Smoking Chimp (and More)!

* As I type, the market is selling off a bit. No surprises. The market seems to be correcting without much fanfare. Folks seem generally pessimistic on the economy and the market. I think with energy prices high, frustration with Iraq and the war on terror, that optimism seems scarce. The most surprising thing is that the bears haven't been able to take the market down more. In addition, last two days I'm starting to get some buy signals on financial stocks. Why is that good? Financials make up around 20% of the SP500. I don't time the market on financials, but use tech stocks (as they tend to lead the rest of the market around). But when tech stocks do give a buy signal, I think financials will participate in the next rally. Which could mean a bigger move up than the rally we had from May to early Summer. But, that's just guesswork at this point. We shall see. I'm just long the big boring index right now, and waiting to shift more into techs. Hopefully soon.

* I'm really using iPodder a whole bunch to download podcasts to my Treo. Still in the Honeymoon Period on that one. I'll put up some links to Podcasts I listen to. If you have some favorites, drop me a comment and let me know. I need more stuff to get me through my bike rides/jogs/commute. (I really don't jog, but it sounds more manly than "walk.")

* The smoking chimp. The chimp has been smoking for 15 years, and started by picking up the butts. She started smoking more when her mate died. They're trying to get her to quit by giving her milk. Huh? No patch? No gum? How about another mate?

* I was listening to a news reporter talk about Hurricane Katrina. He was saying that the average water temperature in the Gulf this time of year is 89 degrees. Good grief.

* The Treo doesn't come with a voice recorder. Say what? I said, the Treo doesn't come with a voice recorder. Huh, it has a mic and no voice recorder? Yeah, that's what I said. So I downloaded the free SoundRec application. Works well. Records in WAV format, about 1 meg per 1 min. Saves to the expansion card, too. How fancy is that?

* Check out the picture of Alan Greenspan in this story. He kind of blasted US fiscal policy in his speech. Check it out. Also, for those of you concerned about the housing boom or bubble:

"Some of America's economic imbalances, most notably the large current account deficit and the housing boom, can be rectified by adjustments in prices, interest rates and exchange rates rather than through more-wrenching changes in output, incomes and employment."

* CBS Marketwatch on Greenspan's comments.

* My coworker brought in his PSP, and I think is watching a movie on a UMD DVD. It's friday.

* If I were to take up jogging, here are the tips.

* SP500 at 1205 and change as I type. It's tempting for me to get more aggressive. I think we're going into the 1300's before too long. I'm starting to get that antsy impatient feeling. Steady, Muckdog.

* Five of my Six staff aren't here today. Four are making the most out of the end of summer, and one called in sick. More power to them. I should've thought of it first. (Not being sick, though. Making the most....)

* Who pee'd in the coffee? Bleh.