I don't understand what all the ballyhoo is about, with the stock market. It always acts up on bad news, but just look at the stats. Companies are hitting new highs, as well as lows. Granted there are a lot more lows than highs. Now, isn't that remarkable in such a terrible market!
A relatively intelligent and prudent man or woman can find winners, if they try. Look at Warren Buffett, one of my favorite people, and his company, Berkshire Hathaway.
During 2007, Berkshire bought just over $19 billion dollars of equities(1). Buffett argues that the short-term volatility in reported earnings is easily tolerated, in exchange for "greater gains in net worth in the long run."(1)
Look at Berkshire performance ---- it isn't a six figure stock for no reason. Over the years, it keeps going up and up and up. (I own the class B shares that are much cheaper.)
Put money on it for the long term and I'm sure you will not be disappointed. (disclaimer: I do not guaranty that the stock will go up)
(1) (On 3-21-08, posted By:Alex Crippen 'Barron's Spotlights Buffett's $4.5B Bullish Bet on Stocks')
Do a little work like I did back in September of last year. I had been hearing about how well the overseas markets were doing, so I opted to check out the Dublin Exchange (I have a deep fondness for Ireland).
I was looking for exceptional performers and I soon found one. On 12-8-06, the price of the ADRs were $35.12, by 9-21-07 it was trading at and its chart looked like a staircase to heaven. After I looked at its balance sheet, I knew I had to buy it. (I paid $52.36 ) It's jagged but still on its way up. (Icon Inc.[iclr] is now at $78.81)
I'm just an ordinary joe, no connection with any financial firm or anything, and I can do it. So can you.
I met a fascinating woman this evening by the name of Casey Guzzardi. I love to go to the Pasta House on Southern Blvd. in Rio Rancho, New Mexico (my newest residence) after a session at the roulette tables at Sandia Casino. She was behind the bar instead of Joe Guzzardi and greeted me with the usual New Mexico friendliness even though she's not originally from here.
I asked her if she was family to Joe and she smilingly told me she was the Mrs. She prepared my favorite beverage - a double espresso. I usually take it with a generous helping of Sambuca. She glowed as she told me of her marriage to Joe. They are celebrating their third anniversary on July 31. So, if anyone is familiar with the Pasta House (the food is fabulous there), drop in on the 31st and congratulate the newlyweds. Casey met Joe some 7 years ago here in Rio Rancho and after a long courtship they married.
I finished off my visit with one of Joe's connoli, the best in town. You see, Joe is from the Big Apple, Brooklyn to be precise and, in my humble opinion, a Brooklyn cannoli is unbeatable. I am also a product of the Big Apple, Queens to be precise.
Good Italian food is hard to find in this part of the country. If it can be served by Casey, it's even better.
I'll do a review of the food another time.
I've been investing in the stock market most of my adult life. I've had some winners and I've had some losers. At present, 62% of my investments are in mutual funds of one sort or another with an average annual return of 19%; the rest is in stocks with an average annual return of 12%. Not bad for long term investments.
The investments mentioned above do not include the money I've put into my "speculative account". You see, back in September of 2005, I had this idea about selecting stocks and trading in them for quick profits. I had investigated the idea for the previous three months and (on paper at least) the idea seemed to work. So I took $25,000 and opened a ETrade account on September 22.
I bought 5 stocks (leveraging my investing by buying on margin) and by the 29th I had made a profit of $241.40 -whoopie - less than 1% profit (but a profit in 7 days nonetheless). Then along came Titanium Metals. I bought 1,000 shares for $37,374 and by the time I sold on November 2, my total profits were over $11,000. By year end my profits had shrunk to $7,000, but by January 11 they were over $14,000, by February $15,333. In February and March I bought back into Titanium Metals.
By March 30 my profits were up to $31,000, again largely due to the performance of Titanium. By May 22 profits were $41,002 at which point I closed the account because I was about to move. Titanium Metals was responsible for most of that profit. However, of the 25 transactions that I made during those 8 months only 6 were money losers.
I was quite satisfied with my profit of 164%.
It wasn't until November of 2006 that I decided to try my hand at it again. I opened an account at TDAmeritrade on November 15 with $25,000 again.
By November 26 I was down $2,101; it took me till February 28 to be back in the black. I obviously hadn't found another Titanium Metals. By March 31, I had a $2,600 profit and by April 30 $4,665. Five months and a 19% increase; not nearly as good as last year, but not too shabby. As of today, June 2, my balance in the account is $34,014, a 36% increase in value. Of course, that involves a lot of unrealized gain so anything is possible later. But I do have stop limits set for each of the stocks I currently have and that's always a good backup strategy.
Now the obvious question in your mind should be: "Just what is his method of choosing the stocks to have these results?". The answer to that question will appear in this blog in the near future assuming that there is anyone out there reading this and caring to know the answer. So, if you are out there and you would like to know, leave a comment. I'll be updating my progress each month for now.
It was a great vacation. Joanne and I had flown to Paris where we were met by our friends Brigitte and Peter from Switzerland. We had first met Bri and Peter back in New Jersey when Peter was over in the States servicing clients of his Swiss based company. They lived across the street from us before eventually moving back to Switzerland. We had become great friends by then.
The days we spent in Paris were fantastic. The four of us saw all the usual tourist sights and ate in some of the best restaurants in Paris. Some of those were small cafes hidden away off the tourist trail and others, like the Jules Verne were quite famous.
The prestigious Jules Verne Restaurant is located on the second platform of the Eiffel Tower’s south pillar and has its own private elevator access. Sitting in the heart of this intricate iron structure full of angles and perspectives, the Jules Verne looks out over Paris from 125 meters above ground. We arrived just before sunset. This is France at its very best: succulent food, palate-tingling wine, superb views – and an inevitable touch of romance for which Paris is famous. Once you’ve been greeted by the staff the concerns of the real world seem far away. The lights were dimmed discreetly so as not to distract from the awe-inspiring view of Paris lighting up at dusk.
That was one of the unforgettable moments of that trip, as was the bill for the dinner for four. But that was not the only memorable moment on our journey.
When our time in Paris was up, Peter drove us back to their home in Switzerland. We passed southeast through the provinces of France. On the way, we stopped at one of their favorite vineyards in France, did a little wine tasting and bought a few bottles of wine. Then it was on to Neuchatel in Switzerland and finally to Biel. Bri and Peter live in a small farming village near Biel where Peter works. It’s a bucolic setting with the Alps as a backdrop.
Prior to coming to Europe I had arranged with Peter to schedule a hot air balloon flight, if at all possible. I, having gone ballooning any number of times in the past, was looking forward to soaring at the foot of the Swiss Alps. As it turned out Peter was not able to arrange the flight.
Instead, Peter woke me early one morning and we drove for about half an hour to a grass air strip where we boarded a single-engine Piper Arrow which Peter had chartered. We took off and flew toward the mountains. We were headed directly for the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn is perhaps the most familiar mountain in the European Alps. On the border between Switzerland and Italy, it towers over the Swiss town of Zermat and the Italian town Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche..
We flew directly over the peak of the mountain and then circled around it. It was breathtaking and in more than one way. The sight of the mountain below us was awesomely breathtaking, but at that altitude, in the mountains, in a small plane it was very very cold and literally took my breath away. And that was another unforgettable moment.
The Matterhorn has four faces, facing the four compass points, with the north and south faces meeting to form a short east-west summit ridge. The faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them; regular avalanches send the snow down to accumulate on the glaciers at the base of each face. Elevation is 4,478 meters (14,693 feet)
It's strange. Although I've been away from New York/New Jersey now for over two years, it still feels like HOME.
I don't miss the weather there. Here the weather is much nicer (despite the horrendously cold winter we had) and better for my health. But there are little things that I miss. Being able to go out for a relatively short drive and enjoy a really superb Italian meal was a snap back there, while finding a comparable Italian restaurant here is a near impossible chore. The excitement of an Atlantic City casino makes the Pueblo casinos here seem so boring, even at an upscale casino like Sandia.
But, I guess we all have fond memories of the placewhere we came from, whether it's a small town in the mid-west or L.A. or the Big Apple.
I will undoubtedly have some entries of an autobiographical nature such as what my years in retirement have been like or what my state of health is.
I will be talking about favorite places like the Aran Islands, Aruba and Atlantic City.
Things Irish will be constantly coming up since I have such an interest in Ireland.
There are any number of subjects I can see myself writing about.
As to who I am, in January 1905 in the village of Kilmurvy on the island of Inismore, Aran Isles, Galway county, Ireland, a girl child was born to Barbara (nee Faherty) and Martin Hernon. They named her Brigid. She grew up with her three sisters and three brothers and, like so many Irish families before and since, most of them emigrated.
Her sister, Naula, went to England; Anthony and Bartley went to America and eventually brought Brigid over.
There it was that she met and married Luke Connolly, a county Monaghan man, and bore four children. The third child, born in 1940, was yours truly, Michael Connolly. I grew up in New York CIty, was educated by the good nuns in elementary school and by the brothers and priests in high school and college.
I went into the computer field in 1963 as a programmer, met my true love and married her in 1968, moved from the Big Apple to New Jersey in 1972 and lived there happily until my Joanne died of pancreatic cancer in 2003. Life after that will be revealed in some future article.
Bye for now!
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Lightfoot Letters said:
The problem with most individual investors, including myself, is not knowledge or opputunity. Most of us can't pull the trigger... read more
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