with artifacts. this is actually where it all began, july 1954 elvis driving the truck and gets stopped by sun studios and records this record. this is his copy. this is the copy he had at home. it says 20 cents on it. those are the paycheck stubs. he was making $1 an hour. and training to become an electrician. yes he was. easy to fall back on. this is his pay stub. both from july. $1 an hour. from the electric company to hollywood. that is the script from jailhouse rock . there are iconic songs like jail house rock and the production is given credit for
heating up. there are lots of indicators saying we re doing better here in the united states, but they re doing better all over the world, and that means an increase in demand for commodities like copper, like gold, like silver, like oil. that pushes the prices up and affects inflation. let me give you a history of interest rates going back about 57 years. in july 1954, effectively the interest rate was 0.8%. take it up to june of 1981, the high point if any of you or your parents were getting mortgages back then, 19.1%. right now, april 2011, we re ba basically at 0.1%. add the fed rate and you ve got prime rate. you may be paying prime or more than that. interest rates are at historic lows right now, near zero, since december of 2008. you don t have to be a genius when you look at that chart to guess where they re headed next. so in this unfamiliar environment for many of you of
57 years. in july, 1954, the interest rate was 0.8%. june 1981, the high point, 19.1%. right now, april 2011, we re basically at 0.1%. these are the fed rates. add another 3% to that and you ve got prime rate. of course, you may be paying prime or more than that. interest rates are at historic lows right now. near zero since december of 2008. you don t have to be a genius when you look at that chart to guess where they re headed next. in this unfamiliar environment for many of you of rising interest rates, the old rules may not apply. doug flynn is a certified financial planner, a good friend of ours. let s talk about investment strategies to capitalize on the inevitable rising interest rates. let s start with people who are low risk. right. so most people are just