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These Are the Best Baseball Cards to Invest In

January 20, 2020 by Mark Whittington Leave a Comment

“Three baseball cards stand apart as the unquestioned most iconic pieces of cardboard ever printed: the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, the first card whose print run was cut short and whose value soared into the millions; the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie, the true beginning of baseball cards as a piece of Americana; and the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie, the No. 1 card in the first card set that signaled the beginning of baseball cards as an investment.” – Darren Rovell | ESPN Senior Writer | July 25, 2016


 

Update!: Buy Lamar Jackson Rookie Cards until further notice. This kid as an absolute stud and is our pick to win the NFL MVP, Super Bowl, and Super Bowl MVP… BOOM goes the dynamite!

Update II: Buy Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards until further notice. If he wins the Superbowl his rookie card values with skyrocket to the moon and back! Some of the better Mahomes rookie cards include the Panini Prizm and National Treasures.

 

1909 T206 Honus Wagner

These Are the Best Baseball Cards to Invest In

The 1909 T206 Honus Wagner is the Holy Grail of all trading cards.

Card Number: 497 | Year: 1909 | Set Name: T206 1909 White Borders (Piedmont & Sweet Caporal)

PSA 8 – Average Price: $2,800,000.00

T206 Ty Cobb also provides great value!


1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie

Not the official Mantle rookie card BUT still the most recognizable sportscard in the entire hobby and the anchor of the most important post-war set in existence.

Card Number: 311 | Year: 1952 | Set Name: 1952 Topps Card

PSA 9 – Average Price: $282,588.00


1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie

1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie

Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the best all-around players in baseball history and this card is without a doubt one of the most symbolic cards of the modern era.

Card Number: 1 | Year: 1989 | Set Name: 1989 Upper Deck

PSA 10 – Average Price: $343.39

Sources

  1. Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame exhibit lacks 1989 Upper Deck card
  2. 1909 White Borders (Piedmont & Sweet Caporal) Wagner (Honus) #497 (Hall of Fame)
  3. 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 (Hall of Fame)
  4. 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #1 (Hall of Fame)
  5. HONUS WAGNER – 1909-1911 T206 WHITE BORDER
  6. MICKEY MANTLE – 1952 TOPPS
  7. KEN GRIFFEY JR. (STAR ROOKIE) – 1989 UPPER DECK

Credit Cards for Big Spenders: It’s All about the Rewards Points

May 11, 2016 by Mark Whittington Leave a Comment

When choosing a credit card for a big spender, we have to first understand what a big spender is. For some people it could be anyone who charges $10,000 or more on a credit card in a single year. However, Jason Steele, who writes for the Points Guy blog, sets the lower limit at $100,000 a year. Only a couple of types of people fit into that category.

The first type of person who can spend that lavishly on a credit card is someone who is well to do, who makes at least a six-figure income. The rich, or the one percent, as some call them, are not likely to get into trouble with credit card debt.

The other type of person who can charge a lot of money on a credit card with some measure of impunity is someone who charges business expenses on their personal card and then gets reimbursed. He or she either works for a big company that allows that sort of arrangement or owns a small business.

The reason for charging a lot of money on a credit card is all about getting rewards points, especially if you travel a lot for business, since some awards are based on airline miles. A lot of credit cards, especially the premium, high-end ones, will give a lot of points for big spenders that can be used for air travel, car rentals, hotel stays, meals, and other expenses.

Whether you travel a lot for business or like to take trips for pleasure, this feature can be attractive. Of course, some cards limit their points to certain corporate partners. Some cards offer bonuses for new cardholders and for spending a set amount in a limited time period.

Many savvy, well-to-do travelers use several cards to maximize the places where they can use their points.

The Points Guy lists a number of cards along with how they award points, with restrictions and signup bonuses. These are:

  • The Platinum Card from American Express
  • The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN
  • Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express
  • Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express
  • American Express Centurion Card
  • Citi Prestige Card
  • Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard

Which cards you decide to use for a big spending strategy will depend on what kind of rewards are most valuable to you. Pay close attention to credit cards that offer the most miles-based rewards, the better to get upgrades and other perks. Remember, these kinds of premium credit cards charge higher than the kind of fees you are used to for your standard bank Visa or American Express.

Best Cash Back Credit Cards: Chase Freedom vs. Discover IT 2016

May 4, 2016 by Mark Whittington Leave a Comment

As any savvy consumer knows, credit cards are not created equally.  Those little features that banks and credit card companies offer can make a big difference.

Herein, let us compare Chase Freedom Unlimited with Discover It.

chase freedom vs Discover IT

Rewards

Discover offers an incentive for new card holders that matches dollar for dollar on their cash rewards for the first year. It offers 5 percent cash back for certain categories that change every quarter and 1 percent for all other purchases. You can redeem your cash back reward at any time for any amount, and your rewards never expire. Discover also offers a unique feature in which you can apply your cash back rewards on a purchase at Amazon.com at checkout.

Chase offers a 1.5 percent cash back award on all purchases. Like Discover, you can redeem your cash back balance at any time and for any amount, and they do not expire. Chase will give you $150 bonus if you spend $500 during the first three months. You can also get a $25 bonus when you sign up your first authorized user, a spouse for example, and make a purchase within the same three months.

Rates and fees

Neither Discover nor Chase charge an annual fee, nor do they assess an over-limit fee. Discover does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

A late payment from your Discover Card will not raise your APR. The first late payment will not result in a fee.

Chase has a zero percent APR for the first 15 months for purchases or balance transfers. After that, it will assess a 14.24 percent, 19.24 percent, or 23.24 percent APR  Discover also has a zero percent APR for the first year, then assesses an 11.24 percent to 23.24 percent APR.

Security

Both Discover and Chase offer fraud protection, which means that you would not be liable for an unauthorized purchase. They both offer free overnight shipping for a card replacement. Discover has a unique feature that allows you to freeze your account if your card is lost or stolen. Discover will also alert you by text, phone call, or email when it detects a suspicious purchase.  Chase has a chip-based system that provides security when read by a chip card reader.

Services

Discover prints out your credit score on your monthly statement. Discover’s customer service is based in the United States and is available 24/7. You can pay your bill up to midnight Eastern Time on the day it is due.

Chase offers a rental car collision damage waiver feature. This means that when you rent a car with the Chase Freedom card you can decline the insurance the rental car company offers. You will be covered for collision damage or theft for most cars rented in the United States, but the coverage will be secondary to your personal car insurance.

Bottom Line

Both cards have some attractive features. Chase would seem to have the edge if you intend to make some major purchases from the start. The rental car insurance option is also attractive. On the other hand, Discover has a service edge with domestic call centers and the instant account suspension feature.

Blue Dot Intends To Exploit A Hitherto Underutilized Resource

April 27, 2016 by Mark Whittington Leave a Comment

While Naveen Jain is best known for helping to start Moon Express, the first company that proposes to make money by mining the moon, he made his fortunate during the Dot.Com boom in Silicon Valley and then Seattle, working for a number of companies before founding a number of his own. Now, with the lunar mining company aiming for its first expedition to the lunar surface in late 2017 as part of the Google Lunar X-Prize, Jain is returning his attention to Earth with a new startup called Blue Dot, inspired by the late Carl Sagan’s description of our planet as “the Pale Blue Dot.”

According to CNBC, Blue Dot intends to exploit a hitherto underutilized resource, that being the science and technology research conducted by the United States government. The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars every year on research and development. Some of the results of the research wind up in the private sector; NASA is forever touting the “spinoffs” generated by its various activities. But, all too often, the products of the R&D sit on the shelf, not quite ready for commercial use.

Blue Dot proposes to find promising technologies that the government has developed, license them, form companies around them, and try to create usable products. The research facilities would be granted royalties should the businesses pan out.

Jain is interested in developing products that will not only make money but will help people, a philosophy of doing well by doing good. Jain explains a couple of promising technologies that the company is looking at.

“Blue Dot is working on a variety of projects, including a way to harvest ambient energy to create a wireless charger. That would enable an entire new field of medical devices that are held back by batteries and charging cords today. Another is a small handheld device that uses non-invasive technologies, like ultrasound, to identify bacterial and viral pathogens in the human body. It could be used to make early diagnoses of Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases.”

The wireless charger sounds like it would be a boon to anyone with a handheld device, such as a smart phone or a tablet. The medical device sounds as if it would work like Dr. McCoy’s medical tricorder from “Star Trek.”

While these and no doubt other ideas are technology “moon shots,” Jain is not neglecting his real moon shot enterprise.

“We just made history as the first private space company to submit a payload application to the FAA for a space mission to the moon in 2017. Up until now, only government missions have ever ventured to the moon and beyond-Earth destinations. This is an interim arrangement allowing us to execute our business plan under U.S. law and the Outer Space Treaty.

“In December, the company won the launch contract from Google Lunar XPRIZE to land an unmanned aircraft on the moon, travel across its surface, and send high-definition images and video back to Earth by 2017. We’re planning three missions using our company’s robotic MX-1E lunar lander on the Rocket Lab USA’s Electron rocket, from either New Zealand or the U.S. During those missions we will explore for minerals and rare elements.

“Our ultimate goal is to be the first private company to unlock the vast hidden resources on the moon—everything from magnesium to platinum and helium-3—and develop a space colony there. These valuable minerals can be used to sustain the world’s booming population. For example, helium-3 is highly sought for nuclear fusion, and though the technology is still in its infancy, the element could serve to power the Earth.”

Technology has the power to change the world and beyond.

How To Deal With A Minimum Wage Hike

April 20, 2016 by Mark Whittington Leave a Comment

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour has become a cause celebre among the progressive left. A number of cities, such as Seattle, San Francisco, and others, have already enacted these increases recently, to be phased in over several years. California has passed the first state-wide minimum wage hike to $15 an hour, with a number of other states, including New York and Massachusetts, considering following suit. Both Democratic presidential candidates are on record for supporting a federal hike to $15 an hour, though Hillary Clinton’s position has evolved from favoring $12 an hour to match that of Bernie Sanders.

The argument that an arbitrary increase of that magnitude is a job killer has thus far fallen on deaf ears. Proponents of the $15 minimum wage maintain that workers need a “living wage,” no matter what the market will bear.

The effects of the California statewide hike, even though it will not be entirely phased in for a few years, are already becoming apparent. The Los Angeles Times reported that the California apparel industry, which had been undergoing something of a revival, is starting to leave the state en masse. While many garment manufacturers will head south of the border, others will relocate to lower-wage states, such as New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas.

Another industry that is being affected by the drive to increase the minimum wage is fast food. McDonald’s, for example, is already rolling out automatic kiosks to order food and drinks. A company called Momentum Machineshas developed a machine that churns out made-to-order burgers with minimum human intervention. The raw ingredients go in one end, and the finished burgers go out the other at 400 an hour. The company intends to open its own restaurants and sell its technology to third-party vendors.

However, if you’re in an industry that is not as susceptible to automation or outsourcing, you may be forced to cut staff, raise prices, or even close down. The politicians who are so keen to force businesses to pay their workers a “living wage” are not aware of the narrow profit margins that most small businesses operate under. Many low-income, low-skill workers will sooner or later find that their wages will be zero dollars an hour.

That doesn’t mean that you don’t have options if politicians suddenly increase your labor costs by 50 to 100 percent.

When San Francisco increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour, Borderlands Books, a science fiction bookstore located in the Mission District, concluded that it would have to shut its doors. It could not operate with fewer staff than it was employing, and since the price of books is set by publishers, it could not hike prices.

Taking a suggestion from a customer, store owner Alan Beatts began to offer memberships for his store at $100 per year in exchange for a number of special perks. He calculated that if he could sell 100 memberships, he could stay open for a year. He shattered his goal by selling 449 memberships and was able to stay open.

Forbes offered some more generic ways to deal with a minimum wage increase. Two basic strategies exist.

“The first: reanalyze the components of your labor costs. Labor costs include not just wages and benefits but also the cost of hiring, training, firing when necessary, and day-to-day supervision. There are usually significant tradeoffs among these different elements, and companies in some industries can choose very different labor-cost strategies.”

For example, if a business is more generous with wages and benefits, it will retain employees longer, cutting down on turnover, hiring, and training costs.

“The second strategy: get your employees on board. Begin educating them on what those higher costs mean for the business. Engage them in figuring out how to boost sales, increase efficiency, and grow profits—and then share the improved profits with your employees.”

The trick is to listen and put into effect the best suggestions, perhaps providing a financial incentive for employees to devise cost-saving strategies.

Neither of these strategies is perfect or applicable in all situations. But they constitute a better alternative than closing your doors and should at least be tried.

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