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Lets assume your folks were right, and it was playable as it streamed in. Then it goes that between then and when I tried its speed reduced as you find the overall speed has diminished.
I know that upload via DSL was higher than Rogers. At 70 (assumed) that is about 4.5x faster than 15 which is what I got. At 70, that would be playable. Be surprised if it were the router. (I am going through the router).
B2S
A favor? Ok downloading pour vous!
Now I am in the middle of d/l a torrent package (new sk00l stuff I learned about whilst watching Tech TV via Ted's Most Excellent Poorly Compressed 100% Digital Cable).
Moz was between 35-40secs; FF was 30-35s. Sorry no stop watch.
Mozilla - started at 160KB/s and ended around 240KB/s for last 20%.
Firefox somehow jumped immediately to 325KB/s and was slightly faster. (not sure how true this number could be)
Both do not share caches!
Now here is one via Microscott..
http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/downloads.htm
Scroll to TRIAL VIRGIN.
-- Via Netscape - almost immediately hit a 280KB/s cap - 1:21.
-- Via FyreFoxes - around same - capped at about 288-290KB/s
All via DSL. Could try Ted, but all his juices used to leech newsgroups. Sorry, can't spare a square!
B
I ended up putting an order to sell some (wee bit) at 96 whilst it was down 8 cents. About 10 minutes later it was filled.
Chuckle - NAUGHT!
B
Oh, I ended up "save as" and that does not invoke the media player. (WMV's though start instantly, but as I was d/l his, because it was so slow, unless I hit "play" all the time, it stopped at the end each time).
But two hours is probably around what I got.
B
Out of curiosity, do you remember the actual speed of the transfer?
I told him I was getting no more than between 15 and 16KB/s. And that is over two difference high-speed services. I am convinced he has a cap, he is convinced otherwise. Yes took quite a while for me too to d/l it.
(My speed test was 1862kbps)
B
Self Scanning: Scan this!
At first it was ok - and yes for few items I will do it. But I am a programmer by trade, and cannot risk my wrists anymore on RSI issues. (sometimes (not often thankfully) I go to bed with my Ben Gay and just hope in the morning the pain is gone. One day it won't be).
Besides, I want to continue writing my investment system for me - just as long as I can do that and make lots of money..
Problems include:
- Inability to scan a single item and say there are 10 - you must scan all (inventory issues to allow 10 - and even though they do it sometimes, like a fairy dancing "they are not suppose to"
- You sometimes pass it to the scanner and it doesn't read and have to aim it "just right". Time waster!
- I don't know where all the codes are but then maybe neither does the clerk - but then they were probably trained how to pick things up "naturally". They listen for the beep and carry on. For us it is "put the item in the bag" "put the item in the bag" "put the item in the bag" "put the item in the bag". Of course I did but... then the next item. Just a huge job.
- Produce? HA! Spend about 30-60 seconds looking it up.. and wait until granny is forced to..
- Also if you have TOO much stuff, the whole system fails - because EVERYTHING you purchased must be on the scales ALWAYS - perhaps they can press a button but...
- Doesn't stop fraud. I could scan "X" and easily slide in "Y" - as soon as it is "put item in the bag", then it is valid - right?
And what, I am doing this shit with 30 cans of salmon to save a quarter a can? No thanks - ain't doing it myself.
The best part - Dominion has you sign and you must show your credit card. You know, like at the gas stations! (LOL!)
The marketing scam: they figure you think it is faster and fun. The reality - well, we all know about the reality. Reality - if it works, less checkouts with bodies and/or a service fee!
Together forever is never enough...
(Either you live in Richmans Hill, or (Kastel would agree LOL!) you dream of it...). Well I was born at York Central, and so were my two boys. Not a stretch, but then again this ain't no "Doc Baker" style of town..
B
Retail in Richmans Hill: Crappy Tire
I posted yesterday on the retail stuff - WMT and the others (Krispy Kaput).
We have a street in Richmond Hill - southern most point - parallels both Hwy 7 and Hwy 407 - called High Tech Blvd. (no idea on the naming).
As you pass Yonge street going east, there is an Indigo and SilverShitty Theatre.
Over the bridge - Home Depot; across the street (going east) - smaller stuff - Staples; Winners; Sears Home; Brick
Then comes the real fun...
1) Sams Club
If you want to see a white elephant come here. Picture 6pm - 3 lines open, no more than 2 people per line. Costco (any) at that time - for get quickly in and out. Over a year and still doing poorly.
2) Canadian Tire
Moving their location from a bit more north to here it looks like. it is an Associate store - and as such, the owner is a cheap prick. This will be store #4 for him (if indeed his). Each one is a tad bigger than the last. This has got to be much bigger!! There are some real big ones - one of the more recent is 16th & 400 area. Not open yet, just moving dirt now. Not really a good location I think. Anyways it will be interesting how Crappy Tire will do. (maybe it is an extra store or replacing the other). Traffic will be brutal - what I have to go down there now to pick up a screw?
3) Loblaw
If not the biggest, one of the biggest in Canada. The new "walmart superstore" concept of Grocery + home crap etc. Since Dominion opened up a few years ago, I actually go there more. Esp 24 hours (=everyday; really 24hrs; excl holidays). Otherwise I go to No Frills. (RH has 3 Loblaw!) I find this Loblaw a tad larger than I like. I don't buy the mix. I can't see buying peanut butter, boneless skinless chicken and a bed spread on the same trip. (though the mix somehow does sound enticing!)
Interestingly, both Loblaw & Home Depot - these two, have introduced self scanning (making us WORK!) Home Depot has only one or two checkouts with people. Loblaw is going the other way - offering a number of machines but still lots of aisles with bodies.
Finding a lot of interesting stores being introduced in our pocket of the world. Too bad about Krispy Kreme. Someone in my office was convinced that KKD had lost business - "who wants all that sweet stuff". I laughed at the fact they were blind on the fact that Canaduh has more Donut shops per capita than any other place on earth (excluding the Town of Springfield I suppose - DOH!). We have our fair share in RH, and personally, they had business all the time. The model was broken. Everytime I walked into KKD they gave me a free donut. I took my son and his friend, we bot milk and coffee but that was it. And not the first week, all the time!! Imagine a 70-80cent donut free each time you go!
Cheerios!
B
First I laughed at the 25 or 50 free trades. The fact they expire within a month, I may get 2 or 4 out of them.
My problem was getting money into/out of them. Not so "easy". But the premise is - as I build the account, it isn't something where I need to withdrawl all the time. It will happen but not yet.
But yes my entire mindset is shifting. I am incapable of handling the penny plays. Heck even sub $5 is a problem. Requires much more focus than I can give, and as you said (and agree) I have a day job and can't sit in front of the monitor dumping the stuff as it starts to tank etc.
Still formulating a plan - my charts are not 100%. I want to buy stocks (like PFE) at the time they are below their EMA on the weekly (per Elder) - MACD going up; flip top the daily to see it going down for the day and then pulling the trigger. Like using ADX and Stochastics (not sure of Slow or Fast yet). Like the MACD. So more of that. And it is coming but a lot slower.
My selling point on PFE was wrong - late. But more than that, I want to be able to - get out when the daily says sell. Then if that same daily is going the other way, perhaps re-enter (versus going back to the weekly which now is saying over bot). Still playing with that.
Looking at stocks north of $10US ($12CDN) - ensuring there is ample liquidity, always always always have a stop (which is why I am sick of the pennies - a $20 could easily have a nice tight 5% stop loss and the ability to re-enter with another tight 5%; a $1 - would require a much broader say 15-20% loss - thats more than I want to afford on top of the mismanagement).
IBD - yes I want to start with that too. I read it a few times and thought it was chalk full of good stuff. They charge a pretty penny for some of their tools. But as I am moving to more technical, if I want to start adding some fundamental - their "ratings" could help filling that goal. Like you say, buy the newsletters or services that will fill the gaps on stuff I am not good on and/or haven't the time for. They are unique in this field.
Hear everything you are saying and have said. Focusing on a plan. Every free dime moved into the MM funds now until ready to start playing some more.
Companies like GM and F - interesting charts - nothing more. If they are buys is has little to do with the fundamentals.
And yes, I am happy about the foreign tax shit going away too. There were times during the 98-01 bull that I actually decided it was better to hold US stocks and pay the 1% (per month) penalty because they were appreciating so much faster.
The BoC chair agreed stating it was unfair to limit our investment potential. As self employeed it bothers me more than most having to pay both sides of the CPP into a broken system. I would like to hear them next to say "you can park that money into your own account". And get NO tax relief going in and paying NO tax coming out. That would definitely require a huge HOORAY! I believe that is the new account Bush is pushing (albeit not going over very well).
We can wish right?
As always.. cheers Frank!
Sexton
Nortel and the RSP Foreign Holdings Cap Removal
Was wondering if anyone here (Canuckies and or Canuckie Daves) had any thoughts on Nortel in the next few weeks.. months..
For me the stand has been - hold the underwater Canadian junk in the RSP because it helps with the foreign book value. So someone buying NT at $100, would hold it because the book was still at the $100 mark.
So if the foreign holdings cap is removed, I am wondering how that will play out. One spin would be another run to $5 or $10 might cause people to start dumping it.
Interesting. Being one of Canadian's top holdings.
(What was that Frank? We love our Hockey, Nortel and Gov't Health plans?)
Not that I am interested in Nortel per se, but just find the whole thing interesting.
The only otherside of the coin is - most Canucks will hold until they break even. I wonder how many take overs that will be?
B
Was at WMT today, wow, what a radical 180degree shift in policy.
Looks like a receipt is mandatory.
Appears to be a hard 90 days with receipt. 30 days for computer gear, accessories, digital cameras.
Interestingly, this equals Crappy Tire. Except they are a little more bold "No receipt - no refund - no exceptions".
WMT does offer to "help" with dealing with the manufacturer on repairs after 90days with a receipt. But I am not sure what that means.
Anyways, as I stated before this will help with sales - keeping the returns down to a minimum.
You kinda get use to returning something months later...
Anyways, H/D allows you to apply the return to a gift card. Have to see who is next to blink.
Still puts Costco in a world of their own. I would be betting they are next. THeir policy has been 30 days generally - though they have never bothered me when I took something back after a longer period. The real gem, they generally take back the gear within a year if it fails. That is the piece I am looking out for. (then again maybe I really am waiting to see if they open a store here.. something about the environment makes me want to work there).
Chicklets and Dumplings Gang!
CD: No I wanted to ask you politely to sell some..
Hey CD, you have any ARQ that you can dump?
B
Thanks, I was reviewing the iPOD website. Noticed they no longer offer >20GB standard iPODS but instead slot you into the iPOD photo which is color and offers 60GB. (imagine 60GB of porn pics, I mean music.....)
Though the iPODP does not offer a firewire cable where as the standard does (odd they would pull the cable like that).
My brother mentioned they only have 6 equalizer settings - but the specs say they have 20 (so I suppose in the latest offerings they increased the list). His contention was "inability to customize the equalizer". I could say that with 20 presets that would solve the issue for most users then again, assuming that you fork over that dough for this instead of a non-apple - you would think the person "really loves their music" and thus the ability to listen to the music "the way they really want to" would matter. (again I am going on specs so can only assume the absence of "custom equalizer settings" means there are none). No idea what other brands offer. Spoke of the FM tuner, and yes almost every non-iPOD has FM (found the $1-2 bucks in the budget I suppose).
I was toying with the other ipodwannabees. The accessories are kinda thin. e.g. I would want (like the phone) a protective case; plus I like the extended control ( you clip on your shirt whatever an extra piece that controls the volume and allows you to go to next song) - in the car I could see having a push button readily available instead of picking up the ipod and trying to hit the right button whilst going 80km/h down Bayview avenue during rush hour...
The more and more I download or stream my music and find gems that I just love hearing over and over, the more I want to get something. But too many other priorites like the kids education.
Wells as Fred Rutherford would say "back to the chartmines Ward"...
Cheers to hopefully a better week gang!
Blumpy O Slumpy
Fred Rutherford: Have to keep a firm hand on boys nowadays, Ward. My Clarence answered me back the other day. I smacked him right in the mouth. None of this psychology for me.
(not only are the prices rising and the companies are shifting to shittier ingredients to cust costs, even iHUB is doing its part - reducing the "free posts" from 18 to 15 recently...)
Damn whats next?
Everyone enjoying the week? And one more day to go!
Retail Snooze from Richmans Hill..
Spoke with a buddy tonight (a part time red coat at our WMT; one of the busiest locations in Canada), Walmart Canada is starting (May 1 or already - Apr 1 - not sure), a 90 day return policy. Up to now it has been completely open (shit, I took back something once that was over a year old - of course unused/unopened).
Anyways, this goes hand-in-hand with Home Depot's policy as well.
(<90days - return money;CC etc. more than 90days, gift card)
I know without a bill, WMT would put it on a GC already, but wonder about the >90days.
Of course it helps the bottom line - they can basically assume that after 90days, the profits are booked (no return or gift card - same thing).
Krispy Kreme is Kaput
The second KKD in Canada, had its sign taken down this week. I was driving by and noticed a cherry picker - odd? - well the kraft paper on the windows was the only thing I needed.
Here is a chart... no indicators.. no oscillators.. no overlays.. no volume... just krazy krap...
So the burning question I have is...
If the Krispy Kreme closed here, where is our Walmart getting the KKD donuts from?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Breyer's Ice Cream
Not a retail store, but a brand. Company was taken out by Unilever but goes under Good Humor still.
Sells two brands basically - "Quebon" the blue "classic" variety and "Black" "All Natural".
Well what an interesting marketing trick they stumbled onto.
I almost missed it.
I was at Dominion and the All Natural was on sale from $659/2L for $499. But something odd caught my eye. Bottom left had two swirl things - I looked down and it said "now double churned for better creamy taste". Hmmm.. doesn't seem right. (any label change raises my flags)
So I look at the ingredients.
BAM!
Up to now the All Natural had basically natural ingredients - egg yolk, cream, sugar etc. I suspected they added Guar Gum about a year ago but had no previous container to prove it.
Well when I look now - it shows the normal fillers "Polysorbate 80" "di gylcerides" "guar cum" "carageenan" etc etc.
So I asked - how the heck can this be natural?
So I look at the box front and whatcha think I see...
"Breyer's All Natural Flavoured Ice Cream".
So for $1.50 more now, instead of getting REAL ice cream, you are getting JUST real vanilla flecks....
WARREN G LYRICS: "Regulate"
.. snip..
I'm gettin jacked, I'm breakin myself
I can't believe they taking Warren's wealth
they took my rings, they took my rolex
I looked at the brotha said "Damn, what's next?"
[Nate:]
They got my homey hemmed up and they all around
ain't none of them seeing if they going straight pound for pound
I gotta come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down
[G:]
They got guns to my head
I think I'm going down
I can't believe this happenin in my own town
If I had wings I could fly
let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homey Nate
[Nate:]
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
now they droppin and yellin
it's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate
I laid all them busters down
I let my gat explode
now I'm switching my mind back into freak mode
if you want skirts sit back and observe
I just left a gang of those over there on the curb
[G:]
Now Nate got the freaks
and that's a known fact
before I got jacked I was on the same track
back up back up cause it's on
N A T E and me
the Warren to the G
Jacked is right!
Blakulatorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
PS: Look on the bright side... tomorrow is the last trading day for the month!!!!
FoxNewsChannel: As I mentioned they have a great news lineup on Saturdays.
Last week's recap: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105148,00.html
Cavuto on Business - regulars include Jim Rogers and Ben Stein..
Jim Rogers last week:
Thirty years ago you might've bought U.S. Steel, Chrysler and you would've had nothing to show for it. I would buy hard assets. I would get my money out of the country. And I would buy airlines.
(Apparently buying chitloads of Airline bonds)
Then on Cashin' In (Host: Terry Keenan)
Wayne Rogers is a regular there. Good ideas, likes charts with a good MACD, always uses stops.
Excerpt from the show:
Question: [Terry] “What would you say is the one most important thing to look at before buying a stock?”
Wayne Rogers, Wayne Rogers & Company: Well, first I look at the technical part. You have an entry price on a stock or you can say all stocks that you are going to look at are fundamentally good, and you are looking for volume and institutional support. You are also looking for a base or a trend in the stock. And those are the things that will make your decision easier.
Jonathan Hoenig, Capitalistpig Asset Management: The three most important rules in real estate are location, location, location. In stocks it's price, price, price. Like Wayne, I like to see a combination of factors. I like to see a stock doing well with not a lot of buzz out there, and not many people on board.
Terry Keenan: The volume is not as important to you.
Jonathan Hoenig: To me, price is everything. That is what you trade. You don't trade the volume.
Dagen McDowell, FOX Business News: Wayne, you have to step back and decide fundamentally if this is a good business. Ask yourself, is this a good business? Is this company competing and being competitors and innovating and growing? Does it have great products and services? It is one big question and a lot of little ones to answer.
Anyways, enjoyable shows nonetheless. And it appears the transcripts are here weekly..
Cheers everyone!
B
Wayne Rogers: From Actor To Super Investor
It took a tragedy not far removed from Wayne Rogers to wake him up when it came to money and how to handle it. According to an interview he gave to the Financial Intelligence Report, Wayne had first met Peter Falk when the two shared a room in New York City. Falk, an accomplished film, stage and television actor, later suffered a financial trauma not uncommon to many other celebrities.
In the 1970s while both the longtime friends were living and working in Hollywood, Peter Falk became a victim of fraud. Falk lost around $250,000 to a crooked business manager and he wasn’t alone. Bad investments had claimed the fortunes of many of Hollywood’s Elite.
John Wayne almost went bankrupt due to bad investments. Bud Abbot of Abbot and Costello spent his last days dying of cancer and flat broke in Woodland Hills, California. Poor money management and a huge IRS bill claimed the fortunes of both members of the famous comedy team. Jackie Coogan earned over four million dollars as a child star in the 1920’s, but lost all his money to his mother and stepfather who had invested badly and wasted the rest on a lavish lifestyle.
These lessons on how celebrities had handled their money were a wake up call to Wayne. He began looking into the world of investing and started his financial empire by purchasing apartment buildings in foreclosure. Rogers started investing with a simple goal in mind. He wanted to hold on to his money and make it grow. He later moved on from real estate to stocks and bonds.
Wayne Rogers has had a distinguished acting career having appeared in films like Cool Hand Luke and Ghosts of Mississippi, as well as having played the unstoppable Capt. John Francis Xavier 'Trapper John' McIntyre in M*A*S*H from 1972-1975. He still makes movies and appears on television, but he has also become a superstar in another genre. Rogers has become a force to be reckoned with among the elite of super investors.
Wayne Rogers can frequently be seen on Fox News giving investment advice that people are eager to follow. He prefers mutual funds because they limit risk, but also likes commodities. Like many investors, he watches the state of the economy and the performance of individual companies. When it comes to choosing stocks, Rogers prefers many and says that company earnings are the key to deciding which to buy because they drive stock prices.
Charismatic, well-spoken and funny, Wayne Rogers has succeeded in two of the world’s most difficult professions: Acting and Investing. The lesson he teaches us is a simple one based on his original investing goal: Hold on to your money and make it grow!
Link: http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=38732
(Grub: The 69's of my hearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!)
No... YOU are Elmer J. Fudd...
Oh, I am Elmer J. Fudd!!!
Blakicus.....
Actually a bunch of us met (Toronto Junk Buyers Social Club) a couple of months ago in Toronto - and one of the guys brought his notebook. The gym across the street had an open wireless internet access and was able to post messages on SI. A new life for phone booths? They already own the land - just have to add some WIFI access..
My Russian neighbor mentioned he had wireless router and said I could share the internet and pay half. I currently am not wireless (no point for me yet). Not into sharing my internet. So critical I have both cable and DSL feeds.
Yet when I asked both of my neighbors (we live in townhouse) to share the cable and get onboard with satellite, they balked at the thought "don't watch enough TV" they claimed. The goal was simple - I would get Satellite, they would have cable. I would get their cable feed - they would get a satellite feed - we would share the costs. The win/win for me is that every room in the house has cable - having one TV with satellite was ok - but the rest had to have TV too - hence the cable feed.
Anyways, haven't gone ahead with satellite and still waiting for a 5.8Ghz broadcaster so I can beam the video/sound/remote to other rooms and not have to rent/buy any more cable boxes.
Cable here claims "100% digital" but they don't tell you (and most fish can't see it - my brother being one) is that the term "100% digital" is mumbo jumbo talk. The catch is the COMPRESSION. e.g. they compress the US time shifting feeds really bad - so you see a lot of garbage in the picture. No different than myself giving you a picture in BMP format, then a JPG at 75% 50% or 25% of the original. At some point you DO see a difference. Or audio - a WAV to MP3 at 192 to 128 to 64.. you will hear a difference at some point.
Where was I? Oh yes French Connection is one of my all time favorites. True story, except that the chase scene was made up - but there was an actual chase scene, in the subway. I guess that is where "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" took up the story.
Crazy stuff.
Well enjoy your new toy nonetheless.
B
Heavy? As in mass to pick it up or how much you paid?
Kirby was looking for a media center. Though I think he wanted PC. I have the capabilities with the ATI AIW-9700. Though I swear never again to buy a combo video card.
I am thinking of a notebook for home. Would like to sit anywhere I want and read stuff. A graphics tablet is a bit limiting. I am not so interested in the media stuff (though if I have another unit with the smarts of the ATI stuff, it can "share" stuff off the host).
Congrats and enjoy!
PFE; CPST; GM - On PFE yeah not a buyer until it comes down a bit.
Fucked up the charts and my selling was off PFE and didn't have things right to reload. So what!
GM still being wacked -- good good... no buy signal yet.
Meanwhile CPST is coming alive - perhaps the Vodka as fuel will help as they install in Russia.
So what - a good week so far doesn't make a trend....
Good bounce up to the 22day EMA...
CPST News...
European Office of Capstone Turbine Receives 3.2 MW of MicroTurbine Follow-On Orders from Russia and Italy
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050418/186146.html?.v=1
Phluphph... Phuck as long as I just want a little somethin somethin out of this then I will be gone.
B
As we are shooting CHIT anyways.. Frank, you use the Stock Charts Beta 2 much? Any thoughts either way? More robust but something for me is missing. Perhaps not as peppy as I would like. hard to say.
Having to pick the dates by year/month is a bit cumbersome. The canned are rigid but fast to pick - would have been nice if you could pull down "36" months then the chart would revert to 3 years without having to pick "3" years and "0" months. (this is an area where your own custom date ranges would have been a nice touch).
Get use to it I guess.
B
How is your network (firewall) running these days?
B
no cash, no bounce <to my step>, taking a walk whilst looking at the ladies was good...
I can't remember a string of good days like we had over the weekand and are having today. Was suppose to get to 21 today but never made it. Tomorrow suppose to be 26 and risk of thunder bolts and lightning.. heat brings endless running of the A/C...
Oldest back on the bike and youngest - well at 2.5yrs old I can still push him on the stroller for exercise so that is good. Will try him on the tricycle.
Love those late night walks with just my son/sons and thoughts in my head.
cheers!
B
Nope - no bottom fishing of the great babe food chain!
Still analyzing the likes of PFE, GM and F. No buying. Just playing with charts lately.. and working on my 2004 taxes (ha! filed 2003's in November 2004 and I still wait!). Too busy.
Looks like MR doing well in Chile. Hopefully some of "La Fortuna" can come my way.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050418/185504.html?.v=1
Continuing the beautiful weekend with a nice walk now....
Cheery Eyes!
B
Last time I played F was from about 7 to 10. Then lost all of it on RBAK (2010 huh? thats when my 3 warrants for them expire!). Well at least I got paid for half the commish with F.. I got $30 in dividend.
A play... that's what Einstein said... wait and watch. Neither them nor GM are going anywhere fast.
B
PS: So I wonder which of the two will hit $1 first -- ARQ or CPST?
F: Thunderbirds and lightning - Very very frightning me
drive a Sable, drive a Sable
drive a Sable, drive a Sable
Sable F-150 - Montego
I'm just a sexy boy and everybody loves me -
He's just a sexy boy, from a sexy family
Spare him his life from his monstrosity
B
Roni - AAPL - thanks for the full poop
While reading some of the books I have mentioned, one thing is clear - a plan. Further, to not be wishy washy on what you look for but to try to focus on a few things. I asked about the TTM PE only because it seemed kinda out there. One comment made with charting - anyone can pull up any chart and keep adjusting the indicators to justify it is a buy or sell. It is when you have a set number of tools at your disposal and constantly look at just those will you then be assuring your victories. I had a few companies I too followed for years and fell in love with only to have the rug pulled from under me. Owning stocks is something that I no longer care for. Renting them while there is money to be made is all I want. Still developing my strategies nothing concrete.
Now to your comments on AAPL.
(1) Not sure I agree nor understand your halo effect (unless you are referring to Master Chief). I think the day they allowed Windows machines to interact with the iPOD, removed the need for me to buy a Mac just to have an iPOD. Steve saw the carnage of Beta v. VHS, and I figure he knew unless he gave Windows users equal opts, they would go down in flames. Not like a 50/50 of Windows v. Macs. Isn't it like 90/10? ok lets be generous 80/20? He made an excellent decision. Like my comment on Sony gear - the most expensive piece is the RAM you buy. Forced to buy Sony Memorysticks - F-EM!
Store reports, anecdotal evidence and surveys? All adds up to wishful thinking IMO.
(2) iHOME - late to the scene - lot of different gear out there - been watching and waiting myself for something good (posted about my future world of home entertainment already here). Saw a DLINK center at Costco for $200CDN. HP has a media center console - if you are pissing in money or brain dead, you would be insane to fork that money over to an ex-Carly production.
But again looking what is out there and coming up with wickedly different interfaces and connections - that will bode well for them. Positive - but proof in the pudding first. Other stuff - again stuff out there - the problem is the batteries don't last. (hence why iPOD has a huge leg up)
(3-6) No real comment. Macs can't make any moves unless they can move the units (lower their margins). The Minis seem to be too skinny for most - heard that a few times. Hell of a hill to climb.
Your funk phenomena... funk phenomena - I chuckle at that. You mean like all those assholes wanting a VW Bug and paying huge premiums? Or everyone wanting a different color of the iMAC?
Now if I could buy an iHOME media center for say $200CDN and then a Mini Mac for say under $400CDN - and those could help with recording TV programs and PVR capabilities - now I could see that gear in the house. But as sure as I am typing in this FRIGGING PIDDLY WINDOW on my screen, although this stuff could be done - I am sure the $$ would be at least 2x or 3x higher. Can't afford that.
iPOD was and probably still is a "funk phenomena". But Mac Minis - so what are the sales numbers on NON-MAC owners of those? Can't see it.
There is something tangable about the iPOD. I am sure Frank is out there cycling with an iPOD close by. I listen to a lot of music and should already have a device such as this (my brother who can't afford it, dislikes the lack of equalizer - the settings are too rigid). And iPOD was high on the list. (can't afford it - but one day)
Nothing else in the Apple fold has come close to this. Sure if Frank has a high end Mac and his wife wants something in another part of the house - maybe an iBOOK or MacMini would be good. But I have Windows gear, and adding new gear such as this just isn't in the cards.
Mac people buying Mac products is great but repeat customers alone doesn't grow a business for long. A steady flow of NEW customers is what is required. Now if you told me there were huge moves back into schools, that would be promising.
Like the halo - if I had an iPOD why do I need a Mac?
Anyways, thanks for your post - many many lurkers out there - great to get a good snapshot on a company like this. Said before, I am looking purely at the charts, and for me too expensive today. Full stop. Sick of the knives.
You are doing well - congrats! jim_p on SI did a lot of trading on Reliant (RRI) - successful since he really was into that company knowing all the various details. I can't say that about any company that I own. Takes a lot of work and hard work pays off as it has for you. Hopefully one day I can get inside the heads of a few companies like yourself.
Careful on the options and keep the stops alive. I am convinced now that every new trade requires me to figure out a stop before it is placed and then place that stop once filled.
Thanks Roni
(All my views - and maybe my views mean shit - but I have no interest either way (not shorting!) just telling you what I think). Always a great chat!
B
Chuckle.. so should we assume your wife didn't make enough to get a free car?
Apparently a few of them (Avon), besides Mary Kay, provide dreams of this to many.
When you think about it - to start a business like that yourself, you do have to F-OVER you closest friends and family I suppose.
I remember a few years ago I was getting disability insurance (basically the same thing). The rep was building quite a force. I liked him as a person - not a forceful salesperson. This kind of insurance is one of the most difficult to get - they even ask about your "parent's" and "sibling's" health if you can believe that. "Do you engage in skydiving?" Well I am at least covered myself regardless of where I work. (plus a 4% increase per year if I become disabled! - all tax free)
At any rate, I suggested I was no longer interested in this programming racket, and he stated I could start in the insurance game. Basically one policy at a time - that is how he built his business. He wouldn't make a huge number from my policy, but again it was one of the many. (Many people tend to think this is peanut shit - whereas the big thinker slowly plods ahead building fortunes that take years - while building their future). (Reminds me of Lou on the movie Wall Street - "Putnum Drug"...)
The hook "well you could first start selling policies to your co-workers". Well the place I was at there were only two - I wasn't at the time in a programming shop. I never persued it. Lotta work at my age to start selling insurance policies. 10 years earlier - he probably would have had me. I would have kept working - sold it to my co-workers then leave to do it full time.
Regrets.. I've had a few..
The future is not ours you see.. can't stand that song nor actress....
Blake
Roni-TTM PE is obscenely high....
Obscenely high like the DOT BOMBs were? I guess we know how they ended up. Chuckle.
Dunno about P/E ratio anymore. Many felt the P/E ratios for the indexes (S&P/DJI) were too high during the bull run. I couldn't find the info but I didn't think they were lowered to the "buy range". I remember a few years ago people were still waiting for those to come down - they sit on their horse waiting and saying "they are still overvalued", and yet never come down.
Some (experts) say P/Es for techs are not meaningful. I guess when you have the likes of Chambers of Cisco running after the truck 2 minutes before the quarter ends trying to get another box on it, you know it is all crap.
If you agree with P/Es aren't the same for AAPL and MSFT like GE and PFE, then you have to also agree that the whole DJI mix was farked when Intel and MSFT were added. Hence the P/E may not come down to "under 20". Where 15-20 was average, now that average might be 20-25. Again I don't have the numbers, and going upstairs to dig Zweig up on old facts isn't probably worth it.
Back on topic - so when you look at other companies like AAPL (say tech) do you also look at things like TTM PE and other stats?
B
I like Apple as a company, but technically no. But she is getting better.
What is nice the MACD cross over on the top and the MACD (bottom) is now going under zero.
ADX doesn't help (I can only show two of the indicators and wanted to show the two MACD indicators). To me a drop below the EMA would be nice. Thats 35 to you and me. Been a long time since it touched that. I have started to adopt Elder's strategies starting with weekly. (trying ADX/MACD on that one). Still playing.
And no, not looking at the "numbers" at all. BTW: what is "TTM PE is obscenely high :)." TTM?
I was watching Fox News today (good business shows - have found CNN's offerings have slowly declined over the years - Fox has shows from 10AM-12PM Saturdays; plus I like Neil Cavuto - he has a bus show daily too; One weekend show by the way sometimes has Jimmy Rogers and even Jack Welch).
Today Forbes on Fox, Forbes himself used the term "ipod" - synonymous for innovation. It was stated we need more of those to stimulate the economy and get people spending.
My views on iPOD and AAPL stand - while they come out with new stuff they do well, but while revamping the same stuff may help sales by attracting more customers esp w/lower incomes, it doesn't help with competiton.
Sony just launched their handheld PSP. Something about that interests me but the specs are a little skinny (32MB RAM? BAH!) plus the prop. memory sticks. Something else to play music. No we cannot compare, but given the option - playing MUSIC and GAMES v. MUSIC only - with a tight budget, Sony will win. (lets not debate if music is your desire, then obviously ipod will win - I know that 32MB let alone 64MB is useless esp when I find that most songs I convert to 96kbit sound like utter shit. To me a bit rate of 128 minimum is all I can take - and that is great for most. A lot of stuff I download typically is a higher quality of 192+ (Techno and Classical). Try listening to Genesis "Cinema Show" at 96k ... akin to watching Harlem Nights on TBS. A totally different movie)
Interestingly, Nintendo came out with their DS model handheld. What a bunch of bullshit. Can't play music, and very few games I have seen even make use of the dual screens effectively. The rich girls up the street got one around when it was launched, but nothing reviewed I have seen makes it any good. I think it is a dud. To me unless you can release something like that and immediately have about 5 solid games that make use of the features, it will sink. The lack of music playing demonstrates poor R&D - either it was designed years ago or they just blundered.
Nowadays when you stumble like Nintendo, you will feel it big time. Already Nintendo is in catchup and losing to Sony/MSFT. I am waiting til my little ones get older.. just can't wait for those "big kid" games.
Cheers!
B
Ding dong. Pembleton's calling..
And Mary Kay, and Avon.. most are pyramid schemes.
Once I wanted to buy some Mary Kay perfume for my wife and somehow I got two numbers - not 100% if it was through yellow pages or not. The first number was busy, and the second was home. I ended up visiting her. In her living room as I walked in was her display. She asked how I got her number, I told her and told her about the other one - she laughed, "yes we are good friends, she is just around the corner". Only two in Richmond Hill. Some corner.
Avon
As an Avon Representative, your earnings potential depends on you and your ability to provide reliable and courteous service to your customers. There is no limit to what you can achieve, even as a traditional Representative. And now there is more. You can broaden your sales skills by training as a Avon Beauty Advisor. And in many markets, we now have leadership programs that reward you for developing your business and making it bigger. In leadership, you have a true entrepreneurial opportunity. By introducing others to the benefits of selling for Avon, you can build and mentor your own downline of Representatives.
You can, as a customer, go right to the website. When I went to make a purchase it stated I can enter Representative's phone number.
Note : This will not affect the total cost of your order. Your Avon Representative will then receive a sales credit for this order directly from Avon.
Probably no different than Tupperware either. There is a woman at my work who has a lot of these. (Regal gifts; Tupperware..). Another brings in an Avon catalogue of a friend.
Tupperware
Expect success right from the start! As a Tupperware Consultant, you'll recoup your initial investment quickly as you start to sell and share the Tupperware Opportunity with others. Successful Consultants have the opportunity to become a Manager, leading their own units of Consultants and significantly increasing their incomes.
The Amway Sales Plan
The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan is a low risk, low start-up cost business opportunity that is open to everyone. It allows you to build your business through retailing products and sponsoring other people who, in turn, can retail products and offer the business opportunity to others. By passing your sales and marketing knowledge to your developing team, you not only build your own business network but also enable others to build one of their own.
Ed: Different schmoozing but same stuff...
Watched a funny episode on Dragnet about this too with an old lady. Probably as old as the oldest profession I would guess. Ho farming.
A buddy of mine told me about this thing he signed up for - he was one on a list of 5 - he just had to pay the guy above $5. But then he would sign up 5 more - and they would pay him. An absolute in his eyes. I laughed and said "you have been took!!". We laugh today, he never did get a dime, but lost $5. To this day, his views of handling money differ vastly from mine. Yet hs parents were sensible with money. No idea where those ideas came from.
Cheers FP!
Blake
Avon Gets Chinese Approval to Test Sales
NEW YORK (AP) -- Avon Products Inc. on Friday said it finally received approval from the Chinese government to test direct selling of beauty products in April in parts of China.
The green light comes more than eight months after the world's largest direct seller of cosmetics and beauty items first publicized its plan.
Test marketing will be conducted in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and in the province of Guangdong. It is a preparation for the return of direct selling in China, Avon said. China banned direct sales in 1998, saying it was hard for consumers to distinguish direct sales from pyramid schemes.
Shares of Avon climbed $1.25, or 2.9 percent, to close Friday at $44.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Avon, the maker of Avon Color, Skin So-Soft, jewelry and other products, had 2004 revenue of $7.75 billion.
Let the pyramid schemes begin again!!
B
Story.. Little blue pill causes blindness?
Well they always told us guys that doing that "stuff" will cause blindness.
Not clinical - I had glasses way before finding material in this genre.
It only hurts when you lose a 120GB hd... chuckle
B
What a fabulous week - and today was the icing on the cake!
- Trusts go down the toilet at the start of the week and come back up nicely.
- Hey Kirby, picked up some salt water at Loblaw for $9.99 (only 11 cases)
- My sons have the flu - mostly vomitting
Somehow my youngest just knew the hydro rates in ontario were going up as at 2AM last night he has his first bowel movement in days.. mostly diarrhea. But that was nothing compared to the round at 5AM. (BTW, at 2yrs old he sleeps with us at night).
Picture if you will the Godfather - horse head in the bed scene. Blood everywhere. Now exchange the blood for diarrhea. Everything of course had to be washed.
- But the absolute icing on the cake came with the great Ted & Co. They decided to F*OVER customers today by not only removing the free preview of FoxNewsWorld (of which we have started watching more than even CNN) - but they are slotting it into a theme pack - of which contains mostly junk. That is the Bell ExpressVu methodology - somethings can only be bot in a theme and the rest can be chosen.
Cheers all.. things can only improve!
B
Alternatives huh FP? - The Secret Behind Vestas
(For KC "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind." -- Blowin' in the Wind, Bob Dylan (1967).)
There seem to be a few truisms regarding alternative energy investing: The companies suck up cash like sponges, their products are not really cost-competitive, and the stocks generate considerable capital losses for those true believers who stick by them.
These are especially true if you limit your gaze to perennial disappointments like Ballard Power (Nasdaq: BLDP), FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL), Capstone Turbine (Nasdaq: CPST), and Beacon Power (Nasdaq: BCON). You see much more sizzle than steak (and most of that sizzle is the sound of investors' cash being burned away into the atmosphere).
Look abroad, though, and you see a different picture. In particular, you see Vestas. Vestas Wind Systems is a Denmark-based company specializing in wind power. Unlike its fuel-cell, mini-turbine, and solar-power brethren in the United States, Vestas has actually made money.
With roughly 35% market share around the world, Vestas has managed to build a real business in alternative energy alongside titans like General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Siemens (NYSE: SI). Unfortunately, you can't invest in it easily. Although the company has a Pink Sheets ticker symbol (VWSYF.PK), there's no volume there and investors who want to buy shares have to look to European stock markets to do so.
That's a pity.
Vestas posted more than $3 billion in revenue for 2004, up more than 50% from the year-ago period. Although the company posted a net loss for the year, results were hurt by one-time costs. Still, the company does have positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) -- something that many American alternative energy plays can only dream about.
What's the secret behind Vestas? For starters, it hasn't tried to change the world. Instead of crafting technology that forces everyone else to adjust to it, it makes gear that fits into existing systems.
What's more, the technology is cost-competitive. While wind power isn't practical everywhere, in those places where it is appropriate (you have to have wind, after all), it matches up very well. In fact, at about $0.06 per kilowatt-hour, wind power is equivalent in many cases to existing coal or gas-fueled electricity, and that's without any special government handouts or programs.
Vestas might be too difficult for most readers to own, but that doesn't mean that there aren't lessons here for American investors. Optimism about renewable energy is all well and good, but basic economics still wins out in the end. In other words, no matter how cool the technology may be, it's got to make financial sense for the intended end users or it's just a fancy science fair project.
Considering that Vestas booked more revenue in 2004 than American independent fuel cell companies have managed in total, I'd say investors should take heed. A solid business plan and products that are actually economically competitive trump "gee whiz" technology every time.
For more on energy, check out these Foolish opinions:
FuelCell's Energy Enigma
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05030814.htm
Does Ballard Have Any Juice Left?
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mft05021827.htm
Take Energy Tech Back From the Day Traders
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2005/commentary05022803.htm
Alternative Energy: Ready or Not?
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2004/mft04110806.htm
Will SoB ever dump CPST at a nice profit?
http://news.google.com/news?q=hell+no&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=news...
Original link at the Fool:
http://www.fool.com/news/mft/2005/mft05033010.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y&am....
SloBlake now dat you lost the opt to dump FCO at break even for the 3rd time.. what the F you gonna do now?
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/90q4/315.html
Are we there yet?
Charts will embed but not yet.
Chip bit my head off (I posted a message via "Discuss" located under the V2 chart) Search "EMBED".
My take is that they want to keep things real until ready to release.
Nice new indicators though.
So as amarksp has alluded -- avec couleur -- are we gonna see the many sides of Frank Pembleton?
"Ferocious Frank" a beautiful shade of red!
B
CLARICUS... My HD had changed too.. so the combination (installed with drive 1 NIC 1. Then re-installed with DRIVE 2 via NIC 2. Today disabled NIC 2. Original NIC 1 there - perhaps enough).
Arthur Findlay
CLARICUS... My HD had changed too.. so the combination (installed with drive 1 NIC 1. Then re-installed with DRIVE 2 via NIC 2. Today disabled NIC 2. Original NIC 1 there - perhaps enough).
Maude Findlay
Reading programming books are we?
Years ago when I was just a wee tike (ok about 13 years ago when I was 23), our boss decided to change from one business basic to another (legal reasons of which I won't go into). My co-worker (about 10 years older) couldn't believe how in days, I had already mastered the editor keys - not intuitive as windows and just a ChUI screen.
A few years ago our version of Progress was updated. Now the last time they really added a bunch of new tools was V7 - a move from character (ChUI) to graphical (GUI). The nice thing is that they give you "GUI" tools that work under ChUI. Character has a bunch of formatting issues, but technically you can write apps (a single program) that literally will run under both environments. Anyways, since V7 (I think that was the version that finally added ABSOLUTE if you can believe it! -- christ my 1992 APPLE basic had that!).
Anyways, an upgrade to V8 didn't offer much in the tool department improvements, and eventually we moved to V9. The biggest thing there was an adjustment to the combo-box.
A combo-box - basically a drop down with values. The old sk00l version said "value,value,value". So to figure out what the guy chose (there are various means; but this was typical) - you would have to inspect the value and/or say as much as was unique. Well in V9 they added (and it was buried in a tech update no less - found only when I was reviewing help for the widget) -- "LIST-ITEM-PAIRS".
So now it was "label,value,label,value,label,value". So I could say "Michael,F,Spots,K,Louis,L,Sexicusmewillya!,S". Then if someone chose Spots, I know because the value is "K".
I do get a kick out of those "updates" still and my latest venture into PHP has once again put a smile on my face.
Been busy these past few days so not much movement with my system - neither with the PHP stuff.
Tonight while F*ING around with my cable & DSL modems - changing networking around, I get this message at bootup of XP. "Your hardware has drastically changed.. you need to reactivate windows." Ok I figured, whatever - I just added a scanner to boot. I go to reactivate - and they say "YOU HAVE EXCEEDED YOUR ACTIVATIONS WITH THIS PRODUCT - ENTER ANOTHER ACTIVATION CODE". Mine didn't work but I could buy one or call on Monday for assistance. I ghosted (really cool and fast when it works well!) back over the drive a few times. Haven't figured out the problem - but I think it had something to do with the Internet connection was with Bell - and I unplugged and moved and kept it in the settings. When I removed it from internet options it seems so far so good. The last thing that I didn't do that I did previously was DISABLE on of my NIC ports that nothing is plugged into. For now I have just HID it. I just finished GHOSTING the current set - as a lark, I may just disable and see what happens upon bootup.
After reading the stuff below, I can't see how I did anything of value to cause this to occur.
Activation is expected to be a one-time activity for mst users. Reactivation will only be necessary if the computer's components are drastically changed or in the unlikely evoent that you want to move (not copy) Windows XP to another machine. Microsoft promises that the activation system will work seamlesslyand even reactivation will be easy. Yet, the entire activation process is so new and different that it is already causing controversy. The ease-of-use and impact of the activation scheme will be fully realized when Windows XP is released October 25th.
Old article too..
http://www.compukiss.com/populartopics/computercenterhtm/article406.htm
Old too but interesting spin on this whole issue..
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,462414,00.asp
Beatrice Arthur
EDIT: On the PCMAG stuff - I read this
2. "remarks claim that activation prevents hard drive cloning": If a cloned hard disk is put into an exactly same PC from which it was cloned activation may not stop usage since only the MAC address and hard disk volume number is different. The MAC address takes 3 places and the hard disk volume number takes 1 place. Re-Activation is required only if this count rises to 6 in a system that has a NIC. If NIC is not present then 4 changes mean re-activation. Therefore changing just the NIC counts as 3 changes and this is NOT enough to trigger re-activation. Cloning however is defeated when the hardware is even slightly different.
So my take is - YES I installed the machine using the DSL via an add-on NIC. Today I DISABLED that NIC as I moved the cable back to the onboard NIC. That reason alone is why it probably failed - it can't see the same MAC anymore once I disabled and that caused an activation problem. So next time I reinstall (DUH!) I have to ensure I activate it using the NIC at night.
Crazy..
Maude.