Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Improved Password Recovery

They've improved the password recovery on Blogger. All that I needed was my phone number and email account to get the password changed. I'll have to write down the new password so I don't forget it.
Not much is happening here. I'm still working on old laptops. I got one from E-bay the other day that was quite sick. It had a checker board display and wouldn't boot. I charged up the battery and changed the memory modules and it seems to be good except for a dead DVD player. I have to save up money to change that. When I get one I'll sell it on E-bay. I also decided to sell one of my etchings on E-bay. I'm tired of being broke all the time. If I can move the etchings I'll have plenty of money.
I messed up a couple of my laptops the other day. One of them had a problem that appeared to be with the power board. So I tried a power board out of the other laptop. It turned out that the boards weren't compatible. I ended up messing up the logic boards on both of them. It will cost hundreds of dollars to repair. I might just pull the good parts out and get other laptops to working. I'm giving up on Ibooks. I can't get streaming video to work with them. If they have Macintosh software on them they are fine. Linux doesn't support Flash on PPC computers. That's probably why they are so cheap.
I had a surprise bill from an old credit card the day before yesterday. I'm still paying for credit cards from 10 or 12 years ago. I was afraid that I would have to stop having coffee at Java John's to save up and pay for it. It turned out that I've already paid towards my account here. I'll just cut back to 1 cup a day and I should be fine. It would be nice to have a little leeway when it comes to money.
I've been reading a book by Wayne Dyer that states "There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem". I started reading it last September and it took me until now to finish it. It's mostly been sitting and waiting for me to get to it. It's a good book and it's really inspires me. Dyer sees everything as being energy. He feels that everything is simply frequency vibrations. A person who is at a higher frequency has good things coming his way. A lower frequency person attracts bad things. I obviously have been on a low frequency for the last few months. That's why I have shingles and poverty. I need to break out of that thinking. I've been doing the daily lession from the Christian Science Church. I also have taken up reading Dyer's book. I'll read it a second time. There is also a daily meditation on the Internet for Christian Scientists. I'll break this cycle.
That's all for now. I'll try to get back to leaving more blogs.
Later

Friday, November 16, 2012

Password Hell

I've just been in password hell. I forgot my password because I so rarely use it. Normally my computer remembers it. I usually  use a laptop when I'm posting a blog.
I gave away my old laptop so the new one didn't have the password. After about 10 or 15 attempts at passwords I admitted that I didn't remember it. It took a day to get back on. I'm a bit concerned because they asked for credit card info. I gave it to them but maybe it was a scam. I only have $20 in that account so if it is a scam I won't be out much.
Not much is happening here. I'm spending too much on old laptops. I got started with Mac laptops. I've got a Macbook Pro and a couple of old Ibooks. I'm happy with the Macbook, but I can't get the Ibooks to stream video. Nobody supports the old PPC standard anymore. That refers to the Motorola CPUs that Mac used to use. The Macbook uses an Intel CPU so it's no problem.
I've been overbidding on Ebay for parts for these old laptops. With my income, bidding at all is probably a mistake. I find myself using credit to buy a parts machine. Sometimes, I've been lucky and was able to get a good machine out of a bunch of parts but mostly I've ended up with a bunch of bad parts.
I should go back to begging for old laptops to give away after fixing them. That worked out pretty well the last time I did it.
I worked at the polls, last week. It was hard. My shingles came back and I had a head ache, and pains in my chest. I think the head ache might have been due to coffee withdrawals. It was a long day, 15 1/2 hours. I hope to get over $100 for the work. I'll use it towards parts for a 17 inch Macbook. I have everything but a battery and display for another one. They're too good to give away so I'll sell them on Ebay.
I'm still waiting to hear from the VA about driving the van. They asked me for copies of my driver's license and proof of insurance a couple of weeks ago, so they must know that I still exist. Driving once a week would be enough to get me through this period of poverty.
Pretty soon, it will be snowing and I hope to make a lot of money, shoveling snow. That'll get me through until Spring. Then I might have to see about working a Wal-Mart or Subway Sandwiches.
Later

Friday, October 12, 2012

Moving and Shingles

I haven't posted anything here for over a month. A lot has happened in that month.
First, I came down with the shingles. For people who haven't heard of it, it is a skin and nerve condition caused by the Chicken Pox virus. It's very painful and it lasts a long time. In fact I still have it lingering on my chest.
The same day that I came down with the Shingles, I was notified that I had moved up the list to get into a subsidized apartment complex called the Woolen Mill. It's named that because the old building that houses the apartments was built to house a woolen mill in the 1800's. I'm saving a lot on my rent and since I now live downtown I'm not spending as much on gasoline.
I'm totally disillusioned with investing. I still watch Jim Cramer but I don't turn up the sound when I can't really hear what he is saying. I just realize that I can't hope to make money investing. Of course I did everything wrong. I used margin whenever I could. I bought options. I wasn't diversified. I used borrowed money to invest with. I guess I deserved to fail. It will be years before I'll be able to invest in anything and then I think I'll just buy gold coins.
Winter is coming up and I might be able to make some money by shoveling snow. I've lined up to places to shovel for: Java John's and Plan One Financial. I might be able to line up the Co-op as well. That should keep me busy on snowy days. I also may be doing some driving for the VA van. They haven't called me yet but I'm on their list.
I probably should get a job at Wal-Mart or MacDonalds but since I'll be shoveling snow I think I'll wait until Spring to apply for those jobs.
That's all for now, I'm sorry that I'm not more talkative.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Recovering

Well, I'm getting my act together after losing everything on stock options.
I'm reading a book by Robert Collier named Riches Within your Reach. I would advise anyone to read it. This is the second time that I've read it. It's so good. It was written by a man who was strongly influenced by Christian Science. But considering that it was written in 1947 it is surprisingly current.
In it, is a chapter on prayer. Something that I'm missing is to make an offering before praying. I'm at a point in life where I feel that I don't have anything to offer. I can't afford to go to church and donate anything. I can fix old laptops but I don't have the money to buy one on E bay. I could give away some of my etching but I can't afford to have them framed.
Maybe I could get paid to pray for people. First I would have to have some positive results, myself. It's kind of like having a broke investment counselor. There are such people but I can't see trying it.
Well I'm at Java Johns and I'm considering where I should look for a job. I applied for a janitor position and a barista job. I need to be careful not to make too much money as I wouldn't want to interfere with my Social Security.I was thinking about collecting beer cans. The last time I did that I barely made enough money to pay for the gasoline, driving out into the country.  
I haven't applied at McDonald's or Culver's yet. There is also a night auditor job at a motel near here. I need to scrub up and get out there. Something will show up.
Later  

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

When You Have to Make it, You Won't

When you've bet everything on a stock option, it will let you down. That is a principle that I should have learned by now. I turned a winning bet on Sprint into a loser by holding on too long. Wednesday I could have tripled my money if I had sold within an hour window. I decided that I needed to hold out for more money and I lost it all. Sprint did have a nice move Wednesday but it gave up half of it on Thursday and it didn't come back Friday.
Now I'm looking for a job and I'm trying to sell my etchings. I've got a lead on a janitor job. I'm turning in my application tomorrow. I have to stop at Agora Arts and see if I can move an etching.
Maybe I can get a job at the Co-op. They are looking for a barista. I could pour coffee and make sandwiches.
Well Jose is starting to clean up the dining area at the Co-op so she'll kick me out soon.
Later

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Crop Report Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the long-awaited crop report. This is the one where they actually go out to the fields and count the kernels of corn on the ears. They will get a good idea of how much damage the drought has wrought.
My options have been going down like crazy for the last two weeks. I now have 1/6 of what I had 2 weeks ago. It could all change tomorrow. We'll see.
I never made it to Wal-Mart to apply for a job. I'm not looking forward to it.
Today, my sister Faye called and wanted me to house sit her place for a couple of months. I think I'll ask her for a couple of hundred dollars a month to do it. Of course, she'll have to pay for the air fare.
I still need to find a cheaper place to live. I'm paying $460/month for my apartment. If I moved to a tiny town I could reduce that to $265/month. I need an extra 2 or 3 hundred dollars to pay my bills. Maybe I could get a job. I got a job with the DAV, driving a van but they haven't called me yet. I'm on a replacement driver basis and, so far, I haven't been needed. I need to find something more certain. Maybe I'll go to the job fair at McDonald's.
Maybe I could move the etchings. I'll try to find a place to sell them, next week. I'm going to a lecture at the church in La Crosse, next Thursday. On the way I'll stop at an art gallery in the town of Lansing. I'll also be looking for a cheaper place to live. I would like to live closer to La Crosse.
That's all for now

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I'm giving up in disgust

I'm finally giving up on trying to make money on the stock market. I'm losing even though I switched from stocks to an agricultural ETF. I'm now in DBA which is an ETF which follows a wide basket of agricultural futures. The drought is getting worse and yet the DBA goes down.
 I think the thing that drove it down today was that some politician was saying something about cancelling the mandate for ethanol production. 40% of American corn goes to ethanol so it would make a difference in the price of corn. I don't think anything will come of it but it is affecting grain prices now.  
Yesterday someone in Russia said that they expected to export wheat. This was in spite of a drought in Eastern Europe. I think he was simply lying. These things affect the price of DBA.
I saw something on CNBC today. Someone was comparing the S&P to macro events. It appears that there is a positive correlation between the S&P and all the macro events.
Yesterday Cramer displayed a group of metrics that he watches to anticipate where pending macro events will lead. This shows me that people who are in the know can predict what will happen better than I can. So I'm not only competing against events that I can't predict but there are people who have inside information on a regular basis who are betting against me. It's a losing game. As soon as I can get out of the grain position with a gain I'm pulling out and finding another way to make money.
I hate to say it but I'll probably have to work at Wal-Mart. They probably need people to work the graveyard shift and weekends. I just have to be careful not to make too much money and mess with my disability.
I should also try renting out my spare room. It didn't work very well, last winter, but this time I'll rent to someone who doesn't work the graveyard shift. I'm coming up about $300 short each month. I can make it up somehow.  Investing isn't doing it.
I might move into a cheaper apartment. Things would work out if I lived in a truly cheap apartment in a little town. The trouble is that I would be bored out of my skull. There aren't even any Internet Cafe's there. I would also be quite a distance from where I could get a job. I think I'll forget about that idea.
Later.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thank God I bought DBA

Yesterday, I switched out of CORN which is a fund that only buys corn futures and got into DBA which is a fund that invests in all agriculture. My positions went up and corn went down. I also bought more, out of the money, calls. I'm in position to make a lot of money if the grains and meat keep going up. I think they will.
I'm reading 2 books, now. One has a title " If Success were a game These are the Rules". The other one is about "Creative Visualization". As usual I'm trying to improve my lot in life. They both have me thinking about what I really want in life. After all, how will I know that I'm a success if I don't have a sensible goal.
In Harvey Eker's book I told myself that success is having 2 million dollars, with an income of $200,000/year. That still seems sensible to me. I do think that a person should be comfortable during their declining years. I may have set my goal a little out of reach. My subconscious may be rebelling. I don't know what I would really need all that much anyway. I just need a nice condominium on the west coast of Costa Rica. I could probably get there with $100,000 and a nice income from my bonds would be adequate as well.
If Delphi starts paying on the bonds I could get $36,000/year on them alone.
That should be enough to get by. Maybe I should set my sights lower?
Later

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday night at Culvers

Well, it's Sunday night and I'm eating ice cream at Culvers. It's a chain restaurant in the Mid West that specializes in something called the "Butter Burger". It's a burger with extra butter on the bun.
I'm a little anxious because I'm betting on corn going up. I made $400 last week and I bought more options. So far, the price seems to be heading up. The market in Asia shows corn being up by $ .26. I'm hoping to make $1000, tomorrow.
My car is giving me troubles. If the market for corn still looks good tomorrow morning, I'll take it to Dan's and use my credit card to have it fixed. That probably means that I'll be waiting at Java Johns to hear what is being done with my car. Here is a picture of the staff at Java Johns. Mary is on the left, then Clare, then Kristin. Kristin doesn't work there much anymore. I think she was just filling in for Meg.
That's about all that's happening. I'll spend a sleepless night hoping that corn prices in China transfer to the USA and I make a bunch of money. My car is broken again and tomorrow I'll overdose on coffee at Java Johns. Nothing new.
Later

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Delusions and Trading

It's a hot Sunday at the Co-op and I'm just thinking about whether or not I can justify my trading. I'm afraid that I might be trading based on delusion rather than sense. My only good time for trading, late 2010, was during a time that the market moved up and I would have made as much as I did by simply having it in an index fund.I do myself the most harm by bouncing in and out of the market. Macro events move me around and I get greedy, trying to take advantage of the latest fad like Facebook.
I'm now hoping that oil goes down and corn goes up.Until last Friday, oil was in a down trend and corn may be facing a drought.If I'm wrong I could lose another $500 tomorrow. I can't afford this crap any more. Maybe I should just get out and forget about it.
One of the problems is that I have poor sources of information. Most of the time, the market makes a big move and I find out why fifteen minutes to half an hour later. I just don't have a good track for inside information that others have. I also use tainted info. The media sensationalizes everything so I may have a tendency to jump into things that I should stay out of, like corn and Facebook. I also don't have to resources to diversify my portfolio enough to be relatively safe. I don't know if there is a way to diversify enough to be safe from a European- based down turn. Everything seems to move in lockstep, anyway. Maybe I should just find a woman who can support me in the manner in which I've become accustomed. Since I'm used to poverty, that shouldn't be that difficult.
Ingrid just left. Boy has she blossomed. I remember when she was a skinny little girl. Now she has filled out and turned into a Nordic goddess. I look forward to seeing her every time I'm at the Co-op. There is something about the girls at the Co-op which is just better than elsewhere. They seem a little healthier.Maybe it's the organic food.
I read something on the Internet, today, that said that 20 minutes of wind sprints,twice a week were better for weight loss than hours of walking. I might try it. It doesn't involve to much time and it seems like I could get a lot out of it. I just have to find a place for it. I think I'll go to the bike path by the fish hatchery. It's a bit hot today so I might not do it now.
Later.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Warm Sunday at the Co-op

It's a warm day and I'm just hanging out at the Co-op.
I had mixed results from trading last week. I started off with a winning option on Whole foods. On Wednesday Red Hat reported earnings after the close. I took a chance and bought 95 shares before they reported. It was a mistake. Even though they beat the earnings the (whisper) number was even higher. The stocks went down and I sat on them Thursday and Friday and made back over half of what I was out on Wednesday.
This week I'll still be tempted to trade oil options. It seems to be in a down trend. Friday it went up because of a hurricane brewing up in the Gulf of Mexico. That will hit Thursday. I'll be tempted to buy 2 call options and 2 put options. If I remember right that is called a straddle. The idea is that you know that the stock is going to move hard but you don't know which way. One side will expire worthless but the other will make a lot of money. I might just sit on my Red Hat stock and wait until after Thursday to do anything.There's no hurry. In keeping with my (buy on Monday and sell on Tuesday) plan, I'll probably sell my stocks on Tuesday. I could buy some cheap options that only last a day or two on Wednesday. Such short-term options seem risky to me but they should be cheap.
I'm still trying to find a way to move my etchings. I did a Google search on art galleries in Rochester, MN. I found 3 that I'll call on Monday. I think my best bet is to expand my search to Minneapolis, and Chicago. I think I'll find the right galleries in the larger cities. The small towns seem to have regional galleries that display local artists works. I'm looking for a commercial gallery, not a community project. Mary suggested that I look into displaying them at an antique store. They are a few years old and they are of representations of old things so that might work. I'll have to find the right antique store.
I took down the pictures of my etchings, from my blog, because I was worried about copyright issues. They are really nice and are by an artist named Malcolm Childers.
That's all for now.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Trading

I'm still messing up my trading. I'm now out of everything because I don't want to be in while the vote goes on in Greece.
If I had left well enough alone I would have been up for the last two weeks. I had a call option on Whole Foods that would have tripled had I left it alone. I also would have been up on American Tower, Boeing, and Red Hat Software. Watching Bloomberg and CNBC has been very costly to me. Even Cramer has been giving fearful signals, lately. I get scared of the macro picture and I bail out of good positions.
I'm thinking of buying a put option on crude oil, next Monday. Someone on Bloomberg was making a very good bear case for oil. He said that the Saudis want it to go down to attack the Iranians and Russians. He also thinks they want to slow the production of American oil from fracking. It made sense to me so if oil goes up I'll buy a put or two.
I'm also looking to go back to AMT, BA, RHT, and WFM.  AMT is American Tower, a cell phone tower company. BA is Boeing aircraft. RHT is Red Hat a Linux software company. And WFM is Whole Foods Marketing, an organic grocery chain. Maybe I'll take a risk and buy options.Cramer made a good case for the market to go up whichever way the vote goes, and I'm a gambler. I would like to make back everything I lost in a week or two.
Getting away from stocks, I passed the physical for the driving job. It's for the van driving from Waukon to Iowa City. I'll have to get up terribly early and I'll only be making $60/ trip for a 12 hr. day. I think it will be tax free since it is for a volunteer job. The bad news is that I'm on a backup position. I'll only be called when no one else can make it. It' better than nothing. That reminds me, I'm also thinking about going back to collecting beer cans. I can get $.05 each for them. It also tends to come to about $5/hr. I like the idea of being my own boss and it's tax free. I think I'll start tomorrow.
I had some good news about the etchings. I came up with the idea of contacting the artist and see if he could help me to sell them. The bad news is that he is too busy to help me sell them. The good news is that he is busy with something with PBS. Maybe he'll be in a PBS show and his art will appreciate. I can hope. I have to keep looking for a way to sell them. Maybe I'll get Gary to buy some on E-bay. If he makes a bunch of money on them, he might give me some. I'll see him Sunday.
That's all for now.

Monday, June 4, 2012

The stock market crash that wasn't

I got up this morning thinking that the stock market was sure to crash. CNBC even had a special program last night (Sunday) predicting it. I was anxious to get out of my Whole Foods option and into HDGE. I was happy that I achieved that before the market opened.
Then the market moved slowly downward. It turned out that I don't have enough HDGE to really make any money in a downturn. Towards the end of the trading day the market moved up. It ended up settling mixed. The Dow was down 12 points and the S&P and Nasdaq were both up slightly.
Tonight, Cramer said that everything was still in place for a crash, so I'll leave it in HDGE, which is an Exchange Traded Fund that bets against the market. I intend to leave it there for at least a month or until the market takes a big plunge. I always seem to take things out because I feel that I'm on the wrong side. This time I'll really try to just leave it alone.
I just put an order in to buy another 30 shares of HDGE. It's after hours so it might not be filled tonight. I'll check on it before the market opens tomorrow. By that time I might change the order to lower the price and increase the number of shares. We'll see what happens.
That's all for now.
Craig

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saturday night at the Co-op

I'm spending this Saturday night at the co-op. Yesterday, even Jim Cramer was a bear when it came to the stock market. He said that something has to happen in a big way to save us from falling off the edge of a stock market crash, Monday morning. It depends on President Obama getting the world's leaders to do something to keep the European Union together and solvent. I doubt that anything positive can happen. The world's leaders are too divided and incompetent to do anything constructive.
I've only got 1 option on Whole Foods. I lost $95 yesterday and I'll probably loose another $200 before I can get it sold, Monday. I'll sell it as soon as I can Monday. I was hoping for some good news yesterday. That didn't happen. Monday I'll be watching Bloomberg and probably the end of the world as we know it.
I'm expecting a massive depression. A lot of people are worried about inflation, but I think we'll go into a major depression before that can happen.
 Monday morning, the informed people will be watching for the end of Western Civilization on CNBC and Bloomberg. Maybe they'll cover it on the regular channels as well.
I might be getting a job as a volunteer driver for the van going to the Iowa City VA hospital. It pays $60 a trip. It comes to about $4.00/hr. when you figure out how much time you have to spend to do it. I hope that it is tax-free. I'll have to look into that.
I'm still trying to get signed up for the clinic in Ohio for gamblers. I have the feeling that I'm not much worse than many people. I'm just getting caught up in a wicked market. I think I'll go anyway. I need to stop trying to make money with the little that I have to invest. And that little tends to be borrowed anyway.
I took a picture of Barrett at the Co-op. I caught him with his glasses off and eyes closed. I'll post it anyway. My camera was broken but I got the shutter to work by jiggling it. It's a cheap camera but I would hate to have to replace it. It works good and takes good pictures. I do need to get used to it better and maybe quit carrying it in my backpack. It gets banged up too much. Anyway here's Barrett.
That's all that I have for today. I'll post something Monday if the market crashes. I should have left my money in HDGE but good things can happen and I could be crushed in that as well.
Later.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Facebook bust

Well, for the past week and a half I've been trying to buy Facebook stocks on the IPO. I sold all of my positions to have money to invest. I tried to qualify for it but I couldn't force my self to lie on the application so I wasn't able to get in the IPO. When the trading started there was a delay. I put an order in at $42 even though the IPO was at $38. I figured it would double. Well, to make a long story short, I lost $400 before I sold in the after-market. I was glad to be out. I think the overall market drove Facebook down. It is hinging on the European crisis.
That is getting worse. I now think that the banks in Greece, Italy, and Spain will have runs and it will take down the world's economy.
I wound up putting everything in an ETF with the ticker symbol HDGE. It's a bearish fund and it should go up when everything goes down. I was in it in a smaller way a week ago. Now, I feel sure that everything is going to heck.
I bought another etching by Malcolm Childers. It's named Frenchy's Flathead Flyer. I think I've already had it's picture on a previous blog.
I talked with my psychologist about going to a program in Brecksville, Ohio for compulsive gambler's. I'm starting to face the fact that I can't trade stocks. I'm wondering if anyone can.
I still haven't gone job-hunting. I think I'm putting it off because I don't want to be standing all day. I'm just getting to old for that sort of thing. I need the money, however, so it doesn't make sense to put it off anymore. I put off looking for a job to the point that I'll be competing with the high school and college students. Maybe I'll luck out and not find a job.
I was also thinking about going West and hunting for gold. I have a metal detector. and maps to some claims that I could prospect on. I just need to get my membership to the Gold Prospectors Association of America up to date and go. My car is in good shape and I could sleep in it. I'm a bit afraid that it will cost me more than I anticipate. Maybe I'm just being fearful.
I think I'll put in a cartoon that exemplifies my relationship with a waitress at Java John's, named Meg.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Defeated

The jobs numbers were bad today and the market sold off. Everything I had went down sharply and I ended up panicking and selling everything. Before I sold I checked the PEG ratio on the things I owned and found that they were all too high except for one. I sold that as well because it's starting to look like a repeat of 2011, which was a lousy year for the market.
I still have $5500 of the $7500 that I borrowed. I now have to find a  job.
That is something I'm not looking forward to. I was hoping that work was behind me, but it's not.
I was looking at Jim's place a couple of days ago. It didn't turn me on but I think a person could make a profit by sitting on it. Rich people are developing near it. 90% of it is steep hill so not much could be developed. There is enough level land to put a house on, but that is about all. I guess that I could put Gary's trailer on it and live cheap. It's so remote that it doesn't appeal to me. I'm better off getting a job and living here.
McDonolds, Culvers, and Subway are hiring so it looks like I'll be making sandwiches.
I should just be glad that I have my health and there are jobs to be had. I'll have to accept that I'll have to work for the rest of my life and that is that. It's a little hard to get my head around. I was hoping to be able to make enough with my investments to make for an easy life. I might have to go live with my sister and shovel manure. It would save me a lot of rent money.
That's all for now

Friday, March 30, 2012

Back to Trading

Well, I borrowed $7500 from a loan company and I'll be back trading, soon. I think I'll buy Rice, Hall, James Micro cap mutual fund. It's recommended by Jim Cramer in one of his books. I'm also related by my sister's marriage to the Hall in Rice, Hall and James. I'm waiting for the check to clear then I'll jump in with both feet. I think I should be able to stay ahead of the interest payments. If the market keeps going as it has been I'll be fine.
I'll be posting a picture of the outside of the eagle's nest. You can't get very close to the nest without disturbing them so I took a picture from across the road. Two of the eaglets have hatched already and the third is hatching today. The nest is eighty feet in the air. The cottonwood is near the center of the picture. It's quite distant. If you want to see the nest today, I have it posted on a previous blog.
I replaced the engine of my van. It now runs great and it has oil pressure. Now I'm tempted to replace the rear springs and shock absorbers. I also could use a trailer hitch. The old one rusted off. It fell off in front of a fire station in Calmar. It was almost all of the way off and I just broke it the rest of the way.
I went to the shrink in Coralville, yesterday. I'll see her through the video conferencing at the Decorah VA clinic. They just now opened up. I hope to see her more often than just once. I'm pretty sick with my schizophrenia. I think that is why I gamble and lose money on stock options. I think I just feel that I'm poor and that drives me to risk money.
That's all that I have, today. I think I'll buy something on E-trade. Later
Craig

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Snow Is Gone

Well, it looks like Winter is over. It's been in the sixties the last few days. I didn't make much, shoveling snow, but I needed what I did make.
I'm still trying to come up with some money for the bonds. They are staying low so there might still be time. I bid on a couple of options on Conocophillips, today. The market was closed so the bid will go in next morning. I'm still waiting to here from Erin at the credit union about my extension to my credit card. I told them that I was using it for a different car. I do need a better car so that may not be a lie. Next I'll try to get a loan from the other bank.
I sent off an essay on "What's Essential to Me". It was for a contest for a free trip to Santa Cruz, CA. It's being put on by a fish oil company, Nordic something. Santa Cruz is my favorite city so I really hope to win. The second and third prizes involve free fish oil. That's something I need anyway.
I went with Loula to a talk at Luther about human trafficking. I should have asked why it was so accepted at truck stops since it is against the law. Maybe they just don't have enough cops.
I need to write up a resume. There is a job for a peer support counselor in Waterloo, IA. I've got all the training that's needed and Waterloo is a larger city. If I can get them to pay moving expenses, maybe I'll go. I do enjoy Decorah, however. All of my friends are here.
Mentioning Decorah reminded me to post the eagles site. I haven't done that for a while. Here it is. Eagles
Just click on the colored word Eagles.
That's all for now.
Craig

Friday, March 2, 2012

Snow day in Decorah


It's snowing in Decorah. I'll be making some money, shoveling snow. Here are a couple of pictures of the snow on Water Street.

No sooner did I paste the pictures but it stopped snowing. I think I'll spread a little salt on the sidewalk and forget about it.
Delphi is showing signs of life. Yesterday, after the close, they announced that they were going to trade new bonds for their old bonds. This only affected their senior bonds, so my bonds weren't affected yet. This should be a good thing since they'll be paying coupon on the new bonds. I think it'll drive all their bond prices up.
Anyway I'm in full "dig up some money" mode. If I can come up with $1000 I could buy up all the Delphi bonds being offered on E-trade. I might drive the prices up by myself. $1000 bonds are selling for $20. I don't see how I can lose. My sister told me to borrow from my brother. I think I'll give it a shot. I still have a credit card that has $400 on it yet. So I'm 40% there.
Last night Cramer said to buy banks. He's been a bear on banks for at least 3 years, now. He says that they are a buy, now.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Gold plated coins

I've been buying some gold plated coins on E-bay, lately. I'm afraid that I've gotten compulsive about it. I've already gotten around 150 and I keep buying more. They are cheap, usually no more than $.30/each. I just don't need them. I hope that I'll be able to find one with more than a thin coating of gold. I don't know if I could get the gold off them if I do. So far, I've added them to my money alter. It's a fountain of a frog with water coming out of his mouth. I put my gold plated coins in the bottom of the fountain. Three legged frog statuettes are supposed to bring wealth according to some Chinese beliefs. I was thinking that having gold plated coins in such an alter would bring me gold. So far, it has brought more gold plated coins. Maybe I could sell them on E-bay, one at a time. I've seen them go for $1.00 a piece.
Somebody sent me an email of a job posting in Waterloo, Iowa. It's for a peer support specialist. I've had all the training that I would need for the job. I would have to make a resume. I don't know if I would want to move to Waterloo. Moving is a hassle. I don't want to make enough money to lose my disability. All my friends at in Decorah. It would cost money that I don't have to move. I think I'll go through the motions of applying for the job but I'll have to ask for travel pay.
Gold is bouncing around like crazy. Yesterday it went down $97. Today it's up $10 after being up $27. I think it's a buy at these prices. The Indians and Chinese will drive the price back up, soon. All the short sellers will be squeezed. Maybe that's why I want to buy gold plated coins so much. I't the only way I can afford to buy gold.
It's supposed to snow tomorrow. I hope it does. I could make some money shoveling snow. If it snows as much as predicted, I'll make a ton of money before Monday. Somebody said that it would snow 8 inches tomorrow. There is a chance that it'll keep snowing til Monday. If it does snow that much, I'll take some pictures for the blog.
Later
Craig

Friday, February 17, 2012

Done with stock options

I've had it with stock options. I think it is just delusional to think that I can buy stock options and make any money with them. Maybe people who write options can make money, but someone who buys them is almost certain to lose. The last options I had were in ARM holdings and Red Hat. I lost about $500 this week in them. I can no longer afford to lose that kind of money. I'll have to get a job and save about $10,000 to invest in stocks.
This is a picture of Mary the owner of Java Johns. This is in the back room, looking towards the kitchen.
This is a picture of Claire. She's a barista at Java Johns. This is looking towards the front of the coffee shop.
I hang out at Java Johns most of the day. I'm probably the person who is there the most. I spent about two hours with Loula and her financial adviser today. It was the first time anyone asked me about financial decisions.
Loula made the commitment to go metal detecting with me. She doesn't know it but we'll get out there a lot sooner than she thought. If the weather keeps warming up like it has lately, we'll be looking for coins in a week or two. The ground is already warming up and thawing. I can't wait to get out to a ghost town named Conover to see if I can find some old coins.
Til then I might have to look for beer cans for the redemption value. Maybe I should get a real job but I can't see risking my disability by holding down a job. Unfortunately, beer cans don't pay very much. I've never been able to make more than $4.00/hr. looking for them.This is better than nothing.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Lazy Day at Java John's

I've slacked off on posting lately. It turned out that when I went to Google Analytics, that I actually have a few viewers of my site. It looked like 5 people went to my site last month. I'll have to get fired up and start posting more often. Site Monitor didn't show anyone as going to my blog so I got discouraged. I think the lesson is to use Google.
My investing didn't go to well, so far. I transferred some money into my E-trade account but then I waited for it to clear before investing. Had I invested right away I might have made $2,000 for an investment of $300. Netflix had a great earnings report and it moved up about $15 a share. I bought the option too late to take advantage of that. I shouldn't have bought it at all. You snooze, you lose.  I now have options in John Deere and Case. They are both machinery makers. Tomorrow I'll be buying Morgan Stanley and maybe, Boeing.
As always, my car started costing me a bunch of money just as I starting investing. I've been running up credit card debt on the presumption that most of my expenses are one-time costs and will be easily taken care of. The trouble is that I have to make money on the options to justify that sort of thinking. If the market tanks due to something going on in Europe, I might have to get a job.
I might have to get a job anyway. I'm tired of being broke most of the time and I need a little more structure to my life. I just don't want to work more than about 20 Hr./wk. I'm happy with having most of my time to myself.
Even the big blizzard that hit Southern and Western Iowa missed us. We got no snow when it snowed 11 inches in Omaha. I'm just not making any money. When it does snow I have a hard time keeping up with the work.
I might have to go to California and help out my sister. I could get free rent by shoveling manure for her horses. I know that she would keep me busy with maintaining her house and horses. I also know that I would be making the least possible working for her. I like having my own apartment anyway. The gold prospecting seems the best bet. I just need to get my car running a bit better before I take that on. I should replace the engine, at least. I'll have to save up for that somehow.
I've been reading a lot about the Law of Attraction, lately. I'm hoping that  it helps me with my investments. The book I'm working on now is "The Intention Experiment" by Lynne McTaggart. It has to do with experiments pertaining to the mind influencing external things. It's too complex to give a simple explanation of it.
That's all that I have for today. I'll be posting some more with pictures in the future.
Thanks
Craig

Friday, February 3, 2012

Sixteen dogs

This is something that my sister told me about. It's kinda fun:  sixteen dogs

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Snow day at Decorah

A lot has been happening lately. I signed up for an app named Mint. It's a budgeting thing. While I signed up for it, it offered to check my credit for free. It turns out that I have good credit. So I applied for a credit card at my credit union. If I get one, I'll interpret that as meaning God wants me to trade stock options. As soon as I can move some money, I think I'll invest in Boeing options.

Today I also made a lot of money, for me, shoveling snow. I got up at 5:30, made breakfast and started shoveling at Java John's. Mary pays me by running a tab for my coffee and food, there. Here are a couple of picture of the snow.
I don't know how the second picture got so large. I must have pressed a wrong button. Now I have to wonder how I can make them all larger. Anyway that is Java John's.
I just finished a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer, named "Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling". I recommend it. It discussed living more in tune with the purpose that God and you were intended for. I feel that it has inspired me.
My car still has a problem with the radiator. I put in some leak sealant and I've been trying to get a radiator from Ebay. The first one they sent me wouldn't fit. The bottom hose connected on the wrong side. I contacted the seller and he'll be sending me another that will work. I had to send back the other one and it'll cost me another $25. I'll still be ahead for the cost since a new radiator from the parts place would have cost $50 more than I'm paying. The only thing I'm out is the time that I could have been driving it.

Monday, January 2, 2012

The Eagles are Back

The live feed of the Decorah eagles is back up and the mommy eagle is fixing up the nest. Here is a link to that site. Decorah Eagles . That ought to work. Just click on the blue words. It's fun. Don't be surprised that the eagle isn't there a lot of the time. She's out scavenging for materials for the nest. You can see the new stuff on the nest now. She also may be having troubles with the high winds, today.
I haven't posted any pictures lately. I think I'll post a picture of the outside of Java John's. It's my favorite coffee shop and I scoop snow there for a little extra income. This is the side of the building that I spend the most time scooping. You might notice that it's rather steep. The sidewalk is wide and slippery on this side of the building. Thus far, this year I haven't made much money at shoveling snow since the weather has been unseasonably warm. But the money that I have made is much appreciated.
It's the day after New Years and not much is happening here. I spent a lot of time at Java John's this morning. I was hoping that the snow flurries would amount to something, but they didn't.
My car is giving me more trouble. Now it's the radiator. I sent off to E-bay for a new one. It should be here tomorrow. I think I'll have Dan at Dan's Standard install it. I might get my tenant, Nick, to help me with it. He is mechanically inclined. It'll have to wait until I actually get the radiator.
I haven't invested in anything lately, since I'm broke. I'll have $100 from Nick any day now. That will probably go towards installing the radiator. I'm hoping to go to church in LaCrosse on Wednesday. I'm a Christian Scientist and that is where the closest church is. They have testimonial meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. I'm trying to get Alice to go with me since her car gets better mileage and is more reliable than mine. If she can't go, I'll just go myself. Maybe I could take Jim with me.
I haven't made any progress on buying things at auctions since all of the auctions took time off for the holidays.
Later