I Beat The Market in 2009

The stock market just closed for 2009, and I had a great year! I am very happy with my Stock Trading Riches system.

My portfolio is up 44%, compared to +19% for the Dow and +23.5% for the S&P500.

Here are my returns for the last 5 years vs. the S&P 500:

Year, Me, S&P 500

2005, +13%, +4.91%

2006, +14%, +15.79%

2007, +22%, +5.49%

2008, -40%, -38.49%

2009, +44%, +23.5%

I have thus had a cumulative five-year return of +35.79% vs. a loss of 2.66% for the S&P500.

Seth Godin's Internet Advice For "Mom and Pop" Businesses

I was reading Seth Godin's blog and came across this simple and elegant advice for small, local businesses that want a web presence.

This will give the business just what it needs - without having to spend a fortune and lots of effort on internet marketing and web design.

It's a couple of years old, but I think it's still great advice.

Saw Avatar Yesterday in Imax 3D

I braved a snow storm yesterday, and went to see Avatar at an Imax theater. The movie is awesome!  It's really great.  James Cameron made Aliens, Terminator movies, and Titanic.  He knows how to make high budget special effects movies that still have compelling stories.

How Proper Marketing Saved Zestra - the Female Viagra

Forbes has an interesting article called Passion Play, which tells the story of how two female ex-consultants bought the maker of Zestra out of bankruptcy, and used female focus groups to change the way it was marketed.

Bought Juniper Network (JNPR)

Today, I was doing my end of year re-balancing on my portfolio.  I had a lot of profits, and my cash exceeded 30% of my portfolio, so it was time to add new positions. I decided to buy Juniper Network (JNPR) at $26.43.  The stock has already doubled since March, but it is a growth stock which analysts feel is still undervalued.  Juniper and Cisco dominate the market for network equipment, and the manager of the T. Rowe Price Global Technology Fund mentioned in Forbes that he thinks it is poised to get a lot more business from big companies. They are teaming up with Dell to sell secured network hardware and software under Dell's PowerConnect brand.  They are also partnering with IBM in cloud computing. The company has $5 a share in cash, and its earnings should grow 40% next year.  Companies like AT&T are interested in Juniper's new MX 3D Universal Edge Router, which can handle data traffic at 1.4 terabits per second. Even if I've slightly overpaid for the stock, my Stock Trading Riches trading system will self-correct my position over time.

Movie Payoff: $300 to $30 Million in One Weekend

An unknown producer from Uruguay shot this alien robot invasion video for $300 and uploaded it on YouTube. The production values are so high that it went viral over the weekend and he created a bidding war with Hollywood producers.  Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, the Spiderman movies) offered him a $30 million contract. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk

Using Prepaid Debit Cards to Help Control Your Spending

In the current difficult economic climate, it has become more important than ever to keep a close track on spending. While credit cards are a convenient option, they often make it seem like we have more money than we do, and in the long run can cause more problems than they solve as interest charges mount up.

One solution is to pay for everything with cash, but that can be inconvenient, and it isn't always a good idea to carry large quantities of cash on shopping trips. Checks or debit cards help limit spending, but also carry the risk of overdraft fees. With banks fighting for every penny of profit they can manage, many have increased overdraft fees, hoping to profit off or your overspending. With a debit card in particular, it is all too easy to forget to subtract purchases from the checking account, or to overestimate available funds.

A relatively easy way to avoid all of these issues is to use a prepaid debit card. These cards work just like a credit card, and are accepted in nearly all retail outlets. Rather than drawing funds directly from a checking account, as most traditional debit cards do, the prepaid debit card is funded ahead of time with a certain amount of money. So if you want to spend no more than two hundred dollars on holiday shopping, for example, fund the card with that amount of money. When the limit is reached, the card is no longer usable, that is, until more funds are added to.

Prepaid cards are also popular options for teens, providing a young adult with the experience of budgeting along with the independence to spend money without checking with mom or dad. Parents maintain control though, by limiting the amount of money for which the card is funded.

A prepaid debit card helps you stay within your chosen budget, and eliminates the danger of overdraft fees or high interest rates charged to a credit card. With a prepaid debit card, you can have the ease and convenience of a credit card or regular debit card without risk of overspending.

"Stock Trading Riches" Now On Sale at Barnes and Noble

My book has been picked up by Ingram for wider distribution - so it is not just available from Amazon.com any more. I just saw that Barnes and Noble is selling it.  They have it on sale for $8.63 (28% off). Here is the link.  It's exciting!

Fw: The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Date: Monday, December 14, 2009, 10:10 AM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

Resource For Learning About Forex

If you are interested in forex (currency trading), then you might want to check out the "New Forexer" blog. It has posts and resources to help you Learn Forex trading and markets.

What I find interesting about the Forex market is how important and central it is to the global economy. In the course of their regular business, companies of all sizes around the world have to routinely pay customers and suppliers in different currencies.

As a result, trillions of dollars are traded in the Forex market each day, making it larger than the U.S. equity and bond markets combined. Because of this volume, the currency markets are super liquid and can absorb massive orders from banks and large trading funds.

7 Foods Experts Won't Eat

Some of the things on this list are surprising, including canned tomatoes, microwave pop corn, regular apples and non-organic milk.

Raffle Winner Sells $1.2 Million House at Discount

A Colorado woman bought two $50 tickets at a Washington D.C. charity raffle and won a $1.2 million house in January. After that, she lost her job and wanted to sell the house before Dec 31, because she had a $300k tax bill due and was paying $600-800 per month for insurance/utilities. She finally sold it to a church for $650k (part of the deal was that she donated back $200k, so she actually got $200k in deductions and $450k in cash). After all that, she ended up making $200k after taxes.  Clearing $200,000 on a $1.2 million prize sounds disappointing, but really she ended up making $200k off $100 in raffle tickets.

Smallest Studio Apt in Manhattan?

A couple bought this tiny Apt for $150k. It's one room and only 14.9 feet long and 10 feet wide. Their queen size bed takes up 1/3 of the space. The bathroom is extremely small. They live there with 2 cats. They don't cook, and they store their clothes at dry cleaning shops and their offices. It works for them because they like to be out, enjoying the city.  It would not be good for someone who likes to stay home. The benefit of their unconventional home is that they are living in Manhattan, will pay off their home in 2 years, and they have money to travel.

Fw: Batteries Made of Paper?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8401566.stm