Year-End Thoughts: Don't Lose Out On Free Money Next Year!

Investors come in every shape and size, as well as risk tolerance. That last quality can really vary depending on whom you're discussing the subject of investing. So let's approach today's rant in a way that should appeal to you whether you're ultra-conservative or a daredevil risk taker. One of...

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E*TRADE Rollercoaster: Anatomy of a Merger

Below are some screwy screenshots from my E\TRADE account (you'll also get to see what my E\TRADE portfolio looks like). Early this week, I setup a trade in Lucent Technologies (LU). It was a complete chart play. I haven't been monitoring the stock fundamentally lately, but I recall my last...

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USD Drop: A Butterfly Effect

So here we sit and see that the USD has dropped and breached the 1.30 mark against the Euro. The question is why? I would have responded on this question earlier, but could not. Last Friday my oldest English Bulldog Patches (11.2 years) went into the doggy hospital, and she died on Monday. Until...

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Automated Trading Algorithms

For the past two months I have been writing my own automated trading system. Two weeks ago I slowly started trading using manual techniques based on data generated by my software. The initial results are very good, but I am tempering down my glee because I was conservative and focused. It's like...

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Some Thoughts On Steve's Article and Personal Finance

I was reading Steve's article and thought "Steve you are a smart guy." Steve is being smart because I think he is reading the market correctly and getting ready. I read the comments associated with Steve's article and thought many are missing the message within the article. One comment that caught...

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Energy Update Nov 21

Energy prices are here, there and everywhere. Oil was trading at around 55, then went to 59, USD, March 07 futures are trading at 61 USD, and May 07 Futures are trading at 69 USD. Between now and May oil would have to increase 25%, which is a hefty premium. A reader of my previous energy update...

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Mistakes Happen

Last week I made a $13,000 mistake (a tax ruling, not in my favor due to most impressive stupidity on my part). In Warren Buffett terms, that mistake cost me $226,842 ($13,000 compounded at 10% for 30 years – see boys, I do know how to do math). I won’t sugar coat it. It sucked. Big time. But I can...

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Let's change our goals around...

I think most people create huge, out of reach goals like, “I need to have $1,000,000 in the bank by the time I'm 40.” A great goal, obviously, but I think that may be going about things the wrong way. What if we took that type of goal and switched it around? What if we first started by setting a...

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The Buy List: Keep Track of the Big Guys

TheBuyList.com is a nice, simple website with just one purpose: to show you if mutual funds are trading the stocks you're tracking. Just enter a ticker and click a button. You'll be shown a table of "recent" transactions of that stock made by "the top rated mutual funds". The table shows you how...

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Book Review: The Little Book of Value Investing

Wiley is trying to turn their hit Little Book that Beats the Market (discussion, Amazon.com) into a series: Little Book Big Profits. The second book in the series, The Little Book of Value Investing, is written by Christopher H. Browne and focused on (what else) value investing. While Browne...

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