First... Remember to vote for The Learning Curve in Blog Survivor!
- Lets start off with the markets, which have been extremely strong this year. Even the pause after the recent ramp has been met with buying. My guess is folks want to be in this market right now and feel angst for being too bearish before New Years. Coming up next week will be earnings and options expiration. That sounds more like a recipe for volatility than pumpkin stew. If companies come out and say good things, will people sell the news? If companies report bad things, will dips be bought? I think we're due for some sort of pullback, which was why I booked profits in my most volatile stuff. But I'm still long on the market, in a less aggressive way (boring index and dividend stuff). I'm bullish, and should some of this newfound optimism wane a bit, I'll get aggressive again.
- Yes. I did watch Dancing with the Stars again. I think Tatum O'Neal has to go. Master P, too. And can't you tell the stars don't have that sports-interview down? Instead of saying "I'm giving it 110%, and with some hard work and good Lord willing, I'll improve every week." we get this "Well, I'm really an actress not a dancer" whining stuff. Or Master P's refusal to wear dancing shoes. What's that?
- After a holiday season of backsliding on my veggie diet, I'm back in the fold. I wasn't eating too much meat, but definitely lots of candies. I brought it all to work and unloaded it. I'm back to cereals, bagels, veggie sandwiches, etc.
- I'll end up working over the weekend again. Many people say "don't take your job home with you," but it's part of my life and I like my job. It partly defines who I am, and how I approach everything in my life. The feelings of being burnt out have vanished, even though the workload hasn't. I've had more stuff heaped on me today, but that happens everyday. If I didn't like it, I'd choose to do something else.
- Just to be honest and to show that my Black Box gets 'em wrong sometimes, I got a sell on gold on Jan 5th. Gold is up since then...