With all the grim economic news swirling around, it is easy to get mired in the darkness of it all.
So let’s take a break and focus on 2 indicators that are dropping. One has been falling consistently for 60 straight days! Another one fell by 75% practically overnight! Sounds Bad!
Good News!
The first one is the price of gasoline. That number has been dropping steadily for 60 straight days. The national average is almost down to $2 per gallon. Reports today are putting the price at $2.09 per gallon. Now then, we should all be able to agree that gasoline prices near the $2 mark is a good thing. At least a silver lining….almost everyone gets to keep a little more of their money …this week.
Hurray!
However, we should save some of our pent up excitement for this next bit of news. OK, it’s not really an economic indicator, but it is an indicator. I consider it an indicator of good vs. evil, kind of a running ratio of good forces over evil forces.
Some of you know what I’m talking about — SPAM! Yes, that’s right, SPAM, as in unsolicited and unwelcome email about cheap watches, fake diplomas, software, and all the other sordid topics that find their way into our junk mail filters.
In one day, with the closure of a single hosting service, the incidence of spam email dropped an estimated 75% ! Correct….75%
That happened last Thursday, or actually it was probably Wednesday and we heard about it on Thursday. At any rate, I am going to consider the spam indicator at very nearly important as the price of gasoline. You know what I mean, and many people agree with me!
OK, not really as important as the price of gasoline…at least not the direct connection to the overall economy sense. But still, important.
I definitely saw an immediate decrease in the level of spam, and it is holding; I still have significantly less spam. In fact, it’s so low, I’m not sure where to buy my next fake designer watch!
Double Hurray!!!
One final thought -
if a single hosting company funneled 75% of the spam to US online users, and
if that was a known fact (as was reported in the media), and
if the problem was fixed practically overnight when two reputable (as reported in the media) companies cut off access to the internet for the offending gorilla of the spam world…
What in the world took so long?!?!
I wonder…
