- I hope everyone has a great 4th of July! Hope you're planning some fantastic celebrations with friends and family. For the m'dog, normal holiday stuff tonight and tomorrow, and then heading up to the big lake up North for some boating, skiing, jetskiing and such on wednesday. Love summer. It's just way too short!
- The market? Eh, well. Obvious, right? Half-day inbetween days off. Kind of like that friday in Thanksgiving week. Now the question is whether the bears will use the bounce to re-establish shorts or if we're in rally mode for awhile. The IBD folks called last thursday a "follow through" day, so lets hope that this means we're in a period where the dips will be bought instead of the bounces being sold. We. Shall. See. Not today's business I 'spose.
- I'm not much into fireworks. I love summer and the summer nights, so I like to go out and mill around the crowds somewhat. but these days here in Sacramento it can get kind of rough. Last year, I remember hearing stories of fights and such. You know the deal. Some coworker here had their kid end up in Emergency. Too many hoodlums I guess. So, tonight I'm initially heading outdoors but if it looks a little rough and loud, I'm heading to a party instead. Tomorrow I'm opting for a block party.
- From Stockbee, How to Outperform 80% of Investors. Basically, just buy and hold an index fund and go to the movies. Ignore the noise. Of course, I think the thrill that drives us investors to beat the index is the same as the driver for playing the lotto or going to the casino. That is, the chance of hitting it big. Now with investing, even if one underperforms the index at least they're moving ahead, right? That isn't the case at the casino or lottery. So is it worth the shot at hitting the big one in the stock market? (You know my answer...)
- Hmm, the Lakers are signing Clippers' free agent Vladimir Radmanovic. A big shooter. As in tall. 6' 10" or some such thing. Vlade Divac is in the front office and wanted Peja Stojakovic, but the salary thing got in the way of that.
- Kiplinger's on The Thrill of Cash. Yeah, I've noticed. Not bad rates for leaving money parked in a money market fund. In financial parlance, you should get a generous "risk premium," or extra return, for investing in something like a high-yield bond fund or a real-estate investment trust instead of a riskless investment, namely, cash. As you can see, this premium is vanishing.
- Gillian Anderson doesn't seem too excited about an X-Files 2 movie.
- I don't know if you have a chance to check out The Economist at The Financial Times. Kind of funny. Is a wife valuable property? Probably not a discussion topic for tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy the 4th first.
