20 Best Guy Movies Over the Past 20 Years

A local radio show was doing a full bracket of the best guy movies of all time, so I thought I would put together my own list. Since this list is just the past 20 years I did not include some obvious leaders like Animal House, Caddyshack, Die Hard, Godfather, Stripes, Jaws, and Scareface. If I missed anything let me know...

1. Fight Club - 1999
2. Goodfellas - 1990
3. Pulp Fiction - 1994
4. Dumb & Dumber - 1994
5. Gladiator - 2000
6. Casino - 1995
7. Braveheart - 1995
8. Tombstone - 1993
9. Old School - 2003
10. Swingers - 1996
11. The Boondock Saints - 1999
12. Wedding Crashers - 2005
13. Shawshank Redemption - 1994
14. The Departed - 2006
15. The Matrix - 1999
16. Good Will Hunting - 1997
17. Unforgiven - 1992
18. True Romance - 1993
19. Saving Private Ryan - 1998
20. Dazed & Confused - 1993

I have to give some honorable mentions to From Dusk Till Dawn, Office Space, Blow, Boiler Room, The Devil's Advocate, & Snatch.

Triathlon Training

As a tax accountant this is the busiest time of the year. So to add to my stress level I am taking 12 hours of grad school and training for my first triathlon. I actually find a hard workout a great stress reliever, so the training has not been a big issue. Finding time to go to the gym, study, and get all my work done has been a challenge, but I think I am up to it.

I have signed up for two triathlons this spring. The first race of the year is called the Caveman Triathlon in Flower Mound Texas. The break down for this race is a swim of 275 yards, bike 11 miles, and a run of 5k. The second race is called the Texas Man Triathlon in Denton Texas. This one is a bit longer with a swim of 500 yards, bike of 17.6 miles, and a 5k run. Both races have their own challenges, but the Texas Man open water swim has me a little nervous. I have stepped up my training and hopefully will be in good enough shape for both races.

If you are looking for a challenge, sing up and I will see you at the finish line (hopefully!)

Caveman Triathlon

Texas Man Triathlon

Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions

Fascinating interview with an FBI agent who spent time with Saddam Hussein after his capture.

NYC

How do you manage the 8,274,527 people occupying just under 305 square miles in NYC? You take back the streets! I found this very interesting... Check it out Streetfilms for similar stories....

Going Green

I was flipping through the new HD programing that my cable provider FINALLY put into service and I noticed a new Green channel called Planet Green. They have a whole channel devoted to green living, eating, development, and sustainability. As a son of two very liberal thinking parents I am on board with this transition. My wife and I took a road trip a few weeks ago from Dallas to Park City Utah (about 21 hours each way) in efforts to see the country and enjoy each others company. I was amazed by the number of wind turbines along the drive (especially in Kansas and Wyoming). See earlier Pickens Plan post here...



The country is really progressing into an environmentally conscious and progressive nation. Many companies have jumped on board the Green train and are trying to capitalize on this transition. I applaud the companies that are truly trying to make a difference and wish more companies would move in this direction. Here is a list of the 11 most energy efficient companies (some of them will surprise you) and a NFP devoted to getting companies to donate 1% of sales to environmental groups around the world.

UPDATE - Super Bowl XLIII

I watched the Super Bowl over at my folks house with a bunch of Frito-Lay executives. The game was great, although I was pulling for Arizona (at least the beat the spread). The Doritos commercial one the USA Today Ad Meter poll. Check out the story here... I was impressed with the advertising overall and you couldn't even tell we were in a recession. I must have missed the one second Miller High Life commercial, but they got a lot of free advertising with a creative approach. See hulu below with the best commercials of 2009!

Super Bowl XLIII

Pittsburgh is favored by 7 points (one pollster says 6 1/2) to win the Super Bowl over Arizona. I was surprised to hear the spread was so large as Arizona is rolling into this game after an impressive win over Philadelphia. I am not a big fan of either team (I am a Cowboys fan), but I will watch both the game and the commercials. Tampa will host the big game with Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem and Bruce Springsteen performing the halftime show. I am not really excited about either of these performances or the game for that matter, so lets look and see if any of the advertising will impact the market.

With 30 seconds going for $3 million bucks many companies will be looking for the most bang for their buck. A successful commercial should follow these three simple steps.

1. Be Memorable - If you are going to drop $3 million on a commercial make sure people remember you. In a year I probably wont remember who won the Super Bowl, but I will remember that e-trade baby that spit up.

2. Be Funny - Monday morning everyone is talking about the funniest commercial, not the most informative. Keep it light, funny, creative and unpredictable.

2. Keep it Simple - Spectators are not going to write down your 1-800 number or website. Don't try and squeeze in to much information into 30 seconds. In a beer induced haze nobody will remember your message so keep it light and follow number 2.

Last year these companies had the most successful commercials (according to USA Today) so watch for movements on Monday.

1. Budweiser (N/A)
2. Fed Ex (FDX)
3. Bridgestone (BRDCY)
4. Doritos (PEP)
5. Bud Light (N/A)
6. Bud Light (N/A)
7. Coca-Cola (KO)
8. Diet Pepsi Max (PEP)
9. Planters (KFT)
10. Tide (PG)

Rough start for 2009

Craziness has taken over the markets! It is very easy to point out the faults in the markets, but if you want to find the bottom simply keep your ears open and listen for good news. You have to be able to filter the horror stories and look for the positive spin. Be optimistic, and try and find what could turn the markets. If I could find this positive spin, then I would share it with you, but I have no idea. I am listening, but there is a lot to filter. Today, Pfizer (PFE) announced that they are going to be buying rival Wyeth (WYE) for 68 billion. This is a huge positive for the markets because Pfizer is borrowing 22.5 Billion to make this deal possible. This means that there is some money out there for companies to borrow! Are the credit markets "thawing?" I have no idea, but this is some positive news. Let's keep our ears open and if you hear some good news leave a comment.

On a personal note, my Dad has started a blog for Frito-Lay called Snack Chat. Check it out!!

50 Best Stocks - 2009

Best Stocks of 2009 is HERE!!

Finally 2008 is almost over! I am cautiously optimistic about 2009, but will be watching the markets very closely. I used the past years trends and directions to formulate this years best stocks for 2009. I am very bullish for 2009 and think many of these stocks will have a great year. As you can see, most of the best stocks for 2009 are large cap stable companies that are grossly undervalued.

I tried to include a few stocks from each major industry, but I intentionally left a few out. Gaming, financials, automobile, and real estate industires are all going to take a lot longer to recover. These industries have lost investor confidence and for good reason. They have fundamental issues that need to be resolved before they should be purchased.

I think 2009 will be a great year for large cap staples as people move out of treasuries and back into the markets. It seams everyone in currently very heavy in cash which has put most large cap stocks in a great position for buyers.

If you have the guts to get back into the markets here my list of the best stocks for 2009.

Scraper Bike

Awesome new green rap group!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sarah Palin pardons a turkey for thanksgiving as others are killed in the background.

Flip

My wife bought me the new flip camera for our anniversary this week, so I thought I would share a video of my dog. Enjoy....

The market has been rebounding nicely this week from terrifying lows. I have not been following the markets too close this week as I am on vacation and don't need the added stress, but I like the movement in the financials.

I picked up some BAC last week that I am up pretty nicely in (although I had bought some in the 18's, so I am about even on this position). I am following some growth stocks and looking for an entry point on GOOG and UA. I believe we are going to be playing this yo-yo type market for a while between 10k and 8k on the dow. I am going to continue to trade the big movers in the financials (like BAC) in hopes of some quick jumps.

Hope everyone has a great thanksgiving!!!

Bought 50 shares of BAC

Picked up some more BofA this morning at $12.07 to lower my cost basis. Hopefully the market will hit a bottom and build some momentum going forward.

Have you seen my guest bloggers?

I seem to remember a few months back introducing a couple of guest bloggers. They are obviously too important to make a single post in the past 3 months. It is unfortunate, but I have been forced to do something that I have been trying to avoid, which is to ban these two buffoons. Blogging is not for everyone. It takes commitment, and you have to work through the pain of paper cuts and strained eyes. I don't have hard feelings toward these two guys, but I just thought I would let all the MA faithful know what is going on behind the scenes.

RIP - JGIII & Duffman

Sunday Post

A couple of thoughts:

First, do they have icicle christmas lights in places that have icicles? These lights have become very popular in Texas, but what about in Colorado or Montana? I would think if you have real icicles on your house it would be very dangerous to get up on your roof to put up christmas decorations.

Second, I was watching the Cowboys game tonight and noticed that the officials were helping the players off the turf on almost ever play. I have never noticed this before, so I was wondering if this was something new?

Third, can anyone stop Marion Barber?

Finally, when will the DOW hit 10,000?

If you could answer any of these questions for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Hope everyone had a great weekend. More posts coming this week.