SocialPicks.com and StockTickr.com are two new websites that are trying to get on that short-list of sites you use to research and comment on stocks. I’ve signed up for both sites this weekend and played around a bit. Here are my first impressions of the alpha version of SocialPicks and the free version of StockTickr.
For the past couple weeks, Jim Cramer’s been talking up the stock of the Canadian mining company Crystallex International Corporation (AMEX:KRY) on his radio and TV shows. The thesis on this company is based around Las Cristinas, a gold mine in Venezuela owned but not yet mined by the company. But that situation should change soon as all but one of the Venezuelan government agencies required have granted permission for Crystallex to tap the mine.
The last of these permits is expected soon. An active gold mine would bring many jobs to the country, which is starving for employment.
Why should we care about Las Cristinas and Crystallex? Because the current evaluation does not price in the full potential of the mine, one of the largest untapped gold mines in the world. Gold demand and gold prices are rising steeply and if the Las Cristinas mine comes online for Crystallex, they stand to make a lot of money. Cramer’s estimation is that the stock’s price should be somewhere between $12-$15 assuming the mine works out.
John Rhodes over at WebWord.com recently wrote an article on How Web 2.0 Killed Microsoft. The article points out a lot of the hurdles and challenges facing Microsoft as they try to keep up with the movement from desktop-based applications to online services. It’s a long article; here are some highlights:
The disruption afoot in the world of operating systems isn’t tied to the software resident on your own computer. Instead, the disruption is network enabled software, particularly software, data storage, and end user environments that reside squarely on the internet, but probably more specifically on the web. To be quite blunt about this, Google doesn’t give a damn if a web browser of any virtually flavor is running any particular operating system. The network is the computer, after all.
Web 2.0 developers are mostly yawning about Vista because they don’t need it. Like me, I’ll bet you haven’t seen much buzz on Vista coming from developers and designers. In the past, developers needed to care about the operating system, but no more. They obey few corporate masters because they feel liberated. They leash of Windows has been cast off.
As users adopt more and more Web 2.0 tools, they will get more comfortable with them. In turn, they will start to expect and even need these applications in their organizations. The enterprise will start to focus on web applications more and the operating system even less. To put this another way, Google and many other companies playing the Web 2.0 world, will slowly kill Microsoft. The mightly enterprise will move to align with user demands over time. It’ll be a glacial move, but it will happen as Web 2.0 continuosly demonstrates victory, and liberation.
Read on for my response.
I was watching Deal or No Deal on CNBC last night and, being the numbers guy that I am, couldn’t help but think about optimal strategies and risk-reward evaluations. I thought about writing something down to enlighten the masses, but it seems someone has already spelled out the basis for an optimal strategy: Optimal Strategy (more…)
I am the proud owner of 25 shares of Microsoft Corporation stock (MSFT: Google Finance, Yahoo! Finance). These shares were purchased on 3/23/2006 at a price of $27 per share.
After selling my SIRI stock last week, I was itching for somewhere to put that money. MSFT had been on my radar for a while and was an obvious target for me. It seems I wasn’t the only one considering investing in MSFT though, because the stock had a rally from the low $27s last Monday to just over $28 this Tuesday.
While I was pondering, a few things happened:
I thought I had missed the boat. But then this Tuesday Microsoft announced a delay of their own3. The consumer version of Windows Vista, the next installment in the Windows Operating System, will be released in January 2007 rather than the previously-planned “second half of 2006”. The “corporate version” is still planned to be released this November though.
News of the delayed release erased the previous week’s rally, taking the stock back down to the low $27s Wednesday. Is this my second chance to jump aboard the MSFT train? Is this a buying opportunity for MSFT?
You can’t deny the popularity of investing guru Jim Cramer. He’s become an icon. But should you read his book Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World? I think you should.
First off, fans of Jim Cramer should read this book no questions asked. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy a book that starts off with “I want you to be rich. Really rich.”? If you’re a fan of the TV or radio show, you’ll get more of that same old Jim you love.
Besides being a quick and entertaining read, Real Money can be a useful part of your investing education. I believe that investors of all levels can benefit from this book. For new investors, Real Money does a great job of explaining the basics. For intermediate investors, Jim’s anecdotes and rules can help you stay disciplined. Advanced investors will at least have a chance to better understanding a man who has a noticeable effect on the market and holds a lot of sway with many of today’s small investors.
Read on for the full review.
First, here is an article by former Google employee Ron Garret on why you shouldn’t buy Google stock. His argument can be used for nearly any stock these days. Paraphrased it is: why buy stock in a company that has no chance of being bought out and has no dividend? As seasoned traders often say, stocks are just pieces of paper. Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t a make a lot of money trading paper.
Read on for an update on some of my stock holdings.
In this article I will discuss changing your future contributions, rebalancing your 401(k), and one “advanced” tactic you can use to take advantage of dips in the market.
Jose Anes has a great personal finance blog you might be interested in. He’s a smart guy who covers a lot of ground in his writing. Some of his best articles are lifehack-style tips on how to save a few extra dollars here and there. My favorite article of his is from back in November (more…)
I know you came here looking for another insightful article by Chris. You can expect to be wowed again by Chris tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some recent items of interest: How Warren Buffett Invests The folks at BusinessWeek have built a stock screener around Buffett’s investing principles. Check out What Would Warren Do? (more…)
