US Government Restricts Free Speech and Expression of Religion
The “separation of church and state,” such as it is, should keep the government from imposing a religion upon the people of this country.
But regulations that squelch the speech of pastors? Can the US Government tell pastors what they can and cannot talk about?
There is no law that I’m aware of that restricts the speech of pastors, but IRS regulations in place for over 50 years threaten to withdraw the tax-exempt status of churches that speak on politics. I am convinced this is a contributing factor to the decline of morality in the USA. The churches are the center of what we consider moral in the country, and if the pulpits are silent, immorality blossoms.
Some pastors have begun specifically defying this regulation by specifically mentioning candidates by name. Their goal is to overturn the IRS regulation through the court system. Listen: all rules and regulations in this country should follow the US Constitution, right? Here’s the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution -
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
That tells me that the government can’t pass any laws on what churches can and cannot say, anymore than they can tell newspapers what they can and cannot print. Read that amendment and explain to me how it could be interpreted otherwise.
If you’d like to read more, the Alliance Defense Fund is spearheading this project.
“Pastors have a right to speak about Biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of punishment. No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights,†said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley.
It’s a government restriction on the freedom of speech and the expression of religion. I cant see how anyone could interpret the Constitution any other way.
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Mortgage Meltdown
- Image via Wikipedia
I had been thinking this, but hadn’t seen anybody writing about it.
Sub-prime mortgages have led to a financial crisis. The blame for sub-prime mortgages generally get laid on the greed of the mortgage bankers, but is that all there is to it?
Twenty years ago I remember the push to get banks and lending into low-income minority neighborhoods. There was a push at the time to make mortgages easier for those who could least afford them because it was good for the neighborhood.
Stan Liebowitz’s book, Housing America: Building out of a Crisis, puts the blame back on the federal government. I agree – without the government pushing banks to lend to risky people, there would have been less risk. Simple, no?
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Update from A Mortgage Fable -
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )- The Community Reinvestment Act. This 1977 law compels banks to make loans to poor borrowers who often cannot repay them. Banks that failed to make enough of these loans were often held hostage by activists when they next sought some regulatory approval.
Robert Litan, an economist at the Brookings Institution, told the Washington Post this year that banks “had to show they were making a conscious effort to make loans to subprime borrowers.” The much-maligned Phil Gramm fought to limit these CRA requirements in the 1990s, albeit to little effect and much political jeering.
Washington on the Brazos
I’m a wee bit sunburned. You know the drill; a) go outside, b) get burned, c) reflect that sunscreen would have been a good idea.
At least, those are the steps if you’re a guy. Women tend to reflect on the sunscreen part first.
We spent the day last Saturday at Washington-on-the-Brazos Texas State Park and had an enjoyable day in the sunshine. Learned a few things about Texas history; I didn’t realize Texas was voluntarily part of a Mexican Republic until Santa Anna became a dictator. I didn’t know enough about Mexican history, I guess.
Anyway, true story coming up, and you’ll understand what my wife has to put up with. We get out of the car, walk along a path, and I find a quarter. Bight and shiny, too, not all dirty like you’d expect a quarter found outside would be.
“Wow! Do you know what this is?” I say to my wife.
“A quarter?” she replies.
“No! It’s Washington-on-the-Brazos!”
She rolls her eyes.
I continue unmercifully. “Quick! Keep looking for Benjamin-on-the-Brazos!”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )More Coffee Benefits
More good news for coffee drinkers… I think.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Drinking more than three cups of coffee a day helped protect older women against some age-related memory decline, French researchers said on Monday, giving women more reason to love the world’s most popular stimulant.
Men did not enjoy the same benefit, they said.
“The more coffee one drank, the better the effects seemed to be on (women’s) memory functioning in particular,” said Karen Ritchie at the French National Institute of Medical Research, whose work appears in the journal Neurology.
They found that women who drank more than three cups of coffee per day, or its caffeine equivalent in tea, retained more of their verbal and — to a lesser extent — visual memories over four years.
These women had a 33 percent lower odds of having verbal memory declines and 18 percent lower odds of having visual and spatial memory declines, compared to women who drank one cup or fewer per day.
Some studies in mice have suggested that caffeine might block the buildup of proteins that lead to mental decline.
Yet one more… what was I saying?
Oh yes. Yet one more reason to drink coffee – to improve your memory. While that’s great news for women, I’m not so sure it’s great news for men. Don’t wives remember what men did far too long already?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Court Backs Ban on Abortion Procedure
Court Backs Ban on Abortion Procedure
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.
The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.
The opponents of the act “have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.
The decision pitted the court’s conservatives against its liberals, with President Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, siding with the majority.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.
It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how – not whether – to perform an abortion.
Abortion rights groups have said the procedure sometimes is the safest for a woman. They also said that such a ruling could threaten most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, although government lawyers and others who favor the ban said there are alternate, more widely used procedures that remain legal.
The outcome is likely to spur efforts at the state level to place more restrictions on abortions.
Washington D.C.
Last week I wrote about Christian Submission to authorities so it seemed only right that a trip to Washington D.C. was in order. The wife & I planned a little mini-vacation to stay with a Russian friend in Alexandria, Virginia, just a piece up the ways (man it feels good to speak Texan again) from the capital. Capitol? Kapital? I’m pretty sure it’s “capitol” but that was one of those words I stumbled over every time in English papers.
We arrived Friday afternoon and unpacked and went to the Russian friend’s grandmother’s house for homemade something. I don’t know what it was, it looked like a gigantic chicken pot pie but it had ground beef and potatoes and Russian spices in it. Babushka (the grandmother) didn’t speak a lick of English, but she sure was a lof of fun, full of smiles and hugs. Afterwards, the Russian friend (let’s call her “the ex-wife of somebody named Boris” or TEWOSNB) took us to a Russian disco with her friend Igor. We didn’t particularly want to go to a Russian disco, but she was driving and was determined we should go. This sort of set the tone for the weekend as TEWOSNB was apparently ex-KGB or Russian mafia or something and made unilateral decisions frequently about how we were going to spend our time. We tried to make the best of it, but if you were going to Washington D.C. for the weekend, would disco dancing with Russian people who did not speak English be high on your sightseeing wish-list?
The next morning, up and out early to see the Smithsonian which of course cannot be viewed in a single day. Lot’s of activity going on; there was a kite festival on the Washington Mall as well as the Cherry Blossom Festival, so parking was scarce. We parked in Baltimore, I think. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History took most of the day; we saw the ice age exhibit, the geological exhibit and the Hope Diamond, and a fabulous orchid exhibit with hundreds of live orchids. I don’t know how they keep them all alive and blooming simultaneously. And then quick visits to the Mammal exhibit and the Sikh exhibit.
On the way back out, a walk around the White House which is no longer open to visitors except for pre-planned tours, so we had to setle for looking through the fence. I asked the security guard which was the best fence for jumping over, and he said the north side. Good information to know. I saw a few protestors outside demanding our troops be brought home from Iraq; out of a few thousand visitors during a festival week, there were maybe a half-dozen protestors. The mainstream media makes it seem there are thousands of protestors all the time.
A stop at the Post Office to ride to the top of the tower, the 2nd largest structure in Washington D.C. after the Washington Memorial, and then our day was complete. We walked back to Baltimore to fetch the car and home for dinner, then out to a play called Condensed Mikado, a shortened version of the comedic libretto Mikado. It was only an hour long and absolutely hysterical, I thoroughly enjoyed it. TEWOSNB slept through it, I think.
Sunday, breakfast at Babushka’s for Russian pancakes and then to church at the National Cathedral; the (priest?) gave a sermon on the horrors of war. I guess he was protestor number seven. I don’t know what denomination thich church is and I’m too lazy to look it up, but the structure was like a Catholic Church without the word “Catholic” written anywhere. Episcopalian? Lutheran? I don’t know, but the wafers weren’t as good as the Catholic Church and the wine was real wine but very bitter.
Afterwards, we walked around the Washington Mall, and a long walk it was. We started at the Lincoln Memorial, walked around the lake to enjoy the cherry blossoms, through the Vietnam Memorial and Korean Memorial, then the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial and then the Jefferson Memorial. Anybody that tells you that this nation isn’t founded on a belief in God has never visited these memorials; these great men praised their creator for His great gifts.
Then out to dinner with TEWOSNB and a different friend, Mark. Mark was an absolute delight; he was friendly, funny, knowledgeable, polite. Not at all a good fit for TEWOSNB, but since she was Russian and he worked from some secret government agency (he avoided even direct questions about it), it was like being out to dinner with international spies. Dinner was fabulous; TEWOSNB complained the wine wasn’t expensive enough.
Mark joined us Monday morning and took us up to Arlington Cemetery, and Mark turned out to be quite the military history buff, explaining various military events when we saw famous tombs, explaining the various insignias and so forth. Then up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (which actually says “known but to God†on the side, not “unknownâ€) to watch the changing of the guards and the changing of the memorial wreath. Amazing precision and I was quite impressed. TEWOSNB said her feet hurt.
Mark then took us on a special treat – he had a security clearance for the Pentagon and could escort visitors, so he took us to lunch *inside* the Pentagon. Wow. We felt incredibly privileged when the couple in front of us were turned away, but *we* had an *escort* and were permitted entry. TEWOSNB said restaurant wasn’t up to her standards and wanted to leave, but we were having none of it. OK, so lunch wasn’t exactly haute cuisine, but hey, it was inside the Pentagon. We even got a tour of the various halls and saw were the 9/11 attack occurred (all repaired, of course). Department of Defense newspapers, the Pentagon newsroom, the office of the Secretary of the Army, very cool.
And back home again. And even though I didn’t get to vote on anything while I was there, I had a fabulous time.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Mechanical Investing for February 2007
Yeah, I know I said the next trade would be February 5, but I had some time at lunch today. Monday is Monday, and it’s close enough to the first of the month. A small tweak; I’m switching from the H52EarnPS to the H52EgPS for some of the stocks, but I don’t expect it’ll make a lot of difference.
The market continues to improve, and yay, I’m beating the market again -
- Last 4 weeks: +2.5%
- Last 3 months: +2.5%
- Last 12 months: +0.5%
- Year to date: +2.1% (Dow is +0.3% ytd from 12,463)
- Annualized Return: +15.0%
Holding for another month:
| Ticker | Bought | Now | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKS | $16.49 | $20.08 | 2 | +21.8% | AK Steel Holding Corp. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| BAB | $97.47 | $107.00 | 2 | +9.8% | British Airways plc. I still own some airplanes! From the TREPPE screen. |
| CGB | $33.50 | $36.19 | 1 | +8.0% | CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| JAS | $24.53 | $24.75 | 1 | +0.9% | Jo-Ann Stores. My wife says they have nice clothes. From the Screamers screen. |
| MCY | $53.85 | $52.25 | 3 | -3.0% | Mercury General Corp. I’m going to cruise it up and down this’a road. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
Selling these:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KELYA | $28.64 | $30.04 | 3 | +4.9% | Kelly Services Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| KMX | $54.20 | $58.46 | 1 | +7.9% | CarMax Inc. From the Screamers screen. |
| MDR | $48.50 | $50.39 | 1 | +3.9% | McDermott International Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| MRO | $88.85 | $88.03 | 1 | -0.01% | Marathon Oil Corp. Ok, no more oil stocks for me this year. From theTREPPE screen. |
| SKX | $33.95 | $35.05 | 1 | +3.2% | Skechers USA Inc. Shoes! From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| SWY | $31.20 | $35.35 | 5 | +13.3% | Safeway Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| WM | $44.39 | $44.42 | 2 | +0.0% | Washington Mutual. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
New stocks for this month:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATI | $102.14 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Allegheny Technologies Inc. Dang, I just sold them last month for a loss, too. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| BGC | $43.78 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | General Cable Corp. Which of course should be abbreviated “BGC.” From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| ENR | $84.79 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Energizer Holdings, Inc. Is this the Energizer Bunny company? Let me go look – yes! From the Screamers screen. |
| LEA | $34.33 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Lear Corp. And jets, too? Aww, no, they make automobile seats, I think. From the H52EgPS screen. |
| MKL | $484.35 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Markel CO Holdings Co. Don’t they ever split their stock? They’re an insurance company. From the TREPPE screen. |
| NAV | $43.54 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Navistar Intl CP. They make heavy truck chassis. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| PFE | $26.10 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Pfizer Inc. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
6/3 Options:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .MEHDV | $0.5722 | $0.85 | 3 | +48.6% | MEH Apr 12.5 Calls. Sold! |
| .RFYFJ | $13.00 | $4.80 | 2 | -70.1% | RIMM Research in Motion June 150 Calls. Not looking good, is it? Will sell in early March. |
| .QTCGE | $13.00 | $3.10 | 2 | -76.2% | TeleTech Holdings Inc. TTEC July 25 Calls. Yuck. Will sell in early March. |
The next trade will be February 26.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Mechanical Investing for January 2007
Well, I *was* going to trade yesterday, but the markets were closed. Flags are flying at half-mast, and I assume it’s because we’re mourning for former President Ford and not for Saddam Hussein.
Let’s check the numbers -
- Last 4 weeks: +0.5%
- Last 3 months: +3.7%
- Last 12 months: +1.1% (Dow was +16.3% for 2006 which surprised everyone, I think)
- Year to date: +0.0% (Dow is +0.0% ytd from 12,463)
- Annualized Return: +14.0%
Holding for another month:
| Ticker | Bought | Now | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKS | $16.49 | $16.69 | 1 | +1.2% | AK Steel Holding Corp. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| BAB | $97.47 | $106.00 | 1 | +8.6% | British Airways plc. I still own some airplanes! From the TREPPE screen. |
| KELYA | $28.64 | $29.52 | 2 | +3.1% | Kelly Services Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| MCY | $53.85 | $53.88 | 1 | +0.0% | Mercury General Corp. I’m going to cruise it up and down this’a road. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
| SWY | $31.20 | $33.80 | 4 | +8.3% | Safeway Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| WM | $44.39 | $45.74 | 1 | +3.0% | Washington Mutual. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
Selling these:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATI | $93.41 | $88.80 | 1 | -4.9% | Allegheny Technologies Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| BRCD | $9.09 | $8.33 | 1 | -8.4% | Brocade Communications Systems Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| IFSIA | $15.37 | $14.89 | 1 | -3.1% | Interface Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| NTY | $35.81 | $40.17 | 1 | +12.2% | NBTY Inc. From the Screamers screen. |
| OSTE | $5.77 | $5.38 | 1 | -6.8% | Osteotech Inc. From the Screamers screen. |
| STA | $51.26 | $54.05 | 1 | +5.4% | St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. From the TREPPE screen. |
New stocks for this month:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CGB | $33.50 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| JAS | $24.53 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Jo-Ann Stores. My wife says they have nice clothes. From the Screamers screen. |
| KMX | $54.20 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | CarMax Inc. From the Screamers screen. |
| MDR | $48.50 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | McDermott International Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| MRO | $88.85 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Marathon Oil Corp. Funny, I’ve held this in Aug 2005 and Sept 2006 for a loss. Third time’s a charm, maybe. From theTREPPE screen. |
| SKX | $33.95 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Skechers USA Inc. Shoes! From the RSPeg2 screen. |
6/3 Options:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .QEICL | $2.60 | $2.31 | 3 | -11.1% | SEICT (S E I Inv Corp) Mar 60 Calls. Sold. |
| .TDG | $0.89 | $1.54 | 3 | +73.0% | T AT&T Apr 35 Calls. Sold! |
| .MEHDV | $0.5722 | $0.60 | 2 | +4.8% | MEH Apr 12.5 Calls. Will sell in early February. |
| .ATIDQ | $6.60 | $11.12 | 2 | +68.5% | ATI Apr 85 Calls. Sold early since it’s lost momentum. |
| .RFYFJ | $13.00 | $7.80 | 1 | -40% | RIMM Research in Motion June 150 Calls. Not looking good, is it? Will sell in early March. |
| .QTCGE | $13.00 | $2.45 | 1 | -81.1% | TeleTech Holdings Inc. TTEC July 25 Calls. Yuck. Will sell in early March. |
The next trade will be February 5.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Mechanical Investing for December 2006
This was a good month again for Mechanical Investing; I’m catching up to the market, though still lagging behind. Let’s check the numbers -
- Last 4 weeks: +4.3%
- Last 3 months: +3.2%
- Year to date: +1.0% (Dow is +14.7% ytd from 10,718)
- Last 12 months:+0.9%
Holding for another month:
| Ticker | Bought | Now | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KELYA | $28.64 | $29.58 | 1 | +3.3% | Kelly Services Inc. I held this in late 2005 for a 6.7% loss; let’s see if I get my money back. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| SWY | $31.20 | $31.30 | 3 | +0.3% | Safeway Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
Selling these:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAC | $54.05 | $52.69 | 1 | -2.5% | Bank of America. I held this earlier this year for a nice profit, but not this time. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
| CMA | $55.03 | $58.48 | 6 | +6.3% | Comerica, Inc. From the LPEYLD screen. |
| ILMN | $43.96 | $38.91 | 1 | -11.5% | Illumina, Inc. I held this in January for a nice little profit, but not this time. Screamers stocks do that. |
| KR | $23.13 | $22.22 | 1 | -3.9% | Kroger Co. From the H52EarnPS screen. Just as well, they won’t recognize Christmas. |
| LYO | $25.46 | $24.72 | 1 | -2.9% | Lyondell Chemical Company. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| MTW | $54.09 | $59.84 | 1 | +10.6% | Manitowoc Company, Inc. From the Peg-Minimalist screen. |
| OMG | $45.91 | $46.4 | 2 | +1.1% | O M Group Inc. Originally from the TREPPE screen, now also on Screamers and Peg-Minimum. In 2 months it went to +25% to back where it started. |
| PWR | $18.39 | $18.60 | 1 | +1.1% | Quanta Services. Why does the ticker symbol start with P? From the Peg-Minimalist screen. |
| RIMM | $117.05 | $136.88 | 1 | +16.9% | Research in Motion. I held this in late 2004 for a 24.7% profit; now another +16.9% Yay. From the Screamers screen. |
| TSM | $9.66 | $10.98 | 1 | +13.7% | Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
New stocks for this month:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKS | $16.49 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | AK Steel Holding Corp. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| ATI | $93.41 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Allegheny Technologies Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| BAB | $97.47 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | British Airways plc. I own some airplanes! From the TREPPE screen. |
| BRCD | $9.09 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Brocade Communications Systems Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen. |
| IFSIA | $15.37 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Interface Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen. |
| MCY | $53.85 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Mercury General Corp. I’m going to cruise it up and down this’a road. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
| NTY | $35.81 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | NBTY Inc. I’ve held this before, I’m sure. They sell consonants, I think. From the Screamers screen. |
| OSTE | $5.77 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Osteotech Inc. From the Screamers screen. |
| STA | $51.26 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. From the TREPPE screen. |
| WM | $44.39 | $N/A | 0 | NA% | Washington Mutual is back. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
6/3 Options:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .AEMBI | $3.80 | $3.69 | 3 | -2.9% | AEM (Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd) Feb 45 Calls. Sold. |
| .SEUCH | $5.00 | $2.00 | 3 | -60% | SHOO Steve Madden Ltd Mar 40 Calls. Sold, dang it, it was almost a winner. |
| .QEICL | $2.60 | $3.00 | 2 | +15.4% | SEICT (S E I Inv Corp) Mar 60 Calls. Will sell in early January. |
| .TDG | $0.89 | $1.45 | 2 | +62.9% | T AT&T Apr 35 Calls. Will sell in early January. Will it still be a winner? |
| .MEHDV | $0.5722 | $0.55 | 1 | -3.9% | MEH Apr 12.5 Calls. Will sell in early February. |
| .ATIDQ | $6.60 | $15.60 | 1 | +136% | ATI Apr 85 Calls. Will sell in early February. |
| .RFYFJ | $13.00 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | RIMM Research in Motion June 150 Calls. Will sell in early March. |
| .QTCGE | $13.00 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | TeleTech Holdings Inc. TTEC July 25 Calls. Will sell in early March. |
The next trade will be January 2.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Mechanical Investing for November 2006
The Michael Investing Club (number of members: 1) did OK in October. It’s nice to see positive numbers again, though I’m still lagging the market.
- Last 4 weeks: +5.1%
- Last 3 months: +4.1%
- Year to date: +0.6% (Dow is +12.4% ytd from 10,718)
- Last 12 months:-0.2%
Holding for another month:
| Ticker | Bought | Now | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMA | $55.03 | $58.00 | 5 | +5.4% | Comerica, Inc. From the LPEYLD screen. |
| KR | $23.13 | $22.58 | 1 | -2.3% | Kroger Co. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| OMG | $45.91 | $57.18 | 1 | +24.5% | O M Group Inc. Originally from the TREPPE screen, now also on Screamers and Peg-Minimum. |
| SWY | $31.20 | $29.38 | 2 | -5.8% | Safeway Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
Selling these:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPY | $47.99 | $47.23 | 1 | -1.6% | C P I Corp. From the Screamers screen. |
| EME | $49.17 | $59.07 | 4 | +20.1% | EMCOR Group, Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. Can’t be too upset with that. |
| GYMB | $43.48 | $46.77 | 1 | +7.6% | Gymboree Corp. From the Screamers screen. |
| HOC | $44.31 | $46.76 | 2 | +5.5% | Holly Corp. From the LowPEZLTD screen. |
| PCCC | $8.38 | $10.71 | 3 | +27.8% | PC Connection Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| SHW | $55.72 | $59.18 | 1 | +6.2% | Sherwin Williams Co. From the TREPPE screen. |
| TROW | $47.66 | $47.33 | 1 | -0.7% | T Rowe Price Group Inc. From the LowPE_ZLTD screen. |
| WM | $45.96 | $42.19 | 5 | -8.2% | Washington Mutual. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
New stocks for this month:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAC | $54.05 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Bank of America. I held this earlier this year for a nice profit. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
| ILMN | $43.96 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Illumina, Inc. I held this in January for a nice little profit. From the Screamers screen. |
| KELYA | $28.64 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Kelly Services Inc. I held this in late 2005 for a 6.7% loss; let’s see if I get my money back. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| LYO | $25.46 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Lyondell Chemical Company. I thought we were done with oil stocks. From the H52EarnPS screen. |
| MTW | $54.09 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Manitowoc Company, Inc. Sounds… Indian? Canadian? Manatee? From the Peg-Minimalist screen. |
| PWR | $18.39 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Quanta Services. Why does the ticker symbol start with P? From the Peg-Minimalist screen. |
| RIMM | $117.05 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Research in Motion. I held this in late 2004 for a 24.7% profit; let’s see if it’s a repeat 2 years later. From the Screamers screen. |
| TSM | $9.66 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. If China invades Taiwan, now you know why I’ll be upset. From the LPE_YLD screen. |
6/3 Options:
| Ticker | Bought | Sold | Months | Return | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .GPIAK | $3.50 | $4.90 | 3 | +40.0% | GPI Group One Jan 55 Calls. Sold, early November. |
| .IQACH | $6.60 | $8.30 | 3 | +25.6% | ILMN Illumina Inc Mar 40 Calls. Was a -57% loss until a few weeks ago. Sold, early November. |
| .AEMBI | $3.80 | $1.70 | 2 | -55.3% | AEM (Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd) Feb 45 Calls. Will sell in early December. |
| .SEUCH | $5.00 | $6.80 | 2 | +36.0% | SHOO Steve Madden Ltd Mar 40 Calls. Will sell in early December. |
| .QEICL | $2.60 | $2.45 | 1 | -5.7% | SEICT (S E I Inv Corp) Mar 60 Calls. Will sell in early January. |
| .TDG | $0.89 | $1.50 | 1 | +68.5% | T AT&T Apr 35 Calls. Will sell in early January. |
| .MEHDV | $0.5722 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | MEH Apr 12.5 Calls. Will sell in early February. |
| .ATIDQ | $6.60 | $N/A | 0 | N/A% | ATI Apr 85 Calls. Will sell in early February. |
The next trade will be November 27.
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