- Let me first say that my thoughts and prayers are with Elizabeth Edwards, John, friends and family. We often get caught up in the hectic day-to-day pace of life to realize how precious every single day is.
- The market rested today after its confirmation day yesterday. And I don't mean in a Catholic-confirmation sort of way. I mean confirming last week's rally. The market saw increased volume and if we're reading our IBD textbooks, the market is signaling that the correction is over. However, I don't follow IBD religiously, and believe that we have more downside testing to go. I remain patient with low beta holdings and some cash.
- I've found myself trading quite infrequenly the last couple of weeks because of work things and March Madness. My time frame is mostly of an intermediate nature and I make "big" moves 2-3 times a year at most. Everything else is nibbling around the edges. Since my lowering of beta and raising more cash in early December, the Black Box hasn't generated an intermediate signal.
- Hey, there's a new ETF that tracks mortgage backed securities (MBB). We'll have to go ask Roger what he thinks about this one. ...the new ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.25%, tracks an index of investment grade fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities of government-sponsored mortgage issuers Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac. The mortgage-backed securities are pass-through, meaning all principal and interest payments from the mortgage pool are passed directly to investors. The securities must be non-convertible. The index includes 30-, 20-, 15-year and "balloon" securities that have a remaining maturity of at least one year and have more than $250 million of outstanding face value, according Barclays Global Investors, the ETF's sponsor.
- Blocking internet porn violates free speech, so says a US Federal court. A 1998 law designed to block children from viewing pornography Web sites violates free speech rights, a U.S. federal court ruled on Thursday, in a blow to government efforts to restrict Internet smut. So lets carry this to the next level, does this prohibit companies from producing software that parents (or libraries, schools, etc) can install on PCs to block porn?
- Oh here they go, trying to capture carbon emissions from coal in order to fight global warming. Why not just stop burning coal? It's dirty. It's filthy. People die trying to get it out of the ground. Isn't nuclear power much safer and cleaner? Geez, France is getting almost 90% of their energy from nuclear power now. They got this one right, folks. Yeah, we have to deal with nuclear waste; but that seems easier than dealing with CO2 and global warming ramifications. Right?
- A YouTube rival!
- Obey Me, or Die! Gore warns Congress. From Liberal Larry. Environmental Prophet Al Gore warned a stunned Congress today of the dire consequences should we puny humans refuse to obey him. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Plagues of locusts. Disoriented manatees. Cats and dogs living together. The deliberate and systematic destruction of all life on Arrakis. Terrifying, indeed – but just a taste of what’s in store for us all should we continue to blatantly defy Gore.
In Edit: Roger has thoughts on MBB here...