Michael Patrick Murphy’s Investment Rules
- Do not, I repeat, do not invest in people and companies you know nothing about. Most people do, not you.
- All markets are only worth what people think they are worth and most people aren’t too bright.
- Invest “emotion free” in what you know.
- Invest in goodness.
Interestingly, another tip is to try to use government fiat currencies less and less. These currencies are volatile and could easily become worthless. Learn how to trade your goods and services and have that knowledge weapon ready in your arsenal. There are many other ways of breaking my rules and ways of living by my rules. We’ll be exploring those together as this website develops.
This website is all about your fiscal and social independence. It’s about ethical survival.
Toyota! You Asked for It, You Got It!
"This isn't your daddy's Toyota!" A Toyota Prius was one of the worst investments in my life. Watch out for foreign hype! - Michael Patrick Murphy, 2nd of January, 2010
When Toyotas first came to America, you were promised a cheap car that wouldn't break down. They pretty much fulfilled that promise. So what if you could die in one more easily? They didn't promise you a long life now, did they?
Today, you get more than you bargained for—or should I say a lot less! Chances are that Toyotas are the "Found On Road Dead" car of the next decade; a title who's initials, F-O-R-D, used to represent the Ford Motor Company.
Today, like most large corporations in a "government bribable" society like ours, Toyota is the over promising and under delivering car of the century. With recalls up the yin-yang and astronomical repair costs, especially on hybrid battery replacements, one realizes that perhaps it is China's turn to try to be the next cheap sturdy car and that might not be a good thing in the long run. I seem to have enough trouble communicating with corporate America and the government it has bought and paid for. Imagine my dealing with a country who's language I can't speak and who's writing is even harder to decipher. In fact, were I there, I wouldn't be allowed to speak at all! In response, I'd love to say, "Buy American," but I can't. American corporations and their government are fast becoming a division of China, Inc. who's deep sea military is becoming an American financed nightmare in the making. I'd rather tell you to just walk to where you need to go. You might even feel better. Thank God for the advent of the home office. (I'm actually writing this from a very local coffee shop where the help goes to college and speaks English. One gal is actually planning on becoming an engineer, a drop in the bucket when compared to the engineers mass produced in China and India.) Anyway, sorry about that. I drifted yet again from my main point.
Toyota motor sales said, in a December 23, 2009 article by Irv Miller, "Toyota has a well-earned reputation for integrity and we will vigorously defend it." I wanted to leave a comment there, too. However, that would be impossible because the link to leave a comment didn't work. Smart for Toyota and yet another strike against their so called integrity, something Toyota has lost over the past few decades.
Toyota gets a lot of money into our political system through American dealership and other 'round about means. For starters, along with the other car companies, they got away with government mandated EPA mileage postings that were absurd. Yes, your mileage will vary! They also wield tremendous power with the press because they are one of the newspapers last big advertisers. What newspaper would dare bite too hard on the hand that feeds it.
For me, Toyota represents the "beast incarnate."
I bought a Prius in late 2002. It was very expensive but it was cool. I called it a green, green, green car. Green #1: It promised high mileage, albeit way less than the stated 50 plus miles to the gallon. I only averaged 42 mph the first few years and 39 thereafter based on its own over stating information screen which goes through a mile faster than the government posted roadside markers prove. Furthermore, it didn't seem to do best in the city as promised. It always got better mileage on the highway. Perhaps the battery was never any good? Green #2: It promised low emissions. Well, it passed the smog check in California, but beyond that, only the sky knows for sure. Green #3: The car was painted green.
The first set of recommended tires wore out at about 20,000 miles. Not good; not cheap; and not environmentally positive. Remember that worn-out tire yard smoldering somewhere in Westley, California and now one in Texas? The added expense further diminished fuel savings. I’ve been through many sets of tires. The car now has almost 140,000 miles. That’s about 6 plus sets of tires.
In 2007, the Prius broke down in the fast lane on a Los Angeles freeway due to a malfunctioning computer responding to a malfunctioning part. Fortunately, it just cost a few days stuck in LA as Toyota finally recognized the huge flaw and paid to fix it.
The Prius's built-in GPS navigational system asked me to do numerous “U-turns” on Highway 65 headed to Marysville and of course didn't’t even come with the current year’s neighborhoods added. If I obeyed, I would still be on Highway 65 doing u-turns 7 years later. The cost to replace the CD was $200 plus, more than it would cost to install a much better portable unit with hands free blue tooth service. What did I get? A $200 plus CD. Ripped off again!
This year the Prius's main hybrid battery failed. The service gal almost choked when she informed me that it could cost me over $4,000 to replace it and that Toyota wouldn't’t do a damn thing other than give me a one year / 12,000 mile warranty on a new one. Remember, this expense is at 139,000 miles and year 7.5. Again, not good, not cheap and not environmentally environmentally positive.
At about 90,000 miles I began to think about selling the car, I asked a Toyota staff how much it would cost to replace the battery if it went bad. He said about $800 and that he’d never heard of one going bad. In fact, a lot of them go bad. And now that the breed is reaching the 7 to 9 year mark and more of them are achieving the 140,000 mark, I think too many of us will learn that buying a hybrid, let alone a Toyota, was a very bad financial move and that we may not have done the environment much good either.
Toyota is hurting from numerous recalls and a declining dollar causing their parts and service prices to skyrocket. They must now pay the price which will ultimately cost them far more than the $4,000 they could have spent to appease this past customer. As more and more folks complain on PriusChat.com and other web sites, Toyota’s antiquated management may one day wake up to the fact that they are the piece of junk car of the next millennium. The chances that the big corporate wheels can respond to my petty complaint are almost nil. However, when we all speak out we have more than a snowball's chance in hell.
This brings us to a larger question.
What happens in an inflationary depression to corporations, like Toyota that already over promised and under delivered?
Most corporate CEO's are probably pretty out of touch with their bottom line folks and somewhat out of touch with the public in general. Perhaps they are too busy trying to get government bail-outs to protect their bonuses and pensions. One way or another, they are getting Joe Public to pay for their mistakes and misdeeds. Their old fashioned attitude is that they can simply market around all the bad news because most people won't ever hear it. After all, who reads newspapers anymore AND fewer folks pay attention to TV ads. In fact, there are so many silly ads out there that the public is getting more and more numb and angry as they turn to DVD's and the Internet for their entertainment. Let's face it. We're all getting a bit tired of being lied to by governments and large corporations no matter how under educated we've become. Corporate boards like Toyota's fail to realize how many people are seeking information from folks like me that got burned by folks like them. It's all over the Internet and just another reason why we're not listening to what's posted on their own websites. We know it's marketing hype and not to be trusted.
So how does Toyota "vigorously" fight back. They manipulate our government so that it will help them. They manipulate our media so that the bad news sinks to the bottom of our news diet. Don't our tax dollars indirectly go to help Toyota? What town doesn't want to have a Toyota plant employing its unemployed? What would that town do to win Toyota's business? How much of the town soul is sold-out?
Then there is corporate charity, one of the most deceptive forms of advertising there is. Of course you pay towards that charity every time you buy a car. In other words, Toyota gets all the credit for helping some needy cause while they decide what needy cause your money is going towards. Yes, its another form of socialism that the average American enables. We are after all, the most co-dependent people on the planet. Wouldn't you rather have a cheaper car and then decide what charity deserves your money?
What can you do about it?
I don't get much credit for the fact that I actually present answers to problems in most of my articles. So there! I touted my horn.
You are very, very powerful when you choose to use the force Luke! The Internet, until it becomes totally government controlled, is still a powerful mouth piece. Most people are still sheep, lemmings and ostriches, but you don't have to be one of them. You can go to sites and write your comments. When people find their spine and refuse to take the abuse from governments and corporations, a lot of good things can happen. Write your congressman. Call your state attorney general. Notify the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Reports. Tell all your friends or do like I did and paint it on your cars.
Most change starts with one person speaking truth to power. Governments and corporations are slow unwieldy arthritic beasts that usually exist because they bribe someone to protect them. If the general public is too entertained to get off the couch, then the price will be a ruthless totalitarian-corporate takeover of the planet. Basically, if you're too lazy to do anything about anything, they're offering to run it for you. They promise a free lunch without freedom. This is all up to you.
Can you fell the love?
Frankly, I love hanging with folks that have opinions and then take action. They are far more interesting and a real turn on. Why hang with boring people that watch TV all day? Most folks I run into are pacified by the modern TV gladiators. Join me and get a life. Let's make the world a better place. Rome does not have to fall a second time.
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Financial Reference Books
Banking and Investment Advice by Robert Page
Legal Services by Michael D. Tracy
Emergency Preparedness and Home Defense
Health & Self Defense
Dealiing with Government by Michael Patrick Murphy