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.