"Risky Business"

I had lunch with a college buddy today, who had questions about his 401k.

He gave me a few of his statements etc. to review and to give an opinion, but when I got home and surfed a little, my mind started to think about Paris. Came across someone's blog - can't remember (smile) the blogger - but it certainly reminded me of some plans the wife and I made a few years back.

Guess what? I want to go to Paris! I'll get to his 401k before the end of the night!

A few moments ago, I was talking with a friend about life and friendships etc. and the morons of the world. I saw one article out of Seattle about a woman who came home one night to find her husband on the porch having sex with their 4 year old ------------------------ dog!!!! She took pictures with her cell phone and called the Sheriff's office. What kind of conversation will he have in jail?

Now I hear that in W.Va. during a popular festival (how can risking your life by jumping off of a 900 foot bridge be "festive"?) a man, 66, died after his parachute did not open in time. I wonder if his life insurance calls this suicide or stupidity. Oh, did I mention that the festival was suspended for 20 minutes while EMS transported this guys body to the morgue.

Americans have nothing better to do, than to jump off of 900 foot bridges and have sex with dogs?

I need a beer!

Playing Unfair

If you are an amateur photographer like me - (emphasis on the word "amateur") then you better hurry before all the leaves are blown off of the trees and you won't get great shots like these....thank you very much. Well, thank the digital camera.

I take my camera with me nowadays wherever I go; just leave it in the car....this shot was taken behind a vitamin shop store not too far from my home!

And oh, if you like sushi, you better get it while it last, because my wife and I have a friend who seems destined to eat all of the sushi on the freakin' planet before the end of the year!

I watched a football game yesterday and I won't say which one, considering I am still pissed off because my team lost. Anyway, I believe the pivotal point of the game came when my team was given a penalty for having too many players on the field at one time.

You are only allowed 11; these jackasses had 12. You would think that with all of the coaches, coaches' assistants and other synchophants hanging around, somebody would have noticed the extra man. The penalty gave my team's opponent a more managable field position, which allowed them to go on to win the game.

I got to thinking that this is a perfect metaphor for life and politics. You break the rules, and there are penalties. Sometimes, the penalties are costly, like losing a game, a spouse, a job etc. Other times, they are not so bad. Whatever the case, I am reminded that it pays to pay attention to details; it pays not to have an extra man on the field, an extra "woman on the side" as they say.

There are also consequences when countries play unfair. There are penalties.

I think that the United States is playing unfair with other countries. I don't think we have a right to dictate what other countries should do with their nuclear intelligence, unless we are open to listening what they are going to say about what we should do with ours. Furthermore, I do not think that our President was playing fair when he targeted countries like Iran and North Korea as part of his "axis of evil". I thought he was playing unfair. And, I might add, as a result, it has cost us dearly. Sure, North Korea's leader is a moron, we know, but guess what? He isn't the only one.

And finally, I think that our very questionable one-sided policy in the MiddleEast has made our position internationally very precarious. This alone, has resulted in a big penalty from some very angry radical Muslims, who demonstrated this on 9/11. Our country unfortunately has a history of playing unfair - "with an extra man" if you will - so as I see things, the "penalties" will last for generations.

Morning Blend Without The Wife & Cat

A friend of mine will not be happy to know (smile) that I went out for sushi last night and it was delish.....

Got up early this morning, made a pot of coffee, thinking that the wife would get up, but at 10am, she is still in bed. What's up with that? Now when I checked on her again, I see that the cat, Bianca, has joined her. The picture is of Bianca when she is doing what she does best; sleep! The thing about Bianca is that when she is up, she expects - demands - that you get up and prepare your lap for her, otherwise she will just sit in front of you and stare. Probably was a poker player in a previous life. We have had her for 6 years. She has renal failure and one bad eye. My wife has at least 6 nicknames for her. One of them is "Brownie". You can see why....

So, I'll enjoy my morning blend alone.

Looks like I lost weight over the summer. Pulled out some winter clothes and a few of them seem bigger than ever!!! Actually, I prefer them that way, rather than to have them sticking to me. Dress is casual at work, but I will have to check to see if mock turtlenecks are "permitted".

Looks like a Pa Congressman, Curt Weldon is under investigation (well, it is reported that he may very well be under investigation) for steering contracts to his daughter. If this is true, and if the investigation concludes that this guy is guilty, then his career as a Republican Congressman is done. And guess what? The GOP will have another problem on their hands.

I find it very funny that the men and women who are suppose to write and pass laws are always the ones who are breaking them. And how about the guy - the Congressman from Lousiana, William Jefferson - who had to explain why he had $100 bills stuffed in his freezer. He denied bribery charges of course. I imagine his grandson asking, "grandpa, what's this for...?"

I now realize that politics is really not about true politics. On the contrary, modern politics is simply trying to get your opponent exposed, while making sure you're not caught with the intern, the 16 year old page or with $100 bills stuffed in your freezer. That's all. That's what politics is about nowadays. And I think that is why North Korea is having fun selling nuclear intelligence to other countries. America has no moral authority. We simply have no right to criticize other nations about immoral international behavior, when domestically, we are heathens.

Time for more coffee.

The New Grievance Elite

Wife is getting better, but still not completely recovered.

This morning I had to get the oil changed. The franchise that does this - you probably know who I am referring to - cleans your windows, changes your windshield wiper fluid and check an entire host of other things. The thing that they are really good at is scamming you into thinking that you need your air filter changed every "5 minutes" (laugh) thereby jacking up what is supposed to be a routine oil change cost to what amounts to a freakin' down payment for an Escalade!

Anyway, I didn't get the Escalade, but I got the oil change, and told the moron that I didn't need the air filter change - well, actually, they changed it the last time - and was on my way home by 11am. To be quite honest, those guys are so good at sales, it is quite possible they could have sold me on the air filter scam again. Hell, they may have even had me sitting in a dealership by the end of the day.

Another nice Fall day. No snow in my part of Pennsylvania. Sorry New York.

I took the picture above late this afternoon, just outside of the bedroom window facing West. The screen is still out of the window since I had trouble putting it back in; had to give the wife another excuse. She doesn't read my blog, but this will be the ONE she reads. Watch. I used a digital camera the wife bought me for Christmas - I think 2 Christmases ago. These things are awesome! Anyway, what appears to be yellow leaves are actually the sun's reflection!!! No kidding! The sun is setting, but still bright. As of this moment, the tree has very few yellows. I know it looks like yellow leaves on on this thing, but it is the reflection of the sun. I pointed the camera North. The tree is right in front of the bedroom. If you are a photographer you may understand this.

A few years ago, a former professor and I were engaged in an interesting discussion on Civil Rights and immigration etc., subjects that seem to never go away. He recommended that I read Shelby Steele's, Content Of Our Character, a very interesting, yet predictable treatise on race relations from someone who happens to be black, but privelged. I find particularly interesting how successful African-Americans write from a cacoon of wealth about "how others" have not taken advantage of Civil Rights, when all along they appear to be far remove from the endeavor. Reminds me of the blacks who enslaved the freed slaves.

Moreover, I also find it interesting that there is a large group of well educated African-American scholars who abandon their own academic communities only to teach at the very institutions that they suggest are insensitive to minorities. (e.g., Cornel West)

But what is really interesting - and this I do agree with Steele on - is that there is this "grievance elite" out there that believes they are entitled to certain things just because of "what happen". In the case of African-Americans, they feel that they are entitled to things because of slavery, although no one living today who is African-American was ever a slave. I will admit that the way whites treat blacks today is still unacceptably inappropriate, I do not believe that constitutes an argument for entitlement. But I do believe that there is still this faction who feels that they are entitled to something. Blacks think they are entitled to things because "of the struggle". Whites feel that they are entitled to things, because they think they are superior.

The problem, which is more important here, is that this mindset has infected other minorities who have come to America. Now, let me say that this is not hate talk. I will admit that I am a bit confused, for lack of a better term, when someone wants a broker and then demands a Spanish interpreter. If I go to a Spanish speaking country, before I go, I will try very hard to learn that country's language. But I will not go there looking/demanding and feeling entitled to something. During this one particular call, after spending several minutes to get this person his Spanish interpreter, he spent most of the time on the phone answer the questions in, not Spanish, but English!!!!

So, corporations in America have to spend extra money to hire Spanish interpreters to accommodate people who do not want to master the English language, but want the benefits of liberty. Pat Buchannan said it best when he complained about people who come here to work, but still give allegiance under their native flag.

This is the nature of the new grievance elite. They are different people - and not always minorities, because there are PWT that feel entitlement too - who feel for some reason, that they deserve things, regardless of the circumstances; they feel that they are owed something because of the color of their skin (i.e., black, white...) or because the government has opened the borders and the courts has failed to clearly interpret the Constitution.

The Gift Of Life In Autumn

I haven't seen an autumn day as beautiful as this one in years! The color of the leaves are just spectacular. I will admit that I wish the summer could remain, but then again, sometimes we have to embrace change and deal with it because we have no control over it. Sometimes.

But ah, there is always something so special about autumn. Maybe it is the concept of renewal; a new season. Maybe it's just that you know the big holidays are near. Or, maybe it's just that you know the cool crisp romantic winters are will be here soon. Whatever the case, change will happen, some good, some bad and we just have to deal with it.

Before I left for mom's, I thought about packing my camera just to take a few shots of the foilage and put one or two in this post, but then remembered that between visiting her and heading back to take care of a sick wife, (while trying to watch the football game), all of this would be a bit of a feat. There is so much you want to do in life that before you know it, time runs out.

Earlier today, I returned a phone call to an old friend who was a former client. His wife died a few months ago from brain cancer.

I had a chance to meet her before I joined him and his son on a trip to New York last year to see a basketball game at Madison Square Garden. During this brief conversation today, we caught up on a few things and I was happy to hear that he was taking advantage of the handsome CD rates online outfits like GMAC Bank are giving. I was also happy to hear that he was embracing change; that he was trying to get on with his life at 68, retired, now a widower. He admitted that it is difficult, but he is making progress.

I spent time with my wife and a really good friend this weekend and I thought about change. We indulged ourselves with sushi and I thought about how important certain people are to me and wondered what I meant to them, but the important thing is that I always appreciate these moments in time, because I know that like the seasons, things can change very subtletly and at times, rapidly. I also know that no matter what happens, one has to embrace change and find ways to move along...

I am fortunate to have good friends - the few that I have - and a wonderful wife. I wish she were well this weekend, and I do regret that we did not have "loads" of fun because of her illness, but I am equally comforted by the fact that we had a friend who was with us on a wonderful cool autumn weekend of change that reminded me of the grandeur of life. I am also reminded that it is the gift of time and companionship in the midst of change that tends to make autumn so grand.

The Difficulty With Taking Money Off The Table

The other day - when I drafted this post - The WallStreet Journal reported that the Dow climbed to "another record close" and yet, I did not receive any calls from clients to place sell orders. Well, one client came close to selling one position. He called to get a quote on a stock and then said, "aah, I'll let it go up a little..." as if he had control over the price of the security.

One thing I know is that the big investors are rebalancing and the big brokerage houses are selling, taking huge profits, little by little. The individual investors, and the day traders are losing. Why? Because they are sitting watching their little portfolios grow a little, only to see those gains disappear into thin air once the big sell off occurs.

It didn't take long.

I came back tonight to finish this post and looked at the Online Journal and saw a piece in there that opened with, "the three day run of record highs was cut short..." and I knew what the article was about. But I also knew that those investors/clients who merely watched their portfolios grow this year and failed to take some money off the table may never learn. There is a tremendous amount of psychology in investing, in fact so much, that there is a field of study devoted to it; behavioral finance.

Although mixed September jobs reports, GM and profit taking all have pulled down the Dow a little today, if you enjoyed a nice run up and now are looking at losses and/or lost profits, then shame on you! You must find a way to have a sell discipline incorporated into your investment strategy. It is just as important as having a buy strategy. The good news is that I have noticed some clients are taking advantage of automatic programs that force them to rebalance their portfolios.

To think that most of the time when someone is selling their stock, the buyer is a professional, and most of the time when they buy, the seller is a professional is very interesting to me.


I am also thinking about the client who recently bought $30k into a position and within 2 days was down about $4k.

When I researched the stock, I had to tell him that (a) he bought the stock after the good news came out (b) since the stock had no positive earnings history, it was, in my opinion a gamble and a very volatile stock and (c) he should have put a stop-loss order on the thing. This was a self-directed client, who was looking to be bailed out of a position that he got into on his own. Rather than admit to his "big mistake", he ruminated over the problems of real-time trading...(he bought the stock and it traded heavily for two days, costing him over $4,000.)

Buffet and a few of his buddies believe that one should view stocks as probability events; when you have calculated carefully that the odds are favorable, only THEN do you place your bet (as in blackjack). You see this in the game of blackjack, not purely from a gambling standpoint, but from statistical probability. Research the company, the stock, crunch the numbers etc., and then place your bet (make your investment); when the odds of a favorable outcome increase, you increase your bet (increase your investment).

But what do most so called "investors" do?


They do no research. They read yesterday's news. They watch CNBC and trade on what has been reported and buy stocks only after the price has been bidded up, long after the real players have taken up huge positions. Therefore, they end up, quite frankly, working for the players. It's like the movie WallStreet all over again...

I try to avoid giving advice, but I will deviate from that periodically, so here is one instance when I will do so; if you are nearing retirement or if you are in retirement, stop buying stocks! Start reading Bill Gross' commentary!

Needing A Vacation From The Drama

(laughing) You know, I really want to post about positive things that are happening, but they are so rare (Foley, Amish, Iraq..) that it just so darn hard to find anything.

I am happy that the wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary this week. She survived! Last year at this time, we were landing in Miami and on our way to South Beach!

Everyone told us that South Beach wasn't "really the place for couples" although we would fit in with the trendy crowd etc., but what I found in October was a very nicely unpopulated and clean beach and for a time, save a few moments, a nice Ocean Drive. We didn't see J-Lo or P Diddy, which is nice, since their absence made us the celebs for a week!!

We won't make it back this year because of the new position for me, but I am trying to squeeze a Thanksgiving jaunt to Ocean Drive (wink-wink!). If not, I'll have my DVD collection of Miami Vice to rely on.

Or maybe I'll hijack a plane or something and then, when they arrest me, just say I was abused by the clergy. Isn't it funny now that Mark Foley is caught, he comes up with this lame excuse? You'd think his lawyers could be a little more creative, don't you? Now we hear that House Speaker Hastert's office was informed about Foley's shannigans 3 years ago. I am inclined to believe that Foley may have been under the Speaker's desk a few times too - and I don't mean looking for paper clips either!

These boys sure must have Jefferson and Adams rolling in their graves. But then again, the founding fathers of this country were genuises, great men and not perverted cowards.