Associated Press headline, "Obama urges spending curbs, hands out $15 billion." After not quite a month in office, I've begun to change my opinion on the President. I thought at first he was a useful idiot, a tool of the powerful Democrat Spending Machine. I no longer think he's useful, and "idiot" may be too … Continue reading Obama Urges Spending Curbs for Somebody, But Not Him
Tag: Mortgage
Tea Party
And so the veil of deceit lifts. The news media, so eager to proclaim Obama as the messiah during the election cycle, now turns on him and begins to devour him. What changed? In one sense, nothing. Obama's promises of socialist changes are progressing. Universal health care, nationalization of manufacturers and banking, imposition of union … Continue reading Tea Party
Mortgage Meltdown
Image via WikipediaI 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 … Continue reading Mortgage Meltdown
Akismet Spam Catcher
I gave Askismet two weeks. Verdict: I love it. Let me give you a little background: There are hundreds of pieces of spam that spammers think ought to be displayed prominently on Chasing the Wind. From weight loss drugs to pornography to cheap mortgages, the spammers have setup software "robots" to spam thousands of blogs. … Continue reading Akismet Spam Catcher
Houston Election Recap
I didn't get all jazzed over this election; except for Proposition 2, there weren't any real hotbuttons. My general impression of the results are that social conservatives and fiscal liberals won; Proposition 2 won handily, but those incumbents against appraisal caps held their job. Pfft. Proposition 1 passed that authorized various grants. I think the … Continue reading Houston Election Recap
Bad Behavior
Spammers are annoying. I know I've mentioned this before - behind the scenes here at Chasing the Wind I delete a lot of spam. If you're a first-time visitor, your comments are automatically moderated, meaning I have to approve it. Once I've approved one, the rest are automatically approved unless you use a naughty word. … Continue reading Bad Behavior
Appraisal Cap inTexas House
Closer and closer... step by step... HB 784 / HJR 35 is approaching the Texas House floor for a vote, possibly on Wednesday, according to Dwayne Bohac of Appraisalcap.com. If the vote fails, then taxes will continue going up 10% a year; my taxes already exceed my mortgage payment, in a dozen years or so, … Continue reading Appraisal Cap inTexas House
Mechanical Investing for December
Mechanical Investing was good this month; in fact, I'm holding almost everything for another month, so turnover is light. I'm still following the SOS_Ancer and H52 screens primarily, and they're working out well this year. I'm going to try to change the format a little; the software I was using to calculate returns is a … Continue reading Mechanical Investing for December
Mechanical Investing for November
Mechanical Investing was turbulent this month; there were some big losers, but some equally big winners. Overall I was up 1.5% for the month, so I'm not going to complain. Holding for another month: Ticker Return CCK +10.2% Crown Holdings Inc. +18.6% in 2 months; I'll keep holding it. LDG -3.5% Long Drug Stores … Continue reading Mechanical Investing for November
Relaxing Weekend, Back to Work
That was my first 3-day weekend since June. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed my 3-day weekends every other week. Friday was a day of nothing; puttered around the house, read blogs, played some Ultima Online, and waited for Alex to show up so we could catch "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." … Continue reading Relaxing Weekend, Back to Work
August Stocks
Another good month for mechanical investing; only up 1% for the month, but that's good for this time of year. Out of 12 stocks, 7 were winners and 5 were losers, but the losers only overaged a 1.1% loss, while the winners averaged almost a 10% gain. Here's the breakdown: Holding for another month: Ticker … Continue reading August Stocks
Lunch is over
I had poorly cooked vegetables for lunch and surfed for odd things on the web. I want to refinance my townhome but the dweebs at Countrywide aren't any help. See, I have a prepayment penalty for the 1st 5 years of my mortgage (currently about $3900) if I refinance early, and that 5 years ends … Continue reading Lunch is over
