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.