Thanks to all who serve and have served. Your sacrifice is unparalleled.
May 31, 2010
May 30, 2010
Make it Home-Made for Memorial Day
Memorial Day weekend is here where we celebrate our freedoms brought to us through the sacrifices made by the men and women throughout the military. We do this through our own sacrifices made by eating too many BBQ’d meals, going on vacations and hanging out around the occasional parade.
It is also the time of the year when people will get their first sunburn of the summer. If you forgot the suntan lotion and have one of the following in your home.
Home remedies for Sunburns:
1. Undiluted apple cider vinegar to sunburn.
2. Mix 10 ounces Non-fat Dry Milk, 2 tablespoons salt and 25 ounces water. Saturate cloth and apply to sunburn 20 minutes. -A milk bath of sorts
3. Mayonnaise as a skin cream to sunburn.
4. Peanut oil to sun-burned areas.
5. Thin slices of cold cucumbers, apples, or potato directly to the skin.
6. Cold, plain yogurt, then rinse with cool water.
7. Cold, used black tea bags to sun-burned eyelids to relieve pain and swelling.
Want to make your own sunscreen? You will need Olive or Almond Oil, BeesWax and Zinc Oxide, plus a tube to put it into. Find the step by step instructions at Ehow.com
Memorial Day Weekend is a common place to eat to much potato salad, watermelons, burgers and hot dogs and it gives you one big stomachache!
Home remedies for stomach-aches:
Photos via flickr/cc
kirinqueen and Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer
It is also the time of the year when people will get their first sunburn of the summer. If you forgot the suntan lotion and have one of the following in your home.
1. Undiluted apple cider vinegar to sunburn.
2. Mix 10 ounces Non-fat Dry Milk, 2 tablespoons salt and 25 ounces water. Saturate cloth and apply to sunburn 20 minutes. -A milk bath of sorts
3. Mayonnaise as a skin cream to sunburn.
4. Peanut oil to sun-burned areas.
5. Thin slices of cold cucumbers, apples, or potato directly to the skin.
6. Cold, plain yogurt, then rinse with cool water.
7. Cold, used black tea bags to sun-burned eyelids to relieve pain and swelling.
Want to make your own sunscreen? You will need Olive or Almond Oil, BeesWax and Zinc Oxide, plus a tube to put it into. Find the step by step instructions at Ehow.com
Memorial Day Weekend is a common place to eat to much potato salad, watermelons, burgers and hot dogs and it gives you one big stomachache!
- Drink plenty of water to help with the digestive process
- Relax - Lay down and let your body do what it needs to do without you stressing out
- Walk - A little exercise can help after a big meal with blood circulation
- Snack on Caraway seeds after a meal to reduce gas and help with digestion
- Cinnamon helps with the digestive system as well - perfect for a little tea
- Sometimes Mint can calm an upset stomach
- Baking soda antacid - Mix 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in 1/2 glass water
- Snack on some bland crackers, bread or a banana
- Add fiber by chopping on an apple
- Ginger tea or Ginger ale may sooth a stomachache
Photos via flickr/cc
kirinqueen and Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer
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May 29, 2010
Not Much Change
Looking at my post from last Saturday, you'll see there has been little change in my portfolio, or it's worth. I lost $60 this week. Of course, that was enough to drop me below the $2,000 threshold. However, I knew this was coming, and I am not too concerned right now. See chart below:
I was out of town Monday through Wednesday night, so it was nice not having to worry about my stocks. For the upcoming week, I would like to see an announcement by NBRI that they have been uplisted. That should take care of that $2,000 threshold pretty easily. Any news for AMNG, and it will be right above .06 again. After I sell these two, I will definitely looking to the big boards again.
On a personal note, this Friday I will be meeting someone special in Reno, NV. If that works out, I will be a very very happy person. It would be a great thing if I found someone so soon after my wife asked for a divorce. If you can, pray for me.
Thanks, Rob.
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May 28, 2010
TGIF: Trading Expected To Be Light Ahead of Holiday Weekend
The market help up very nicely yesterday, and even built on its gains right into the close. Regardless, it has been a very rough month for the stock market, and traders are likely happy to shut it down early today and get a start on the long holiday weekend.
There were no big headlines this morning out of Europe, which is nice. There were some economic releases here in the States. To wit, personal income rose +0.4% (in-line), while personal spending was flat, coming in below estimates. The savings rate jumped from 3.1% to 3.6%, as it appears consumers reigned in their spending.
While this is good for those individuals, who may be repairing their personal balance sheets, it doesn't help the economic rebound, which seems to be losing speed of late. The ECRI weekly index has been hinting at this slowdown for a while, and it looks like it is materializing now.
Asian markets rose nicely overnight, and Europe is positive this morning; the 10-year yield is flattish around 3.33%; and the VIX is below the 30 level for a second day.
Trading comment: Yesterday was a nice rally, and we used the strength to do a little selling. At this point, while the market could continue to bounce, it looks like the leadership in the market is narrowing. So my strategy will be to focus on those stocks that continue to lead the market, and pare back those positions that look like they are beginning to struggle.
The S&P 500 is sitting right below its 200-day moving average (see below), which as I have said should act as resistance on the first push higher. I would expect the market to pullback a bit from here, but then to successfully push through resistance. That is the bullish scenario for an oversold market coupled with highly bearish sentiment.
But if this market truly is not ready to rally, we will know it by the inability to recapture this key moving average. In the meantime, enjoy the long weekend--
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Weekend question: Had Enough Yet?
What would it take for you to say you've had enough and simplify your life?
I have occasional dreams of selling everything and living in an RV by the ocean with minimal luxuries and lots of sun. Part of that day dream leaves out my day to day life and how I survive, but I still want to be there and I don’t care what risks may lay in front of me. Of course the practical side of me tries to plan it all out and figure out the pros and cons but eventually I move back into my regular life and the daydreaming stops.
But, I wonder at what point I will get fed up with it all and say “Enough!” Take off in the car after selling my stuff, and go live on the coast, like in my daydreams?
Right now, I am slowly working towards that goal by lowering my standard of living and living on less. It may not be next year or even in 3 years, but the goal to shoot for is there.
What about you? What would it take for you to say you've had enough and simplify your life?
Let's hear you thoughts and goals.....
I have occasional dreams of selling everything and living in an RV by the ocean with minimal luxuries and lots of sun. Part of that day dream leaves out my day to day life and how I survive, but I still want to be there and I don’t care what risks may lay in front of me. Of course the practical side of me tries to plan it all out and figure out the pros and cons but eventually I move back into my regular life and the daydreaming stops.
But, I wonder at what point I will get fed up with it all and say “Enough!” Take off in the car after selling my stuff, and go live on the coast, like in my daydreams?
Right now, I am slowly working towards that goal by lowering my standard of living and living on less. It may not be next year or even in 3 years, but the goal to shoot for is there.
What about you? What would it take for you to say you've had enough and simplify your life?
Let's hear you thoughts and goals.....
Photo via CC/Annemod
Copyright © Frugal for Life. All rights reserved. This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are seeing this article on any web site besides Frugal for life, they are stealing it..
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V from Violent Acres and I might have something in common
Totally on a lark I visited the blog Violent Acres after staying away for a long time. The points that “V” makes in her posts are frequently flashes of brilliance, despite all of the cursing. I refrained posting about her work because I resented being put in my place as unworthy of being able to even pay her a compliment on her blog. But, it looks like the blog has comments enabled now (for whatever reason), so this is a Good Thing. A blog isn’t a blog without comments enabled.
Anyway, one post series she did a while back (3 1/2 years ago) was financially-related, and the last of the series outlined five steps that she took that helped her to become financially independent. (Warning: linked post contains strong language!)
The second point made a lot of sense to me. She only invests in things that she enjoys. From her post:
I know a guy who is a whiz with stocks; he loves them. My husband, on the other hand, gets a huge kick out of investing in small businesses. Yet another friend is into precious metals. There are countless investment opportunities out there, but the trick is finding one that fascinates you.
Personally, I love real estate. I can walk into the biggest, dumpiest, most wrecked foreclosure on the market and find something cool about it. I adore single family homes, old buildings, abandoned restaurants and I’d rather go to an open house than the movies. I’m obsessively diligent about watching the market and at any point in time I could tell you with reasonable accuracy how many houses in my city are for sale, how long they’ve been on the market, and how much they’d have to go for to make money. Real estate is ‘my thing’ and I’m convinced the only reason I’m successful with it is because I enjoy it. Give me 10K and tell me to the play the stock market and it’s likely I’d be broke in a week. Give me 5K and a copy of a MLS and watch me go.
The key ingredient isn’t so much what you invest in, but that you absolutely love it, can’t get enough of it, want to research it, want to put the time into learning about the investment so that you can do it wisely, and profitably.
For the past few years I’ve been wanting to dip my finger into real estate. With the purchase of our new house I had the opportunity to try renting out our old house. I must say that it was fun getting involved in the process: calling around to ask for advice, learning how to fix up things in the house, touching up the walls, cleaning the floors and the carpets, developing a relationship with a property manager, getting insurance matters in place, and finally signing a lease with what appear to be really wonderful tenants. It’s probably too early to tell whether I’ll enjoy investing in real estate in the long run, but I must say that I’ve mostly enjoyed it so far.
Getting the property ready to rent took a number of evenings and a bunch of phone calls over a few weeks, but it was something I could do and looked forward to doing. I enjoyed it. There have been investments I haven’t enjoyed as much, and I’m not doing them anymore because they never really took off. The reason that they didn’t take off, though, is probably because I didn’t enjoy them!
Maybe there are a few things in your portfolio that you don’t really enjoy? Replace them with things you do.
Sign up for the Mighty Bargain Hunter Newsletter!
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Ever See An "Ascending Broadening Wedge"?
A subscriber to Instant Alerts asked: "So, is this formation over the past three days a 'head and shoulders' formation?" I wasn't quite sure what he was referring to since the head and shoulders I have been focusing on stretched back not three days but all the way back to October. It was the described in "Elongating the Head and Shoulder Top" of just a few days ago when I wrote:
"the bull market that has been running from the March 2009 low to when the market began really struggling to make new highs in December seems to be about to turn into a Bear Market (defined as a decline of 20% or more).....
So I went to a 15-minute bar chart covering the previous ten days and, sure enough, there it was, the following inverted head-and-shoulders chart (click on image to enlarge):
That was around noon and I was in a quandary since I had a nice profit in SDS, the double-short ETF on the S&P Index. At noon, the Index seemed to be stalled at around 1094 so the question was whether to act on this short-term bottom pattern in the anticipation of a 5% move up to the target 1150 or to hold on to the ETF, take the pain of a short term loss while waiting for the downside move to resume. Here's a longer-term view of the Index and the head-and-shoulder top I had been focusing on:
The more I looked at that "elongated head and shoulders", the more I began seeing a different pattern emerging: a chart pattern that looked more and more like a megaphone or, as known by its technical name, an "ascending broadening wedge" [to be contrasted with the more conventional "descending converging wedge"]. Over my many years of charting, I had rarely come across an ascending broadening wedges but when I have, it rarely had a good ending.
According to Thomas Bulkowski's Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns 
My response to the subscriber:
"there will probably be a recovery move out of what looks like a inverted head-and-shoulders bottom but, traditionally, the extent of the move will approximately equal the distance from peak of head to neckline. In this case, it’s around 5% and should carry the market back up to around 1150 which, coincidentally, is a significant resistance/support level. At the point (if all this comes about), we’ll have to wait to see what market participants want to do then …… buy bargains or get out of the way for another push down".While a move to 1150 will be uncomfortable, a turnaround at that point will turn the decision to not sell the SDS into a good one. It will, however, be a tense and anxious 3-4%.
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20100527 PM
Dow 10,258.99 +284.54
Nasdaq 2,277.68 +81.80
S&P 500 1,103.06 +35.11
10-Yr Bond 3.34% +1.20
Yesterday indices sold off into the close, which created doom & gloom anticipation for the overnight and morning. China said it was not considering selling EU debt, which helped to cause relief rallies around the world.
Daily swings of 3% - 5% does not inspire confidence for the average retail investor
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May 27, 2010
Chinese Comments Boost Euro and US Markets
Yesterday the market was sharply higher in early trading, and I said I don't like to see the market too strong, too early. Sure enough, by the close the entire rally had faded and the market actually closed down for the day.
This morning, the markets are sharply higher once again in the first hour. Let's just hope we don't have a repeat performance of yesterday's late fade.
The big catalyst this morning is comments out of China that they have denied that they are reviewing their European debt holdings. Yesterday's late day weakness was attributed to a story that China was "looking" at its European debt holdings, and that caused the euro to tank.
The news is boosting the euro, which in turn is weighing on the dollar. Nonetheless, oil is higher again, nearing $73.50, while gold is steady around $1212.
All 10 S&P sectors are higher, led by energy and financials. Real estate is strong also (IYR), and emerging mkt etfs are getting a nice boost.
The second estimate for Q1 GDP showed the economy's growth rate moderating from the initial estimate of 3.2% to 3.0% this time.
Asian markets were higher overnight; the 10-year yield has bounced all the way back to 3.34%; and the VIX is back down to the 30 level. Let's hope it doesn't reverse higher again.
Trading comment: The VIX is down -13% today, a good sign. And the euro is higher. If the euro can stabilize here, it should leave the window open for stocks to continue to work higher. The recent extreme readings in the put/call ratio often coincide with at least a trading bottom. But I will continue to look to make partial sales on strong days to maintain flexibility.
This morning, the markets are sharply higher once again in the first hour. Let's just hope we don't have a repeat performance of yesterday's late fade.
The big catalyst this morning is comments out of China that they have denied that they are reviewing their European debt holdings. Yesterday's late day weakness was attributed to a story that China was "looking" at its European debt holdings, and that caused the euro to tank.
The news is boosting the euro, which in turn is weighing on the dollar. Nonetheless, oil is higher again, nearing $73.50, while gold is steady around $1212.
All 10 S&P sectors are higher, led by energy and financials. Real estate is strong also (IYR), and emerging mkt etfs are getting a nice boost.
The second estimate for Q1 GDP showed the economy's growth rate moderating from the initial estimate of 3.2% to 3.0% this time.
Asian markets were higher overnight; the 10-year yield has bounced all the way back to 3.34%; and the VIX is back down to the 30 level. Let's hope it doesn't reverse higher again.
Trading comment: The VIX is down -13% today, a good sign. And the euro is higher. If the euro can stabilize here, it should leave the window open for stocks to continue to work higher. The recent extreme readings in the put/call ratio often coincide with at least a trading bottom. But I will continue to look to make partial sales on strong days to maintain flexibility.
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