The Beginning.....

"The Beginning." Sounds reassuring doesn't it. Sort of like it doesn't matter what the past held. Today is a new day. 

I thought that maybe my first post should be about me and who I am and where I come from. My name in English is Anthony, although there are those who jokingly call me Antonio. Yes I'm sure you can see the link there, right. However there are those who have called me Gribble for years as well. Can't see the link there? Get's complicated from there going as far as being called Bob. But for the purposes of what to call me on here let's just go with Tone. 

I grew up in a place down in far western Victoria called Serviceton. You couldn't get any further west in Victoria either as we're right on the boarder with South Australia. My Dad owned a farm there and we made an alright living. Sadly Dad got cancer only shortly after I turned 18, (2003) while I was still doing year twelve. He died very early on in 2004. I was then left to take on the farm, with my Mum and my two siblings who were still going to school. Soon after in July of 2004 on my brother's birthday no less, my Mum died too. If it wasn't for our extended family there to help us we would not have made it as well as we did. 

I continued on the farm for seven to eight years providing for the three of us. Both my brother and my sister have left school and are setting themselves up in life and so it was time for me to do the same. I loved farming but I also knew there was more for me to find out about the world. So I have moved to Adelaide and bought a house. And I met the most beautiful woman you ever did see (the main reason I moved here), and finally living my dream of investing and loving it. 

There is a lot in my past that I wish had never happened. Though there are things I'm glad did happen. Our past is what led us to be who we are today. We know what we know now because of yesterday. We can't change the past but we can make choices that affect our future. Today is the Beginning of the rest of your life. That is what I said to myself when I finally decided to take the plunge and move here, and to take on the task of investing. Life is too short to waste, so get with the program and make it happen. 

It has slowly but surely come to my attention over the years, beginning with my Dad's interest in world affairs, all the way to now, that things are not what they seem. We're told one thing by those in power, when another is actually going on. Put simply we go chasing the dollar to make ends meet to pay off the mortgage and to try to live at the same time, while the banks and those behind the banks dictate how much we pay back in order to have what we have. The truth dear reader is they do their best to keep you from understanding that you have a great deal of power in how they will have to act. 

Just yesterday the RBA lowered the official cash rate by 0.50% to now be 3.75%. They held off from doing this for a while, but it seems they were wrong to hold off as now the economy is starting to show strain. Why did they drop it after all this time, and why now? 

Treasurer Wayne Swan has come out warning the big banks to pass on the full cut. Also saying to the Australian public that if the banks don't then it's time to start looking for better deals. And he's exactly right. You have the power to send a message to the banks that could sway them into doing what the should in the first place. You do have the power, but in a collective force. 

But it has had me thinking about this on a larger scale than just the banks. How about the formidable Reserve Bank of Australia. This is the big fish, the one that I believe most people think is too big to influence. Hmm..... I'll leave you to think that one through. And I will continue this tomorrow.