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The U.S. Justice Department is suing the National Association of Realtors for trying to price fix commissions on real estate. The NAR is trying to come up with a system that will make it legal to discriminate against buyers who use a discount real estate agent. Basically, the NAR wants to make it a criminal act to use discount real estate services. States all over the country are fighting over this issue. Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Utah have all passed laws in favor of the NAR’s position. Clark is appalled by this. Now, it doesn’t mean Clark doesn’t like real estate agents. Many agents have come up to him and asked why he is anti-agent, but that’s not it. In fact, he doesn’t think doing a FSBO is a good idea. He just doesn’t like the idea that state real estate boards and commissioners are trying to price fix and control the marketplace. Sure, every business owner would like to fix prices, but that’s not the way free enterprise works and it’s not fair. We’ll see how the court cases work out. But Clark wishes real estate agents spent more time trying to help people buy and sell homes instead of wooing members of Congress to pass these laws.

The average wedding today costs $27,000, but a lot of people are going the opposite way and having smaller scaled down weddings in destinations. It costs almost half what an average wedding costs. Did you know that no one had outlandish weddings until the 1970s? It was reserved mostly for royalty. But some people are spending up to $100,000 on their wedding. You need money to get started on your married life, so keep that in mind.

You’ve heard the news about Delta filing for Chapter 11, but what does it mean to you. Although most of the news has concerned the effect on individuals, Delta’s bankruptcy will also influence businesses. People just want to know what happens. So, Clark is here to tell you that nothing happens. Airlines have had a long history of seeking compensation and protection from bills when they file for bankruptcy. This is just another chapter. If you’re holding flights on Northwest or Delta, your flights are fine. The only caveat is that holiday travel can be severely disrupted when an airline files for bankruptcy. So, Thanksgiving and Christmas this year may be tough. It’s common for airlines to eliminate 15 to 20 percent of their aircraft when it happens. So Clark recommends reconfirming your schedule a month and then a week before you go. You should also break your addiction to using Delta’s and Northwest’s frequent flyer programs cards. You never know what could happen with these programs, so stop trying to earn miles. If you have miles, use them! Also, people are speculating that Delta could be absorbed by bankrupt Northwest. But that is pure speculation. Employees are going to get eaten alive. There will be paycuts and layoffs, just as there were at USAir and United. This is the unfortunate part. Employees always get hit the worst. But for consumers, it will simply mean better service. Just don’t buy into the speculation about buying stocks. The stocks are worthless, and that is just bad advice. Clark hopes the employees of the companies end up okay, but it’s going to be tough before it gets easy.

Gas prices shot up to $10 a gallon today in England. If you had a 40 gallon tank it would cost you $400. Well, some companies are combating rising gas prices. Toyota has decided to convert 100 percent of its vehicles to hybrids. The company did not announce a year for its goal, but Clark is sure it will happen. Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi are all working on hybrids as well. In the developed world, we’ve got to face facts that it’s a new era in terms of energy. American automakers are going to have to wake up or we are going to fall way behind. Two people on Clark’s staff now own scooters to combat rising gas prices. What are you doing?