Cowboys

Quick Rant. One of the biggest games of the year and it is being announced by Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth! Amateur hour on the NFL Network. Plus TO just gave up a touchdown. Back to the game.

Strong Finish

The market has been all over the board for the past few weeks and today was no different. The dow ended up 215 points and all my positions ended in the green. The market is still consumed with the mortgage industry but with the surge of foreign equity in the financials hopefully the market can regain some confidence. I never lost my confidence in the market (probably should have) but it does feel like we are looking for bad news to run the market lower.

Black Friday

My wife and I braved the crowds are ventured to the local mall in search of good deals and stock ideas. The holiday season can be a very telling time for retailers and disappointing holiday sales can be disastrous. The mall was very crowded with the usual suspects leading the way. Banana Republic, JCrew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Best Buy, Circuit City and the Apple Store were all packed. Some of the department stores were doing really well too, including Nordstroms and Dillards. The Apple Store was unbelievably crowded with hundreds of people clambering to save a few bucks. We walked in and the handed us a brochure with the days sales including $138 nano, $228 iPod Classic, $68 shuffle, and many more small discounts. This is one of the few times Apple puts anything on sale, so the apple groupies were there in flocks. With the continued success of the iPhone there is no reason not own a few shares of Apple.


The market rallied today with good indications coming from the retail side. The market closed at 1:00 today, leaving plenty of time to go shopping. Have a great weekend.

Disclosure: Long Apple

Where is the bottom?

Countrywide closed today at $9.42! At the beginning of the year CFC was trading around $45 dollars a share. I traded this stock in the mid 20's and made some nice coin. I have left it on my watch list just to use it as an indicator of where the housing and mortgage industry is trading. Usually a couple of large cap stocks from any industry can give you a pretty good idea of the way an industry is trending as a whole. So, what does this tell us? The mortgage market is hosed. Everyone knows that the mortgage industry is in trouble, but is the bottom in site? Well fortunately for us, stocks can not go negative, but this dog may still have some decline left. If I was looking for a long term investment Countrywide may be on the list (purely speculative of course). I am not going long right now, but I will continue to watch for a bottom.

Hope everyone has a great thanksgiving!

Get your Mac on!

As of yesterday, I am officially a Mac groupie. I received my MacBookPro yesterday and I love it. It is incredibly easy to use and Leopard is full of awesome features. I will not go into a full-blown review of the operating system (you can find one just about anywhere) but if you are looking for a new laptop take a close look at Apple.

Tech had a strong day today with the usual suspects including Apple, Google, and Research in Motion leading the pack. I have stayed long Apple through the market down turn and I am still confident it will recover along with the rest of the market. Housing numbers came out this morning and helped the market open strong. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Back to playing with my new Mac. See you tomorrow.

What would Greenspan do?

In today's volatile market I tend to ask myself what would our old friend Greenspan do? I am currently reading his book, The Age of Turbulence, and it has been making me wonder what sectors Greenspan thinks will be stronger in the near future. Financials are getting killed along with housing stocks and anything with mortgage backed securities in there portfolio. I think (and Greenspan would probably agree;) technology, semiconductors, natural resources, and health care are the best trending sectors right now and likely for the next year. Financials could recover, but it is going to take some time so I am going to stay away from them for now. A few of my favorite stocks right now are aapl, grmn, tasr, txn, chk, ato, pfe, abt.

Another down day

My dog Campbell thinks tomorrow is going to be better day in the market, so I am going to watch The Office and lounge. Catch you on the flip.

Negative Market

The market has been so negative lately, but earnings are still strong. Look at your favorite companies p/e ratios and you may find that they are at historic lows. I am a buyer at these levels and believe this is a temporary down turn. Lots of great buying opportunities. Financials and housing are way to volatile right now, but if you can pick the bottom or don't mind sitting on some stocks for a while, financials are really cheep.

Rotten Apple

Apple is looking pretty rotten after a horrible past two weeks. It hit a high of $192.68 a few weeks ago and closed today at $153.76. What is going on? Who knows, but hopefully we have seen the bottom (although it could go lower). I may pick up a few shares tomorrow if it continues to dive. iPhone just launched in Europe which should help spur more blowout quarters (the weak dollar will not hurt too).

Wedgie Proof Underware

Jared and Justin Serovich from Chicago came up with the Rip Away 1000!

Bluetooth

This is a hilarious clip! Larry David is a genius. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I took a beating this week, but volatility keeps the markets fluid.

News & Links

HP will stop making digital cameras, and concentrate on the printing business (or printer cartridge business) according to Tech Crunch.

Check out infinite solutions for interesting computer related fixes and updates. He is the Mac Guyver of technology. He actually uses a cell phone, Ethernet cable, salad bowl, and tin foil to increase his Wifi connection. Niceee.

Criminals are getting nabbed for discussing crimes on social networks. First rule of fight club is never talk about fight club. Gizmoto has the story.

If you are getting ready for post Thanksgiving shopping get a head start by checking out the specials @ blackfriday.info or click here.

Undicided who to vote for in 2008. Take this quick quiz called the "Match-O-Matic" from ABCnews.com and all you have to do is go to the polls.

Seinfeld Standup

Everyone needs a good laugh when the market is getting crushed.

Tech is getting pounded

Tech stocks and financials are taking a beating this afternoon along with every other sector. Bernanke did not do anything to calm the markets today.

The DOW is currently down about 200 points

Apple is down 12.34
Google is down 48.99
RIMM is down 13.23

The list goes on and on.

Elements of Branding

This is pretty interesting if you are interested in marketing or advertising. Click on the picture to follow the link.


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