BA

Big Wins need a reality check

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:32:08 PST

You may or may not be aware of a growing camp or group or movement called the "Big Wins".

Their idea is that it's best to focus on the big stuff. The low-hanging fruit. The stuff that will make the biggest financial difference with the least amount of effort. Like your mortgage,...

Strangely Creepy 2009

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:34:35 PST

Hello! Welcome to the 2009 edition of Strangely Creepy! I'm your host, BA, here for yet another round of lively talks with... myself regarding matters of the strange and creepy kind.

So BA, temperatures are dropping now. Are you ready for Jack Frost to come a'knocking?
Ugh, no. As you know, I'm reluctant to just turn up the heat. I do turn it up when the kids are with me, but it seems like a colossal waste when it's just myself.

Righty...

Podcasts

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:25:17 PST

A nice list of financial podcasts.

Yep. That's all I've got right now.

Bought Walmart bonds

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:06:15 PST

This isn't exactly exciting or anything, but I decided to go ahead and buy a batch of Walmart bonds. I needed a certain amount of bond position anyways, and Scottrade will buy them for you for free. Plus, there's no expense ratios involved, and I think Walmart bonds are pretty solid.

The...

Intolerance

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:44:38 PST

Very negative post. Please ignore if you don't want to hear me whine.

I was hanging out with a buddy of mine, and somehow we ended up talking about Obama's health care. This buddy of mine is convinced that the health care plan is going to fail somehow. I won't get into the details,...

Oct09 net worth

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:20:20 PST

Um... this can't be right. This month is, by far, the biggest jump I've ever had since I started tracking my net worth.

Why? I'm not sure! In fact, I just triple-checked my numbers because I simply don't believe it!

Hmm. For one thing, it appears that my stock positions did...

Earnings season is over

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:09:22 PST

Well, for me and my stock positions anyway. The GDP quarterly report just came out, and it's beaming with happy news.

The bulls claim that this is the first sign of a fundamental economic recovery. A real green shoot. The bears, however, believe that this Indian summer is the...

Dinnerware debate

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:57:28 PST

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I thought you guys might find this funny. I'm a guy, but here I am looking through dinnerware sets. This seems kind of pretty to me, though maybe not entirely practical and is too thematic:

Anyways, I still live very much like a bachelor,...

Pondering LASIK

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:10:18 PST

Does anyone have LASIK? If so, how was your experience?

I am considering it, but it's so much money!

And to be perfectly honest, I can't justify it as a need either. I don't think. It may seem like an useful life improvement, but the truth is, I could also live with just glasses...

First time gambling

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:37:59 PST

After thinking about the matter, I decided that there was no perceivable harm in revealing where I went to visit some friends. We hung out at Atlantic City for a weekend.

I don't personally care for gambling, but I've also never gambled before in my life. So, out of morbid...

Mixed bag quickies

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:18:58 PST

Half stock market talk.

* By now, who has not heard of "jobless recovery"? Are we in one though? Who has been working extra hours rather than seeing their employers hire new people?

Hopefully,...

Mini-Tender Offer?

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:02:07 PST

I have a stake in Proctor Gamble, and Scottrade is telling me that there is a Mini-Tender offer for it?

The details are scant. It's non-mandatory, cost for the transaction will be $25, offer expires on Nov 5, and here's a link to the SEC for basic information about it.

That's...

Freedom K

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:18:45 PST

This is interesting. Fidelity, my 401(k) provider, is changing my selected Target retirement Freedom fund to a new series called Freedom K funds.

I wonder why?

Whatever it is, they've revamped the entire product line, so it must be a big deal on their end. However, according...

Hanging out with friends

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:53:14 PST

I got a chance to hang out with a couple of friends, one of which I have not seen for a long, long time! It was great to catch up on old times and see how they're doing.

This old friend I haven't seen for a while is a great guy. Really great guy. He's also probably going to be...

Latest pet peeves

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:48:39 PST

I tried to make them quickies, but as you can see, I failed miserably. Also, if you're not in the mood to hear me whine, please skip this.

* Ok, I just saw something that shocked me. I won't name any names, but I have a problem with authors that will delete just about any and...

It's been a while quickies

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:16:12 PST

* Because I'm 35 now, I'm in a different age category in Networth IQ. I only have one word here: Ouch.

* What does risk-adjusted return look like and how do active fund managers fare against their respective indexes? Morningstar has an answer (PDF).

Bottom line, it seems...

I heart vendor shows

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:44:54 PST

So, I have a bunch of free toothbrushes that an insurance vendor was giving away at work. I think I have a year's supply on hand. My co-workers were joking if I have enough of them, but the vendor had a lot of them and didn't mind giving them out, so... I didn't mind taking them....

Dad's letter

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:51:54 PST

So somebody wanted to see the email I sent to my dad. Well, here it is:

Hi dad. How are you? I am fine and so are the kids. I don't know what to talk about, but I still look at the stock market. Maybe I shouldn't, because I think something bad may happen soon.

The economy is sick, and the government added a lot of money to fight it, like trying to cause a fever to fight off an illness. Of course, if the fever is too high, that's dangerous too. People are getting scared now because it may be too high.

So, the government has to stop sooner or later, and the market will probably fall some. Nothing bad like last year though. But, I decided to sell some stock today anyways.

Please take care.

He's...

Letters to dad

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:40:42 PST

Stock market talk.

So, my dad is trying out this internet technology and he had me email him. And since I'm so pre-occupied with trying to figure out the stock market, I suppose it was inevitable that I would try to email him about it.

My dad's a smart man and he also holds...

My fling with Wachovia

tab5365@Gmail.com (Broken Arrow) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:10:14 PST

So Wachovia sent me this letter saying they're doing a $50 promotion (they still have the $25 referral one as well). I looked it over, read it again, and called a customer rep to double check. Yep, the offer looks good! So, after work today, I rushed over to the nearest branch to...