That video interview? Not so fast. I got a call the afternoon before the interview saying it was canceled. They said they still like me, etc. and want to finish my interviews, but the position has been "put on hold" until after the end of their fiscal year, that they expected to call me in a couple of months, but that I should call them in the meantime if I get another offer or close to one with another company. Realistically, there's a decent chance that translates to, "With the current credit crisis, we don't know if we'll have this position or the cash to afford to hire you. We would like to keep you in our back pocket just in case, though."
And with the DJIA down over 10% in the last 48 hours, I can't say that prospects to work in the financial sector are looking up today.
On the rather bright side, I found out today I'll receive a raise after all for my recent promotion. In fact, my rather modest expectations were exceeded a bit. When combined with my annual raise, I'm even a little ahead of inflation--for this year, at least. Given the number of people looking for work or underemployed, it could be much worse.
So, with the market like this, am I better off buying "undervalued" stocks or guns and wheat? I suppose it's been alternating fat and lean years since before Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dream, which is why we'd all do well to follow the wise counsel to build a substantial, safe reserve over time as our means allow--even at the expense of that desperately-needed bedroom set or trip to Disneyland.
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4 comments:
Sorry to hear about that. At least you're already employed. I can't imagine the stress of being out of work now and watching jobs evaporate.
I wish I knew how to advise you on investments. Some cash is a good idea. It's only eroding at 10% per year and if you can get 3%, that limits your losses to 7%, which is better than the stock market at the moment. You'll get an immediate ~6% for anything you pay on your mortgage, but that's not accessible, unfortunately.
I think we've got a 2/3 chance of coming out of this without a major meltdown, but my odds of a depression level collapse are now up to 1/3, which is not exactly comforting.
We keep a few months' expenses worth of cash and short-term CDs and would like to boost it a little further. I put as much as I can into my 401k and get a partial company match. My time frame is long enough there that I try to tell myself I'm buying cheaply, but I may to put some of my raise into modest extra mortgage payments, since the return is guaranteed and about 40% better than investing in my 401(k) over the past year.
I'm still putting the odds of a true depression at more like 1/5, but perhaps an additional 1/5 for a deep and painful recession.
I have no investment advice to give. Despite my years of religiously watching CNBC's Dan Dorfman talk about puts and calls, I view anything other than long term investing suspiciously.
That said, I'd like to invest in a garden, but A) no space and B) wrong time of year. Sigh. (I might still get a little herb grow pot though.)
With an accounting degree and an MBA in finance, I should be the one giving advice. I don't think anyone has a clue on this one, though. Buy and hold is about all I can say now--although even that sounds bad when my lifetime returns from doing so are negative given the past decade's performance.
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