Shaq Freestyle on Kobe

Gas Prices and Politics

While driving home from work today I was listening to a Republican talk show. The topic was, of course, gas prices and the continued climb north. They were making the argument that the Democrats were happy that gas prices were hitting all time highs and putting the squeeze on Americans pocketbooks. This type of rhetoric is very common in a red state like Texas, and this is one of the less asinine viewpoints. I am somewhat neutral in my political views although I tend to lean more liberal. Like most republicans I believe in a free market (at least in theory), but I do not agree in big business getting rich at the cost of society and the environment. Now that you know my viewpoint back to the topic at hand.

The only reason Democrats would be happy that gas prices are increasingly more expensive is this may encourage society to turn to alternative fuel sources that are more environmentally friendly. Everyone should agree that we need to find an alternative fuel source to free ourselves from our dependency on foreign countries. Oil prices are ridicules, but increasing drilling is only a temporary solution that is simply going to delay the inevitable. The inevitable being an alternative fuel source.

It would be a shame if congress decides to lift the ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Back to stocks for a second. I have one picks for each situation. If congress decides to lift the ban, buy some RIG. Here is their business summary from Google finance:

Transocean Inc. (Transocean) is an international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. As of February 20, 2008, the Company owned, had partial ownership interests in or operated 139 mobile offshore drilling units. Its fleet included 39 high-specification floaters (ultra-deepwater, deepwater and harsh environment semisubmersibles, and drillships), 29 midwater floaters, 10 high-specification jackups, 57 standard jackups and four other rigs. As of February 20, 2008, the Company also has eight ultra-deepwater floaters contracted for or under construction. The Company’s primary business is to contract these drilling rigs, related equipment and work crews primarily on a day rate basis to drill oil and gas wells. In November 2007, the Company completed its merger transaction with GlobalSantaFe Corporation (GlobalSantaFe).

If congress does not lift the ban and oil prices continue to rise look for some action in the solar industries. My favorite here is FSLR. Here is their business summary from Google finance:

First Solar, Inc. designs and manufactures solar modules using a thin film semiconductor technology. Its solar modules employ a thin layer of cadmium telluride semiconductor material to convert sunlight into electricity. It has long-term solar module supply contracts (the Long Term Supply Contracts) with 12 European project developers and system integrators. Its customers develops, owns and operates solar power plants or sells turnkey solar power plants to end-users that include owners of land, owners of agricultural buildings, owners of commercial warehouses, offices and industrial buildings, public agencies, municipal government authorities, utility companies, and financial investors that desire to own large scale solar power plant projects

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Market Talk

The markets are collapsing, yet people seem upbeat. I try to discuss economics with just abut everyone I meet. Trying to get a grasp on where we are headed and where we have been. Surprisingly the majority of people I speak to seam optimistic about the economic future of our country. We all know the markets are finicky and everything is cyclical, but we are not playing with monopoly money. I guess a loss is not technically a loss until you sell, but seeing huge unrealized losses in your brokerage account will make even the most experienced investor nervous. I am staying long in my portfolio and am going to try and ride this wave out, but it is very tempting to jump ship when the markets are steadily heading south.

The good news is the markets are closed for a couple of days! So relax and have a drink, we could all use one. Hopefully the markets will turn positive again on Monday.

Bush

Fake??? Yes, but funny as hell! You can see more here...

Snoop Dog Country Song?

The market has been in major pain this week with financials leading the way. I have made a few buys on the way down, but I am still very heavy in cash. Trying to stay away from the falling knife. You know things are going crazy when Snoop starts singing country.... If you are a bear congrats, bulls hang tight..

Comic Relief

I may have found one of the funniest sites on the web! If you have ever worked in a cube, than you will truly appreciate MyLifeInaCube.com... Here is one of my favorites.

Apple Update

Coming in early July! Apple introduces the new 3G iPhone with minor updates and a much lower price tag. The 8 gig iPhone will sell for $199 and the 16 gig will sell for $299 . That is about $200 less than the current price. The new phone will include a all black back and a flush headset jack. The iPhone will also have GPS which will allow for turn by turn directions.

Apple also announced a new version of Mac OS X that is sure to impress.

The stock took a dip upon the news, but bounced back before the close and is up in after hours trading.

Disclosure: Long AAPL

Romo Shoots 84 @ Torrey Pines

I like Romo more everyday! Check out the story....

Apple does Vegas!

A new apple store is being built in Las Vegas that could be the most extravagant apple store ever! The apple insider has the story here...

Brawl!! Red Sox Vs Tampa Bay

MLB will likely take this down soon, but it is working for now. Have a good weekend!

OBAMA for President!

Here is Obama's speech last night as he wins the democratic nomination on his way to becoming the president of the United States. What a great speech! Watch for yourself...

No more Hummers?

GM has announced today that they are going to close 4 truck producing plants, in order to make more small cars. They also said that they will consider selling the Hummer Brand. Bloomberg has a great article here covering the story.

Google Vs. Yahoo!

Yahoo! has been the standard finance search for as long as I can remember, but a lack of innovation has allowed Google to take over as the top financial site in my opinion. The Google/Yahoo competition is extensive to say the least. They are in direct competition in basically every category and Yahoo has been loosing ground to Google exponentially.

Here are the top 5 reasons I use Google Finance over Yahoo Finance...

1. No Ads... Google Finance is laid out very clean and clear with no ads. Yahoo Finance is covered with a ridicules number of ads, many of which will pop up or slide into your view causing vigorous cursing and yelling.
2. Clean and easy to use charts... Google Finance has great easy to use charts. You do not have to open a separate page to analyze the chart. Take AAPL for example. When you pull up the AAPL page you get the financials across the top with a basic 3 day chart. Simply drag the chart to expand or pick the timeline you wish to view. It works great, try it...
3. Everything is on one page... The financials, blog posts, news, related companies, financials, discussions, events, key stats & ratios, officers & directors, and a brief summary. Very convenient and very clean.
4. News linked charts... This is relatively new to financial sites and is one of my favorite innovations. This makes it very easy to understand the dips and jumps in a stock. Google has it, Yahoo does not.
5. Outside links... Google is the first to admit they can not do it all, so they link to Reuters and Yahoo Finance.