire cast of fools at Faux Noise and we haven't even reached talk radio.

So why Bullwinkle's famous turkey bit and why the list of bad actors? Because they have something in common.  Bad advice.  Because they have the floor as  Bullwinkle has the stove, they can say about anything they please and do.  It doesn't matter if they are right or wrong, they have the stove and they are going to do what they want, common sense and facts aside.

So this is a blog about life among traders and trading.  Frankly there is no more honest profession.  These guys are trading real money and if they just do hunches and "I thinks" then they are going to be out money - their money - real money so they can't go into flights of fantasy.  Provacatures need not apply.

A view from Space

Now that the holidays approach I'm reminded of Scrooge and the unfurling of the two child/orphans of man "ignorance" and "want".  Dickens was allagorical enough to realize that these two offspring come in many forms...from poor illiterates to mindless greed types.  Want takes many forms from hunger to Madoff greed.  Ignorance is even more disperate.

So what of this picture?  If I were on the Enterprise and Captain Kirk took a look down at his earth and was asked to pick the "average Joe" from the population...someone who stood right on the mid-line of the bell curve...what or who would he find?
Statistically it would be a rural Chinese making about $3000 a year and there are more than a few million of them.  It would not be an American or a European nor someone from a lost tribe in the Phillipines. Statistically we are in Western China somewhere and this is the guy.  He isn't ignorant. Perhaps just not educated.  He isn't poor by his contemporary standards and perhaps he doesn't "want" in the conventional sense except in times of poor harvest.  So what's the point?

You should read Mr. Krugman's article (click here).  Then think that we have policy makers making huge decisions that effect the very fabric of society - economics and values.  They make them on a basis that is so far removed from the "average Joe" just trying to get by.  We argue about the trade imbalance between China and the US and the Rinimbi v. the Dollar.  Our average Joe's life isn't much effected by the currency "crisis" (opposed to the US's Joe who is creamed by it). 

The point is that the debates swirl at a level that is light years from the persons directly effected by the outcome. The gap or disconnect is huge.  All the average Joe knows is that his life is the same as it was years or decades back yet it is somehow harder and he is less and less connected to those making decisions - the the decision makers are, unfortunately just another set of ignorance and want.

Bowing

It's Monday and part of the country is all over Mr. Obama for bowing to a foreign leader.  Just for fun's sake, here is a little bit about the Japanese "bow" etiquette.

Part of me wants to scream out at him ...when you bow you keep face contact like he is doing. You are looking at his feet.

Remember the Karate Kid?

Show me wax on, wax off.

Show me paint the fence.
Show me side, side.
Show me sand the floor.
Look eye! Always look eye.

Come back tomorrow.

Oh and just one more thing...(health care)

I'll call this "why do people hate their health insurance carriers" and be done with it.  The villian here is Blue Cross Blue Shield  ....better known as "we may be stupid but it's policy".

My wife had two outpatient procedures, both required anesthesia.  She didn't pick the anesthesiologist, just the doctor who performed the procedures at his outpatient clinic. So we get this bill from the knock 'em out docs for about 3 grand as BCBS won't pay anything as the procedures weren't done in an approved place although the docs were approved and the anesthesiologists, whom we didn't pick or have any say about, were out of network although our health care plan says we can go to anyone.

So I call the nitwits at BCBS who explained to me how everything was being applied to out "out of network" deductible.  As we don't have a network I thought that was interesting.  But the real problem was that the clinic where these procedures took place was not approved although it was an extension of the Dr.'s office.
So I trudged up the the notification sent to  BCBS a week before by the doctor explaining to BCBS the where and who.  Yes BCBS had that but they didn't specifically approve the location, and wanted it done in the local Long Island hospital rather then the clinic (at about 5x's the cost mind you).

So this is why I hate BCBS.  8 months ago BCBS stopped partnering with the 3 hospitals that service the east end of Long Island.  They won't pay them until a contract for payments is reached and as I follow this through my old local online paper i find that BCBS is about 6 months late in payments submitted and they pay - now get this - at the last rate which was 2001.  So they pay 180 days late and at 55% of what the hospital submits.

I'm sure glad there is no need for health care reform.  Friggin' nitwits.

Just a pondering on health insurance and I'll get off my soapbox.

I was a guest of the Cleveland Clinic these past 3 1/2 days for some medical problems that could simply happen to anyone and does frequently.

First of all hospitals and ERs take everyone - they have to so this is a two part mini-rant.  I had a referral to a regular doctor there who saw me as my symptons went acute and he sent me to the ER and eventually into the hospital.  I would have never gotten in to see the initial doctor if I didn't have insurance End of story. My insurance card was my carte blanche into the system.  Without it I would have been sent directly to the ER.

As it was I spent 18 hours there which, again would have happened insurance or not but now my bill is over $7000 and my insurance will pay but if not the hospital is in the hole 7 grand. So two days in patient in a modified ICU for non-critical but those who require round the clock...bill is now approaching 20 grand. Insurance pays and I'm treated.  Hospital is out only the difference between what my insurance is paying and the limits to my deductable. Now it gets crazy. 

I am discharged and my non-insured ghost either stiffs the clinic for $20,000 or makes an absurd payment agreement but $20k is like a car payment. I went to the pharmacy to get a ton of Rx's. My co-pay is $200 and I'm told that the flat out cost was about $1000. So this is where non-insured people quite frankly go to die.  I'll be out $200 a month for the rest of my life.  A small price to pay to stay alive but I can't miss a day ever.

The poor among us or the uninsured among us simply die.  And judging by how I felt the last while, it would not be a kindly death.  They die leaving a pile of bills and in horrible shape and always one more step to go to get back to just even...never preventive, never proactive, just trying to stay close to the game.

I could go on and on as to who actually pays for the uninsured (we all know that the insured pays or the hospitals just dish it out for free)...but who pays for suffering and death?  Our collective society does. So many would have health care recourse if the programs in place were taken full advantage of but walking into an ER, sick as a dog and then fending through the medicine procurement issue just doesn't seem logical.