The Saturation Code

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has saturated most North American and European markets, says a report from Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) Finance, while its attempts to sink its claws into some other parts of the world have faltered. In Germany and Korea, it failed so drastically, it moved out. I remember when the giant came to my old home town in Ohio. The good folks of Jackson would have killed to be able to drive mom-and-pop-store killer away (not to mention the state's four-lane bypass around the town, but that's another story).

But Wal-Mart has more money than most of the civilized world put together, so they'll eventually get into every place they want, just as surely as health-care reform will not result in affordable health care. (Get off the health-care kick, Bob.) (Quit talking to myself.) (You.) (No, you.)

My query is: what happens when every place on the planet is infested with a Wal-Mart, big-box, discount-price store? I know I'm getting ahead of the problem, but you hear all the time--if you read financial news--that companies and Wall Street love it when stores beat their previous quarter, the previous year, the last decade. Stock prices go up. Fat cats convene in teak-tabled meeting rooms and chomp on big cigars. But if the prices go down, they decry the state of the world and call their brokers and shout, "Sell, sell, sell!"

Capitalism may not be the best way, but it's our way, and it's my way, and it works as well as it can, but what happens when saturation comes? How will companies squeeze more profits out of their turnips? Where do our heroes turn then?

Tune in next time for "The Wailing Wall of Wal-Mart" or "I ordered a fritata and they brought me an omelet."

Re-thinking insurance

Talked to an insurance salesman for Anthem today, and found out I'm not thinking about insurance in the right way.

I thought you had insurance to cover going to the doctor to keep you well and healthy, much like going to the dentist twice a year is to keep your teeth healthy. But apparently, that's wrong.

Health insurance can be looked on as a hedge against disaster. That's why the "affordable" programs that Anthem and others offer come with huge deductibles in order to get the premiums below $200. Still I laugh.

Remember that the government wants to sock us uninsured people with a $725 or so fine each year for not having insurance. Visions of medieval Europe's debtors prisons come to mind. Yoiks. And still that's cheaper than $2,400 a year for Anthem's low-cost offerings. But I did price insurance with another carrier earlier this summer, and with a $10,000 deductible, the premiums were only $60, and that, my fellow low end of the totem polers, is the same as the government penalty for not having insurance.

Of course, that being the case, it's likely that such an alternative will be disallowed under the insurance-inspired government plan. We shall see.

Oh glorious health care, wherefore art thou a luxury?

Health care ETFs (exchange traded funds) Health Care Select Sector SPDRS ETF (NYSE: XLV) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSE: VHT) rallied last week in the stock market. Maybe they know something the rest of us should know.

Congress has health-care reform on its platter this week, but with former lobbyists from companies like WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), one of the biggest health insurers in the country, on the panel helping write policy, can I get a show of hands from those who think that the poor uninsured citizen is uppermost on the minds of lawmakers. That's a rhetorical question, of course. I couldn't see your hands if you raised them.

Health-care reform or not: costs will rise
Then we get the just-in-time news that says the proposed changes in health care will make it raise 111% over a short number of years, as opposed to the 79% it would have done with no "reform." Wow. Anyone else impressed? Rhetorical again. I'm sure you all are aghast at both those numbers.

Health-care costs will go up anyway
But don't worry. The government says the nasty report was written by insurance interests, so naturally it kicked health-care reform in the teeth and tried to grind it into the dirt.

Now we have the government saying reform will lower costs, insurance companies saying they'll increase costs, and nobody really telling us poor blokes how we're supposed dig out another 10%-20% from our measly paychecks to pay for anything else.

Anthem's bid for your 'low-cost' health coverage dollar :D
Have you seen the new late-night commercials from Anthem, one of the Blue Cross Blue Shield companies? They're talking about some wonderful new affordable health care insurance, but they again have their heads somewhere besides where reality lives.

I checked out their offerings and they're the same or worse than any I've ever seen the past few years. The cheapest for a single male was $180 a month, with a $3,000 deductible! Holy freaking cow. Pardon my Dutch.

Okay, that was with zero co-pay. So if I'd do a 20% copay with a $500 deductible, the monthly bill was $235.

These numbers tell me it's far more sensible to pay for whatever medical care I need myself out of pocket, and if I can't afford, I just go broke or die fast.

At least this company covered mental health, because I'd have to be a bit deranged to think that was a good deal. What's going to stink is when the government decides to force me to buy some kind of insurance that does me no good because it's going to have a deductible that'll erase any hope of insurance ever paying for anything, unless I get catastrophically ill. So maybe the fine will be the cheapest way to go? I don't know. Probably not.

Clearly these dolts in Congress have no idea about the lives led by the people for whom they're writing their wondrous laws. My annual health needs could be paid for with the money they spend on a fundraising dinner, with enough left over to make up for the work I'd miss and any meds prescribed.

Want to tell your feelings to the people who can make a difference? Sort of. Your leaders in government. Find them here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Aloof walker syndrome

If two people walk by each other and do not acknowledge the other's presence, did their footsteps make any noise?

So, I'm walking as I do, four miles this morning, and I pass a woman and her dog--twice. Both times, I attempt to make eye contact and nod, but she does not look at me. If we were more than two feet apart when we passed, I would almost kind of maybe sorta understand. She's just a weak, defenseless female and I'm a big, burly, hairy-faced, muscle-headed...uh...writer.

Okay, so neither of those statements was true. She obviously wasn't weak. And if she were, her dog looked strong. And I'm not imposing in much of any way that I can tell. I smile and nod and walk away. Sometimes I say hi. But not to the back of your head.

Why do some people--either male or female--refuse to acknowledge another person's existence as they pass by, the only two people within dozens of yards of each other?

I really would like to know the thought process that goes on, because if I were to walk by somebody on an otherwise deserted sidewalk, I'd feel like one rude dude to ignore the passerby.

In a related situation, people walking on a track, for instance, might pass by each other many times during an outing. After the first acknowledgement--perhaps a nod, a wave, and a "howdy"--they need not go through the whole rigamarole again. The second time, maybe a smile and a nod. Third time, acknowledgement should be optional. No need overdoing it. I see you, already.

But the first time we pass, unless you're talking to someone else with you or on the phone, for instance, you really need to set my mind at ease and nod at me, if for no other reason so I'll know that I'm still there.

Variation on where's my glasses

Have you or have you known anyone who has looked for his eye glasses only to find they're on top of his head? Here's a variation on that theme.

One of the habits I have when walking into my apartment is to take everything out of my pockets and put it all on my desk. In this case, "everything" is usually wallet, keys, and telephone.

I have one of those leathery cell phone holders that attaches to a belt or pocket, but most of the time when driving, I'll take the phone out and let it rest in a compartment in the car in order to access it easily. Otherwise, it's covered by my seat belt, sometimes a shirt.

Being the absent-minded type, I often forget to pick up said phone at the end of the trip and won't realize it till I'm in the apartment and search the holder to lay it on the desk. In those cases, I make a hasty return to the car and retrieve the phone.

Okay, there's the set-up, now here's the funny bit.

Yesterday, I was almost home when the phone rang. I answered it and talked while I parked, exited the vehicle, and went inside, all the while talking on the phone. Once inside, I put the keys on the desk, dug my wallet out and laid it down, and then searched my cell phone holder. Empty. Drat. I turned to walk back to the car. I almost told the person I was talking to (on the phone) that I had left my phone in the car before realizing the obvious: I was talking on the phone.

Now, where are my glasses?