June 2009

Sometimes it Takes a Woman...

Father Alberto Cutie, center, talks to reporters during a news conference at the Trinity Cathedral in Miami, Thursday, May 28, 2009. Cutie, a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, has become a member of the Episcopal Church and will pursue the priesthood. The popular Miami priest and media personality says he is leaving the Catholic Church and joining the Episcopal church after he was photographed cavorting on the beach with his girlfriend. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

June 1, 2009

Starting the month off with a bang.  I will probably add some more stocks in a few days.  A friend sent me some information on an investment advisor.  They actually sound pretty good:

So, how can your portfolio benefit from BLW Market Track?

• BLW Market Track will identify the current phase of the business cycle so we'll know where the risk and potential returns are in the market. Now we can anticipate changes in trendsbefore they happen.
• Your portfolio will change slowly over time because risk and reward relationships change slowly over time. In other words, your portfolio will be dynamic because risk is dynamic.
• Since BLW Market Track considers the entire investment universe, your portfolio will be significantly more diversified than what most professionals recommend. BLW Market Track considers US and emerging market stocks, precious metals, real estate, commodities, bonds and currencies as well as other asset classes with a low correlation to the domestic equity markets.

Makes sense to me.  I just wonder if they can pull it off.  The file is definitely worth reading.

June 5, 2009

Big swings in the market this week.  I put more money into the market on Tuesday, only to have a big down day on Wednesday.  Thursday was a rebound, while Friday was quiet.  Still, in spite of being half cash on the best day, Monday, the account is up over 2% this week.  I should not complain, but I still do.  Small caps did very well this week - up 6%.  It is easy to see why some people just trade the small cap index exclusively.  

Meanwhile, in Egypt, Obama saw an ancient image that looks like him:

Watch on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INAeRY15_Vs

June 16, 2009

Big drop yesterday.  Mostly I got stopped out, and am now back to where I was before I put money into the market in April this year.  Not good.  There is definitely something wrong with taking such a huge drop in just a couple of days, and partly it is the nature of this volatile market.  Partly it is that the systems tend to be more volatile than the averages, but usually this works both ways - they go up more as well as down more.  Not true this time.  

July 30, 2009

Still out of the market.  Things are not encouraging today.

Our President has nice words to say about gay rights, but nothing substantive has been done.  I remember great hopes when JFK was elected.  He did not do anything of any substance on racial integration, and even asked people to stop demonstrating so that he could represent a united country when he met with the Russians.  We were not united, of course, and people did not heed his request.  

I really pity a gay person growing up in an anti-gay, religious household.  That sort of religion is child abuse.  Besides, just look at the interview with the pastor who did an exorcism on a gay teen.  That stuff should be grounds for hauling her away to jail, but religion, the last bastion of stupidity, ignorance, and bigotry, is protected.  This stuff is really painful to watch.

Religion at Work