Generating Income Through Selling Covered Calls

Open an account with the ability to trade options. My suggestion would be Interactive Brokers. I like their low commissions - $1 for stock trades and $0.75 per option contract trade. Start by buying at least 100 shares of a company. The idea is to sell a call option at a premium to generate extra income on the stock. Screen the available call options. Selling a call option allows the buyer to buy your 100 stocks at a set price. The price of the call option is the difference of the current stock price and the call option strike price along with a premium. Try to find a call option that will expire in one month. At the end of the month, if the call option strike price is above the stock price, then you keep the stock and the premium received from the sale of the call option. If the stock price is above the call option strike price, you sell the stock at the stated price for the option, and keep the money from selling the call option.

Bloomberg.com: Asia

Bloomberg.com: Asia

Technorati tags: ICICI, India

ICICI (ICICI) raised 4 billion dollars in a public sale of more shares. This article states the Indian economy creates $854 billion dollars a year. ICICI appears relatively large compared to India's GDP.

Business News - Small Business - New York Times

Business News - Small Business - New York Times

Technorati tags: small business

NY Times new section for small businesses.

Wealth in America

Another great article about wealth in America.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103017/joining-the-5-million-club-takes-an-open-mind

"Meet the Press" by Nicholas Confessore

"Meet the Press" by Nicholas Confessore

The idea of journo-lobbying is discussed in this article.

Dow 2 Million in 2100

Warren Buffet recently stated in an interview that if the Dow would compound at 5.4 percent annually, the Dow would reach near 2 million by the end of the century. Here are the numbers.

These are the results of compounding the current value of the Dow at 13300 in 2007 for 93 years till 2100 at an annual rate of 5.4 percent.

Money available after 1 years: 14018.2
Money available after 2 years: 14775.1828
Money available after 3 years: 15573.0426712
Money available after 4 years: 16413.9869754448
Money available after 5 years: 17300.34227211882
Money available after 6 years: 18234.56075481324
Money available after 7 years: 19219.227035573153
Money available after 8 years: 20257.065295494103
Money available after 9 years: 21350.946821450787
Money available after 10 years: 22503.89794980913
Money available after 11 years: 23719.10843909882
Money available after 12 years: 24999.94029481016
Money available after 13 years: 26349.93707072991
Money available after 14 years: 27772.833672549325
Money available after 15 years: 29272.56669086699
Money available after 16 years: 30853.285292173805
Money available after 17 years: 32519.36269795119
Money available after 18 years: 34275.40828364056
Money available after 19 years: 36126.280330957146
Money available after 20 years: 38077.099468828834
Money available after 21 years: 40133.26284014559
Money available after 22 years: 42300.45903351345
Money available after 23 years: 44584.683821323175
Money available after 24 years: 46992.256747674626
Money available after 25 years: 49529.838612049054
Money available after 26 years: 52204.4498970997
Money available after 27 years: 55023.49019154308
Money available after 28 years: 57994.75866188641
Money available after 29 years: 61126.47562962827
Money available after 30 years: 64427.305313628196
Money available after 31 years: 67906.37980056411
Money available after 32 years: 71573.32430979458
Money available after 33 years: 75438.28382252349
Money available after 34 years: 79511.95114893976
Money available after 35 years: 83805.5965109825
Money available after 36 years: 88331.09872257557
Money available after 37 years: 93100.97805359465
Money available after 38 years: 98128.43086848877
Money available after 39 years: 103427.36613538716
Money available after 40 years: 109012.44390669807
Money available after 41 years: 114899.11587765977
Money available after 42 years: 121103.6681350534
Money available after 43 years: 127643.2662143463
Money available after 44 years: 134536.002589921
Money available after 45 years: 141800.94672977674
Money available after 46 years: 149458.19785318468
Money available after 47 years: 157528.94053725665
Money available after 48 years: 166035.50332626852
Money available after 49 years: 175001.420505887
Money available after 50 years: 184451.49721320492
Money available after 51 years: 194411.878062718
Money available after 52 years: 204910.11947810475
Money available after 53 years: 215975.2659299224
Money available after 54 years: 227637.9302901382
Money available after 55 years: 239930.37852580566
Money available after 56 years: 252886.61896619917
Money available after 57 years: 266542.4963903739
Money available after 58 years: 280935.7911954541
Money available after 59 years: 296106.3239200086
Money available after 60 years: 312096.06541168905
Money available after 61 years: 328949.25294392026
Money available after 62 years: 346712.51260289195
Money available after 63 years: 365434.9882834481
Money available after 64 years: 385168.47765075427
Money available after 65 years: 405967.575443895
Money available after 66 years: 427889.8245178653
Money available after 67 years: 450995.87504183006
Money available after 68 years: 475349.6522940889
Money available after 69 years: 501018.5335179697
Money available after 70 years: 528073.5343279401
Money available after 71 years: 556589.5051816489
Money available after 72 years: 586645.338461458
Money available after 73 years: 618324.1867383767
Money available after 74 years: 651713.6928222491
Money available after 75 years: 686906.2322346506
Money available after 76 years: 723999.1687753218
Money available after 77 years: 763095.1238891892
Money available after 78 years: 804302.2605792055
Money available after 79 years: 847734.5826504825
Money available after 80 years: 893512.2501136085
Money available after 81 years: 941761.9116197434
Money available after 82 years: 992617.0548472096
Money available after 83 years: 1046218.3758089589
Money available after 84 years: 1102714.1681026428
Money available after 85 years: 1162260.7331801855
Money available after 86 years: 1225022.8127719155
Money available after 87 years: 1291174.044661599
Money available after 88 years: 1360897.4430733253
Money available after 89 years: 1434385.904999285
Money available after 90 years: 1511842.7438692464
Money available after 91 years: 1593482.2520381857
Money available after 92 years: 1679530.2936482478
Money available after 93 years: 1770224.9295052532

SEOmoz | Google's Patent - Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data

SEOmoz | Google's Patent - Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data

Technorati tags: google, patent

This piece of paper is worth $145 billion.

In the News : GoodSearch : Search the Internet with GoodSearch and support your favorite charity or school.

In the News : GoodSearch : Search the Internet with GoodSearch and support your favorite charity or school.

Technorati tags: goodsearch

I don't think they give enough their profits to charity. Some clicks generate up to $3, and they give a penny. Most website owners know how much Google and by transition Yahoo earns them for each click of their visitors. I will say that some clicks do generate only ten cents, but in general some others generate a lot more money. It's a good idea that they donate a penny for each search, but it should be more transparent and a more signifant part of their revenues should be given to charity.

Here's a website detailing some high paying keywords, showing that when a user clicks on these advertisements the website can make a few dollars.

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/top-paying-words.htm

Search For Singles Hotties Using Google Maps

Search For Singles Hotties Using Google Maps

People can get really creative by modifying the Google Maps API.

Technorati tags: google, maps

Demand/Supply at a Glance: Bid/Ask Sizes -- Tradetrek.com

Demand/Supply at a Glance: Bid/Ask Sizes -- Tradetrek.com
Defining and using a bid times ask size , also known as B/A size.

Google Buys an Online Ad Firm for $3.1 Billion - New York Times

Google Buys an Online Ad Firm for $3.1 Billion - New York Times

Not particularly understanding why Google wants to go into a business it has been avoiding. They made their money on text advertising after it proved to be more successful than banner advertisements.

Technorati tags: google, doubleclick

Kanoodle vs. Google

I've used both services, but I think Kanoodle ends up being the better choice for individual web publishers in the long run. Google (GOOG) may have higher revenue per click for web based advertising, but I've been able to make more money from Kanoodle's RSS feed feature.
Unfortunately, most web publishers only think of Google for their advertising features and overlook smaller providers which may provide them with larger checks.
Google may have a dominant hold on providing advertising for small websites but any other provider with better payouts can take Google's market share.

Angioplasty effectiveness questioned

"Those patients now should try drugs first, experts say. If that does not help, they can consider angioplasty or bypass surgery, which unlike angioplasty, does save lives, prevent heart attacks and give lasting chest pain relief."
from http://www.cnbc.com/id/17800223


"A chance to cut is a chance to cure"

Medicine is constantly debating back and forth between treatments. Change is inevitable, and it's good to question old standards with research. The worst thing to do is not to debate.

Another good time to buy NYX

NYX dropped precipitously after the market drop on Tuesday, February 28, 2007. The DOW dropped nearly 500 points at the lowest part of the day mostly due to concerns of a slowing economy in China and also some economic concerns in the US. The day was also marked by a sudden 200 point caused by a delay in the Dow Jones calculations that was corrected abruptly. This was a problem with the Dow Jones calculation of the DJIA and not a problem with the New York Stock Exchange. The stock is down sharply to 84 after rising to a level of 95 in the last week. The stock should correct back towards the low 90s in the next couple of weeks. No other significant news has been present.

Looking at the charts, the stock moves rapidly up when it starts to approach its lower Bollinger band. This has happened a few times in the last year.



from : http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=NYX&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=m50,m200,b&a=&c=

Wells Fargo 20+ year return

Read the article today about how investing in WFC a while back would give you more in dividend payments yearly than your initial investment. Here's how an initial investment would have done. $1000 invested in 1984 in Wells Fargo would be worth $74,654 at today's closing price of 35.85.

Initial Investment = 999.8399999999999
Shares Available = 2083
Final Investment Value = 74654.72
Total Profit = 73654.88
Percent Return = 7366.7

Gresso's Symphonia MP3 players for the nouveau riche - Engadget

Gresso's Symphonia MP3 players for the nouveau riche - Engadget

Technorati tags: ipod, mp3

Ipod killer, this has to be cooler than the Nano.

For Yale’s Money Man, a Higher Calling - New York Times

For Yale’s Money Man, a Higher Calling - New York Times:

"He was troubled by it: making wealthy people wealthier. I feel privileged to be in a place where the resources that we generate are applied to the world’s problems."

Technorati tags: yale, endowment

Goog heading towards 50 day moving average

After dipping to 450, Google (GOOG) appears to be heading back towards its 50 day moving average of 478. At least two times in the last year, it has dipped significantly below its 50 day moving average and returned to the average within 2 months.

NYX oversold at 88

NYX appears to be oversold at 88. It has dropped precipitously from the high 100s range on little news. Appears to be a good time to buy with the positive long term sentiment of expansion into global markets.

Capital Return

Capital Return Walmart from 1974 to 2007

Technorati tags: walmart, wmt

How much would a 1000 dollar investment in Walmart made during a low in 1974 be worth today? Here are the results of the calculator.

Initial Investment = 999.9910000000001
Shares Available = 58823
Final Investment Value = 2,823,504
Total Profit = 2,822,504.009
Percent Return = 282,252.9

Source: http://finance.google.com

Capital Return

Capital Return of Cisco from 1990 to 2000

Technorati tags: cisco, csco

How much would a 1000 dollars invested in Cisco (CSCO) at the beginning of 1990 be worth at the top of the market in 2000? Here are the results from the calculator.

Initial Investment = 999.99
Shares Available = 11111
Final Investment Value = 911102
Total Profit = 910102.01
Percent Return = 91011.1

Capital Return

Capital Return

Technorati tags: capital, shares, cash, return

Enter price paid, capital available, and expected price. Capital available is the amount of cash available to invest. Initially, the code will calculate the amount of shares purchased with cash available. Then, it calculates initial investment, profit, and percent return.

Simple Stock Profit Calculator

Simple Profit

Technorati tags: stock profit, stock return, calculator

Enter price paid, shares, and expected price. Calculates profit and percent return.

Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun - New York Times

Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun - New York Times

Technorati tags: china, internet, currency

China's most dominant website uses online currency which the Chinese government is trying to stop, fearing the online currency's effect on china's actual currency.

Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent - New York Times

Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent - New York Times

Technorati tags: real estate, bubble, condo

Why do people never believe in bubbles and that things will be different whenever they see prices rising?

Insider Trades - BRIN SERGEY - Yahoo! Finance

Insider Trades - BRIN SERGEY - Yahoo! Finance

The advantages of starting a company in America and selling your stake on the open markets.

iPhone: Is It Worth $500? : Weekend - Yahoo! Finance

iPhone: Is It Worth $500? : Weekend - Yahoo! Finance
Apple's long awaited ipod phone is available now from Cingular for an amazing 500 or 600 dollars. It looks like a great product but somehow its price is getting more attention than the product.

Zecco.com - Free Stock Quotes & Financial News

Zecco.com - Free Stock Quotes & Financial News
Free online trading, just went live.

David Beckham Is Coming to America - New York Times

David Beckham Is Coming to America - New York Times

Technorati tags: beckham, salary

This soccer story is on a stock blog because Beckham's $250 million dollar five year deal is a big economic transaction. Adidas will likely benefit from him coming to America also.

This ETF Is Better, Down the Line [Fool.com] November 20, 2006

This ETF Is Better, Down the Line [Fool.com] November 20, 2006
Compares two of value line's ETFs. One is a closed end fund while the other is a true ETF.

Linksys.com - Products/Wireless/Basic Networking/Voice & Telephone/Telephones/CIT400

Linksys.com - Products/Wireless/Basic Networking/Voice & Telephone/Telephones/CIT400

Cisco's Linksys division announced their new line up for VOIP services. This product link above lets you plug in a base to the router without the need for a computer to use Skype. Cisco calls this line the iPhone line up, not to be confused with the "upcoming" Apple iPod phone. Overall, Cisco's new product helps homes use VOIP the same way as a normal telephone line.

Technorati tags: skype, cisco, linksys, voip

Skype founders to launch broadband TV service

Skype founders to launch broadband TV service

The Skype founders have created a internet tv service which is in very early testing. So far, they've been 2 for 2 with their successes in Kazaa and Skype.

Technorati tags: skype, tv, iptv, youtube

Saatchi Gallery - Stuart - Report - New York Times

Saatchi Gallery - Stuart - Report - New York Times

An art gallery owner has created a social network website for artists to share and sell their work. The artists section is more like a simple profile page with art work for independent artists. The student art or "Stuart" section is more like a social network.

Technorati tags: saatchi, myspace, art

Atlas

Boston Properties sets special dividend

Boston Properties sets special dividend

$5.40 dividend payable on Jan. 30.

Technorati tags: special dividend, large

I.B.M. and Universities Plan Collaboration - New York Times

I.B.M. and Universities Plan Collaboration - New York Times

IBM along with Cisco and Hewlett Packard have agreed to share intellectual property developed from research.

Technorati tags: ibm, patents

Google Patents

Google Patents
Google unveiled its patent search engine on Wednesday. Results pages show the patents text, has links to different sections, shows drawings, and has the original patent in PDF format. It includes patents dating back to 1790. The search capability seems to be as good as Google's other search features. The system offers a significant advantage over the US Patent systems own search system which had poor search results and was difficult to use.

Google wins patent for search results page design | CNET News.com

Google wins patent for search results page design CNET News.com
Google patented its user interface and it has received a design patent for how their pages display search results with advertisements.

Google lands Web search patent | CNET News.com

Google lands Web search patent CNET News.com
An article from Cnet about a patent granted to Google in 2003. One of the patents that allow Google to dominate the current search landscape.

Skype’s Free Phone Call Plan Will Soon Have Annual Fee - New York Times

Skype’s Free Phone Call Plan Will Soon Have Annual Fee - New York Times
New plans starting next year will be $30 for unlimited calling to US and Canada. If ordered before January 31, 2007, the charge is only $15 for unlimited calling from PCs to land lines. This is much cheaper than other offers from Comcast or Vonage.

PortableApps Suite | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

PortableApps Suite PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB drives

Places mozilla, thunderbird, and gaim on a flash drive. Works best with USB flash drives greater than 256 mb. To use portableapps on a small flash drive, around 64mb, install the portable apps base program, then dowload additional programs like Thunderbird Portable and GAIM portable. These two programs installed will leave about 24 mb free on a 64 mb flash drive. One advantage with Portable applications on a flash drive is that they run faster since the memory is on non-moving parts.

Another option is U3 drivers with pre-installed portable applications. U3 offers Skype on a USB flash drive. U3 flash drives are available at this link: http://astore.amazon.com/usbapplications-20

Skype Phone Store - Home Page

Skype Phone Store - Home Page
Skype phones allow an easier interface with skype than the standard headset.

Skypegear Roadtest: Philips VOIP841 Cordless Phone for Skype - Skype Gear

Skypegear Roadtest: Philips VOIP841 Cordless Phone for Skype - Skype Gear
Skype phone economics - Philips new Skype phone may cost a lot to buy initially but it does offer a better long term option than other broadband phone services. Comcast and Vonage offer services starting at 25 dollars a month, but Skype only requires paying $0.02 per minute. So someone can use $10 in skype credit per month and buy themselves about 500 minutes, and Skype minutes carry forward. Additionally, this phone offers easy set up by connecting directly to a router without the need for a PC.

A Business Model of One's Own, Franchising and Licensing Article - Inc. Magazine Article

A Business Model of One's Own, Franchising and Licensing Article - Inc. Magazine Article
An old article from 1998 looking at the possible effects of allowing patents on business models. There's also an interview with a person from a company that makes business model patents and licenses them out. Worries back then included that allowing patentable business models would decrease innovation. However, it looks like that hasn't happened since then, ie Google, YouTube, Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook.

Google's $200 million financial cushion - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com

Google's $200 million financial cushion - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com
Google set aside 200 million dollars in the 1.79 billion dollar YouTube acquisition. It's apparently for any copyright infringement suits for pirated video on YouTube. Sadly, despite this being a large financial deal, one does have to admit YouTube did gain popularity on distribution of videos by violating copyright holder's rights. Sure many of the most popular videos on YouTube are made by individuals, but a lot of the videos were from popular sources such as Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Fox, and HBO. Hopefully Google can make something of this company which wasn't able to make money even with stolen material. Steven Colbert made a joke that he should get a third of the YouTube price since he mentions the site on his show and several of the skits from his show are on the site. In some ways its true, YouTube does owe it success to content from major networks.

Online diagnosis: Web helpful, but doc is best - Forbes.com - MSNBC.com

Online diagnosis: Web helpful, but doc is best - Forbes.com - MSNBC.com
Doctors were able to find the correct diagnosis 60% of the time based on symptoms using Google's search engine. Patients should still see a physician, however they could use Google for research.

Bitten By The Google Spider - Forbes.com

Bitten By The Google Spider - Forbes.com

Google's trying to crack down on worthless websites full of ads by changing its advertising policy and page-ranking spider algorithm. This is apparently getting rid of a lot of spam websites who make millions by placing high priced Adwords on their site. They also attract visitors to their website using cheap Google Adwords. Some legitimate websites have been blocked by Google's new tactics.

Google nets broadband alliance with BSkyB - Markets - Times Online

Google nets broadband alliance with BSkyB - Markets - Times Online
Google has announced a deal with BSkyB of England to share advertising revenue, provide online video, and provide Gmail service. BSkyB is a satellite broadband company. Other options include exploring the use of Google's voice over IP for BSkyB broadband users.

Zune #2 In Sales Behind iPod - Gizmodo

Zune #2 In Sales Behind iPod - Gizmodo
NPD Group says MSFT Zune is a distant second to iPod in unit sales and dollar share.

Motorola's ROKR E6 released in China, US next? - Engadget

Motorola's ROKR E6 released in China, US next? - Engadget
Motorola's new ROKR will have a touchscreen, 14.5 mm width, handwriting recognition, 2 megapixel camera, and a bar code reader. Its currently available in China for $545. The software switched from iTunes to RealPlayer so more audio options are available.

Google slashes IPO price | CNET News.com

Google slashes IPO price CNET News.com
Just some old news about Google when it slashed its IPO price to $85. This was the beginning of the madness.

NYX P/E of 103

The New York Stock Exchange stock currently has a price to earnings around 103. Yet, the stock is still shooting upwards. Its had a large movement up from 87 to 93 in the past week. Why is this stock still a good investment? According to Jim Cramer of CNBC, he predicted this company will earn $10 a share in earnings in 2008, and then he placed a 28 P/E ratio on it then discounted the price target of $250. Here's the link to his comments: http://madmoneyrecap.com/daily_recap_openingsegment_110906.htm.

GOOG: Insider Transactions for GOOGLE - Yahoo! Finance

Insiders at Google have been holding onto their shares since late June 06 according to Yahoo's Insider transactions page. They may have known about some good news for a while and were waiting for a better time to sell. Yet, even with the stock hitting all time highs, they're still not selling. Maybe there's still more room to go up.
GOOG: Insider Transactions for GOOGLE - Yahoo! Finance

S & P 500 Stocks with Dividend Yields above 5%

CZN	CITIZEN COMM CO	S&P 500	6.80%
PGL	PEOPLES ENERGY CP	S&P 500	5.10%
PGN	PROGRESS ENERGY INC	S&P 500	5.30%
WM	WASHINGTON MUTUAL	S&P 500	5.00%
WIN	WINDSTREAM CORP	S&P 500	6.00%

Source: Stock Screener Results - Yahoo! Finance

Alpha Trends

Alpha Trends
A video blog of technical charts and trading. Also has some lengthy articles.

Google’s Document Program

I’ve been trying Google’s new Docs program and it’s pretty great. It’s quick to start typing new documents, and the saving is automatic. It’s a good place to write down notes, and since it’s on the internet, I could do it from anywhere. The other option would be to constantly carry around a USB drive or e-mail myself notes. I’m not using it for my longer writing projects since a typing delay occurs. Letters appear a few microseconds after I type them. The editing quality of the word processor is pretty basic, but it is sufficient for a portable word processor. Tables can be edited easily. Documents can be saved on the server or published to a blog.
I haven’t seen any revenue generating advertisements on the side by Google. They would take up space on the workspace, but I’m guessing they’ll inevitably appear. With their acquisition of JotSpot, the abilities of the program should improve since I saw the JotSpot website a couple of years ago and it was much more advanced than Google's current offering.

A Web Site to Call Your Own - New York Times

A Web Site to Call Your Own - New York Times
Microsoft is giving away a free .com website with other features such as e-mail, calendar, and accounting. Advertising is also being tied into the service. It's called Microsoft Office Live Basic.

Stocks Yielding Above 5% in the S&P 400 Midcap

CAR	AVIS BUDGET GROUP, I	S&P 400 MidCap	22.50%
NYB	NEW YORK CMMTY BNC##	S&P 400 MidCap	6.10%
HPT	HOSPITALITY PROP TR	S&P 400 MidCap	6.10%
PIR	PIER ONE INC	S&P 400 MidCap	5.80%
FNT	FIDELITY NTL TTL GRP	S&P 400 MidCap	5.40%
ETM	ENTERCOM COMMUN CP	S&P 400 MidCap	5.30%
LRY	LIBERTY PROPERTIES	S&P 400 MidCap	5.20%
GXP	GREAT PLAINS ENERGY	S&P 400 MidCap	5.10%
DQE	DUQUESNE LIGHT HLDGS	S&P 400 MidCap	5.00%
EAS	ENERGY EAST CP	S&P 400 MidCap	5.00%
WON	WESTWOOD ONE INC	S&P 400 MidCap	5.00%

Stock Screener Results - Yahoo! Finance

Top Yielding S&P 600 Small Cap Stocks as of November 1, 2006

Top Yielding S&P 600 Small Cap Stocks as of November 1, 2006

NEW	NEW CENTURY FINANC##	S&P 600 SmallCap	18.60%
SRT	STARTEK INC	S&P 600 SmallCap	7.40%
LXP	LEXINGTON CP PTY TR	S&P 600 SmallCap	6.80%
SR	STANDARD REGIST	S&P 600 SmallCap	6.60%
NNN	NATIONAL RETAIL PROP	S&P 600 SmallCap	6.00%
TRST	TRUSTCO BANK NY	S&P 600 SmallCap	5.80%
SNH	SENIOR HSG SBI	S&P 600 SmallCap	5.80%
UNTD	UNITED ONLINE INC	S&P 600 SmallCap	5.80%

Source: Stock Screener Results - Yahoo! Finance

CVTX on the rise

This has been an amazing ride for CVTX in the last few months. The stocks gone down to 9.45 after bad news about Ranexa, but now the stocks climbed back up to 14 without much news. The earnings are supposed to be released on October 31, 2006, with probably some information about Ranexa sales. It's been about a 50% return since the 52 week low, and no ideas if this from a short squeeze, institution accumulation, or insider buying.

http://finance.yahoo.com/charts#symbol=CVTX;range=1y

For the Super-Rich, It’s Time to Upgrade the Old Jumbo Jet - New York Times

For the Super-Rich, It’s Time to Upgrade the Old Jumbo Jet - New York Times
$150 million for the plane, and $50 million for interior design. Or rent a plane for an around the world trip for the reasonable price of $50,000 to $70,000 per person.

TXN run up to 35

This has been happening for the last few quarters. The company will keep on providing good numbers, but in the middle of the quarter some analyst will downgrade the stock and TXN will drop to 28. Then spectacular earnings come out, and the stock rises up to 35. Look at the chart over the last year. There seems to be some resistance at the 35 level that the stock hasn't been able to break through for the last year.

Cost of Living Website

http://www.cityrating.com/costofliving.asp

Start with a salary in one city, and this website will tell you what salary you'll need to live in another city as comfortably as the original city.

NY Times on Google Payment Service

Google's payment service offers cheaper rates than Paypal, 20 cents plus 2 percent of the purchase price. Google's also offering a discount for its payment service when a user also uses its advertising service. This could be a big turning point for Google similar to when Microsoft introduced Word for its Windows application. Google can leverage its dominance in search and advertising to create more earnings from payment services.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/29/technology/29google.html

another good time to buy txn

TXN is back to its lower level of its trading range. The chart shows its well below its 200 day moving average. Investors who have bought the stock before at levels below the 200 DMA have been rewarded well in the short term in the last year. The market also had a bad week when TXN had good news in its mid-quarter update. I see this stock back to $35 before the company reports its quarterly earnings.

Skype Toolbar

Skype Toolbar for Internet Explorer adds Skype functionality to web browsing. It's main advantage is turning telephone numbers on webpages into SkypeOut links. This allows browsers to click on a link to make a phone call to a landline through Skype. The fee for calling a landline through Skype is $0.02 per minute for calls to America. For example, to look for a pizza store, search for the pizza store name and location in the toolbar, then the search result will have the phone number highlighted with a SkypeOut link. Clicking on the link will make the phone call to the pizza store through Skype. Skype Toolbar allows people to use Skype more seamlessly with their daily activities and, it is a good revenue generator for Skype and for eBay.

Comcast pushing telephony

When calling Comcast, they will say their only special is for the three package special of internet, cable, and telephone service for about $100 a month. When asking them about cable alone, they won't give a special rate for 3 to 6 months as before. Instead, they will ask for $64 a month for cable alone. Same with the internet service, it's much higher than it was before when added to a cable service. Comcast seems to be pushing its telephone service heavily in the urban markets; however, many young people in urban markets use primarily cell phones and see no need for a cable based landline.

Microsoft Drop

Microsoft dropped from 27 to 24 on Friday after a news announcement about a change in strategy. The company lost tens of billions in market capitalization dollars due to a statement about their future plans. Their financial situation is sound, although they have given away a significant amount of their liquid cash. If they had done this with the 32 billion given away in a special dividend, the reaction would not have been so severe. Investors would have thought that Microsoft could afford to take a gamble.
Currently, Microsoft's competition is pressuring it to take gambles in their future planning. Google recently released a beta version of their calendar program. It has amazing functionality with drag and drop features. Entering an appointment by typing out a statement is much simpler than entering an appointment in Microsoft's Outlook. Google is trying to combine their Gmail service and Calendar service into a competition for Microsoft's Outlook. Their Gmail service is nowhere near as organized as Outlook. Gmail's tagging system is a unique idea, but Outlook's folder option is easier to use with drag and drop. Blogger can be seen as a challenge for Microsoft's Word, but it's organizational ability has the same problem as Gmail. It's a list of documents in a linear organization. With more drag and drop abilities, Google's offerings can become more competitive with Microsoft. Too bad I won't be able to patent this idea now; Google has the technology to advance itself further.
Microsoft has already developed a PC based software architecture based on drag and drop organization. Now, it has to transfer this idea to the web.
Google and Microsoft have complementary ideas, either they join together or each company develops what it lacks.

Motorola Q/ Motorola RAZR 2 (Canary) update

Motorola Q Gets FCC Nod - Gizmodo

It'll be available with Verizon first.

Motorola's RAZR 2 / Canary

The new Razr will be narrower, have a 2 megapixel camera, and have a different outer finish. It'll be available in late 2006 or early 2007.

Motorola Motorola ROKR E2

Motorola Motorola ROKR E2
The new version of the ROKR will have up to 2gb removable SD Card, a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, and bluetooth.

Home Depot

nittanylion05@gmail.com

A recent article in Business Week highlighted the CEO of Home Depot, Bob Nardelli, and his efforts to revamp operations at the giant. It’s competitor, Lowe’s, stock price has soared the last few years where Home Depot has largely missed out on the housing boom. One of the reasons for this is Home Depot’s small professional sales. Lowe’s garners a lot more of the professional contractor market whereas Home Depot is more of a consumer and homeowner store. The store also has an Innovation Center where they experiment with how new products will match in their stores. All of these initiatives are to increase earnings.

However there are several flaws in this approach. One is the waning real estate boom. Even if Home Depot gains a foothold in the professional market, that market is shrinking as home sales slow. As interest rates rise, Home Depot’s backbone, homeowner’s remodeling, will find it more difficult to get home equity loans. Big renovation projects will be delayed and this effect will more hten cancel out any gain in professional sales.

The final few reasons why I would avoid Home Depot is the CEO himself. He is going against the management crowd by centralizing and consolidaqting power in the home office. His former military background is criticized as heavy handed and is leading to many top executives leaving the company. Even many of the former military officers he likes to hire., admit if his sales goals aren’t met, the executives lose their job. This leads to a heavy focus on short term volume often at the detriment of long term investment in improving the stores and customer service. The company also is at the bottom of customer service surveys conducted, both internally and externally.

While some of the short term pushes by the CEO may lead to a temporarily boost in stock price, the increase would be unsustainable. Overall this is one stock I would avoid and consider shorting.

Motorola's answer for the Treo/Blackberry

Motorola Q On Verizon's Site - Gizmodo

MOT delivered disappointing earnings; however their upcoming products look great. This new Treo/Blackberry competitor looks great.

Yahoo CEO Compensation

How much did Yahoo's CEO make in the last five years? An astonishing amount according to this article from Reuters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060415/bs_nm/yahoo_compensation_dc_1

"On joining Yahoo in 2001, he was granted options to buy 20 million shares, which fully vested in April 2005. From 2003 through the end of 2005, Semel sold Yahoo shares worth around $429 million."

How the S&P 500's bad bubble-stock picks cost investors billions. By Daniel�Gross

How the S&P 500's bad bubble-stock picks cost investors billions. By Daniel�Gross

Yahoo is shown as a bubble stock of 1999-2000 which was added to the S&P 500 in December 2000. During the next few months after the addition, the stock plummeted. This created losses for investors in index funds. Usually, investors in index funds expect to be investing in large, well-established companies instead of high-flying technology companies.
A similar case can be argued for Google's addition into the S&P 500 on March 31, 2006. It's been added near its peak. The only reason it's not being added at its peak is Google's slightly disappointing earnings last quarter. If the company follows Yahoo's pattern, the stock will be trading at a significantly lower price by the end of this year.
Charts are from Yahoo Finance and show the maximum range available for each stock.

"Real video iPod" delayed by display problems, studio talks - Engadget

"Real video iPod" delayed by display problems, studio talks - Engadget

Apple's latest ideas for a new video ipod looks amazing. Basically, the entire front of the player is for widescreen video, and it looks as if the buttons are software created that overly the image on the screen. Appears to be another leap forward for Apple's design team.

India Rising

This picture is spreading by e-mail. It might be funny, but it's true. India's GDP is growing well, and many former expatriates are moving back to help with the growth.

problem with skype

I though eBay's purchase of Skype was out of place for it's core business, but I still thought Skype was a revolutionary technology until now. After recently upgrading to a newer version of the software, I've noticed a significant decrease in the quality of the software. The calls are being dropped constantly every few seconds, and this has basically made me switch over to Google's Talk application...It's a lot more reliable right now than Skype. I don't know if eBay's acquisition of Skype somehow affected the quality of the software distributed in the latest version of Skype. It was an amazing service before that would have replaced my land line if everyone had Skype and a broadband connection. The call quality was clearer than cell phones and possibly land lines. Hopefully, Skype can fix the problems in its next version.

Off to the Races Again, Leaving Many Behind - New York Times

Off to the Races Again, Leaving Many Behind - New York Times

Is executive pay grossly out of proportion if they improve a company's earnings by several hundred million dollars or increase its market capitalization by several billion dollars?
It's out of pay when they don't do either.
I'll write an article later about wealth in America or any capitalistic country.

Big Gain for Rich Seen in Tax Cuts for Investments - New York Times

Big Gain for Rich Seen in Tax Cuts for Investments - New York Times

It's a good time to invest in high dividend yield stocks such as DHF and NCV. Dreyfus High Yield fund (DHF) is a closed end fund that pays dividends monthly; it's annual yield is about 10%.
Let's consider two people under the current tax laws of 15% tax on dividends and around 40% tax on income for high brackets.
Person A has five million dollars in savings and zero income. They invest all of their savings into DHF. Annualy, the stock will pay out 10% yield, giving them $500,000 annually. Under the current tax law, the tax on this $500,000 is $75,000. This leaves person A with $425,000 after taxes.
Person B has zero dollars in savings and a $500,000 in income. This person will pay 40% in income taxes and several other taxes. The tax on $500,000 would be $200,000. This person will receive $300,000 after taxes.
Person A does not work and receives $125,000 more money than Person B who works for money.

Fly for free - April 1, 2006

Fly for free - April 1, 2006
Ryanair in Europe sells tickets for $53 each, makes money of refreshments, luggage, and advertising.

Google Shares Fall After Disclosing Plan: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Google Shares Fall After Disclosing Plan: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Earlier this month, Google told investors that it expected to spend substantially more on additional computers and other projects this year. The company spent $838 million on capital expenditures last year, causing some analysts to wonder whether Google's spending this year will approach $2 billion.
By comparison, Yahoo Inc. -- a slightly older Internet company that ranks among Google's biggest rivals -- spent $407 million on capital expenditures last year."

USATODAY.com - Google's hidden payroll

USATODAY.com - Google's hidden payroll: "Deepesh Agarwal, who runs a small cybercafe in Rajasthan state, India, draws about 90% of his income, or $1,500 a month, from his Adsense earnings. It is a princely sum in a state where the average income is just $300 a year. "

reading the txn charts

look at a txn chart 3 months with 50 and 200 ma. Buying the stock when it dips below its 200 dma has provided some quick returns.

Sony PS3 with 60 gigabyte hard drive

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/18/playstation-3-will-ship-with-60gb-hdd-as-standard/

Sony's delayed release of the PS3 will have a 60 gb hard drive standard. This would be great for storing videos and music in a central location of the living room. It could also lead to people converting their CDs and DVDs into a digital format able to stored on the new PS3. Other ideas are that Sony can sell music or video online directly to people's PS3.

Switched On: Origami is a paper tiger for now - Engadget

Switched On: Origami is a paper tiger for now - Engadget

A PC with the ability to turn on like a PDA but surf the web like a laptop would be great.

Fool.com: Considered REITs? Buffett Has (Fool's Den) January 9, 2001

Fool.com: Considered REITs? Buffett Has (Fool's Den) January 9, 2001

An old but good article about the tax benefits of investing in REITs.

WD brings external hard drive biz to book | Reg Hardware

WD brings external hard drive biz to book Reg Hardware

Craigslist Lawsuit Raises Question of Online Accountability - New York Times

Craigslist Lawsuit Raises Question of Online Accountability - New York Times

Online companies aren't liable for the content published by their users.

AT&T to Buy BellSouth, Creating Telecom Giant - New York Times

AT&T to Buy BellSouth, Creating Telecom Giant - New York Times

AT&T Wireless was sold by AT&T to Cingular in 2004. Cingular is owned by BellSouth. Then, SBC bought AT&T and became AT&T. Now, AT&T buys BellSouth. So now, AT&T shareholders from 2004 regain some control of AT&T wireless in the from of Cingular.

Google can become the next Microsoft in 3 years

At the pace that Goog's earnings are growing, it'll reach MSFT's profitability in three years. A difficult prospect since it doesn't have a monopoly in its market like microsoft has in operating systems and office products. Yahoo and MSN have an opportunity to dethrone Google as king of search. A company might be started in a garage somewhere that will become the next google in seven years. People will always have an option for their search engine.

IIT All About - Google Video

IIT All About - Google Video

A video showing what it takes to get into Indian Institute of Technology, and the impacts its graduates have on US business and Indian business.

Citigroup up to 50 by March 06

After this lull in the stock, looks like C can get back up to 50 next month maybe with some good earnings news. The March 06 call option is a risky bet with big payouts.

MOT up to 25 by March 06

With some positive earnings news from MOT or other phone makers, this stock can get back to its 52 week high levels by next month. This makes the call option for March at 25 a risky bet. The new slider version of the RAZR seems to be creatings some buzz in the US after its release in Asia. Still, no other phone company has made a phone that competes with RAZR in cool factor. It's the iPod of cell phones. Even MOT's recent attempts like the SLVR are not getting the attention of the RAZR. Other good news on the horizon is the smart phone PDA based on the RAZR.

Redemption

A front page article in Barron's states Google's stock can trade up to 50% lower than current prices. As written before here and by many other doubters, the stock's valuation cannot be mainatained any longer. Barron's prediction of a price around $188 seems a bit harsh along with an expected P/E of 30. This still seems more rational than the current stock price. The stock's chart price is following the downward part of many previous bubble stocks such as Yahoo or AOL during the internet boom years. Maybe GOOG will come down to extremely low levels and bounce back well like Yahoo's stock over the past three years. Appears to be a good time to make money in GOOG options with the volatility.

Weakness in Goog

this stock has some weakness in the last month. It hasn't had a good rally up since dropping down below 370. I think this could be the beginning of the end for this stock. Look at Yahoo's stock chart after its run up, there's a time when it will stall for a while before it comes down to a reasonable level.

HPQ Put Options

HPQ has had a nice run up, especially today when it moved up more than $1. Currently, the put options for March 2006 are trading at a discounted level. With the stock currently at $32, the put options for 27.5 and 30 are trading at less than $1 each. HPQ should pull back soon after this run up, and the put options can increase in price. Current stockholders in HPQ can also hedge against losses by buying put options at 32.5.

Publish your Investment Ideas for Money

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2006 Tax Guide: Special Edition - Yahoo! Finance

2006 Tax Guide: Special Edition - Yahoo! Finance

Railroad Stocks

nittanylion05@gmail.com
According to a recent study done by a major consulting firm, a 1% increase in price can lead to a 12.3% increase in operating profit when holding other factors constant. Meanwhile cost cutting is nowhere near as profitable since the same study showed a 1% decrease in variable cost only leads to an 8.7% increase in operating profit and 1% decrease in fixed cost equals a 2.6% increase in operating profit. A careful analysis of industries that are able to raise prices, without losing customers to substitute products, can lead to some attractive stock picks.

One of these industries is the railroad industry. The only viable low cost long haul substitute to rail transportation is commercial trucking. Since trucking requires more fuel per lb. then railroads, the high price of gasoline has put trucking companies at a disadvantage. Railroads are able to pass along the increase their fuel costs and raise prices to improve profitability without the risk of losing customers to trucking companies. Also railroads are benefiting from the continuing rise in cross-Pacific shipping and the soaring demand for coal as a powerplant fuel.

Even though many railroads company’s stocks have undergone a dramatic rise in the past 12 months, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI) still has room left for appreciation. It recently announced an increase in its freight surcharge program and signed an agreement with the Canadian National railway to share track and terminals in certain locations. The company has earmarked $400 million for track and facilities expansion between high demand locations and is adding locomotive capacity with advanced technology to monitor track usage. So don’t let the company’s high share price scare you ($78.75) or its $25 rise over the last year scare you, this company is going higher.

Nickel Options

Nickel options are options trading for $0.05. They offer a high reward to risk ratio. At five cents per share, a contract of options for 100 shares costs $5. Nickel options are available on call options and put options where the strike price is significantly different from the current market value. Instead of risking a lot of capital in one stock, an investor can make a small bet on a nickel option and make a similar profit (see Options Profit Analyzer). For example, if a stock is trading at $29 currently, the call option to buy the stock at $35 expiring the upcoming month can be available for $0.05 per share. The market has valued the call at a minimal price because most people in the market believe the stock will not reach the strike price in the amount of time given. However, if an investors believes the stock will reach $36 within one month, he can buy six contracts for the 35 call for $30 ($0.05/share *100 * 6). If the stock does reach $36 before the expiration date, his initial $30 investment will become $600 ($1/share*100*6). Let's say this investor only $1000 dollars to invest. Initially he would have only been able to buy about 33 shares in the company, and his profit from 29 to 36 would have been $221. Instead of risking his entire investment account into one stock, he was able to make a larger profit with less money. The other outcome could have been losing all of his option investment if the stock failed to reach $36 or went below $29. In this instance, he would have lost $60. In this investment scenario, the risk benefit ratio allowed him to multiply his money tenfold. Nickel options and options in general do have the ability to completely eradicate your initial investment, big or small, but their rewards can be extraordinary.