Tick Tock Thursday

* I know it seems impossible with all the oil scare, but the stock market has been in rally mode for a bit. Maybe just monthly strength as money hits 401(k) accounts. But April tends to be a pretty good month.

* Nikko Smith voted off the American Idol island last night. Yeah, he needed to go. Maybe not as much as Scott or Anthony, but something tells me they're time is coming.

* 36 cockroach fumigation devices meet a pilot light. Kaboom!

* I think we're in the final stages of a real estate boom. The speculation is out of control. Many former coworkers have changed careers and are now doing real estate this or that. Much like folks who rushed into tech in the late 90's. I think we're in the Greater Fool stage of the speculation. When you buy a house, you just hope there's a greater fool that comes along to pay more for it than you did. You hope YOU'RE NOT the greater fool!

* If the real estate market is close to top-ticking, those who are most highly leveraged will get hurt the most. I think folks who are in a house, living in it, making payments and who have job stability will be fine over the long term. But folks who are letting "investment properties" sit empty while they make interest-only payments on 100% loans might be in for a shocker. We'll see!

* Lots of takers on those candy pumpkins in the break room. Suckers.