SDTH is in

One of my small stocks, AVAV has a great day yesterday. I sold it, smartly. In one of the press reports another company was mentioned, SDTH. They are a chemicals producer and seem to really be into NPCC. I am not a chemicals expert, but it sounds like NPCC is a "filler" ie instead of using the good stuff to make rubber, you throw this filler stuff in instead. They also use the filler for latex, paper, and adhesives. Their second quarter revenues grew 58%. The NPCC part of the company made up 47% of thhe revenues. Capacity of creating NPCC will increase from 100k to 160k at the end of the year. It will top out at 190k with all current plans finished. Their year estimates for revenue is 98 M. They operate out of China and have just started to go global. Their sales force has double to 60 and the hope to add 5 customers in the next quarter. That is what I will be keeping my eye on. I started with a small position.

LNDC is back in

Landec anounced they are furthering their relationship with Chiquita. They also expect their current contract with agreement to outperform previous estimates. For these reasons I got back in with a small position.

Portfolio Change : SHFL is out

SHFL reported their earnings last week, and they sucked. The earnings sucked the quarter before that. They also sucked the quarter before that. I got sick of the stock and sold it.

I moved my money into ATVI. Everyone I talk to enjoys the game of Guitar Hero. My one friend who cannot stand to play videogames enjoys playing it.

I also opened a new position in WMS. I recently read about the move to upgrade casino floors to "server-supported gaming." The gist of it is that instead of having static machines on casino floors, they will instead be terminals that allow the user to select the denomination of the game and the specific theme (ie. Betty Boop or Wheel of Fortune). I am noticing the troubles that Atlantic City is starting to go through. They are getting beat up by local "racinos". Harrah's Chester beat Trump Marina and two other Atlantic Casinos. Atlantic City is going to have to come up with some new ideas if they don't want to lose out. One of the things I think they will do is upgrade their Casino floors. That is where WMS Industries comes in.

On another note, the smoking at Atlantic City is really annoying. I don't know how people stand it. My wife is pregnant and now my kid has been subjected to smoking/nicotine at the age of -3 months - that's right negative 3 months.

Squat Workout

Yesterday I had a really awesome workout. I started by doing some plyometrics in my back yard. After that I headed to the gym to do some squats. I started with some easy warmsups, then did 10x135. On the next set I stepped it up to 8x185 followed by 8x225. I then got inspired. I threw two 25 lb plates on the bar and ran off 5 sets of 275. That is my current max. I said To Hell with it! and went for 300. I squatted 300 lbs. twice. That is the most weight I have ever lifted in my life. That's like putting Mike Patterson on my back and squatting him.

Vacation Next Week

It's a big secret. The best time of the year to go to the Jersey Shore is the week after Labor Day. My wife and I and a couple of friends got ourselves a rental on 4632 Central Avenue in Ocean City for next week. It came out to 150 bucks per person for the week - there are 7 of us.

The reason it is such a good week is multifaceted - The prices on rentals drop, the crowds disperse, you can get lucky with the weather and the water is warm. Also watching opening week NFL football at the Shore is such a treat.

Putin Barechested

Have you seen this picture? If you ask me, Putin looks like a total homo. What world leader struts around with his shirt off in front of the camera. Russia is really pulling out all of the stops lately. They have a man poisoned to death - later refusing to extradite the accussed killer to the British. Anti-government journalists are turning up dead. They stop trading oil to neighbors who don't agree with them diplomatically. They even claim stake to the north pole because it is on the same continental shelf as Russia. How far will they go?

The word is that this photo exhibition is Putins attempt to shore up his support among the people - in the hope that he can extend his presidency indefinitely. You figure that the collapse of the Soviet Union is proof enough that Communism is a failure. What is going to happen to this country after oil drops back to 20 bucks a barrel.

Jeremiah Trotter is Cut

The news was shocking. Jeremiah Trotter was cut by the Eagles today.

Here, Philly fans, dry your eyes with this :

October 29, 2006
Jags 13
Eagles 6

Jaguars Total plays : 64
Jaguars Total Rushing Plays : 46

J. Trotter : 2 Tackles 1 Assist

Current Stock Portfolio

Here is my current holding in my IRA from highest to lowest. With all that has been going ion in the market I wanted to post my current feelings towards these companies.

1. TGI I love this company. They raised earnings and revenues estimates for the year in the first quarter. I moved money from Nintendo to here in order to make it my largest holding.

2. NTDOY Nintendo is "straight up representing" in the video game business.

3. SPAR This company has really scared the bejeezuz out of me this last month. Check out this chart. I boughtmy first position at 22.84 on May 25th. It ran higher then started falling - and falling really sharply (starting around mid to late July). I thought it would bottom at 13.40 but I got over anxious and bought at 18.50. I then bought a third time at 14.45. It still went down after that. But they just announce a new contract with yet another MRAP customer, so I am glad I have stuck with this company.

4. UA (Under Armor) This stock has really started to kick some butt. I love Under Armor apparel. I think it is kind of showing that they can price their clothes more expensively than Nike.

5. ATVI Still loving this Activision stock. I think it still has a way to go up. I won't think about selling until After Christmas - unless of course they announce a secondary offering or restate earnings or something like that.

6. CBH America's most convenient bank.

And finally rounding out the bottom, all of which I am so unenthused about and wouldn't recommend that you buy at this point :

AVAV, LNDC, SHFL, and DNDN

Overall, I am excited about the market. I am not an economist. I don't fully understand the current "credit crunch", but I am optimistic. And I am beating the S&P right now... check this out... :

YTD S&P : -.5%
My IRA : 9.78%

Eagles 2007 Preseason Game 1

Last night the Eagles played in their first exhibition game of the season. Overall, it was a preseason game. It is an opportunity to look at the younger guys. I don't think you should really read into it that much. Here are my impressions :

1. Brent Celek is a player
I was really disappointed when they drafted this guy in the 5th round out of Cincinnati. With Greg Olsen being available in the first round at the Eagles spot (before they traded down) and with LJ Smith's contract running out - I thought the Eagles needed a stud. And why not. But after seeing Celek make his third catch and see how big he is, I was happy. LJ Smith hardly ever has guys bounce off of him. It is early, but this guy could be a tough son-of-a-gun.

2. Jeremy Bloom is fast
Prior to getting "nicked" towards the end of the second quarter, Jeremy Bloom was courageous and fast. He made a lot of good cuts on punt returns and he is fast. I am concerned that he is only 180 pounds. I don't think he will make it through a season. He got an xray towards halftime and afterwards called two fair catches in a row when he should have returned them. This may have been the coaches whispering in his ear because prior to that he was a lot more gutsy.

3. Kevin Kolb is okay
Kolb impressed me with his strength and accuracy. I really have something out for this guy because I think the team drafting him was a rip on McNabb, but from the little bit I got to see of him, he is decent. He seems poised and strong armed. They kind of catered to him with a number of shotgun formations, but he should be okay.

4. Moat's NFL Career is over
Ryan Moats broke his ankle. I don't think he is going to make the team and I dont think anyone is going to look at him next year. It is kind of sad that someone's career can end just like that. On the bright side he must have gotten at least 500k in his short career.

5. Bunkley made plays
I was extremely happy to see Broderick Bunkley making plays. From what I read yesterday, Jim Johnson had it out for Bunkley last year for coming in so late, and he pretty much didn't give him any chance. But now Bunkley looks good. He looks slimmer. I want to see him continue to be a force throughout the preseason in order to get a really good feeling about him. As of now he is on pace.

6. No Competition at punter
I know fans hate how skinny and feeble kickers and punters are. That is why Rocca is a fan favorite (Australian Rugby putner weighing in at over 250), but the fact of the matter is, Rocca may give you 30% punts of 60 yards or more, but he is also going to give you 20% shanks. How often does a punter actually get a chance to make a tackle? If I were the coach, I would take the consistency of Dirk Johnson any maybe allow Rocca to be the water boy so he can keep his green card.

Buying SPAR

It looks like SPAR has bottomed. I am buying it again for the third time. My entry prices have been 22.85, 18.58, and now about 13. They bought back 3% of the outstanding shares on July 26th and announced a new contract for 26M a couple days later.

Weekend Update

My wife and I went to a party on Saturday night. At it, I finally realized I am getting old. They had jello shots and since my wife is pregnant whenever the tray would come around I would have one for myself and one for her. I didn't wake up the next day until noon. In my college days I would go out almost every night and do shots. I must admit I loved the jello shots, but since it pretty much destroyed any chance at productivity on Sunday, it can't happen that often.

Our current short term financial goal is to pay off our 401k loan that we took out to pay for part of financing the house. By my calculations we should be able to get it paid off by then end of the month. This was using the thought that our monthly credit card bill would decreases because we are now on a fixxed budget since we just bought a house and we wouldn't spend so much money. EHHHH WRONG. Our credit card bill stayed the same.

So I decided we can't spend the same amount of money. We went grocery shopping for the week. We clipped coupons. My goal today is to spend zero money. Not even buy a cup of coffee. I am on target at this point. I almost broke down and bought the newspaper.

I also bought the pieces of crown molding for the office. I had two pieces the length of 16 feet and one 14 feet. I have a short bed pickup. Getting the molding pieces home from the Home Depot to my house (luckily only about4 miles) was quite an experience. I laid them in the bed and rested them on the cab. I then tied them in one place on the molding to each side of my truck in the bed. I made it to about 100 feet to my entrance of my neighborhood and something slipped. The towel I had them resting on slipped out. Luckily none of the pieces fell off. Somehow the towel just became dislodged. Next time I am going to tie a second rope around the modling over the cab and hold it from the inside while I drive.

Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero

I am an ATVI (Activision) investor. Last night Electronic Arts reported earnings. Today the stock is up over 6%. I am getting a little nervous because the bounce all seems to be based on their upcoming releases, namely Harry Potter and Rock Band.

I did a little searching on digg.com and the dorks on there are really excited about Rock Band. It is a game that has four players each with a musical instrument (drums, guitar, singing, and bass??) I didn't get to see the YouTube video because it is blocked at work, but all the dorks were drooling over it. The game is being made in conjunction with MTV - the masterpromoters, they love to run commercials. If Rock Band takes off it could be a serious drag on ATVI, but I don't think that will happen.

Because of its price, the select systems it will be available on, and the fan base that Guitar Hero has already built I don't think Rock Band will have a major negative effect on Guitar Hero. Rumors are that Rock Band's price point will be $200. Consider the recent products that have been priced on the high side - Playstation 3 and the iPhone. Playstation 3 was a disaster. iPhone - though it isn't certain yet - is way too expensive even for the 30-something adult like me. In my opinion, marketers are going to have to take this into consideration. Would your kids be satisfied if all that was under the Christmas Tree was Rock Band the game?

Rock Band is only available on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Owners of these systems are exactly opposite the audience for who this type of game is intended for. Owners of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 can figure out how to use a joystick with a thousand buttons on it. They don't need dumbed down, social games that require friends. They would much rather go around killing people in a first person shooter (this is where ATVI's Transformers The Game comes in). Electronic Arts just went through a reorganization in order to be competitive on the Wii-type platforms. Great going EA Management!

Finally, Rock Band will not effect Guitar Hero due to the fact the Guitar Hero has already sold over 3 million copies. That doesn't even include the first Guitar Hero. Consider that these customers spent 70 dollars for the game and the guitar. Their friends have played it. There is an 80s version out now. Guitar Hero 3 will be released prior to Christmas. You can buy songs online for 3 dollars. And it is available for the most popular gaming system - Playstation 2.

Based on this information. I would recommend an investment in ATVI over ERTS. I will be watching the competition very closely. I find monitoring the Top Sellers on amazon.com of video games to be an instantaneous indicator of the current market.

My Introduction to Crown Molding

About a week ago my new DeWalt compund mitre saw and my new DeWalt air compressor complete with brad nailer and finish nailer showed up at my doorstep. I spent that week reading all of the instruction manuals, reading online, and actually visiting the library. I found the videos from Bobby Hester to be extremely helpful. The arrival of my new toys really inspired me to finish painting the office, which will be done this afternoon.

So I picked up a piece of crown molding yesterday from Home Depot. The length of it was about 8 feet and cost a total of 14 dollars. I also got wood putty which is in the paint area and caulk. I also picked up a pine shelf in the lumber area and layed that on the saw horses as a temporary work bench. I didn't know exactly what nails I needed, so I picked up 6d 2" finish nails and 8d 2.5" finish nails - neither of which fit into my finish nailer. I also bought a coping saw.

Everywhere I read it says to practice. Man were they right. My head is still spinning a little bit figuring all of the crown molding out angles out. It took me about 2 hours to get comfortable enough with the saw to make two 45 degree mitre cuts that married. I also cut a piece so I could practice coping. I still havent mastered that, but will tray again this afternoon. I have to agree, it will save you a lot of money to practice. My goal with picking up the stuff yesterday was to make a simple planter box. That won't happen unless I get another piece. So my advice at this point is to practice practice practice.

Fitness

My exercise routine has been jam packed with volleyball. I have been playing about three times out of the week. I have not been able to go to the gym due to the fact that I have so much house work to do. Once I am somewhat comfortable with the house, I will start a regiment of strength training and plyometrics. Stay tuned!

Earnings Wrapup

So it has been pretty busy for the stock in my IRA portfolio. At this point here is the ratings for the stocks based on their quarterly earnings :

BIG Thumbs Up : NTDOY, TGI, UA

Thumbs Up : CBH

Thumbs Down : LNDC, SPAR

Still Waiting : AVAV, ATVI (they preannounced good results), SHFL

Great Numbers from TGI and NTDOY

Nintendo reported off the hook numbers. The stock has increased almost 10 points from 56 in two days. It is really fun owning this one. I have enough money exposed to the stock at this point though. So I will just enjoy the ride.

TGI reported great numbers. I am really excited about this stock. They increased their EPS guidance for the year. Revenues were up 26% to 275M. FY 2008 revenues were initially only expected to climb 17%. Margins were also up. Their balance sheet is good (according to one of the analysts on the conference call - I am not that good at following stocks). The only dent in their report was that they burned 10.8 M of cash in the quarter. Other than that everything I heard was good.

I have decided to shift money out of about 30% each of AVAV and LNDC and invest that into TGI. Win with the winners.

It's Earnings Time

Three of the stocks in my IRA portfolio are reporting earnings.

The first one to report was LNDC yesterday after the market close. It was kind of a ho hum report. Revenues were exactly on with the forecast and their profit beat the estimate by .02 cents. Nothing Earth shattering. They will hold their conference call this afternoon - so I will have something to do while I sit at my desk.

TGI which is my second favorite stock in my portfolio after Nintendo is reporting after the market close. This company is run by some really conservative old white dudes. They seem to be pretty smart and know the company and the business well.

Nintendo just reported their earnings in Tokyo. Their profit was up 416% from the year ago quarter to 668 Million (dollars). "Group sales" (which I interpret to be revenue) was up 160%. These numbers are pretty insane. They raised their expected total deliveries of the Wii for the year from 14M to 16.5M and for the DS from 22M to 26M. This company is really sitting pretty here. It is so exciting! Here is a blog that is not updated often enough, but still has some nice writeups. Here is one of the better articles about the company's earnings from Bloomberg.

Is it Friday yet?

We had quite a busy weekend. I took some time off of work on Friday in order to do yard work and sand the spackling in the family room. Our family room is now covered in a film of dust. It is quite disgusting, but I covered all of the vents and put up a plastic sheet so none is getting into the living area of the house.

On Saturday, my in-laws came over. They are Thai and are really cool. The one thing they do is hustle - and they don't stop hustling. So my father in law patched a little more in the family room. and my mother in law painted the trim. Scott, my sister-in-law's boyfriend sanded the nursery and my sister-in-law measured every room in the house. After about 6 good hours of work, we went to The Jughandle Inn in Pensauken for great ribs and great wings. I was the only one drinking - but oh well.

Sunday was purely evil. It was moving day. I don't even want to talk about it.

More House Work

Yesterday I spent about 3 hours putting a second coat of spackle on the family room walls. It came out really nice. It looks professional if I do say so myself. Everything I learned, I learned from this dude. Tonight I hope to sand it and finished removing the staples from the floor in the guest bedroom.

Exercise for week of 07/15/07

07/15 - 67 mile bike ride to the beach. Philadelphia to Buena Vista, NJ. It was a great day!




07/16 - off

07/17 - off

07/18 - off

07/19 - volleyball

House Work

Yesterday, I finished installing the dead bolt. The front door originally had no deadbolt lock, so I had to drill a hole for one. It took me close to 3 hours to complete this task. I realized, when drilling, measure exactly right and follow the directions to a tee. I skipped out on drilling a 3/8 inch hole and went straight for the 2 incher. Big mistake. Eying the cuts seemed that all of the holes wer aligned, but when I installed all of the parts it was obvious they weren't. I had to rig it a little but I think I am the only one who will notice.

I sanded the family room. Thank God for my Dewalt random orbital sander. If you have to patch a whole room, get one. It makes sanding so much easier, but not one iota less dusty.

I removed the carpeting in the guest bedroom. The carpet installers stapled the carpet pad directly to the hard wood floor. They are a pain to get out. We are still deciding whether we want to carpet this room or refinish the hardwood.

We only have four more days until we finally move in. I gotta get moving.

Paint Prep

I have started to prep the guest bedroom for paint. I have already finished the ceiling. It came out a little bit streaky. I think I had too much paint on the roller. So I did a little research and decided this is how I am going to prep the room for paint.

1. Remove all light switches and outlet covers.
2. Find any nail pops, cracks, or divets in the wall. I looked for imperfections in the wall using by using both a spotlight and using natural light. Sometimes the nail pops would be obvious and sometimes they wouldn't be.
3. Mark imperfections with a pen knife. When I found a nail pop I would use a pen knife to make a cut in the drywall exposing the nail head. I would later come back to it and drive it in with a hammer and nail set.
4. Sand the imperfections. I use a Dewalt Random Orbital Sander with 150 grit sanding disks.
5. Sand the wall using a pole sander. I really sanded it lightly.
6. Wash the wall. I have read a lot of debate about this one. I used bleach mixxed with water. I wasn't sure it was necessary or useful, but the mount of dust I removed from the wall was ginormous.
7. Patch the imperfections.
8. Patch the imperfections.
9. Apply painter's tape for edging. This painter's tape is pretty expensive. I bought 4 rolls for like 20 bucks. It took me a while to figure out a good technique to put it on and get it straight. What I wound up doing was putting it on as straight as possible then coming back with a razor and cutting a perfect line. Then removing the excess. This worked well.

Today I will put the first coat on. Wish me luck! What I have consistently read is "Two light coats is better than one heavy coat"

LNDC May Be Running

Approximately two weeks prior to the last time it reported earnings, LNDC went on a nice 2 point run. At that time, it moved from around 12 to around 14.40 (the high when it reported). It seems it may have started this same trend today. The stock reports earnings on July 25.

Exercise for week of 07/08/07

Sunday 07/08 -

• 15 min stretch
• x5 squat jumps
• 2x5 broad jump and stick
• Hang Snatch : 5x85 lbs, 4x5x95 lbs
• Front Squats : 8 x 95lb, 8 x105, 8x125, 8x145
• Abs

Monday 07/09 - Volleyball

Tuesday 07/10 - weight : 191 lbs body fat : 12.1%

• pullups - 11.5 (disappointed), 5, 3,... total 30
• decline butterly - 8x40, 8x50, 8x60, 4x70
• shoulder circuit - 6x12 lbs, 8x10, 8x10
• abs

Wednesday OFF

Thursday 07/12 - weight : 189 lbs body fat : 12.2%

• Lateral Bounds - 3 sets of 6 jumps
• Step Back, Jump - 3 sets of 5
• Depth Jumps 4 sets of 4 at 4, 6, 8, 10 height
• Hang Clean 5 x 75, 5x95, 5x100,5x105, 5x125
• Snatch Squat 3 x 8 @ 95 lbs
• Abs
  
• 20 each Side Situps
• Supermans
  

Growing Grass

We have a disgustingly overgrown pine tree in our front yard. When I first looked at the house it hit me immediately, this tree must go.

I went out and bought a Remington Electric tree trimmer. I have a tendency to rush right in and use these new tools, but I always force myself to read the directions first. I picked up the direction book and it was all over the place. It is really confusing. They combine three different languages into the same book. So you will read a title in English, followed by the same title in Spanish, and finally French. But in other sections, there will be two straight pages of all English, followed by two straight pages of Spanish, then French. I couldn't take it because I was so anxious. The one tidbit I did get from the book was to put oil in the oil well. Done.

Trimmed one branch. Worked great. Trimmed a second, then a third. Got to the fourth branch and there was smoke and a foul odor coming from the motor. I figured that was normal. Gave it a pause, pushed the button to activate it again - and a big nothing. At this point I had to make sense of the direction book. Turns out you have to manually "prime" the oil after every cut.

I returned the saw and got a new one. I cut about 1/4 of the tree down leaving about 4 feet clearance so I could plant grass seed. We are in the middle of a heatwave and I knew that if I cut the whole tree down and left no shade, the grass wouldn't grow. After three days and three times a day of watering, I have grass!

I used Scott's sun and shade mixture. My neighbor told me that because of the dripping of the sap from the tree, I will need to fertilize with Lyme. He explained to me that the sap will increase the acidic level of the soil and that the lyme will reduce it. I haven't taken that step yet, but will in the near future.

Current IRA Holdings

Here I will list the current holdings in my IRA. My sttrategy for my IRA is to invest in small cap grwoth stocks. I try to buy companies under 2 billion market cap. In some cases this is not possible (ie. Nintendo, Activision).

Nintendo's American Depository Receipts (NTDOY)
-Just go to amazon.com, click on "Top Sellers" then select "Video Games".
Triumph Group (TGI)
-This company is a subcontractor for Boeing. They install the floor panels for the 787
Dreamliner. For my honeymoon I visited Thailand. Global air traffic is exploding. For a safer investment, buy Boeing. But if your are riskier, like me, buy TGI.
Aerovironment (AVAV)
-This company sells UAV that troops can carry on their backs. They are also working on a UAV system that will be continuously airborn and will act as a low orbit sattelite. Could get exciting but the stock hasn't been doing anything.
Landec (LNDC)
-This company makes breathable polymers. Think goretex packaging for fruits and vegetables. They also made a goretex seedcoating that would cause the seeds to germinate only during the right conditions. BRILLIANT!
Under Armor (UA)
-If you don't have any under armor clothes, go buy some. Especially if you are in good shape. They make you feel huge. If you ski, use it as your base layer. BRILLIANT!
Spartan Motors (SPAR)
-This company makes the Chasis for the MRAP (min resistant ambush protected) vehicles. Think roadside bombs in Iraq.
Commerce Bank (CBH)
-This is the best bank in the world. If you have access to Commerce, sign up with them. You will not be disappointed. When I was younger, I never paid attention to my bank statements. I was withdrawing money from ATMs at WAWA figuring they were free. One day I figured I would take a gander at the statement and in that month alone I was charged 11 bucks for withdrawing money - all along I thought it was "free". Well at Commerce it is free.
Activision (ATVI)
-Try Guitar Hero 2. I will have it at my next party.
Shufflemaster (SHFL)
-In Delaware and Pennsylvania, you can't have a blackjack table with a real deck of cards. Instead the odds must be already determined, like a slot. This company makes video black jack and poker machines that pay out based on a pre-programmed allocation. It's the law in states that are just opening up casinos.
Dandreon (DNDN)
-I was stupid and invested in this company after it doubled. One day it went from 18 to 6. I owned shares at that point and it really messed up my portfolio.

Our House in Mill Run

On June 25, 2007 we settled on a four bedroom two and a half bath house. The house originally came on the market in October of 2006 at 429,900. We first went to look at the house in mid April. It had just been reduced to 375,000. It needed a lot of work, but it backed up to open space, and in this part of New Jersey, that is a money maker. Everyone else was scared off because of all the painting and "fixxing-up" that needed to be done. Not us (mainly me)!

We put an offer in at 350k and 3k down. The seller's realtor was concerned because we had 100% financing and she thought 3k down was kind of low. So we upped the offer to 350k and 10k down. They countered at 373k. We bid 355k. They countered at 370k. We firmly bid 360k. They said they will wait for another offer. I was really ticked off. I thought it was rude that we would raise our offer by 5k increments and the seller would only lower by 2-3k. So we went to look at other options.

We went to see another house that was the exact same model. This one's kitchen was only about 5 years old. The carpets were in good shape. The walls were nicely painted. The landscaping was in order. They were asking 410k. It was great, I thought, that we had found another house. One that fit our needs, in the same town. Who cares that our mortgage payment was going to be 200-300 more per month. We walked out back. And there it was. "vrummm vrummm" They backed up to a busy street. You could hear the incessant sound of cars driving by.

The good thing was we knew what we wanted. So we made it happen. We bid up to 370k and my back side felt a little invaded. But my brother-in-law made the right point. In 5 or 10 or 30 years, that 10,000 dollar difference won't mean squat.

Stock Alert

This morning, Activision (ATVI) announced that they will exceed their first quarter guidance. I bought this stock about a month or two ago in my IRA. It seems that their "movie games" are driving their success. I am really happy with the Guitar Hero 2 game I bought, but it seems this is not the main driver.

I bought more of the stock on the news. Unfortunately, since I have yet to pay my first mortgage payment, I can't deposit any more money into my IRA account at the present moment. I was itching to transfer money this morning, but I have an outstanding loan on my 401k that I need to pay off first.

Catchup

There are three major things going on in my life at this point. The first one is my wife is pregnant and due January 1st. The next major occurrence is that we bought a house. The final major happening is one that I hope continues for a long time and that is I play, practice, and workout in order to be a good volleyball player.

My wife is now 15 weeks pregnant. When we weren't so busy with getting - and now fixing the house - I was making breakfast and really helping her out. I was so proud of myself. Every morning I would wake up and make eggs or oatmeal or pancackes. I was cleaning the apartment and I was doing everything I could to keep her stress level as low as possible. She had a really great first trimester. Now things are a bit more hectic.

We are in between moving from our apartment to our new home in Mount Laurel, NJ. We bought an outdated house in a nice neighborhood. I got burned back int he stock market crash of 2000. It seemed to me that the housing market was going through the same sort of phenomenon.

On June 25, 2007 we settled on a four bedroom two and a half bath house. The house originally came on the market in October of 2006 at 429,900. We first went to look at the house in mid April. It had just been reduced to 375,000. It needed a lot of work, but it backed up to open space, and in this part of New Jersey, that is a money maker. Everyone else was scared off because of all the painting and "fixxing-up" that needed to be done. Not us (mainly me)!

We put an offer in at 350k and 3k down. The seller's realtor was concerned because we had 100% financing and she thought 3k down was kind of low. So we upped the offer to 350k and 10k down. They countered at 373k. We bid 355k. They countered at 370k. We firmly bid 360k. They said they will wait for another offer. I was really ticked off. I thought it was rude that we would raise our offer by 5k increments and the seller would only lower by 2-3k. So we went to look at other options.

We went to see another house that was the exact same model. This one's kitchen was only about 5 years old. The carpets were in good shape. The walls were nicely painted. The landscaping was in order. They were asking 410k. It was great, I thought, that we had found another house. One that fit our needs, in the same town. Who cares that our mortgage payment was going to be 200-300 more per month. We walked out back. And there it was. "vrummm vrummm" They backed up to a busy street. And you could hear the incessant sound of cars driving by.

The good thing was we knew what we wanted. So we made it happen. We bid up to 370k and my back side felt a little invaded. But my brother-in-law made the right point. In 5 or 10 or 30 years, that 10,000 dollar difference won't mean squat.