Chris Grande - The Road Less Traveled - Latest Comments

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Chris Grande — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:28:07 -0000

Hi - I guess I wouldn't have any more luck than you would using Google. If that doesn't work, call the company. My wife called a company recently for a snack she liked and they helped her out finding the closest vendor. Otherwise, try mail order like Amazon - found this in a 5 second search (Amazon sells Hills Bros):

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb...

Good luck!

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Dgrassa — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:20:35 -0000

I live in Boston, I love Hills Bros. Coffee and use to purchase it through STAPLES . Can you help me find a store in Boston,MA that sells Hills Bros? 02124 - 02125 - 02149

Re: Looking for Yield?

Qingling Ni — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:45:20 -0000

Here you go, people didn't follow in today. A pretty good prediction :).

Re: Looking for Yield?

Chris Grande — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:55:37 -0000

You would think that people would see that weaker econ = central bankers will print = paper money down = gold up; but like in 08, worried people still go to bonds however, as I mentioned yesterday, some worried people are buying yield (pension payments still need to be paid!).

We'll have to watch to the end of this day to see if BTD (buy the dip) has any life. I was expecting a mini flash crash though in this market, today could be it. Or my idea was wrong and it could be the start of more pain. We really can't tell til something moves - prediction is a hard business:)

Re: Looking for Yield?

Qingling Ni — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:04:19 -0000

Great comments on how the market will behave these days in previous post. It has been seesawing because of the buy-on-dip crowd. Fundamentally, there is really no big bad news for people to be bearish. The slowdown of China's growth was expected. 10-day, 20-day MA are trending up. The trading volume is on the light side in general, so I was wondering if a lot of people are like me, still trying to figure out what all the economy news meant: factory orders down, service sector expands, the still weak housing market (not that I can tell from CA).

Small caps pullback is probably not a surprise since they had outperformed the market for a while. I am curious on how Gold will trend going forward after the big pullback.

Re: Overall Lame, But Market Still Likes Good News

Chris Grande — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:23:13 -0000

I agree- I think the market needs a "flash crash" to weed out some of the current worried crop of stock holders. But I can see a rally after a 6-10% correction (or 8-12% flash crash - the shorter the deeper and narrower). Today the market tried to fall but the "buy the dip' crowd is right on it - after indices barely fall 1% - tells me there are some EAGER people trying to buy (perhaps after missing the run up of the last 8 weeks).
Thanks for commenting!

Re: Overall Lame, But Market Still Likes Good News

Qingling — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:23:50 -0000

The fact that Dow is only flirting with 13,000 and can't break through indicates some "confidence" level investors have on the market. With all the money printing, all the money thrown into green energy projects, we didn't see the predicted job creation, and not enough money got into consumer's pockets to support their spending. Now, we have the drama for oil, another pinch to consumers, I feel the market is due for a correction.

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Chris Grande — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:26:17 -0000

that is a very neat bit of info - thanks for sharing! I'll have to update the post to mention your comment here. If you have other resources on the history of Hills, please forward as I occasionally get notes and requests.

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Bennetts54 — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:32:36 -0000

My grandfather , Richard Bennetts , is the man pictured in "Bean testing with a view by the Bay .

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Chris Grande — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:30:31 -0000

Hi Mike - thanks for reading my article. Too bad the article in SFGate that you're referring isn't about Hill Bros specifically but about a topic that's a bit more "caffeinated"

She would definitely be an interesting interview as the history of her family is quite intertwined with the history of SF

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Mikehosley — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:51:53 -0000

Yes, actually there's an article in the SFO paper today about one of the founders.

She would be interesting to interview, I'm sure, at 85 years old she would have an interesting point of view..

Re: Ron Paul Debate Highlights

Chris Grande — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:29:24 -0000

I agree - everything is rushed and the fact that he doesn't use soundbites, a fact that I appreciate, means people have to listen to him for real to get his points.

Re: Ron Paul Debate Highlights

Gregorou — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:59:36 -0000

I wish he had more time to explain himself. The problem with America today is the smart people aren't given the most acuurate information needed to make a solid conclusion. Ron Paul's platform, although simple, needs time to be fully explained. People who take the time to listen should see things from a less clouded stand point.

Re: 401(k) Loans Down But Hardship Withdrawals Up

utency — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:18:49 -0000

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Re: Interested in Starting Up a Business and Looking for Startup Events?

Harold Strong — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:45:40 -0000

Chris Grande great post, learned something, will visit your blog again, thank you for sharing this information

Re: Boomers – Feelin’ Young at 60

Chris Grande — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:44:30 -0000

Excellent ideas Bill - thanks!

Re: Boomers – Feelin’ Young at 60

RealEstateCafe — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:29:06 -0000

Chris,

As a 56 year old approaching my 35th reunion next year, I've discovered some resources your clients, particularly those who might have struggled during the recession, might find these three resources worthwhile:

1. Book recommendation: Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Second Half of Life
http://fallingupwardbook.com/v...
http://fallingupwardbook.com/s...

2. Book recommendation: Dreams for the Second Half of Life (forthcoming publication)
Author Rick Moody is the Director of Academic Affairs for AARP and offers "Second Acts" programs at reunions.

3. Site recommendation: http://Contemplageing.com
Robert Weber, who is on the Harvard Med School faculty, offers programs based on his website “Aging as a Natural Monastery: A Time for ContemplAgeing"

Bill

Re: Gold is “Not Money’ According to Ben Bernanke

Boston AL — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:08:14 -0000

I cannot determine if Mr. Bernanke has truly convinced himself that gold is not money or is if he is just saying this to convince US citizens (and the world) that it is true.

Either way, just because Mr. Bernanke says gold us not money dies not make it so.

I for one agree with Rand Paul. 6,000 years of human history is convincing evidence enough for me. That and the fact that central banks around the world still hold it as a 'currency' reserve!

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Chris Grande — Thu, 26 May 2011 14:13:38 -0000

Hi Virginia,

I can't help you with that but I'm sure a good Google search could. I just enjoyed the history of the firm in San Francisco but actually don't drink coffee myself:) By the way, it's available at Walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hill...

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Virginia — Wed, 25 May 2011 10:37:18 -0000

where can I buy Hills Bros Coffee in Western KY/ Specifically in 42301 or 42101 zip codes or nearby. My cousin brought mr a can of HB cofee and it is excellent. Now want to puchase without going to adjoining state. please help!!!

Re: Are You Prepared if You Live Too Long?

Unabomber — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:13:25 -0000

Am I prepared? I am prepared to move into my friend Chris Grande's basement if I live too long. Does that count?

Re: In SF (sort of) – Time to Think

Chris Grande — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:39:56 -0000

Hi David,

I think the banks will do anything to keep an existing loan "current" as writing off excessive amounts of underwater loans would expose the fact that many banks, without Federal reserve support, would be out of business. Many are technically bankrupt but as long as they don't have to recognize losses, and can borrow money from the Fed at 0.25% & then buy bonds yielding 3% (imagine doing that with $1Billion! - nice spread), they are rebuilding their cash balances, ie equity.

Of course that game comes at the expense of savers, because in order to do this, the Fed must keep short term rates low, and millions of savers then earn ZERO on bank accounts and next to ZERO on CD's etc. Effectively, the people are bailing out the financial institutions all over again in a separate way - cost to savers = >$250B/year I would guess if not much higher.

And the corollary is that they do not want to lend any new money while they can make their losses back with this Fed-approved racket.

Stinks I know...

Chris

Re: In SF (sort of) – Time to Think

David Mayeda — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:23:58 -0000

Hey Chris,

Why don't you explain to the American people that if your house is in debt to a banking institution, they will be happy to give you a refinance an at even a better rate then you already have.

But, I own a rental home, paid for free and clear but my bank won't give me a loan for one thin dime. So what they don't teach you in school is you have to go in debt to make money?

The is the moral of the story, not to use your own money if you want to keep the economy moving.

I'm listening,

David Mayeda

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Chris Grande — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:11:07 -0000

thanks Phil! it was fun to do that article. I hope to do more - it was a nice distraction from my work:)

Chris

Re: The History of Hills Brothers Coffee – And The Vacuum Seal Mystery

Phil McGrew — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:34:17 -0000

Thanks for all of the time it took to research and write this fascninating post! I live a couple blocks away from this building and wanted to learn a bit about its history. Also, I can now stop looking for the beach in South Beach!