Money Rho

Health Insurance sector

2009-07-07T19:03:00.001-05:00

     
                                                
                                               
Today was a market down day, but most stocks  
in the Health Insurance sector were up.  The
Federal government is preparing to enter the
sector if the companies in it fail to meet  
expectations.                                 
                                             
                                          
                                             
                                               
                                              
                                                 
                                              
mr00029

DJIA changes

2009-06-01T21:00:00.002-05:00


                                    
                                   
Today General Motors and Citi Bank
were replaced by                      
Cisco Systems and Traveler's Insurance.         
                                           
-                                          
                                        
The DJIA is now above 8700.                     
                                    
-                                        
                                   
Last month I wasn't watching stocks    
as closely as I had been, partly             
because most of those I was watching          
weren't doing anything exciting.           
                                        
                                           
                                         
                                           
                                         
mr00028

Whereto Industrial Age

2009-04-13T22:00:00.001-05:00

         
                                    
                                  
is the question.                                   
                                              
Like similar others, Jim Kunstler, noting all the talk  
about recovery, asks "what recovery?": implying that   
there is nothing left to recover.  The Industrial Age   
is over.  Concurrently, like similar others, Dr. Leeb  
and his team, while they also believe we are heading  
into a post-industrial world, see one great last gasp  
from the Industrial Age.  This gasp will be defined by  
bull markets in minerals and foods, with oil going to  
$200, and the shares of the world's best stocks tied     
to these commodities rising accordingly.  Obviously,
stocks of companies central to the finding, extracting,
and transporting of oil are in this mix, but so are the   
stocks of companies manufacturing GPS-guided agri-
cultural machines.  This raises a cautionary:  As a  
recent incident in California makes clear, all our   
fancy technologies can easily be disrupted.  Even so,
toward better technologies is the direction in which 
leading research is moving, and must.                 
                                                        
In the sidebar to the right is a link to Kunstler's  
articles.  A Leeb Complete Investor search should   
return a link to his company's site, an info ad for  
for their services.  Purchasing their services is up
to you.  I received a mailing and am trying to glean
from it the answers they do not give.  Already know  
from other sources what the world's best company
in mineral commodities is.  I've been following its
stock.  Also know other answers.                       
                                                    
On the demise side of this Age being spotlighted,
General Motors may slide into bankruptcy, but while  
I wasn't watching, Ford's stock, which was hovering
around $2.00 per share, has moved above $4.00   
per share.                                               
                                                
                                                   
                                                
mr00027

huge day for BAC

2009-04-09T18:45:00.003-05:00


                                          
                                           
A while back I suggested buying BAC when  
the stock's price was $6.24.  After that  
time, it went as low as $2.53; but this  
week has been exceptional.  Today BAC    
closed at $9.55.  Trading after the bell  
has moved it down some.  Had I had the  
money to, and bought it at $6.24, there's  
a good chance I would have sold it late
this afternoon.  BAC went up over 35%     
today on more than double usual volume.   
That is an indication it is going much  
higher or will soon be pulling back,   
but the gain was there late this after-
noon.  There are always other places   
to go, and even though the Dow rose    
above 8000, this remains a bear market.
Of course, there is always the option  
of selling enough to get one's money  
back so that what is still being held  
is essentially risk-free.                    
                                              
                                           
                                              
mr00026

CNO part 3

2009-04-06T20:17:00.001-05:00

             
                                       
                                             
On the rise again.  Here are some highlights    
and a $1000 calculation.  The 52-week low:   
$0.26.  Closing price today: $1.41.  Today's  
high: $1.59.  On Thursday, April 2, 2009,    
Conseco's CEO purchased 200,000 shares at   
approximately $1.11 per share, an action     
which strengthened the rise.                
                                           
At $0.40 per share, 1000 shares cost $400  
before whatever commission.  Am setting   
the commission at $40 this time.  Today  
this stock traded above $1.40 most of the   
trading day.  Several times it was above  
$1.50.  Let's say someone bought the 1000
shares mentioned above at $0.40 per share
and today sold those 1000 shares at $1.40  
per share.  Including the buy and sell    
commissions, that someone would have made
$920.00.                                 
-                                             
Considerations:                               
1. CNO fell to $0.26 because rating firms   
      had doubts Conseco could remain a  
      going concern.                      
2. The 52-week low of $0.26 occurred on   
      March 10, 2009.                       
3. On March 17, 2009 the low was $0.31   
      and the open, high, and close: $0.35.
4. On the following three days, CNO could   
      have been bought at $0.40.  However,  
      indications were CNO was moving up.   
5. Even so, buying CNO at $0.40 would have   
      been a highly contrarian move.       
6. Such a bet should not be made lightly.  
                                                     
                                                
                                                 
                                                 
                                                   
                                             
mr00025

Steps to repair derivatives mess

2009-04-03T14:15:00.001-05:00

          
                                           
                                          
                                             
from Global Research a March 30, 2009 
article by F. William Engdahl                
"Dirty Little Secret"                          
                                       
                                        
                                           
                                        
                                        
Results of one-day G-20 Summit in London
look promising but President Obama said:
"There are no guarantees."                   
                                             
                                           
                                             
                                          
                                             
mr00024

Federal Reserve status

2009-03-29T18:38:00.001-05:00

         
                                          
                                         
"The Federal Reserve is Bankrupt"
                                       
                                                 
                                          
                                         
                                           
mr00023

immediately useful money info

2009-03-20T11:03:00.001-05:00


                                          
                                              
Two links:                                 
                                          
credit cards - 401k - aig insurance
                                          
aig - economics - politics
                                                   
                                                   
                                                    
                                                    
Both articles were posted today.                 
                                        
                                        
                                     
                                   
                                    
                                       
                                         
mr00022

AIG part 2

2009-03-19T20:44:00.001-05:00

         
                                          
                                       
and we have lift off, sort of             
                                         
                                       
                                       
mr00021

hot day for AIG

2009-03-16T17:40:00.002-05:00


                                       
                                        
in several ways: good, bad, indifferent.         
                                          
After closing at $0.50 on Friday, today   
is opened higher, went as high as $1.00  
and closed as $0.83 (66% up).             
-                                        
President Obama expressed his displeasure
regarding AIG in-house bonuses.             
-                                          
AIG dispersed large amounts of bail-out   
aid to partners in Europe, but AIG is a   
global firm and those partners were hurt   
by the same errors AIG here was.           
                                          
                                       
                                         
                                           
                                          
mr00020

Intelligence Is Not Enough

2009-03-07T21:27:00.001-06:00


             
                                    
                                          
June/July 2000 - Gainesville, Florida                        
                                     
[ As is my habit, I will be revising       
     the manuscript I have before me. ]  
                                        
                                             
          "Know thyself." Socrates         
                                       
                                         
                                    
three of Brian's reflections    
*                                   
                                  
Botch after botch—despite my numerous  
minor triumphs, it almost seems that unless    
I fall I fail.      2-20-2000        
=                                          
Before one can be, one must first desire  
to be, and then must sacrifice, must       
"perpetually" learn.                       
See deeply—without     
and within.  Actuate.  Create.  Rejuvenate.   
2-20-2000                                    
=                                           
If you    have wisdom.  Be jubilant.                
                                                     
                                                    
                                                
Preface                                        
                                               
form: freestyle                          
content: first as memory provides, and then as   
               present awareness revises          
* There is an order herein; however, begin where
   you will, finishing where you will; for the   
   whole shall remain . . . a fair while.  My   
   hope is that my brevity throughout will entice
   you to go out and discover more.              
acknowledgements: IBD / WSJ / B / Sam Weinstein  
          William O'Neill / Peter Lynch / Wade Cook / 
          and all those publications and programs   
          and honorable persons I do not now   
          exactly recall / Ehrenkrantz / CNBC                  
                                                   
-                                              
Some will call                                   
Many will send                              
But in the end                              
You are all                                    
                                         
So if you attend                 
Attend with care                          
Let not befall                 
Conditions where                        
                                
No one is there                                   
-                                          
                                             
-                                         
With Apologies               
                                                
And then there was                           
          a rock of death                
upon a placid sea.                           
And then there was                        
          a wispy breath,                    
and it belonged to me.                       
And then there was                    
          a brilliant kite             
athwart the setting sun.             
And then there was               
          another night,         
and so much still not done.                    
-                                     
                                                                                                                                       
Chapter 1 > the crash of 1987                    
                                                
I do remember the more than 100-point drop on Friday  
and the more than 500-point drop on Monday.  I do    
remember I was into the rocketing stock of a new    
environmental company.  I do remember I was into   
Bethlehem Steel.  I do know that what I knew was     
not sufficient.  I do know many said they saw it     
coming.  I do know I felt bewildered.  Changes in   
the fortunes of a stock or a stock market do occur   
more rapidly sometimes than an unfocused mind can   
ever be ready for.                                   
                                                    
                                                    
Chapter 2 > WMT BAC EMC AMGN                        
                                                   
This difficult memoir of my in-the-market years   
is not so much a recollecting I want to set down   
and share as it is one I need to.  Still, I ask     
no one to accompany me.                             
                                                 
After the crash I somewhere heard that Wal-Mart    
would now be an excellent long-term buy.  I let   
that advice linger in my head for some while,    
but I never did buy into that company.           
                                               
I do not recall when, but there was a concern that  
Bank America was endangered.  A day the stock     
traded at $5.00 a share did come.  I didn't buy   
into that company either.                           
                                                 
A certain "young" company had a large contract     
with IBM.  That company was EMC.  Twice I bought  
and sold some of its shares.  Something went awry   
between those two firms around that time, and IBM  
divorced itself from EMC.  EMC's stock plummeted,
but the company did not die.  I do not recall    
when I was holding EMC shares, but I do know    
I did not keep any.                              
                                                 
Much froth washed around an actually deeply    
valuable biotechnology firm named Amgen.  The    
excitement one day gathered me in and I bought    
I think 50 shares at around 55.  No matter.   
The point here is that that stock sloshed    
between 50 and 60 for a long while, and I, not  
privy to what this meant, simply lost patience—   
a character flaw that has more than once slashed  
my spirit—and sold at a loss the shares I   
had, leaving me to watch amazed as immediately    
thereafter Amgen's stock tripled in price.          
                                              
-                                              
[ Have changed my mind.  Am going to try to put 
            this memoir up in one post. ]      
   
-                                                 
                                                 
                                                   
                                                
Chapter 3 > reiterations                           
                                                 
Actually, this interlude chapter is likely to be
more than just reiterations since now is the time
to explain the title I have chosen.  Much of my  
life I breathed joyously the atmosphere of litera-
ture, especially the craft and art of making poems.
Many other hours of my life I likewise breathed    
the craft and art of discovering patterns in the  
mystical dance of numbers.  Challenges: every-
where, challenges.  In 1982 I took a Myers–Briggs/
SCII test which revealed to me I am an artistic   
and investigative INFP; that the best career for  
me was librarian.  I did not become a librarian.   
I did not become a "Wall Street" researcher.  I   
did buy a mere three shares of UAL and a short  
while later sold them and made $3.00 above com-   
missions.  No high endeavour allows one much      
wriggle room as it calls on one's intuition, one's
attentiveness, one's belief in self, one's ability
to decide effectively at a cursor's pulse.  What-
ever high task one moves to perform, intelligence
is not enough.                                    
                                                 
How many times did I fail to hold, to sell, to buy
when I ought to have?  Too many.  Unless one's     
entire being coalesces as one undertakes a high   
endeavour, Failure awaits, with its hanging rope.
                                                 
                                                   
Chapter 4 > DELL - early on and before the big push
                                                   
I had never heard of Dell until I overheard a client at
the securities office mention to one of the brokers     
that Dell stock had been sliding strongly recently   
and that he was considering selling the shares he    
was holding.  That was early on in the life of Dell.  
I do not recall doing any research on the company,  
but I do recall thinking an excellent buying time  
might not be far off.  I did not buy.                
                                                      
Years later the phone rang, and a broker from a   
company somewhere out there, a definitely honest  
and caring broker, spent some while with me/ trying
to convince me to buy DELL because soon it would    
appreciate vigorously, but couldn't, and all because
of my aversion to purchasing stocks by long distance.
Had I said yes and bought say no more than 5 shares
and then held them until the DELL enthusiasm crested,
I would have been grateful to that man I put off.   
                                                   
Proceed alertly.                                       
                                                   
                                                   
Chapter 5 > timelines                                
                                                      
Making money in the stock market is enchantingly   
easy.  However, you may have to tie your weaker   
emotions to the riggings.                          
                                                    
In this chapter I want to key on timelines.          
                                                
Over the years I have gotten hundreds of mailings
from market newsletter writers and publishers,    
and have always found myself snickering at those
who thought gains of less than 50% in a year's   
time was super.  I even snickered at those who   
thought 500% over 4 years was eye-opening.  Why?
In my window of exposure—tiny though it was—I
had seen such gains and better in less than a week.
                                                   
They, of course, were not wrong.  Iimelines.          
                                                   
Whatever public stock is out there/ is on a journey.
It may be a rather smooth one.  It may be a ragged  
one.  "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."  Shades
appear!  Is there nowhere that "upstart crow" doesn't
caw?  Don't get me going or I will play my fife tune
on my beloved master the rest of the day.  The state
of the English language then and now out there/ is   
on a journey.  It therefore behooves the buyer/ of  
whatever public stock/ to breathe deeply and see   
distinctly as regards that whatever/ before buying.  
                                                   
To invest or not to invest, to trade or not to     
trade, that is the quest you're on.  First know   
thyself said Socrates.                            
                                                 
Timelines.  There are 3 essential ones that imme-
diately present themselves:                        
    1) the buyer's personal timeline              
    2) the macro-economic timeline          
    3) a given stock's here-and-now timeline     
                                                 
I am not going to proffer advice on the above, but
I am going to put up some cautions.  You can be an  
investor, and do extremely well; many have.  You   
can be a trader and do extremely well; many have.   
You can be both an investor and a trader and do    
extremely well; many have.  Know this though: a   
successful trade may require that you monitor the   
movements of a given stock since your timing may  
need to be seconds sharp.  Further, a successful   
trade does not mean in today and out today on its
face.  You must treat each situation existentially.
Has I Bank America shares at $5.00 and held them   
until today [today being a day in the year 2000]/
that would have ben a mighty investment, but it   
would also have been a successful trade.  Do not  
stumble into the trap of seeing everything one way.
                                                   
                                                   
Chapter 6 > HD / CSCO                            
                                                 
Another day in the office of marching securities,
an investor I only saw that one time/ let it be   
known he had purchased Home Depot stock and   
that it was doing well for him.  I/ in my myopia/     
checked it out thereafter, but concluded it was   
too expensive.  This was before 1990.            
                                                 
How it happended I do not know, but in line with
my usual tendency, when an interest deepens, I   
often immerse myself.  So, I had gotten into the  
habit of watching CNBC programs whenever I could.
Certain moments have nested themselves securely  
in my memory.  One such centered on an analyst  
whose name, I am confident, was Ehrenkrantz.  He
stated he favored owning part of one great com-
pany over diversity investing.  He announced    
that just such a company would soon be going   
public and that investors should buy shares of
that company at that time.  The company's name 
was, and still is, Cisco Systems.              
                                                
I remember that for 4 or 5 days I phoned to see
if the stock of a company called Cisco Systems  
was trading yet, and then deciding to forget it.
                                                     
                                                   
Chapter 7 > Sam Weinstein / William O'Neill /   
                   Peter Lynch / Wade Cook     
                                              
Mr. W*, the tape reader par excellence, taught
               me this:  Determine whether you         
are a better investor or a better trader, and   
then strive to be the best investor or best   
trader you can be.  He also taught me this:   
Always believe the tape, or in other words, be
the market bullish or bearish, there will always
be stocks rising sharply and always stocks falling
sharply.                                          
                                                    
Mr. O*, well-known editor of IBD and promulgator  
               of a strict but highly profitable
method for evaluating stocks, taught me this:    
Wonderment.  I did, however, often profit from   
the timely information in his newsletter.        
                                                 
Mr. L*, the early Fidelity Magellan master,   
               taught me this:  Buy what you know,
and what you also know has a product or products  
that are selling exceptionally well.  He favored  
predictable growth companies over, say, high-tech  
companies.                                        
                                                    
Mr. C*, "c" mayhaps for controversial, taught me  
               this:  The long run is fine: but    
if ye seek out the most volatile stocks, stocks  
in wide but active trading ranges; if you can    
be ready for and buy early into what he calls a   
stock on a "candlestick" run, you will do better.  
                                                 
I have read probably at least twenty books on    
investing, and have gleaned shining insights     
from each, but unless you have/ or have culti-  
vated/ traits which allow you to profit from   
such knowledge, failure will out.  Intelligence
is not enough.  I know, and I know absolutely.   
I have even been on the scene when sudden price
explosions were about to occur and have said    
to a broker: "Here we go again."  And still not  
made a purchase.                               
                                                
If—to limit losses—you sell quickly, be just
as ready—to limit losses—to buy back quickly.
                                                          
                                                          
Chapter 8 > ORCL / IOMG                                 
                                                           
Around November of 1990, due to conditions at work 
and at home, I quit the market.  About that time  
word was out about two companies, one of which I  
became aware through the chance reading of a          
column in one of the famous wealth magazines,   
and one of which I became aware through a similar   
column.  Both of their stocks were around $2.00   
a share.  The first was a turnaround expected to 
rise to $20.00.  The second was a high-tech firm  
with a hot new product.  I doubt that anyone knew
for sure how high/ its stock would rise.  That   
company was Iomega.  I do not normally picture   
myself as a black-and-white person when it comes
to opinions on most things, but when I decided  
to quit the market, I quit it.  Had I had a smidgeon
of wisdom I would have treasure-chested a few 
shares of each company.  Five years later, when  
I returned, the latter was bouncing from 25 to 50 
to 25 to 50 to 25 to 50 to . . . like a yo–yo, and  
the other was slowly making its way to 25.  Time  
lines.                                           
                                                 
If I am correct, while I was away from watching  
the tape, Oracle's stock descended to $5.00.  I  
learned of it through two employees at the hotel  
who were in some stock contest for college students.
One of these guys was from Thailand.  (Herein winks  
a non sequitur.)  He said that at $5 he was buying
Oracle.  Yes.                                        
                                                    
                                                 
Chapter 9 > intelligence is not enough               
                                                 
                                                   
Chapter 10 > QNTM / CELG / VTSS                   
                                                
When I was buying Quantum Corp stock I followed
my intuition, breaking from the O'Neill dictums,
and made my initial purchase when I "smelled" a
breakout coming, not as the breakout was on.  I
did fairly well, and felt pretty good about it.  
Recently, at some goodly site, I found a trader/
investor who initially purchases stocks as they 
are rising from a bottom.  I once read about a  
dentist who went to using that approach because
he wasn't having any success other ways.  I once
read a small book that detailed this manner of   
purchasing stocks.  I think its title was The  
Phoenix Approach.  This is scary—maybe, but
it just flashed in my brain/ I may be better at
listening and reading than I am at doing.              
                                                   
The story of my Celgene purchases is not at all  
pleasant.  Off and on I have taken pleasure in  
fancying myself as one who understood the impor-
tance of/ and was able to spot the presence of  
investor craving, but I have so often missed   
understanding much of anything I—.  During the
Asian quake of '98 Celgene's share price sank  
below $5.00 for part of one day, and then—bing,
bing–bing, bing—in 4 days it was nearing $10
(or may have been even higher).  Sometime later,
when it was starting to hit new highs I at last
got interested, but that wasn't until it was    
trading in the high twenties.  Hello.              
                                                
And then there is Vitesse Semiconductor.  My   
days with it were when it was trading between
$18 and $28 a share.  This was another yo–yo
situation.  Do you know how to tell when a   
stock is under accumulation?  I only bought  
a few shares, and I sold them for only a        
paltry gain.                                   
                                              
                                              
Chapter 11 > reiterations with a hammer          
                                              
There is something for everyone in the stock market.
What that something is/ will/ for one be/ easy to  
discern/ and for another/ barbed-wire difficult.   
                                                  
Stocks bottom.  Stocks top.  In a market whipped   
into a feeding frenzy/ even investors should sell
as close to the top as they can reckon.  In a    
dumpster market/ even investors should watch for
that quiet time when the dumping has stopped, and
be ready to buy again as the dough begins to rise.
                                                   
If you see that a stock spouted up to $11 say and
then sank back to its usual range between $3.50  
and $5.25, be ready to do one of two things: buy
the stock when it is near $3.50 or buy the stock
just as the buying returns.  There is a chance   
that a stock like this is a one-time "spouter,"
but chances are it is not.  Call the company and
ask for an investor packet if you think there is
time.  Ask also for recent news.  You may even  
want to be on their mailing list.  I know there  
is nothing new here.  Sometimes we need a hammer
to nail things down.                             
                                                 
Watch the world.  Watch the Fed.  Watch the        
legislators.  Watch the sectors, and the   
dissectors.                                   
                                              
                                                
Chapter 12 > ZICA and the in-and-out month   
                                               
And then there was this poor little stock trading
below $3.00 a share when suddenly heavy interest  
kicked it up and I bought in.                     
                                                   
I also did call the company and request information.
I didn't have a computer then.                       
                                                    
Not sure, but close to 6 times I was in and out of  
this company's stock, making $1000.00 in one month.
                                                   
Fine, but I would have faired demonstrably better
had I not sold until Zi Corp's stock rose to $30.00.
                                                    
Timelines.                                          
                                                     
#                                                 
                                                
Intuition.                                          
                                                  
Simple math.  If you can afford to lose $600.00,
500 shares of a stock trading at $1.00 will be   
worth $7500.00 if that stock appreciates to $15.00.
I'm dreaming?  Do some research.  Hint: robots.         
                                                    
I know of a stock that was what Mr. Peter Lynch   
called a "no–brainer" stock/ when it was trading
near $90.00 in March of 1999.  Many, however,    
passed it by.  That stock also easily fulfilled
"Mr. One–Up's" "ten–bagger" ideal.  Questions?
Contact a bookstore/ gantly.                              
                                                    
                                               
Chapter 13 > a true gift squandered/ & then          
                               others the same         
                                                
This is a chapter about risk.                 
                                              
Six months ago when biotech stocks were perking up/
a credit card issuer of mine raised my credit limit  
#2000.  I, I was quite surprised, but I immediately  
saw as a gift from God, and indeed it was a true   
gift.  As soon as I had checks to do it with, I   
used them for cash for trading purposes.  It was  
not rash to do so.  Intellectually, it was not rash.
I searched for my savior stock.  It wasn't long     
before I found it.  And that wasn't the only one I
found.                                             
                                                    
But each time/ I was like a soldier in the front  
lines who just, just/ could not/ pull the trigger.
                                                    
In the end I had to use that money to pay my bills.
                                                   
Had I bought the first savior stock when I first  
considered doing so/ and held it for 2 or 3 weeks/
I would have more than quadrupled my money.  Had  
I had what is needed to do that/ this e-tailbook,  
in all likelihood, would never have been written.
                                                   
                                                    
Chapter 14 > DIGL / EWEB                           
                                                
After the last chapter, I am not in the mood to write
another, but the stories behind Digital Lightwave and
Euroweb/ need to be told.  Did I mess up with these  
stocks too?  Somewhat.  But I am not going to reveal  
a lot about that.  My purpose here is to show two   
rather unusual examples of the importance of volume 
and volatility.                                       
                                                    
DIGL    It took some months, buth then the volume  
swelled and the price rose from the $6/$7 range to  
the mid/upper teens.  What happened next is the        
salient event of this stock's history.  Two truths
first: 
  1) Growth stocks are volatile (I know you know).
  2) Stocks that rise rapidly in price often give  
          back rapidly (I know you know this too).
Now, one wild day DIGL's price fell below $10.00   
for a few casual sips of tea.  That was that     
stock's salient event, and that was the perfect  
time to buy.  $143.00 a share flickers as its   
summit price.                                    
                                                 
EWEB    This stock was at best a #2 stock though  
from time to time it went higher.  The story here
is in the strange shapes it took when the yeast   
was in it but someone kept opening the oven door.
For no clear reason/ volume rose headily and      
EWEb's price puffed to above $8, but in after- 
hours trading flopped to barely $3.  Slowly       
thereafter it rose up again, and then puffed up
a second time, doubling in price, and then slipped
to $12 before rising back up/ all in a few hours
time.  After that it dillydallied and went down  
some.  Then, one day, tremendous volume again,   
and a third puffing, taking the stock above $21.
And then, and then, a long descent.  This was   
the "here we go again" stock.                    
                                              
                                                   
Post Notes                                     
                                              
You just never know, and in some cases you     
absolutely will never know/ unless you try.
"To thine own self be true."  Will somebody
please exit that guy from the hamlet.  "A  
horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!"   
R—, here, go find him a horse: quickly,  
quickly!                                       
                                               
If, indeed, you have read this far, thank you.  
                                              
Though there are few footnotes in this one-
day memoir, this quaint exposition, I do hope
you/ or you/ or you/ or you/ or you/ go to   
the writings of those herein mentioned; and  
my further hope is errors herein will be    
forgiven.                                       
                                             
[ This is not in the original, but there  
    were two great stocks I knew about   
    when they were penny stocks: Amgen   
    and Ultra Petroleum (a Canadian oil 
    stock). ]                                 
                                             
One last thought.  Well, maybe two.        
  *                                  
  Do not let your life wend on,              
  nowhere going, nowhere gone.          
  *                            
  Let angels abound.                     
                                         
                                        
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                       
And here is a version of Thinking Lizard:  
                                           


   
     
             
 
  


  
mr00019

closing prices short form

2009-03-06T19:24:00.001-06:00

          
                                    
                                    
During one day this week the DJIA fell to a    
52-week low of $6469.95.  Today it closed up.
The gold stock I am tracking went down today.
                                             
Here are closing prices for three stocks:
-                                         
GNW (insurer): $0.84                       
-                                        
USB (bank): $8.83                           
-                                          
BAC (bank): $3.14                          
                                        
                                       
                                         
                                        
                                          
                                           
                                         
mr00018

CNO part 2

2009-03-03T19:08:00.001-06:00

       
                                        
                                       
On Friday CNO closed at $1.21; on Monday   
at $0.51; today (Tuesday) at $0.38--this   
company (Conseco) has been in bankruptcy  
before, and soon may be again.  However,   
its top people are doing what they can   
to keep that from happening.  It is still   
showing as a hold.  One of the reasons  
I began tracking CNO was the possibility   
this might occur.  Its 52-week low was  
hit today: $0.2869, and its 52-week high  
as of today was $12.34; so, it is easy   
to see that those who have been shorting  
this stock during 2009 alone/ have likely   
done quite well.  For personal and other  
reasons, CNO will remain on my watch list.
                                         
                                           
                                          
                                       
                                           
                                        
mr00017

Karl Denninger video

2009-03-02T20:21:00.002-06:00

     
                                  
                                    
from 2008-09-18.  [ You may need to set your  
system's sound higher in order to hear this. ]   
                                              
                                             
. . . . .
                                                       
                                          
                                               
                                           
                                              
                                                      
mr00016

closing prices

2009-02-27T19:29:00.001-06:00

          
                                        
                                         
BAC      $3.95                 
                           
ING      $4.51                    
                                  
USB      $14.31               
                                
WCG      $9.03                  
                             
GNW      $1.21                 
                              
CNO      $1.21                            
                                
ABX      $30.20                   
                           
FCX      $30.42                  
                       
CSCO     $14.57                 
                            
ILMN     $31.33                 
                           
LUFK     $32.85              
                      
EZPW     $10.28                     
                          
HANS     $33.28              
                          
ARNA     $4.17                    
                                   
                                  
                                  
                                 
                                   
mr00015

When buyers no longer trust

2009-02-26T15:10:00.002-06:00


                                    
                                        
an accepted method for doing business and   
therefore initiate a different method for
doing business and/or revert to an older    
method for doing business, that accepted    
method weakens and may eventually evap-  
orate in the face of the challenges to it;
and those who attempt to sustain it (i. e.,
to sustain that which is unsustainable) will   
find they have sorely erred and will reap  
the opprobrium of those buyers who no   
longer trust the accepted method for 
doing business.                                    
                                          
This was the point of my simplistic equation:
capitalism = something to sell + someone    
to buy it.  That point, however, was totally    
obfuscated by another's need to interpose  
a refined definition of capitalism.             
                                           
-                                           
                                              
The above refers to recent comments in a long  
comment stream at K. Silem Mohammad's 
Lime Tree flowing from his Dale Smith . . .
Flarf post.                                  
                                               
-                                         
                                             
Due to Earth's limited resources and to a  
misguided globalism, it is possible that a
paradigm shift is underway.  Civilization  
as we have known it is passing.                                                     
                                        
                                        
                                        
mr00014

Developments

2009-02-20T19:24:00.001-06:00


                                              
                                                 
Bad day for banks and insurers:          
BAC, USB, ING, CNO all fell to   
new 52-week lows.  DJIA 7365.67     
but Obama administration made it   
clear that it supported private banks  
and government regulations.     
                                   
BAC  3.61O 2.53L 4.09H 3.79C --     
so there was a second V bottom.    
                                  
USB  10.20O 9.71L 10.98H 10.58C --   
one of this nation's best banks.  
                            
ING  4.92O&L 5.89H 5.20C           
                                    
CNO  1.25O 1.03L 1.50H 1.31C         
                                    
*                              
                                
WCG and GNW are two more insurers  
but their 52-week lows are much   
lower than their lows today.          
                                
WCG  10.94O 10.63L 14.05H 11.05C    
                                     
GNW  1.43O 1.30L 1.59H 1.47C              
                                         
*                                  
                                     
ABX and FCX are mining stocks and  
CSCO and ILMN technology stocks --
these four went up.                 
                                  
ABX  37.55O 35.50L 37.73H 36.89C    
                                    
FCX  27.52O 27.08L 29.19H 28.78C    
                                   
CSCO  15.00O 14.88L 15.34H 15.08C     
                                   
ILMN  32.28O 31.74L 33.39H 33.08C       
                                        
*                                   
                                  
ARNA  5.20O 4.83L 5.24H 4.86C                
                                  
LUFK  34.17O 32.93L 34.91H 33.98C        
                                        
                                         
                                       
                                 
                                     
                                    
mr00013

stock watch lincoln week

2009-02-13T18:39:00.002-06:00

          
                                        
                                   
Every "Friday" I will be posting information about   
the stocks I watched during that day.  Therefore,
the list from week-to-week is likely to change.   
Today there are 11 stocks along with bits of news.
                                                   
Note: 
I use AOL finance (money) -- see links.  Will
be using ticker symbols.  O after price = open
L after price = low  /  H after price = high   
C after price = close                                                   
                                              
bac   5.68O  5.55L  5.82H  5.57C               
(On Tuesday this stock fell to a YTD low:
 $3.77.  For those who knew at the opening on   
 Monday, this was an excellent downside trade.  
 For others who were watching Tuesday morning   
 and noted the sudden bear-bottom V forming,  
 this was an excellent upside trade.)          
                                                 
cno   1.99O  1.76L  1.99H  1.79C         
(On 31 DEC 2008 this stock rose to a YTD high:
 $5.19.  On 20 NOV 2008 it hit a low of $1.78
 but its YTD low was $1.31.)                  
                                               
arna   7.25O  6.35L  7.36H  6.51C      
(This stock has been on the rise, but today   
 it pulled back.  There is an incredible     
 story here, a story that could become fact.)
                                              
abx   38.50O  37.76L  38.65H  37.94C   
                                              
gnw   2.39O  2.33L  2.52H  2.33C         
                                             
ing   7.52O  7.39L  7.69H  7.59C           
                                        
lufk   39.23O  37.83L  39.54H  37.99C    
                                               
csco   16.20O  15.95L  16.46H  16.10C    
                                               
wcg   15.57O  15.18L  15.72H  15.57C    
                                             
fcx   29.64O  29.52L  30.90H  30.51C   
                                             
ilmn   35.49O  35.102L  36.61H  35.91C
(This company's product can literally light up your life.)   
                                              
The last three of the eleven here closed higher.                                    
                                                       
                                                      
                                                       
                                                  
                                                 
                                               
mr00012

as ARNA awaits

2009-02-05T18:54:00.002-06:00

         
                                        
                                         
the day of final approval or not, its stock   
does not wait.  Today the stock gapped up,
opening at $5.22, had a low of $4.95, a high     
of $5.57, and closed at $5.25.  The volume    
for the day was over 6 times normal volume.   
What secrets?                             
                                           
                                        
                                       
                                           
                                             
                                             
mr00011

prospecting GNW

2009-02-02T20:18:00.002-06:00


                                       
                                     
Genworth Financial Inc is an insurance and 
mortgage company.  Although I have heard  
of it, I have not investigated it.  Today
I learned that one analyst thinks it could
become a ten-bagger or even a twenty-bagger.
However, two events need to occur first,    
and both require federal intervention.  Am
therefore keeping silent about them, but 
if you can find it, there is a video which
shows that one analyst speaking about them.
GNW's stock is trading between $2.00 and 
$2.50, and today it opened at $2.39, had a
low of $2.21, a high of $2.48, and closed
at $2.43.                                
                                   
                                     
                                  
                                    
                                    
                                     
                                       
mr00010

WCG surprise

2009-01-26T10:55:00.002-06:00

       
                                          
                                    
WellCare Health Plans Inc closed at $12.03 on   
Friday and opened today at $13.31--not sure why.  
It has been a hold since the company was not   
able to file the report for its last quarter    
when the time came to do so.  Don't know what    
that was all about either.  As with CNO, I am 
not a shareholder but I am using one of its 
services.  WCG was also downgraded by A. M.   
Best after the report delay announcement.    
More recently another firm rated it a $13.00
stock, substantially down from the rating it  
had been given.  WCG's yearly high: $55.73.                              
                                          
                                              
                                           
                                              
mr00009

bubbling BAC

2009-01-25T15:56:00.001-06:00

       
                                           
                                        
Recent events at Bank of America have drawn    
my interest.  Shareholders are rebelling and   
may even force the acquisition of Merrill   
Lynch to be rescinded.  BAC had descended   
to a yearly low of $5.05.  It has been on  
an upward track lately.  With comparatively   
heavy volume on Friday/ the low was $5.30,  
the high $6.28, and the closing price $6.24. 
                                            
I will let you search out the stories.      
                                          
I am not in a position to, and there is no   
reason for you to take my advice; still, if
I were in a position to and had $200.00 to   
spare/ and a brokerage such as ING, I would   
buy a few shares.                          
                                           
Anyway, this is the start of my coverage of   
BAC.  We will see what goes down.          
                                              
                                             
                                                
                                               
mr00008

On the other fingers

2009-01-20T11:11:00.000-06:00


                                          
                                             
over at Detainees is Mike Ruppert's 2009-01-18 article
under the heading of collapse update
for finger one.                                               
                                                        
-                                                        
                                                       
Then there is James Howard Kunstler's latest post:
Hope and Fear                       
for finger two.                                        
                                                      
-                                                   
                                                    
Next are the articles hyperlinked on                   
Life After the Oil Crash's                     
Prepare where you need to            
note the dates (e.g., 2007)                        
for finger three.                                       
                                              
-                                         
                                        
Anne Boyer's predictions for 2009,
if you have not yet read                    
her small essay,                    
for finger four.                              
                                                    
                                             
                                          
                                             
                                                
                                         
All the above pertain to                       
how we should proceed                       
if indeed the adventure (misadventure) of              
consumer-dependent debt-driven capitalism 
is dead.                     
**                                    
rho00007

stocks commodities bonds poets

2009-01-19T16:55:00.002-06:00

        
                                      
                                  
Capitalism has been with us for a long time,     
and shenanigans have also.  Love it, hate it;   
it is not likely to disappear unless greed   
prevails and ultimately decimates all things.
Meanwhile, there are highly active public    
markets where participants daily make money  
and lose money.  I have no idea how many of   
those who make poems have ever been, or    
are now in, any of those markets, but I do
know it is possible to consistently make    
money in them without going into debt if 
one is in tune with one's personallty and is   
savvy enough and has a legitimate job or     
other source of cash and a connection with   
a brokerage that isn't just for the elite.   
Further, one does not need to pay anyone    
for advice, and shouldn't.  I recently read    
about a couple who years ago pooled their   
extra money and used it to buy stock in a   
single solid utility which paid dividends   
they could reinvest in that company.  How   
much they put in and how frequently I do    
not know, but they amassed over two million  
dollars.  Markets without participants are
dead markets.  I was once a buyer of stocks
because I wanted to be a philanthropist.  I
would not have spent my gains on myself as  
it is not in me show off in that way, but I
totally messed up because I was not in tune
with my personality and I lacked the savvy   
I needed during those years.  It wasn't that
I didn't know many of the ins and outs, it  
was just that my stubbornness led me to try
an approach I wasn't sufficiently prepared  
to use consistently to my benefit.  There
have been investors who formed investment
clubs and did quite well.  Poets could do   
the same.  Perhaps some have.  Love it,      
hate it; in a society where creativity      
leads to the establishment of companies    
which then go through the initial public  
offering process so others can share in   
and support their growth is not on its     
face an evil.  Though my knowledge of the
company that day was nil, I could have  
purchased a few shares of Dell for around
$5 a share shortly after its IPO.  Don't
recall why I stopped in at the brokerage   
I was using, but I briefly interrupted a
conversation between two investors and a
broker.  One of the investors had shares
of Home Depot which were moving higher;
the other investor had shares of Dell he
was thinking of selling because those   
shares were moving lower.  I didn't have
time to learn more, and I never tried to
on my own.                                
                                             
I still own twenty or more books on how   
to invest.  One of them is Barron's   
Finance and Investment Handbook from
1986.  Much has changed since then, but
this book has well over 900 pages of   
information.  The lead editors were      
John Downes and Jordan Elliot Goodman.
Here is a passage on page 29 I placed 2   
squiggly red ink lines to the left of:           
    Even with modern policies,        
  however, the question persists:      
  Why sacrifice a portion of in-  
  come to an insurance company   
  when pure protection can be    
  more cheaply obtained through       
  term insurance and returns as     
  good or better can be obtained    
  by investing directly?  The an-    
  swer depends on an individual's     
  expertise, self-confidence, and     
  willingness to spend time man-
  aging investments.                  
                                     
I've never delved into commodities and    
bonds, but as some say:  There's always   
a bull market in currencies.             
                                   
                                         
                                         
                                           
                                             
                                         
mr00006

some 2009 predictions

2009-01-18T13:39:00.001-06:00

   
                                            
                                     
by Anne Boyer                   
                                         
                                               
                                   
                                       
                                     
                                
                                     
mr00005

800-billion-obama-stimulus

2009-01-12T11:44:00.003-06:00


                                         
                                             
By William Patalon III      Executive Editor    
   Money Morning/The Money Map Report          
   Monday, January 12th, 2009                
                                                
Watch for 2009 which s/h/b 2008.                 
                                                       
This article contains a chart.  2008s lost jobs   
and Obama's announced plan relate to this chart
in vital but question-engendering ways.  Ideas,  
however, on where to and why to invest may rise   
from careful consideration of what is said in   
this article.                                    
                                                   
                                                   
                                                   
                                                
                                                 
mr00004

too much stimulus question

2009-01-10T14:25:00.002-06:00


                                         
                                               
is explored in an article        
By Martin Hutchinson  Contributing Editor
Money Morning/The Money Map Report           
                                             
Obama stimulus plan 2             
                                        
                                     
                                       
                                       
                                             
                                           
mr00003

Ongoing case of CNO

2009-01-04T17:33:00.003-06:00


                                                       
                                                    
Conseco Inc. (CNO) is an insurance company which has
a number of susidiaries.  I have two policies through
one of those subsidiaries.  Both the company and the
companies within it are barely investment grade, but
after descending into the $2-$3 trading range/ and   
after--from various sources--I learned more about it,
I began watching it through AOL Finance.  Somewhere  
along the way from October 1 into November, CNO hit  
a low of $1.31 and also during that time/ insiders  
were buying shares, especially the CEO.  November
20, 2008, a market down day with CNO closing at 
$1.78; and November 28, 2008, a market up day with
CNO closing at $3.38/ were two such days.  After  
the 11/28/2008, the stock moved into a new trading
range above $2.50 and below $3.90, and I believe it   
was during that time that CNO shifted to the state
of Pennsylvania a group of policies that had lost
their profitability.  Then in December a dividend
hike payable on 01/09/09 to stock holders of record
12/31/08 was announced.  Comparatively, that hike
was an appreciable one.  Accordingly, CNO closed 
at $5.18 on 12/31/08.  Friday, January 2, 2009,
was a strong market upday with the DOW closing    
above 9000, but CNO closed at $4.71 as there was
no longer a reason for it to go higher.  Will see
tomorrow if it falls back into the $2.50-to-$3.90
range.  One of the policies I have I bought when
I was yet in Gainesville, Florida.  That was in   
March of 2005.  As of last month Florida made it
known it is considering banning CNO from selling
policies in that state unless the company shows
it has the wherewithal to honor them.  And yet in
spite of the bad news, Morningstar and others had
rated CNO a buy, and so it was.  Had one purchased
shares at or near $2 after 11/20/08 and sold them
at or near $5 on 12/31/08--and this is only a minor
picture of what can happen, but be aware that risk
is a given when it comes to trading or investing,
and that there are many conditions anyone who is in
the market should attend.  Trading and investing   
are both a science and an art, and each participant
ought to know his or her comfort zone and do what
is necessary to protect himself or herself from
catastrophic loss.                                 
                                                 
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                 
mr00002

Happy deadly new year

2008-12-31T14:42:00.002-06:00


                                    
                                       
After today there will no longer be any          
money-related posts in Rhodingeedaddee.
My renewed interest in the market, even
though I may never again actually be in
the market, is why.  Darkness awaits,         
and I want to know how I will negotiate
it.  In recent years, yeah, in recent
days, I could have done well dancing  
in the streets of the crumbling wall;
but due to extraneous circumstances,
I chose instead to help others when I
could.  Call it a kind of penance for
past sins.  Anyway, I hope to pass to
those who read my posts here/ what I
have learned and am learning in the   
ditch of death.  Darkness awaits, 
and I want to know how I will find   
specks of/ light in it.                 
                                        
                                           
                                              
                                     
                                        
mr00001