I think companies need to get over naming products a letter followed by a description. Apple is the worst offender, of course, with iMac, iBook, iPod, iPhone, iSight, iTsgettingold. Yeah, it's convenient and the marketing guys are probably all high as a guy smoking the chronic with being able to create instant brand recognition with a single letter but that's so 2005. Google has Google Maps, Google Earth, Google chat, but also GMail. And now they're talking about the GPhone. Next Google will get into the wi-fi hotspot business and you'll be able to browse online at public GSpots. For porn, naturally.
What happened to cumbersome names like the I-just-made-it-up Hitachi XFR 2000 HIFI? Or the Mitsubishi Lancer...Evolution...MR...VIII...FQ...400 (joke shamelessly stolen from the Hamster of Top Gear). I bet more letters will be the retro-cool for the future. I'd totally get a Google Phone Slim Evolution WF XR IX LB-9.5 XTreme v2.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Buy Our Car!
You know, I wonder why Maserati even goes to the trouble of sending me advertisements by email. I certainly never asked to be on their list (just like I never asked to receive issues of Bassmaster and be an official member) but I am nevertheless. Sure, the new GranTurismo looks nice but, my relative poverty notwithstanding, I'd much rather spend the money on a track car, a comfortable commuter, and some driving lessons. Any Maserati dealership would turn me down for even a test drive ("No sir, you don't look rich enough. Shouldn't you be getting back to the 7-11?") so why do they taunt me so?
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Rainy Day Fund
I'm not sure if I like the idea of a "rainy day fund". I'd like to think that I'm on top of my finances enough so that I've already taken into account possible deviations from the norm. I like to build the possibility of rainy days straight in to my financial planning.
Instead, I think I'll start an "AWESOME day fund". That's right. Maybe I'll have a really AWESOME day and I'll want to celebrate. Then I'll go and get some money out of the AWESOME day fund. And since the AWESOME day fund is always optional (unlike the rainy day which may some day become necessary), it can be put into investments aggressively. That way, when I have a good day on the stock market, it'll be an AWESOME day, which will not only be AWESOME, but will increase the amount in my AWESOME fund. AWESOME!
We apologize for the preceding stupidity. --The Management
Instead, I think I'll start an "AWESOME day fund". That's right. Maybe I'll have a really AWESOME day and I'll want to celebrate. Then I'll go and get some money out of the AWESOME day fund. And since the AWESOME day fund is always optional (unlike the rainy day which may some day become necessary), it can be put into investments aggressively. That way, when I have a good day on the stock market, it'll be an AWESOME day, which will not only be AWESOME, but will increase the amount in my AWESOME fund. AWESOME!
We apologize for the preceding stupidity. --The Management
HPGI and WEXE
I put a 1.05 limit on HPGI and it started off the next day with 1.06. It never came back down to 1.05 and it's now at 1.73. Oops. Oh well, time for the next hyped stock!
This one seems much less promising but if it's in my inbox, I'll buy it! WEXE.
Bought at: .61
Current: .61
Trailing stop: .06
Commission: -$240
This one seems much less promising but if it's in my inbox, I'll buy it! WEXE.
Bought at: .61
Current: .61
Trailing stop: .06
Commission: -$240
Monday, January 29, 2007
I'm Not Only a Member...
bosley.com advertisement starts with:
"When it comes to going bald, you now have a choice!"
GREAT! There are other ways to bald now? Artifically? I'm there!
"When it comes to going bald, you now have a choice!"
GREAT! There are other ways to bald now? Artifically? I'm there!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Power of Spam
New project: since I started investing, I've been noticing more stock spam in my spam folder. So a challenge came to mind:
How fast can I make (or lose) money following spam stock advice?
The parameters: I start off with $100k and every time I see a stock being pumped by email, I will invest appx. $10k into it. All buy orders while market is closed. To make things a bit more automated, all buys will be immediately tagged with a trailing-stop sell order set at 10%, meaning if something I buy drops by 7.5% it's an automatic sell. I will be using thinkorswim's "PaperMoney" software to do this simulation as it tracks all relevant fees and such. I will also post up the email that leads me to pick each stock. The text in some of this stuff is hilarious and/or disturbing.
The preface: the last stock I saw was PSUD.PK, which was excellent because Google Finance didn't even know about it. After it was pumped, the stock jumped 20% in a day. Hey, not bad for stock manipulation!
Why: My gut feeling of course is that I'll be losing money faster than I can make it, especially counting in brokerage fees. But it will be very interesting to see the trends from when I see a stock spam in my until the sell order goes through.
The First: HPGI. Yahoo Finance doesn't even know what HPGI is but of course the email will tell you. Current price is 1.0440. Limit order for 9500 shares at 1.05 sent.
How fast can I make (or lose) money following spam stock advice?
The parameters: I start off with $100k and every time I see a stock being pumped by email, I will invest appx. $10k into it. All buy orders while market is closed. To make things a bit more automated, all buys will be immediately tagged with a trailing-stop sell order set at 10%, meaning if something I buy drops by 7.5% it's an automatic sell. I will be using thinkorswim's "PaperMoney" software to do this simulation as it tracks all relevant fees and such. I will also post up the email that leads me to pick each stock. The text in some of this stuff is hilarious and/or disturbing.
The preface: the last stock I saw was PSUD.PK, which was excellent because Google Finance didn't even know about it. After it was pumped, the stock jumped 20% in a day. Hey, not bad for stock manipulation!
Why: My gut feeling of course is that I'll be losing money faster than I can make it, especially counting in brokerage fees. But it will be very interesting to see the trends from when I see a stock spam in my until the sell order goes through.
The First: HPGI. Yahoo Finance doesn't even know what HPGI is but of course the email will tell you. Current price is 1.0440. Limit order for 9500 shares at 1.05 sent.
Let's see how this one does.Brand New Issue!
As close as you get to an IPO on the piinksheeets, HPGI is set to become the
popular kid on the block! This high-flying gold industry company is making it's
debut with a wide reaching publicity campaign that is going to have the
ear of the investment community.
Hemisphere Gold, Inc.
SYM : HPGI
Current Prrice: $1.05
Tarrget Prrice: $2.30
This issue is so tightly held that the combination of big news and the huge
publicity it going to easily push it to the target price!
Get in early on January, 29th and win with HPGI.
Graham said the charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child would be difficult for
prosecutors to prove adding If these men can raise the money to put on a good defense t
o hire the right experts they have an excellent chance of being found not guilty
Bob Pell an attorney who represents former guard Joseph Walsh Jr told The Associated.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Cramer is Crazy
I just saw a segment of "Mad Money" with Jim Cramer.
WOW. The man is insane.
I've heard lots about Cramer and so was naturally curious. What I heard was mostly bad though and to support it, Motley Fools's CAPS tracks Jim Cramer's performance history and it hasn't been great, reaching a point total of negative 2000 earlier this year (meaning a cumulative 2000% below the S&P). So why is somebody who's doing so terribly poor in his recommendations getting so many listeners?
I see a segment today and my god Jim Cramer is mad, not the money. He's pretty much screaming at his audience the entire time, offering them lots of generically good but often seemingly useless advice. Yes, you look for improving net profit and increasing revenues is great for young companies but does Cramer really have to scream like Tony Little advertising the Gazelle? Maybe it's just me but I can't trust someone who has completely digital voice modulation skills (and so far, it's been stuck on "1").
WOW. The man is insane.
I've heard lots about Cramer and so was naturally curious. What I heard was mostly bad though and to support it, Motley Fools's CAPS tracks Jim Cramer's performance history and it hasn't been great, reaching a point total of negative 2000 earlier this year (meaning a cumulative 2000% below the S&P). So why is somebody who's doing so terribly poor in his recommendations getting so many listeners?
I see a segment today and my god Jim Cramer is mad, not the money. He's pretty much screaming at his audience the entire time, offering them lots of generically good but often seemingly useless advice. Yes, you look for improving net profit and increasing revenues is great for young companies but does Cramer really have to scream like Tony Little advertising the Gazelle? Maybe it's just me but I can't trust someone who has completely digital voice modulation skills (and so far, it's been stuck on "1").
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