As usual, I generally jump in a few days early. Or maybe many days early, or maybe it was simply a horrid choice.
I think I was just a little early. Apple stayed around 190 for a couple days after my purchase and then has since had a 3 day tank-fest and is down around 181 now. I'm not worried at all though, and I actually bought a bit more at the better price.
According to all the reports, holiday spending is up, and according to all the reports Apple spend is particularly up. Add to that the VERY favorable method of accounting that is being done for the iPhone and I cannot see a big boost to Apple during next year.
God bless you all!
Try to love more today than you did yesterday!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
All in on Apple
I decided after several days of thinking to go with a call spread on Apple. I bought the 170 calls for 2009 and sold the 210 calls for 2009.
Essentially if Apple ends at least 188, then I break even. If it goes to 210 or higher, I double my money.
It seemed like a pretty sure chance, so I went in with 25% of my total money! Far more than I would recommend someone do, but I did :) If I lose, the rest of my money should break me even on the year, so I'm fine :)
God bless!
Essentially if Apple ends at least 188, then I break even. If it goes to 210 or higher, I double my money.
It seemed like a pretty sure chance, so I went in with 25% of my total money! Far more than I would recommend someone do, but I did :) If I lose, the rest of my money should break me even on the year, so I'm fine :)
God bless!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
House!
We did get the house! Now I don't want it :) Just kidding it is really a terrific house!
This is our last day in our current dwelling, tomorrow we go on the road for 2 months.
The stocks are holding well. I'm up a little bit more each day. For some reason I don't like that though :) I like some volatility in there!
God Bless!
This is our last day in our current dwelling, tomorrow we go on the road for 2 months.
The stocks are holding well. I'm up a little bit more each day. For some reason I don't like that though :) I like some volatility in there!
God Bless!
Monday, December 3, 2007
New house?
We should close on our new house this week.
Normally it is "will close", but we still have a couple pieces of paperwork that have been requested, so I'm still slightly trepidatious about it. We have a really abbreviated schedule, so we have been hustling the entire time.
The stocks are doing well, which is nice :)
We are leaving at the end of the week for 2 months in Seattle, Oregon, and Grand Junction. Yes, we are going from the fairly warm Atlanta to the very cold areas. Hopefully, I can get some skiing in :)
God Bless!
Normally it is "will close", but we still have a couple pieces of paperwork that have been requested, so I'm still slightly trepidatious about it. We have a really abbreviated schedule, so we have been hustling the entire time.
The stocks are doing well, which is nice :)
We are leaving at the end of the week for 2 months in Seattle, Oregon, and Grand Junction. Yes, we are going from the fairly warm Atlanta to the very cold areas. Hopefully, I can get some skiing in :)
God Bless!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
New York was nice.
New York was nice. We stayed right near Time Square.
I really liked how well placed everything was. It was really easy to get around.
The stocks are also rebounding quite well. So well, of course, that I sold several things that continued to go much higher up :)
God bless!
I really liked how well placed everything was. It was really easy to get around.
The stocks are also rebounding quite well. So well, of course, that I sold several things that continued to go much higher up :)
God bless!
Monday, November 19, 2007
New York Week
I travel to New York this week and I'm going to try to work hard and hang out with my wife in equal measure. I sometimes have trouble with that, but here's hoping.
My stocks did terribly in the month of November thus far, however now is a new option month so that always gives way to additional profit potential. Citigroup was severely downgraded this morning though, and that bodes very poorly for it unfortunately, and I have a ton of it :(
God Bless!
My stocks did terribly in the month of November thus far, however now is a new option month so that always gives way to additional profit potential. Citigroup was severely downgraded this morning though, and that bodes very poorly for it unfortunately, and I have a ton of it :(
God Bless!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Enhancing!
I'm really working on enhancing a variety of areas of my life. Serving God, my marriage, work, and working out.
I've been making strides in serving God. I've started a few things that I intend to continue for a long while!
My marriage is going well, but I think I will put renewed focus on helping Stacie and really being a servant to her. This is the area that I'm going to focus on and an area of weakness for me.
My work is going well and I'm really enjoying the type of work I'm doing.
Working out is going well and I started doing 30 minutes of cardio on days where I don't have sore legs. 2 times this week :)
God bless!
I've been making strides in serving God. I've started a few things that I intend to continue for a long while!
My marriage is going well, but I think I will put renewed focus on helping Stacie and really being a servant to her. This is the area that I'm going to focus on and an area of weakness for me.
My work is going well and I'm really enjoying the type of work I'm doing.
Working out is going well and I started doing 30 minutes of cardio on days where I don't have sore legs. 2 times this week :)
God bless!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Flying high!
The stocks are all flying high over the last 2 days. I'm not back to where I had been prior to my preemptive call on "go financials", but I'm close. I feel good about the fact that I did come close to picking the bottom. Of course, I was still off by about 20% over 7 days, so close is no cigar!
I, honestly, think in the future I will always hold off for one day on when I think it is time to bargain hunt. If I had done that this time, and still bought just one day after I would have avoided a lot of short term loss.
In other high flying news, my wife and I put down an offer on a house in Atlanta yesterday. I'm very hopeful that they will take it. If not, we are only prepared to up the offer very slightly. If we don't get this house, there are another 125,000 for sale in Atlanta, so we'll just have to wait a bit :)
God Bless!
I, honestly, think in the future I will always hold off for one day on when I think it is time to bargain hunt. If I had done that this time, and still bought just one day after I would have avoided a lot of short term loss.
In other high flying news, my wife and I put down an offer on a house in Atlanta yesterday. I'm very hopeful that they will take it. If not, we are only prepared to up the offer very slightly. If we don't get this house, there are another 125,000 for sale in Atlanta, so we'll just have to wait a bit :)
God Bless!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Working hard on the new deal
I've gotten a nice new business deal going and I really enjoy the work and it is going to be phenomenal!
In other news, the stocks are doing well today, SO FAR. Will we have the late day plummet? Hopefully not. I don't think so. I was telling my wife yesterday that generally when something happens several days in a row, it probably won't happen for a while since the smart money is now working against the dumb money.
Anyway, my portfolio is up nicely thus far, we'll see if it holds :)
God Bless!
In other news, the stocks are doing well today, SO FAR. Will we have the late day plummet? Hopefully not. I don't think so. I was telling my wife yesterday that generally when something happens several days in a row, it probably won't happen for a while since the smart money is now working against the dumb money.
Anyway, my portfolio is up nicely thus far, we'll see if it holds :)
God Bless!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Yes, I did act too soon!
The financial stocks all fell by 10% or so from the point that I entered. Ouch.
Still, I like them for the long term and even within the next couple months I think they will show themselves to be good picks.
I just entered a couple days early.
In other news, my wife and I are buying a house in Georgia!
And, the biggest news: I started a daily Bible reading schedule today :)
God bless!
Still, I like them for the long term and even within the next couple months I think they will show themselves to be good picks.
I just entered a couple days early.
In other news, my wife and I are buying a house in Georgia!
And, the biggest news: I started a daily Bible reading schedule today :)
God bless!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Financial Stocks, did I act too soon?
I decided to load up on Citibank and Bank of America yesterday and today. Today they went down by 5% or so each :( So, I added more :)
Did I move too early? I think that it may hurt my earnings in the short run, but long term, I think these are 2 juggernauts that will be around for a long time, so picking them up at this level should bear fruit over time at least.
They may have more downside, but the POSSIBLE down is pretty minimal and the POSSIBLE up is much more substantial.
So, I'll be patient and write calls and such to get back any money lost and earn income on these :)
God Bless!
Did I move too early? I think that it may hurt my earnings in the short run, but long term, I think these are 2 juggernauts that will be around for a long time, so picking them up at this level should bear fruit over time at least.
They may have more downside, but the POSSIBLE down is pretty minimal and the POSSIBLE up is much more substantial.
So, I'll be patient and write calls and such to get back any money lost and earn income on these :)
God Bless!
New Start for November
I'm going to work on a new large deal in November. I will be going to Oregon next week. If it goes through then I think my investment business will leap forward quickly. When it begins. The government seems to have a habit of delaying/losing forms :(
We also go to phase 2 of the membership class with our Church over the weekend, so that will be great.
And, it is looking likely that my wife is Pregnant. Which is something we have been working on for a while, so if it holds true it will be great cause for celebration!
God Bless!
We also go to phase 2 of the membership class with our Church over the weekend, so that will be great.
And, it is looking likely that my wife is Pregnant. Which is something we have been working on for a while, so if it holds true it will be great cause for celebration!
God Bless!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Eating too much :(
The last couple days I have majorly dropped off my diet and started eating way too much. And, most of what I've been eating have been sugar-heavy, so I feel terrible today. Hopefully I have re-learned my lesson and will get back on the healthy eating.
I will probably do a couple purchases today if for no other reason than the probable up-swing caused by the Fed meeting.
God bless!
I will probably do a couple purchases today if for no other reason than the probable up-swing caused by the Fed meeting.
God bless!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Atlanta.
My wife and I have decided that we will be staying in Atlanta long term. This is good, I believe, as we have found a very good Church and are really get involved with it!
The environment in Atlanta is just a lot more "conservative" than Southern California.
In stock news, I added a small position in Amazon.
God Bless!
The environment in Atlanta is just a lot more "conservative" than Southern California.
In stock news, I added a small position in Amazon.
God Bless!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Pretty solid on Thurs
I worked reasonably on Thursday, although I did take a couple hours off to play a game with my personal trainer.
Good stock happenings this week! 4 for 4 on stock picks! Yesterday, I sold puts WAY out of the money and sold calls WAY out of the money. I bought the calls back 2 minutes before close for $600 instant profit. The puts are nearly worthless now, but I'll just hold them to expiration unless I somehow need the trading capital since there is 0% chance that they could expire in the money.
This morning my wife and I created a spreadsheet of the top 10 places we would want to live long term. We then assigned 34 categories to compare them by and rated them from 1 (best in category) to 10 (worst in category) in each. We then weighted each of the categories from 1 (less important) to 5 (very important).
Based on that, we then eliminated the bottom 6 since we were certain that we didn't want them over the top 4.
The top four was Atlanta (where we currently reside), Portland, Seattle, and Yorba Linda (where our most recent house is).
She had to go to the DMV so we'll discuss more and try to come to a decision soon :)
God Bless!
Good stock happenings this week! 4 for 4 on stock picks! Yesterday, I sold puts WAY out of the money and sold calls WAY out of the money. I bought the calls back 2 minutes before close for $600 instant profit. The puts are nearly worthless now, but I'll just hold them to expiration unless I somehow need the trading capital since there is 0% chance that they could expire in the money.
This morning my wife and I created a spreadsheet of the top 10 places we would want to live long term. We then assigned 34 categories to compare them by and rated them from 1 (best in category) to 10 (worst in category) in each. We then weighted each of the categories from 1 (less important) to 5 (very important).
Based on that, we then eliminated the bottom 6 since we were certain that we didn't want them over the top 4.
The top four was Atlanta (where we currently reside), Portland, Seattle, and Yorba Linda (where our most recent house is).
She had to go to the DMV so we'll discuss more and try to come to a decision soon :)
God Bless!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
3 for 3!
3 straight productive days and 3 straight days of good stock picks.
That's good :)
Today, I'm looking at BIDU but I will likely remain on the sidelines as it could easily go up or down 25%+ which is a little too much volatility for me. And, it could stay in a 10% range, thereby making the buy of both put and call risky also with their mammoth premiums.
But, I'll watch and see if there is something that has a reasonably return for the risk.
God Bless!
That's good :)
Today, I'm looking at BIDU but I will likely remain on the sidelines as it could easily go up or down 25%+ which is a little too much volatility for me. And, it could stay in a 10% range, thereby making the buy of both put and call risky also with their mammoth premiums.
But, I'll watch and see if there is something that has a reasonably return for the risk.
God Bless!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The streak is on!
Two days in a row being highly productive. I'm liking it :)
I will keep it up for a while!
Things are going well. I made some small but very productive trades betting that Amazon wouldn't go up more than 25% more :)
Life is good!
God Bless!
I will keep it up for a while!
Things are going well. I made some small but very productive trades betting that Amazon wouldn't go up more than 25% more :)
Life is good!
God Bless!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
100%
I was perfectly productive yesterday! That is one day in a row now and I plan to continue the trend.
I did a Bear Call on Apple at 200. I was expecting a great quarter, but I thought that an additional 15% increase after Apple is already up 25% in the last month was going to be hard to do regardless. Thus far it is up to around $187. There is nothing major on the horizon and there are a lot of negative economic indicators out there, so I feel reasonably comfortable. Still, if I can trade out the trade for the Bear Call at 210, I will do so.
Other than that, I sold out of my positions yesterday. I am a major Bull at all times, but the last 2 months the market has been flying high during which the Federal Reserve and others keep saying that the lending crisis still exists. So, one of those eggs has to crack and I don't want to own a bunch of 50+ P/E companies when that happens. So, I'm focusing the buying I do on those companies that are higher value and lower P/E since they will have a lot less extra "hype" to drop off if something does happen.
And if nothing happens? I'm even happier, since I hate negative economic situations :) And, I will keep nibbling with bull-put selling to keep my profits flowing slowly but surely.
God Bless!
I did a Bear Call on Apple at 200. I was expecting a great quarter, but I thought that an additional 15% increase after Apple is already up 25% in the last month was going to be hard to do regardless. Thus far it is up to around $187. There is nothing major on the horizon and there are a lot of negative economic indicators out there, so I feel reasonably comfortable. Still, if I can trade out the trade for the Bear Call at 210, I will do so.
Other than that, I sold out of my positions yesterday. I am a major Bull at all times, but the last 2 months the market has been flying high during which the Federal Reserve and others keep saying that the lending crisis still exists. So, one of those eggs has to crack and I don't want to own a bunch of 50+ P/E companies when that happens. So, I'm focusing the buying I do on those companies that are higher value and lower P/E since they will have a lot less extra "hype" to drop off if something does happen.
And if nothing happens? I'm even happier, since I hate negative economic situations :) And, I will keep nibbling with bull-put selling to keep my profits flowing slowly but surely.
God Bless!
Monday, October 22, 2007
1%
One percent is about how much effort I put into life over the past 2 months :(
I have told my men's discipleship group to hold me accountable for my time this week, so hopefully I don't disappoint!
The option period ended with a horrid downturn for me. I lost $5,000 or so on Friday. I was still up for the month, but it was a pretty negative day!
This month I have a bunch of Goldman Sachs shares. I will liquidate some of them and then hold the rest for an upturn.
The economic indicators are looking pretty negative right now, so I won't get overly risky right now.
God Bless!
I have told my men's discipleship group to hold me accountable for my time this week, so hopefully I don't disappoint!
The option period ended with a horrid downturn for me. I lost $5,000 or so on Friday. I was still up for the month, but it was a pretty negative day!
This month I have a bunch of Goldman Sachs shares. I will liquidate some of them and then hold the rest for an upturn.
The economic indicators are looking pretty negative right now, so I won't get overly risky right now.
God Bless!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Back in the saddle
After doing very little productive since Wednesday at 11am, I am back at work and working hard again.
The market is nicely up all around. I've sold out of everything though and have switched to short puts for this month. I think the upside is strong but every single economic indicator is negative which doesn't bode well for a sustained up-shift.
I'm not really guessing that things will go down, I just think that upside protection with a small profit is the way to go in the short term. I'm often wrong about the short term, but with the short puts I still earn a nice percentage this month if I am wrong :)
I'm looking up the steps on registering my "Investment Advisor" right now, so hopefuly my 3rd week of trying to complete that is the charm!
It was a wonderful party for my Grandmother. No fights and a ton of bowling :) Garett decided to come also which was great!
God bless!
The market is nicely up all around. I've sold out of everything though and have switched to short puts for this month. I think the upside is strong but every single economic indicator is negative which doesn't bode well for a sustained up-shift.
I'm not really guessing that things will go down, I just think that upside protection with a small profit is the way to go in the short term. I'm often wrong about the short term, but with the short puts I still earn a nice percentage this month if I am wrong :)
I'm looking up the steps on registering my "Investment Advisor" right now, so hopefuly my 3rd week of trying to complete that is the charm!
It was a wonderful party for my Grandmother. No fights and a ton of bowling :) Garett decided to come also which was great!
God bless!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Finishing up lots of development
I'm finishing up a lot of development projects today. I want to have everything vital done prior to leaving for Kimble tomorrow.
The Fed rate cut should have a pretty dramatic impact on things as it comes down today.
I anticipate a fairly moderate day and then for most stocks to go slightly down for a while more as the rest of the economic indicators are all bad.
I'm playing very conservative right now, with only about 50% invested right now. I think the possible negative is a lot higher than the possible positive right now, so I'm being more conservative than I usually do.
After this week, or if there is a substantial drop, I'm going to revisit things again.
God Bless.
The Fed rate cut should have a pretty dramatic impact on things as it comes down today.
I anticipate a fairly moderate day and then for most stocks to go slightly down for a while more as the rest of the economic indicators are all bad.
I'm playing very conservative right now, with only about 50% invested right now. I think the possible negative is a lot higher than the possible positive right now, so I'm being more conservative than I usually do.
After this week, or if there is a substantial drop, I'm going to revisit things again.
God Bless.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Gran's 90th birthday!
My Grandmother on my mom's side turned 90 today! She raised me from the age of 11 on, after my mom died.
Her Church threw her a big birthday party on Sunday. She said that everyone was there when I spoke with her eariler!
I am going to Kimble, Nebraska for the family party on Thursday through Sunday. Kimble is the location of my Aunt Patty. She runs a bowling alley there and it was a good central location so that is where we are meeting.
This should be a good week for work as I have several items that should be finishing this week.
God Bless!
Her Church threw her a big birthday party on Sunday. She said that everyone was there when I spoke with her eariler!
I am going to Kimble, Nebraska for the family party on Thursday through Sunday. Kimble is the location of my Aunt Patty. She runs a bowling alley there and it was a good central location so that is where we are meeting.
This should be a good week for work as I have several items that should be finishing this week.
God Bless!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Week of Slack
I slacked off my goals this week :(
I prayed about it last night and I'm really focusing today! The stock's have been favorable for me this week, so that's good.
I'm back in!
God bless
I prayed about it last night and I'm really focusing today! The stock's have been favorable for me this week, so that's good.
I'm back in!
God bless
Monday, September 10, 2007
The week
This is the week were I try to get my papers filled to from an "Investment Advisor".
If that works life will be good :) Hopefully, I haven't overlooked something. I believe I can do this myself, but I may be mistaken and I might have to partner with an existing firm. That would be far less optimal.
God Bless.
If that works life will be good :) Hopefully, I haven't overlooked something. I believe I can do this myself, but I may be mistaken and I might have to partner with an existing firm. That would be far less optimal.
God Bless.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Random musings
Well, the old "sell the news" is sure holding true with Apple. Especially if the news is that they just cut 33% off their most cutting edge product :)
Still, long term, this seems like the move that they should have done back in the days of "Intel" vs. "Mac". They are smartly cutting their prices down to compare to everyone else and when you cost the same and are far cooler and better then you generally win :)
So, I'm waiting a bit for the down-momentum to subside, but I plan to buy a few long options on Apple as the price will likely rise back to 145 prior to earnings. I'll probably hedge with a "spread" so that my costs and loss potential are mitigated.
God bless!
Still, long term, this seems like the move that they should have done back in the days of "Intel" vs. "Mac". They are smartly cutting their prices down to compare to everyone else and when you cost the same and are far cooler and better then you generally win :)
So, I'm waiting a bit for the down-momentum to subside, but I plan to buy a few long options on Apple as the price will likely rise back to 145 prior to earnings. I'll probably hedge with a "spread" so that my costs and loss potential are mitigated.
God bless!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I Passed!
Yesterday I passed the Series 65. Now, I will start the paperwork and filings to form a Broker/Dealer and Investment Advisor company :)
Apple announced some pretty cool updates today, which naturally caused the stock to plummet. I was pretty sure that would be the case, I didn't think it would go down so much, but the old "sell the news" is true quite a lot of the time.
On a related note, my new Mac Book Pro arrived a little while ago. My wife is bringing it to me shortly :)
I'm switching from Windows to Mac finally. Windows has just gotten worse and worse, so I'm giving Mac a chance now :)
God Bless!
Apple announced some pretty cool updates today, which naturally caused the stock to plummet. I was pretty sure that would be the case, I didn't think it would go down so much, but the old "sell the news" is true quite a lot of the time.
On a related note, my new Mac Book Pro arrived a little while ago. My wife is bringing it to me shortly :)
I'm switching from Windows to Mac finally. Windows has just gotten worse and worse, so I'm giving Mac a chance now :)
God Bless!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Studying away!
I'm studying away for my Series 65. There is a lot of material, but fortunately passing is only 68.5% :)
The market is doing well. I closed some of my positions though as I think that the market is going to pull back a bit.
I ordered a couple Mac Books from Apple and they have delayed shipping them until at least Tuesday so that sucks. :(
Not really much going on today.
God bless!
The market is doing well. I closed some of my positions though as I think that the market is going to pull back a bit.
I ordered a couple Mac Books from Apple and they have delayed shipping them until at least Tuesday so that sucks. :(
Not really much going on today.
God bless!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
I sold my Yahoo.
I was just sick of it. So I sold, I lost around $15,000 on this! I'm sure now that I'm out it will go up. :) But I'm pretty sure it will never get back to the level that I bought out, so better for me to get on with life with another stock :)
Will Yahoo completely disintegrate?
I'm currently down over $15,000 on my Yahoo purchase from a couple months ago. I generally have the philosophy of "never sell at a loss". But it is actually, unless you are doomed anyway :)
Yahoo seems to be able to go down even on days when 90% of stocks are going up.
I don't really want to sell now that it is at the lowest in eons. But, of course, it will probably go even lower soon, so why hold :(
And, generally when a stock is down I can still sell options for a little income every month. But Yahoo is so down and hated that the options aren't even worth much. That's generally not a good sign.
I took a day off from studying yesterday, today I'll go hard at it again and probably hard every day until the test.
God bless!
Yahoo seems to be able to go down even on days when 90% of stocks are going up.
I don't really want to sell now that it is at the lowest in eons. But, of course, it will probably go even lower soon, so why hold :(
And, generally when a stock is down I can still sell options for a little income every month. But Yahoo is so down and hated that the options aren't even worth much. That's generally not a good sign.
I took a day off from studying yesterday, today I'll go hard at it again and probably hard every day until the test.
God bless!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Updated list of blogs I'm following
I figured I'd put shout outs to the blogs that I regularly follow:
worshipwell.blogspot.com (The Perimeter Church blog.)
http://beanie11111.blogspot.com (Some good stock info. He tends to focus on option buying.)
http://explosive-stocks.blogspot.com (Some more good stock info. He covers a lot of stocks so it is a good site to find other of the diamonds that are out there.)
http://lvblog.blogspot.com (A guy that posts exact trades on his site and the performance by month. It should be interesting to compare with.)
These guys are posting about 1 post a month, if they don't step up I'll remove them:
http://bradfallon.com (A former business partner of mine that has some good info about Search Engine Optimization)
http://freeiqtips.com (A guy I met doing business. Dan has some good info about affiliate marketing.)
I'll add others in the future as I see others that I would like to follow.
worshipwell.blogspot.com (The Perimeter Church blog.)
http://beanie11111.blogspot.com (Some good stock info. He tends to focus on option buying.)
http://explosive-stocks.blogspot.com (Some more good stock info. He covers a lot of stocks so it is a good site to find other of the diamonds that are out there.)
http://lvblog.blogspot.com (A guy that posts exact trades on his site and the performance by month. It should be interesting to compare with.)
These guys are posting about 1 post a month, if they don't step up I'll remove them:
http://bradfallon.com (A former business partner of mine that has some good info about Search Engine Optimization)
http://freeiqtips.com (A guy I met doing business. Dan has some good info about affiliate marketing.)
I'll add others in the future as I see others that I would like to follow.
Apple rollercoaster
Man do I wish I was a savvy day trader. Some people are probably making 3%+ every day right now!
I'm a lot more conservative than that, and I almost always pick incorrectly in the short run :) So I would probably day trade away my capital in a week or two.
But, I did cover my call options yesterday and it looks like I can resell them for profit today, so that's still cool :) Not a 3% gain, but a couple hundred bucks is nothing to sneeze at.
I've finished round one of my studying. I'll spend the next week doing some sample tests to make sure I have everything down. I feel pretty confident about it now!
I am going to try to help out with the dishes going forward. I've been a real bum about housework and I think it is time to step up to the plate! I know my wife would find it a very loving gesture!
God bless!
I'm a lot more conservative than that, and I almost always pick incorrectly in the short run :) So I would probably day trade away my capital in a week or two.
But, I did cover my call options yesterday and it looks like I can resell them for profit today, so that's still cool :) Not a 3% gain, but a couple hundred bucks is nothing to sneeze at.
I've finished round one of my studying. I'll spend the next week doing some sample tests to make sure I have everything down. I feel pretty confident about it now!
I am going to try to help out with the dishes going forward. I've been a real bum about housework and I think it is time to step up to the plate! I know my wife would find it a very loving gesture!
God bless!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Studying away!
I've dedicated quite a bit of time over the last 3 days to learning what the Series 65 is actually about. It contains an astonishing amount of economic information that you need to be familiar with!
I've been primarily using the "Pass the 65" book by Robert Walker. His books are really wordy but they seem pretty decent thus far. I have several other study aids that I'll also try to cover prior to the 5th of September :)
I sold some put options on TSL yesterday, it is way down despite looking very poised to be one of the solar winners. Plus, the stock would have to drop below 35 to excercise, an additional 10% drop after yesterday's 5% (or so) drop. In either case, I'm not leveraging at all right now, so if it drops into range, then I but which I think is a pretty safe entry point.
An analyst this morning said that Google is looking very buyable. I definitely agree with that. Right now, though the market is still having a good deal of its capital removed by skiddish investors so Google could go down a little more before it goes way up when they announce earnings in October. I think I will probably get in within the next few days though, at least with a small option play or something.
God bless!
I've been primarily using the "Pass the 65" book by Robert Walker. His books are really wordy but they seem pretty decent thus far. I have several other study aids that I'll also try to cover prior to the 5th of September :)
I sold some put options on TSL yesterday, it is way down despite looking very poised to be one of the solar winners. Plus, the stock would have to drop below 35 to excercise, an additional 10% drop after yesterday's 5% (or so) drop. In either case, I'm not leveraging at all right now, so if it drops into range, then I but which I think is a pretty safe entry point.
An analyst this morning said that Google is looking very buyable. I definitely agree with that. Right now, though the market is still having a good deal of its capital removed by skiddish investors so Google could go down a little more before it goes way up when they announce earnings in October. I think I will probably get in within the next few days though, at least with a small option play or something.
God bless!
Monday, August 27, 2007
I admit it, I was ignorant!
I have been studying the stock market heavily lately. I have been reading tons of books and studying to become an actual stock broker.
In doing so, I have come to the realization that I was ignorant. I see amazing flaws in my old "strategies". I look over the good trades I did and see "luck" and the bad trades and see several obvious signs that it was often my own fault!
I probably cost myself at least $30,000 this year alone with my lack of knowledge.
I guess the stock market is a microcosm of life. Just like when I was 18 and thought I knew everything and then when I was 30 I realized that I knew twice as much but only knew about 30% of everything. The same has finally occurred with the stock market, I thought I was "the man" and now I see that I was not. I now know a lot more and know that I have a ton more to learn!
It's good to find that out while I still have some money :) Actually, I've done fine over the years, but I see that I cost myself a lot of money!
I love learning all this! :)
God bless and keep learning!
In doing so, I have come to the realization that I was ignorant. I see amazing flaws in my old "strategies". I look over the good trades I did and see "luck" and the bad trades and see several obvious signs that it was often my own fault!
I probably cost myself at least $30,000 this year alone with my lack of knowledge.
I guess the stock market is a microcosm of life. Just like when I was 18 and thought I knew everything and then when I was 30 I realized that I knew twice as much but only knew about 30% of everything. The same has finally occurred with the stock market, I thought I was "the man" and now I see that I was not. I now know a lot more and know that I have a ton more to learn!
It's good to find that out while I still have some money :) Actually, I've done fine over the years, but I see that I cost myself a lot of money!
I love learning all this! :)
God bless and keep learning!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Friday
Well it feels like a good Friday. Work is going well and the stocks seem to be down but not inordinately so.
Although the markets seem stabilized I've been very conservative lately and I will probably remain so today. For one, I'm trying to program in my statistical analysis and that takes time :)
I really need to get studying for my Series 65 though, I'm behind on starting that!
God bless!
Although the markets seem stabilized I've been very conservative lately and I will probably remain so today. For one, I'm trying to program in my statistical analysis and that takes time :)
I really need to get studying for my Series 65 though, I'm behind on starting that!
God bless!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
New books!
I purchased a bunch of new books on a variety of technical stock analysis subjects. I plan to digest as much of this information as I can so that I can quickly to help augment my trading!
The stocks look ready for more uptime again. In reading articles yesterday I noticed that LEND (Accredited Home Lending) had cut is workforce significantly and suspended all new loan apps in the US. This naturally sent the stock down. I checked it out and noticed that the price was around $6 and that the put options at $2.50 were going for $0.25. A 10% premium on an option over 50% out of the money! Wow, I thought this is a must sell! Then I checked the Yahoo financial data and they had a "price to book" of 0.29 or something! That generally means that the breakup value is worth over 3 times the value of the stock. Which generally indicates that even in bankruptcy the company is worth buying.
I was convinced this was a shot to take, but I figured that there had to be more behind the numbers for such a massive premium.
So I read through the past news items and through the rest of the numbers and it looks like LEND will just as likely be out of business completely by the end of the option period as anything else. They are losing money so rapidly that they could have more defaulted debt than their book value any day now.
And, of course, they are late on their Nasdaq filings which is always bad. And this is their 3rd time this year, so they either put up this month or they will be de-listed. That generally drops the stock about 50% or more I'd say!
The only thing holding LEND in place appears to be that they are essentially suing "Loanstar" to force them to continue with their merger plans which Loanstar has bailed on due to the fact that LEND has no value whatsoever. The odds of LEND winning that suit seems minimal and if it doesn't the odds of them falling below 2.5 seems pretty good.
Anyway, before you buy or sell make sure you know the company well! If not you will get burned.
God bless!
The stocks look ready for more uptime again. In reading articles yesterday I noticed that LEND (Accredited Home Lending) had cut is workforce significantly and suspended all new loan apps in the US. This naturally sent the stock down. I checked it out and noticed that the price was around $6 and that the put options at $2.50 were going for $0.25. A 10% premium on an option over 50% out of the money! Wow, I thought this is a must sell! Then I checked the Yahoo financial data and they had a "price to book" of 0.29 or something! That generally means that the breakup value is worth over 3 times the value of the stock. Which generally indicates that even in bankruptcy the company is worth buying.
I was convinced this was a shot to take, but I figured that there had to be more behind the numbers for such a massive premium.
So I read through the past news items and through the rest of the numbers and it looks like LEND will just as likely be out of business completely by the end of the option period as anything else. They are losing money so rapidly that they could have more defaulted debt than their book value any day now.
And, of course, they are late on their Nasdaq filings which is always bad. And this is their 3rd time this year, so they either put up this month or they will be de-listed. That generally drops the stock about 50% or more I'd say!
The only thing holding LEND in place appears to be that they are essentially suing "Loanstar" to force them to continue with their merger plans which Loanstar has bailed on due to the fact that LEND has no value whatsoever. The odds of LEND winning that suit seems minimal and if it doesn't the odds of them falling below 2.5 seems pretty good.
Anyway, before you buy or sell make sure you know the company well! If not you will get burned.
God bless!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Stocks soaring :)
My stocks are doing quite well. Apple is above 130 again which puts me up on some of my stock. I'm still down on the majority of my position though, but this bodes well for me to be up on all of my Apple soon :)
Google is looking good as well, though not much movement in it. I think I'll look at possibly adding some positions to Google as it has languished lately and I think the next earnings should rocket it up quite a bit.
I haven't had much time to study for the Series 65 yet, but I plan to dedicate time today and tomorrow. I have the test on Sept 5, so I need to get on it soon since I have a lot of other stuff to do as well :)
God bless!
Google is looking good as well, though not much movement in it. I think I'll look at possibly adding some positions to Google as it has languished lately and I think the next earnings should rocket it up quite a bit.
I haven't had much time to study for the Series 65 yet, but I plan to dedicate time today and tomorrow. I have the test on Sept 5, so I need to get on it soon since I have a lot of other stuff to do as well :)
God bless!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Yahoo's real time quote service!
By the way, I signed up for Yahoo's real time quote service yesterday and it is really well done.
I use Yahoo Financial a lot, so it is a great addition to my growing arsenal.
I use Yahoo Financial a lot, so it is a great addition to my growing arsenal.
Stocks looking fine, bones hurting
My primary stocks are all holding nicely. I'd prefer they jump way up like they did down last week, but oh well :)
I'm nearing completion on a pretty comprehensive technical analysis system to assist with my stock picks.
My bones were hurting pretty badly the last few days. I went to the doctor this morning and he said I just needed to strengthen certain areas to reduce the stress on key areas.
I didn't get a chance to study for the Series 65 yet. But, I did buy some additional study guides and books, so I should have everything I need at my fingertips.
God bless!
I'm nearing completion on a pretty comprehensive technical analysis system to assist with my stock picks.
My bones were hurting pretty badly the last few days. I went to the doctor this morning and he said I just needed to strengthen certain areas to reduce the stress on key areas.
I didn't get a chance to study for the Series 65 yet. But, I did buy some additional study guides and books, so I should have everything I need at my fingertips.
God bless!
Monday, August 20, 2007
I passed!
I took the Series 63 Saturday night and I passed! That is a huge step in my quest to become an investment adviser.
Also, the stocks held up well on Friday. Based on the 1/2 point federal rate cut, I think the plummeting should be done. I don't know that the stocks will rise quickly, but they definitely won't fall as rapidly.
I spoke with an old friend from high school, Felix Gilbertson, last night. He is farming in Montana and is doing an excellent job of it. He owns around 7,000 acres which is a huge farm! Most of that, he built up by himself, with loans and hard work!
The Series 65 test is in two weeks, so hopefully I find time to study for it :) I'll just pull an all-weekender during the Labor Day weekend probably :)
God bless!
Also, the stocks held up well on Friday. Based on the 1/2 point federal rate cut, I think the plummeting should be done. I don't know that the stocks will rise quickly, but they definitely won't fall as rapidly.
I spoke with an old friend from high school, Felix Gilbertson, last night. He is farming in Montana and is doing an excellent job of it. He owns around 7,000 acres which is a huge farm! Most of that, he built up by himself, with loans and hard work!
The Series 65 test is in two weeks, so hopefully I find time to study for it :) I'll just pull an all-weekender during the Labor Day weekend probably :)
God bless!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Everything better
With the Fed cutting rates, naturally everything is up. Not as up as it was down though, so things still have a fair amount to pop before things are good.
This should help mitigate the overall problem though, so the long term traders should be back soon!
God bless.
This should help mitigate the overall problem though, so the long term traders should be back soon!
God bless.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wow, everything is getting crushed :(
Well, everything I own is way down. I'm going to have to take an "for real loss". :( By "for real" I mean, that the transaction will be closed with a loss. "On paper" losses I don't mind as much because while you hold you can still get back up :)
I guess I learned that this credit issue thing is a lot larger than I anticipated. My bad :(
Oh well, I'm still in the market, so I'll just batten down the hatches and try to inch my way back to profitability. I keep getting tempted to buy some Leaps right now :) The premium plus the current stock price is still quite a bargain compared to only a month ago!
On other fronts I'm ready for the Series 63 test on Saturday. I should do well.
God bless!
I guess I learned that this credit issue thing is a lot larger than I anticipated. My bad :(
Oh well, I'm still in the market, so I'll just batten down the hatches and try to inch my way back to profitability. I keep getting tempted to buy some Leaps right now :) The premium plus the current stock price is still quite a bargain compared to only a month ago!
On other fronts I'm ready for the Series 63 test on Saturday. I should do well.
God bless!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Looks to be another slightly down day
Well, the stocks seem to be pinging from slightly positive to down 1 or 2 percent. That's too bad. As long as Trina Solar stays above 50 for the week though, it will be a good week, so here's hoping.
I'm compiling a lot of historical data and will be running some more technical analysis in the coming weeks so that will be interesting to see the impact of that.
My little brother left for home today :( He had come to live in Atlanta to work, but he couldn't find a good enough job so he is going back to Colorado to finish his college degree.
God bless!
I'm compiling a lot of historical data and will be running some more technical analysis in the coming weeks so that will be interesting to see the impact of that.
My little brother left for home today :( He had come to live in Atlanta to work, but he couldn't find a good enough job so he is going back to Colorado to finish his college degree.
God bless!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tests setup
Well, I have my first securities test on Saturday! Then the next is 2 weeks later. That was just because the scheduling for the Series 65 was much more difficult. They had 2 or more tests every day except Sunday for the Series 63, but only 1 or 2 per week for the Series 65.
I took two practice tests that I have yesterday and answered 97 out of 100 correctly, so I think I'm ready :) And I looked up the reasons for the 3 misses, of course.
The stocks are trickling down a bit today. I imagine they will stay pretty much around the same amount for the rest of the week. I decided to sell some puts on TSL since they report earnings next week. I figure the extra premium should make the sale worth it. Naturally, the stock has gone down over 2 points since I did that. :)
My short term market estimation is routinely wrong. I think I will have to alter that slightly going forward :) Otherwise, I also get a 1 or 2 percent instant loss, which then, generally, recovers in the weeks to follow.
God bless.
I took two practice tests that I have yesterday and answered 97 out of 100 correctly, so I think I'm ready :) And I looked up the reasons for the 3 misses, of course.
The stocks are trickling down a bit today. I imagine they will stay pretty much around the same amount for the rest of the week. I decided to sell some puts on TSL since they report earnings next week. I figure the extra premium should make the sale worth it. Naturally, the stock has gone down over 2 points since I did that. :)
My short term market estimation is routinely wrong. I think I will have to alter that slightly going forward :) Otherwise, I also get a 1 or 2 percent instant loss, which then, generally, recovers in the weeks to follow.
God bless.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday seems well
The stocks are all looking well thus far. That's good. I'm submitting my Form U10 to be able to do the Series 63 and 65 tests today! I don't know how long that puts until I'm certified, but it is a fun status :)
I've taken 3 practice tests and scored high enough to pass on each, so I feel pretty confident.
God bless
I've taken 3 practice tests and scored high enough to pass on each, so I feel pretty confident.
God bless
Friday, August 10, 2007
Actually a pretty good week :)
Apple, Google, and Yahoo all did reasonably well this week. Apple way down, but most of my position is in short puts at 120, so I'm still marginally safe :)
Have a good weekend all zero readers of this :)
Love to my wife!
Have a good weekend all zero readers of this :)
Love to my wife!
Stocks down again :(
Well, I waited quite a while yesterday and got into some more Apple at around 129.40. I was thinking, yes buying below 130. Little did I know that it would fall like a stone right after.
Oh well, I'm in for the long haul, but I prefer immediate upside :)
On other fronts, I just filled out my form U-10. I'll send that in for the Series 63 and Series 65 tests. I'm very confident :)
Let's hope the stocks don't go down too much more as I'm mostly all in again. I always tend to jump in the middle, but oh well. Let's hope this reverses eventually :)
Everyone, love your family more today than you did yesterday!
Oh well, I'm in for the long haul, but I prefer immediate upside :)
On other fronts, I just filled out my form U-10. I'll send that in for the Series 63 and Series 65 tests. I'm very confident :)
Let's hope the stocks don't go down too much more as I'm mostly all in again. I always tend to jump in the middle, but oh well. Let's hope this reverses eventually :)
Everyone, love your family more today than you did yesterday!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Stocks going south! :)
I put the smiley on the subject because I just got out of almost all my positions except Apple, so now I can re-enter lower. That's always fun. :)
I think I'm going to watch more today and see if things go even lower (not a good sign) or if they stay at this level, which is still a bit higher than last week.
It looks like my old friend Eric Hooshmand from California commented on my blog yesterday. That's cool, I sent him an email so we'll see if we can touch base again.
I'm filling out form U-10 today, which allows me to take the stock tests I mentioned earlier. So, now it begins :) Cool!
God bless!
I think I'm going to watch more today and see if things go even lower (not a good sign) or if they stay at this level, which is still a bit higher than last week.
It looks like my old friend Eric Hooshmand from California commented on my blog yesterday. That's cool, I sent him an email so we'll see if we can touch base again.
I'm filling out form U-10 today, which allows me to take the stock tests I mentioned earlier. So, now it begins :) Cool!
God bless!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Going Mac?
The announcement by Apple wasn't major, but it shows yet again that Apple is very cool! The coolest :)
The more I think about it the more I think about "going Mac" finally.
Fortunately my company owns a pretty good Mac that is only a year old that the former employee that uses it is no longer using, so I'm going to plug it in and try it out today :) I'm going to try to like it and hopefully switch off Windows which I've been liking less for the last couple years.
On the stock side, Yahoo finally went up yesterday. I don't see it lasting. I do think Yahoo will eventually rebound to 27+, but not today. I could be wrong, and I hope I am since I have a lot of shares :) Google seems extremely stable, which I love, and as expected by the fact that Apple didn't announce that they had perfected cold fusion Apple is a little down. I expect it to hover around the 133 to 136 range for a couple days or longer, but long term I think it is an awesome stock to own.
God bless
The more I think about it the more I think about "going Mac" finally.
Fortunately my company owns a pretty good Mac that is only a year old that the former employee that uses it is no longer using, so I'm going to plug it in and try it out today :) I'm going to try to like it and hopefully switch off Windows which I've been liking less for the last couple years.
On the stock side, Yahoo finally went up yesterday. I don't see it lasting. I do think Yahoo will eventually rebound to 27+, but not today. I could be wrong, and I hope I am since I have a lot of shares :) Google seems extremely stable, which I love, and as expected by the fact that Apple didn't announce that they had perfected cold fusion Apple is a little down. I expect it to hover around the 133 to 136 range for a couple days or longer, but long term I think it is an awesome stock to own.
God bless
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Apple's announcement?
Well the announcement coming from Apple should be fun as usual. The ironic thing is unless they announce something awesome (which they generally do) the stock will tank in the short term. In a sense, anyone on the sidelines should pray that they announce a red carrying case for the iPhone. That would drop the stock 10 points :)
I worked out again last night, I did an hour of "spin cycling" which I highly recommend by the way. Cycling is, I believe, the finest cardio workout that exists! It is zero impact so it is just you versus your legs and heart :) "Spin cycling" is the closest indoor activity to real cycling.
My wife went to the doctor again yesterday and she is going to be fine which is great! She had a fever over the weekend.
My stocks appear up this morning so that is good, we'll see if they hold on after the 1pm announcement by Apple :)
God bless!
I worked out again last night, I did an hour of "spin cycling" which I highly recommend by the way. Cycling is, I believe, the finest cardio workout that exists! It is zero impact so it is just you versus your legs and heart :) "Spin cycling" is the closest indoor activity to real cycling.
My wife went to the doctor again yesterday and she is going to be fine which is great! She had a fever over the weekend.
My stocks appear up this morning so that is good, we'll see if they hold on after the 1pm announcement by Apple :)
God bless!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Monday after eating unhealthy all week
Last week my grandmother was in town so I took the opportunity to stop working out completely :( and to eat like there was no tomorrow :(
Today, I'm back in the saddle and ready to eat right and work out! Most likely I've pushed my goal of not being "obese" back by a month, but I'm still going to persevere.
As usual for the past week or so the stocks look to go up this morning. It seems that they end up going down a lot anyway toward the end of day, but that's the stock market for you :)
My wife's fever broke over the weekend, but we are still having her see the doctor as she has a bit of a cough and her side aches. I'm praying constantly for her. I hate seeing her be ill at all!
May God bless your paths.
Today, I'm back in the saddle and ready to eat right and work out! Most likely I've pushed my goal of not being "obese" back by a month, but I'm still going to persevere.
As usual for the past week or so the stocks look to go up this morning. It seems that they end up going down a lot anyway toward the end of day, but that's the stock market for you :)
My wife's fever broke over the weekend, but we are still having her see the doctor as she has a bit of a cough and her side aches. I'm praying constantly for her. I hate seeing her be ill at all!
May God bless your paths.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Wife sick
Stacie had a 103.2 fever last night so I took her to the emergency room. I had no idea how slow they were and I got upset at the guy helping us for now reason. I apologized to him, but I still feel bad for getting upset. I guess that's what happens when you are up past 3am worrying about your wife.
Yet again, the stocks are down today. I can definitely see why some people are on the sidelines! I'm still holding in the profit category, so I feel fine, and I don't really get concerned about short term losses, especially if the transaction is still "open". Until it's closed, there is still upside potential :)
My grandmother went back home today. It was nice with her out here. I wish she were here more but she is almost 90 and really carries her "independence" as a badge of honor.
Yet again, the stocks are down today. I can definitely see why some people are on the sidelines! I'm still holding in the profit category, so I feel fine, and I don't really get concerned about short term losses, especially if the transaction is still "open". Until it's closed, there is still upside potential :)
My grandmother went back home today. It was nice with her out here. I wish she were here more but she is almost 90 and really carries her "independence" as a badge of honor.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Stocks - One Year At a Time
Too many people live their stock market lives out one day at a time. They jump for joy at a 2% increase one day, only to cry in their beers over a 2% decrease a few days later.
I'm in for the long hall. I pick companies I think are tremendous long term companies. Sometimes, in fact most of the time, they go down for a few days, maybe longer, right after I buy them. I'm patient though, and I employ a call writing strategy on all owned stock, so except for those occasions where I was NOT PATIENT I turn a profit in a reasonable period of time each time.
Patience and gambling have been my only loses during my trading. Every time I heard of a "big tip" or something or "bought right before earnings for the huge bounce" I lost money :) Why the smiley? Because I learned my lesson! :)
Now, I am conservative and I don't gamble. And I am in for the long haul.
God bless
I'm in for the long hall. I pick companies I think are tremendous long term companies. Sometimes, in fact most of the time, they go down for a few days, maybe longer, right after I buy them. I'm patient though, and I employ a call writing strategy on all owned stock, so except for those occasions where I was NOT PATIENT I turn a profit in a reasonable period of time each time.
Patience and gambling have been my only loses during my trading. Every time I heard of a "big tip" or something or "bought right before earnings for the huge bounce" I lost money :) Why the smiley? Because I learned my lesson! :)
Now, I am conservative and I don't gamble. And I am in for the long haul.
God bless
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Dale Carnegie, Stocks
Last night I completed the Dale Carnegie Training. For those unfamiliar, it is a 12 week course that meets once per week for 3.5 hours. And for those unfamiliar, it is terrific! I really enjoyed it and I actually learned quite a lot. And, I had already read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" previously.
I highly recommend that anyone that wants to do better in ANY business or career take this course!
In addition to the excellent course material, I met some really cool people and think some of them will grow into lifelong friendships!
Back to stocks, Apple dropped like a stone yesterday! That's why I tend to be conservative. If the stock falls, I still feel pretty good since I fell "less" :) So, it looks like my Apple short puts will definitely get exercised. That's fine as I'm super bullish on Apple long term. That's the key, in my opinion. Always buy stocks that you love and that if they go down 10%, 20%, 50%, you still love! "Long term" is the key.
If anyone actually reads this, thanks for your time!
I highly recommend that anyone that wants to do better in ANY business or career take this course!
In addition to the excellent course material, I met some really cool people and think some of them will grow into lifelong friendships!
Back to stocks, Apple dropped like a stone yesterday! That's why I tend to be conservative. If the stock falls, I still feel pretty good since I fell "less" :) So, it looks like my Apple short puts will definitely get exercised. That's fine as I'm super bullish on Apple long term. That's the key, in my opinion. Always buy stocks that you love and that if they go down 10%, 20%, 50%, you still love! "Long term" is the key.
If anyone actually reads this, thanks for your time!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Stocks holding nicely :)
Well, as I expected Apple managed to stay above 140. I actually bought more with all the cash I had on hand and then resold later in the day for a quick gain :)
Google's up and as long as Yahoo stays in the 23's I'm up nicely over the last couple months. Fyi, I re-entered the market in June after taking about a year off to concentrate on "real work" :)
This week should be a telling week to see if people stay in the stock market after the large drop of last week. I'm pretty sure they will, but if not, that would be a great time to load up on some less expensive buys.
I would say that the large drop was more a function of the fact that there were several large gains prior to it, rather than an indication of doom as some would say.
Good luck and God bless to all!
Google's up and as long as Yahoo stays in the 23's I'm up nicely over the last couple months. Fyi, I re-entered the market in June after taking about a year off to concentrate on "real work" :)
This week should be a telling week to see if people stay in the stock market after the large drop of last week. I'm pretty sure they will, but if not, that would be a great time to load up on some less expensive buys.
I would say that the large drop was more a function of the fact that there were several large gains prior to it, rather than an indication of doom as some would say.
Good luck and God bless to all!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Maybe I spoke too soon :)
Apple has flown down to briefly under 140. My short options are 140 for my personal account and 145 for my IRA account. I put them higher for the IRA because I essentially was wanting to buy in, so I just wanted the stock :)
I'm a huge long term fan of Apple though, so if I have to buy I'll be happy since I know it is a good stock that I can hold for a long time with no worry.
Still, I prefer to make the quicker profit from my short options, but the strategy I have is to make money with the short options or buy stock that I like. So, my loss is mitigated by the fact that I'm getting the stock I wanted at a discounted rate.
And, the odds of Apple staying down for long, are slim to none in my opinion.
I'm a huge long term fan of Apple though, so if I have to buy I'll be happy since I know it is a good stock that I can hold for a long time with no worry.
Still, I prefer to make the quicker profit from my short options, but the strategy I have is to make money with the short options or buy stock that I like. So, my loss is mitigated by the fact that I'm getting the stock I wanted at a discounted rate.
And, the odds of Apple staying down for long, are slim to none in my opinion.
Grandmother visiting!
We picked up my grandmother and my aunt from the airport on Friday evening. Its been really good thus far, we have done a lot of stuff. That makes them happy and my wife happy since "doing stuff" is pretty much her favorite thing :)
It looks like the 3 main stocks that I'm currently following are up this morning, Yahoo (down overall of course :)), Apple, and Google.
I'm down over 2 points on Yahoo in my IRA, but other than that everything is going very well. And, I don't declare a profit or loss until I close the position, so I'm hopeful :) And, fortunately I've been able to sell covered calls that have mitigated part of my loss.
I've been working well toward my goal of getting the Series 63 done. I should be ready by the end of the month, as desired, and will then sign up for the test.
It looks like the 3 main stocks that I'm currently following are up this morning, Yahoo (down overall of course :)), Apple, and Google.
I'm down over 2 points on Yahoo in my IRA, but other than that everything is going very well. And, I don't declare a profit or loss until I close the position, so I'm hopeful :) And, fortunately I've been able to sell covered calls that have mitigated part of my loss.
I've been working well toward my goal of getting the Series 63 done. I should be ready by the end of the month, as desired, and will then sign up for the test.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Apple does well!
Apple reported excellent earnings and went slightly higher than their all time high. That allowed me to liquidate the few 120 short-puts I had for a nice profit. And, it allows me to be a little more aggressive now that the market has shown strength again.
I had a terrificly hard leg workout last night. A friend of mine remarked that she thought the look on my face after the completion of each rotation was "priceless".
For reference, I've let myself get out of shape over the last 5 years. I was 190 and pretty fit and now I'm 240 and not nearly as fit. So, I decided to hire a personal trainer on June 11th and that has been working well thus far. They recheck your "stats" on a monthly basis and after the first month I had lost 2 pounds of fat. However, I gained 5 pounds of muscle so I gained 3 pounds! But, I truly felt a ton more fit, which I think is important.
In this monthly segment, I have been trying to eat less and my goal is to lose 4 pounds of fat and gain 1 pound of muscle. That will get me back to my original weight and then from that point, I hope to start dropping weight!
Peace be with you!
I had a terrificly hard leg workout last night. A friend of mine remarked that she thought the look on my face after the completion of each rotation was "priceless".
For reference, I've let myself get out of shape over the last 5 years. I was 190 and pretty fit and now I'm 240 and not nearly as fit. So, I decided to hire a personal trainer on June 11th and that has been working well thus far. They recheck your "stats" on a monthly basis and after the first month I had lost 2 pounds of fat. However, I gained 5 pounds of muscle so I gained 3 pounds! But, I truly felt a ton more fit, which I think is important.
In this monthly segment, I have been trying to eat less and my goal is to lose 4 pounds of fat and gain 1 pound of muscle. That will get me back to my original weight and then from that point, I hope to start dropping weight!
Peace be with you!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Another Day
Not much of note today, but a few random personal musings...
I follow the Tour de France pretty closely and, being an American, really root for the US and Discovery Channel. Well, after today's race it looks like Discovery Channel will not have the overall winner. They look guaranteed to win the team competition, which is sort of cool.
My Grandmother comes to visit on Friday. I'm looking forward to that! She raised me for years, so we are very close.
I've been on the sidelines with the stock market for the three days of this week. Everything is just too volatile for my tastes right now. Once Apple reports tonight, the market should calm down and either completely tank or stay steady, is my guess.
But, I tend to try to eliminate guessing from my stock market decisions. I always assume I don't know what is going to happen day-to-day. I just buy or sell based on the overall worthiness of a company.
I'm sort of hoping that Apple disappoints slightly just because it will reduce values across the board in tech once again and that will allow me better entry points and safer strategies over all. I doubt it will though as Apple routinely blows away expectations :)
Good luck to all, and praise to the Lord.
I follow the Tour de France pretty closely and, being an American, really root for the US and Discovery Channel. Well, after today's race it looks like Discovery Channel will not have the overall winner. They look guaranteed to win the team competition, which is sort of cool.
My Grandmother comes to visit on Friday. I'm looking forward to that! She raised me for years, so we are very close.
I've been on the sidelines with the stock market for the three days of this week. Everything is just too volatile for my tastes right now. Once Apple reports tonight, the market should calm down and either completely tank or stay steady, is my guess.
But, I tend to try to eliminate guessing from my stock market decisions. I always assume I don't know what is going to happen day-to-day. I just buy or sell based on the overall worthiness of a company.
I'm sort of hoping that Apple disappoints slightly just because it will reduce values across the board in tech once again and that will allow me better entry points and safer strategies over all. I doubt it will though as Apple routinely blows away expectations :)
Good luck to all, and praise to the Lord.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Stacie is back!
Stacie is back and life is getting back to normal again. Stacie always makes me a lunch, which is great because last week I was either starving or eating way too much all week because I didn't have someone else thinking about my food for me.
We also went house hunting on Saturday. It was pretty fun, we found several that were nice houses. One of which, I'm really sold on, but Stacie isn't sure the yard is large enough and it might actually be "too big" if you can imagine that :)
Stacie will be looking at more houses this week and then we'll probably re-visit the decision process at the end of the month, as my Grandmother and aunt are coming to visit this weekend.
Well, the next event I'm looking at stock market-wise is the earnings report of Apple. Hopefully it is great, but either way, I should be able to make few dollars on it or buy it for a reduced amount.
We also went house hunting on Saturday. It was pretty fun, we found several that were nice houses. One of which, I'm really sold on, but Stacie isn't sure the yard is large enough and it might actually be "too big" if you can imagine that :)
Stacie will be looking at more houses this week and then we'll probably re-visit the decision process at the end of the month, as my Grandmother and aunt are coming to visit this weekend.
Well, the next event I'm looking at stock market-wise is the earnings report of Apple. Hopefully it is great, but either way, I should be able to make few dollars on it or buy it for a reduced amount.
Friday, July 20, 2007
My IRA transfered :)
I now have short put selling privileges for my IRA account. That is good, as it should be just another tool that I can utilize to increase my earnings. In the IRA there is no margin though and you cannot sell puts that you can't cover via your cash on hand. So, "over risking" isn't possible.
Google is way down today, however, still not low enough for my short 490 puts to be valuable, so that turned out to be a great trade :)
Today is option expiration so that's great also, as all my short options will expire out of the money :)
I don't like "earnings month" anyway. Way too much volatility for my taste. Yes, I can make more on my short puts, but I would prefer to make far less, but with less chance of 7%+ moves (in either direction) in a single day.
Stacie returns today, so that is terrific also :)
With thanks to Jesus,
Barry.
Google is way down today, however, still not low enough for my short 490 puts to be valuable, so that turned out to be a great trade :)
Today is option expiration so that's great also, as all my short options will expire out of the money :)
I don't like "earnings month" anyway. Way too much volatility for my taste. Yes, I can make more on my short puts, but I would prefer to make far less, but with less chance of 7%+ moves (in either direction) in a single day.
Stacie returns today, so that is terrific also :)
With thanks to Jesus,
Barry.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Another good market day!
I made a quick turn around on some uncovered Google puts! I held only what I can risk when they announce earnings. Whenever there is an "event" on the horizon I make sure not to hold more uncovered puts than I can afford to completely buy.
A good work day as well. Nothing spectacular, but some good progress.
Stacie returns tomorrow which is really the highlight of today! I really miss her. She is so awesome!
I praise God for the many blessings I have been given!
A good work day as well. Nothing spectacular, but some good progress.
Stacie returns tomorrow which is really the highlight of today! I really miss her. She is so awesome!
I praise God for the many blessings I have been given!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A nice gain in the stock market
My uncovered put options on Yahoo turned out to be a good deal. They went from $0.20 per share on July 25 Puts down to $0.05 today even though the stock went down. Naturally, it is due to the fact that the earnings are out and they are bad but not terrible. :)
The great thing is Yahoo doing terrible, which I'm sure is caused by Google being so awesome, caused Google to go down. That allowed me to re-open my uncovered puts on Google also, which I had closed last week for a nice gain. Now, I re-opened again at a higher price than last week :) A small risk if Google tanks, but I don't see Google tanking worse than Yahoo. That would pretty much shock the world.
The great thing is Yahoo doing terrible, which I'm sure is caused by Google being so awesome, caused Google to go down. That allowed me to re-open my uncovered puts on Google also, which I had closed last week for a nice gain. Now, I re-opened again at a higher price than last week :) A small risk if Google tanks, but I don't see Google tanking worse than Yahoo. That would pretty much shock the world.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Course Study Books!
The course study books for the Series 63, 65, and 7 have arrived. I will dedicate an hour or so per day to reading and studying those.
My current goal is to be ready to take the 63 by the end of the month. Then, hopefully the 65 in another 2 weeks, and the 7 by the end of August.
That may be too quick, but I figure I better aim high and 2 weeks is a heck of a lot more time than I spent on any of my college courses :)
I haven't checked in on the scheduling of the courses so that may delay my actual taking of the tests.
In other work, I have started transitioning out of my current gig, which should be a fun stage as I work hard for them and also carve out a little time for my new gigs :) I love that stuff!
My wife is in Colorado setting up stuff for our property there. I miss her greatly.
I've been very blessed in my life and I give all the glory to Jesus.
My current goal is to be ready to take the 63 by the end of the month. Then, hopefully the 65 in another 2 weeks, and the 7 by the end of August.
That may be too quick, but I figure I better aim high and 2 weeks is a heck of a lot more time than I spent on any of my college courses :)
I haven't checked in on the scheduling of the courses so that may delay my actual taking of the tests.
In other work, I have started transitioning out of my current gig, which should be a fun stage as I work hard for them and also carve out a little time for my new gigs :) I love that stuff!
My wife is in Colorado setting up stuff for our property there. I miss her greatly.
I've been very blessed in my life and I give all the glory to Jesus.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Week without my lovely wife :(
Well, today begins my week without my lovely wife, Stacie. She has gone to Colorado to set up a property we bought a couple months back to be sold or rented.
Without Stacie around life is pretty tough. She does a ton for me and her sweetness and cuteness make me extremely happy!
On the business front, I spent a little time over the weekend setting up for my foray into professional stock brokering and so far so good. I've been studying the initial material and also setting up some computer stuff for my benefit.
Since Stacie is gone, I intend to spend extra time working and studying this week, so hopefully it will be a very fruitful week.
With Jesus,
Barry
Without Stacie around life is pretty tough. She does a ton for me and her sweetness and cuteness make me extremely happy!
On the business front, I spent a little time over the weekend setting up for my foray into professional stock brokering and so far so good. I've been studying the initial material and also setting up some computer stuff for my benefit.
Since Stacie is gone, I intend to spend extra time working and studying this week, so hopefully it will be a very fruitful week.
With Jesus,
Barry
Friday, July 13, 2007
Blogs I follow
I figured I'd put shout outs to the blogs that I regularly follow:
worshipwell.blogspot.com (The Perimeter Church blog.)
http://beanie11111.blogspot.com (Some good stock info. He tends to focus on option buying.)
http://explosive-stocks.blogspot.com (Some more good stock info. He covers a lot of stocks so it is a good site to find other of the diamonds that are out there.)
http://bradfallon.com (A former business partner of mine that has some good info about Search Engine Optimization)
http://freeiqtips.com (A guy I met doing business. Dan has some good info about affiliate marketing.)
http://lvblog.blogspot.com (A guy that posts exact trades on his site and the performance by month. It should be interesting to compare with.)
I'll add others in the future as I see others that I would like to follow.
worshipwell.blogspot.com (The Perimeter Church blog.)
http://beanie11111.blogspot.com (Some good stock info. He tends to focus on option buying.)
http://explosive-stocks.blogspot.com (Some more good stock info. He covers a lot of stocks so it is a good site to find other of the diamonds that are out there.)
http://bradfallon.com (A former business partner of mine that has some good info about Search Engine Optimization)
http://freeiqtips.com (A guy I met doing business. Dan has some good info about affiliate marketing.)
http://lvblog.blogspot.com (A guy that posts exact trades on his site and the performance by month. It should be interesting to compare with.)
I'll add others in the future as I see others that I would like to follow.
About Me
I received a comment on my first blog post so I figure it is probably time to start placing "adsense" on my blog :)
I grew up in a very small reservation town in North East Montana named Poplar. Check it out on Wikipedia and you will see it is a pretty rough place.
I went to college at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and graduated in 3.5 years with a BS in Computer Science.
I then moved to Southern California and worked as a programmer for 7 years before starting my own software business with Garett, my cousin and business partner for the last 6 years.
I was married 3 years ago to a beautiful wife named Stacie. She is terrific in every way!
I currently live in Atlanta and attend Perimeter Church. Randy Pope, the head pastor, is really a terrific man of God and is exceptionally wise.
Serving Jesus is very important to me and (hopefully) it impacts everything I do in life and business.
I enjoy playing sports, particularly volleyball and basketball, and hanging out with my wonderful wife.
I grew up in a very small reservation town in North East Montana named Poplar. Check it out on Wikipedia and you will see it is a pretty rough place.
I went to college at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and graduated in 3.5 years with a BS in Computer Science.
I then moved to Southern California and worked as a programmer for 7 years before starting my own software business with Garett, my cousin and business partner for the last 6 years.
I was married 3 years ago to a beautiful wife named Stacie. She is terrific in every way!
I currently live in Atlanta and attend Perimeter Church. Randy Pope, the head pastor, is really a terrific man of God and is exceptionally wise.
Serving Jesus is very important to me and (hopefully) it impacts everything I do in life and business.
I enjoy playing sports, particularly volleyball and basketball, and hanging out with my wonderful wife.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
First Blog Post
I've been a part of the Internet as a programmer for over 10 years and I figured that one day I would have to start a blog to stay "hip".
Well, that day is today, July 12, 2007.
I will be posting primarily about my business life, including my stock investing, my business dealings, and the various programming projects that I become involved in.
Right now, I'm actually starting to use part of my spare time to study to get my Series 7 stock broker license. First I'll get my Series 63, then Series 65, and then I'll find a local brokerage to sponsor me for the Series 7.
I think it will be a lot of fun and maybe will lead to some profit or business ideas or opportunities.
Thanks, and my God bless you.
Well, that day is today, July 12, 2007.
I will be posting primarily about my business life, including my stock investing, my business dealings, and the various programming projects that I become involved in.
Right now, I'm actually starting to use part of my spare time to study to get my Series 7 stock broker license. First I'll get my Series 63, then Series 65, and then I'll find a local brokerage to sponsor me for the Series 7.
I think it will be a lot of fun and maybe will lead to some profit or business ideas or opportunities.
Thanks, and my God bless you.
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