| Supposedly, this happened to both NATO and Soviet installations, and they can talk now because the documents are getting declassified and they are retired - so they don't have to worry about killing their career. The UFOs even remotely activated/deactivated them, scaring the operators. It's an interesting idea to think about. http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/former-air-force-officers-ufos-have-monitored-nuclear-weapons-sites-for-60-years/19649347 |
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Monday, 27 September 2010
The 5th edition of the Carnival of Wealth is online at PersonalDividends.com.
It has a lot of interesting articles on personal finance.
It has a lot of interesting articles on personal finance.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Higher education is like a mirror of the housing crisis. Just like society/government said "everyone should own a house", it said "everyone should get a college education".
In both cases, government made more money available, and lenders started to package/sell the loans on Wall Street. Since the lenders sold the loans, they didn't care about defaults and started relaxing their standards. Since so much money was available, both house prices and college expenses started to climb, increasing the need and amounts of loans. This created a cycle.
The housing market is now correcting, and the education market should be next.
Which makes me wonder: If people are walking away from mortgages because their houses are worth less, will people with student loans try to do the same thing? When someone who racked up $50,000 in debt for an $80,000 degree, sees the price of the degree fall to $40,000 after the educational bubble bursts, will they whine and try to bail out of paying?
In both cases, government made more money available, and lenders started to package/sell the loans on Wall Street. Since the lenders sold the loans, they didn't care about defaults and started relaxing their standards. Since so much money was available, both house prices and college expenses started to climb, increasing the need and amounts of loans. This created a cycle.
The housing market is now correcting, and the education market should be next.
Which makes me wonder: If people are walking away from mortgages because their houses are worth less, will people with student loans try to do the same thing? When someone who racked up $50,000 in debt for an $80,000 degree, sees the price of the degree fall to $40,000 after the educational bubble bursts, will they whine and try to bail out of paying?
Monday, 20 September 2010
Here is the Google Alert I got for the interview - this one from NBC Washington. The story was syndicated to all the local NBC affiliates. By the way, that is a picture of Oliver Stone, not me :-)
--- On Mon, 9/20/10, Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply@google.com> wrote:
|
| Here is the interview on MSNBC.com and on NBC Philadelphia. The interview was syndicated to all the local NBC affiliate websites. The reporter interviewed me last week. A lot of the interview is with Oliver Stone, but they interviewed me as an expert for background, because I traded stocks and wrote "Stock Trading Riches". They put two paragraphs from my interview into the article. I'm amazed I got this publicity. But it seems my book developed a following among certain hedge funds, and I'm getting some attention. I knew at least one hedge fund read my book, because they commissioned me to develop some software / spreadsheets on my system. |
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Check out the newly posted Carnival of Wealth #4.
It has a lot of great personal finance and investing articles.
It has a lot of great personal finance and investing articles.
Based on reader feedback, I'm switching the description of my book "Stock Trading Riches" on both my publisher's site and on Amazon.com back to the original:
In today's world of instant trade execution, sophisticated analysis, global markets, and 24/7 news, traders and investors still routinely fail to beat the market. The brutal fact is that a free market is about price discovery. A market works like an organism - "consuming" new fundamental and technical information and rendering it ineffective.
A 30-day moving average may make money for a while - until the market "digests" this parameter. Today's report on CNBC is already reflected in the price of the stock. Only 1% of traders are superstars who can consistently re-adjust, find, and exploit new information. The average trader or investor needs a simple system that is flexible and robust - that does not depend on the market moving in trends, or creating chart patterns.
Praveen Puri developed his system after becoming fascinated with the idea of a pure Zen trading system that would use no news reports, indicators, charts, or parameters to distract from Now. He developed a simple and powerful stock trading system that uses a mathematical re-balancing formula to buy low and sell high.
In today's world of instant trade execution, sophisticated analysis, global markets, and 24/7 news, traders and investors still routinely fail to beat the market. The brutal fact is that a free market is about price discovery. A market works like an organism - "consuming" new fundamental and technical information and rendering it ineffective.
A 30-day moving average may make money for a while - until the market "digests" this parameter. Today's report on CNBC is already reflected in the price of the stock. Only 1% of traders are superstars who can consistently re-adjust, find, and exploit new information. The average trader or investor needs a simple system that is flexible and robust - that does not depend on the market moving in trends, or creating chart patterns.
Praveen Puri developed his system after becoming fascinated with the idea of a pure Zen trading system that would use no news reports, indicators, charts, or parameters to distract from Now. He developed a simple and powerful stock trading system that uses a mathematical re-balancing formula to buy low and sell high.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Today I bought General Dynamics (GD) stock at $62.45. Like most of my investments, I bought it because of fundamentals and how it diversifies my portfolio. I will manage the position with my Stock Trading Riches system.
In the August 30 issue of Forbes Magazine, money manager Ken Fisher recommended GD at $64.20. He felt that it was very cheap at that price (9 times likely 2010 earnings and 80% of revenue).
GD is the fifth largest defense contractor. It sells ships, submarines, tanks, planes, and computer systems to the militaries of the U.S., as well as other countries.
Finally, he said that its 2.6% dividend yield is competitive with 10 year treasury bonds. He feels that it is better way to bet on government growth than buying bonds.
Based on the analysis above, I decided to buy GD because it fits a need in my portfolio - a large company with extensive government contracts that will allow me to profit from growth in government.
Stocks that benefit from increased government spending can also hedge your finances if taxes should increase. This is similar to how I didn't feel "pain in the pump" when gas prices went up before the recession because, while I was paying more to fill my car, my Apache Energy (APA) stock was increasing.
In the August 30 issue of Forbes Magazine, money manager Ken Fisher recommended GD at $64.20. He felt that it was very cheap at that price (9 times likely 2010 earnings and 80% of revenue).
GD is the fifth largest defense contractor. It sells ships, submarines, tanks, planes, and computer systems to the militaries of the U.S., as well as other countries.
Finally, he said that its 2.6% dividend yield is competitive with 10 year treasury bonds. He feels that it is better way to bet on government growth than buying bonds.
Based on the analysis above, I decided to buy GD because it fits a need in my portfolio - a large company with extensive government contracts that will allow me to profit from growth in government.
Stocks that benefit from increased government spending can also hedge your finances if taxes should increase. This is similar to how I didn't feel "pain in the pump" when gas prices went up before the recession because, while I was paying more to fill my car, my Apache Energy (APA) stock was increasing.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
A reader from Canada included my book "Stock Trading Riches" in their Amazon Listmania! List.
Here is what they said:
"When using Puri’s spreadsheet and making one trade on the S&P 500 ETF (Ticker: SPY) on the first trading day of each year from 2001 to 2008, the result is that his system did beat Buy & Hold. The compounded annualized return of buying and holding the SPY index only, was 1.7%, while Puri’s system delivered 2.0%. Better results may be had with individual stocks, other ETFs, or closed-end funds."
I am grateful for the review. Also, I recommend not using a general index fund because it will lack volatility because the fluctuations of the individual components will cancel one another out.
Instead, my system works much better with a portfolio diversified among stocks and/or sector funds. The "Stock Trading Riches" formula would then be applied individually to each stock or fund to generate a better return by taking advantage of each position's volatility.
Here is what they said:
"When using Puri’s spreadsheet and making one trade on the S&P 500 ETF (Ticker: SPY) on the first trading day of each year from 2001 to 2008, the result is that his system did beat Buy & Hold. The compounded annualized return of buying and holding the SPY index only, was 1.7%, while Puri’s system delivered 2.0%. Better results may be had with individual stocks, other ETFs, or closed-end funds."
I am grateful for the review. Also, I recommend not using a general index fund because it will lack volatility because the fluctuations of the individual components will cancel one another out.
Instead, my system works much better with a portfolio diversified among stocks and/or sector funds. The "Stock Trading Riches" formula would then be applied individually to each stock or fund to generate a better return by taking advantage of each position's volatility.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
I've updated the description for my book "Stock Trading Riches" on both my publisher's site and on Amazon.com.
I wanted to emphasize less on the idea of zen minimalism, and more on the fact that it is a practical and successful stock trading system.
I really want to share the system that turned my trading around and allowed me to become a successful investor.
Here is the new description (it will take a few days to appear on Amazon.com):
This book introduces a simple and elegant mathematical formula for successfully investing in the stock market. It does not depend on the market moving in trends or creating chart patterns.
I wanted to emphasize less on the idea of zen minimalism, and more on the fact that it is a practical and successful stock trading system.
I really want to share the system that turned my trading around and allowed me to become a successful investor.
Here is the new description (it will take a few days to appear on Amazon.com):
This book introduces a simple and elegant mathematical formula for successfully investing in the stock market. It does not depend on the market moving in trends or creating chart patterns.
Friday, 10 September 2010
The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog has a great article on "How To Increase Productivity By 30 Minutes A Day".
I contributed step # 20!
I contributed step # 20!
While consumers can get free yearly copies of their credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, FICO credit scores are not usually free.
There are, however, a few sites that offer free alternative scores that correlate to your FICO:
1. CreditKarma.com - Once a day, you can pull a copy of your TransRisk credit score from TransUnion.
2. Quizzle.com - Once every 6 months, you can access your CE score from Experian.
3. Credit.com - Once a month, you can see a credit report card based on your TransUnion report. The report card shows a letter grade, as well as a numerical FICO range.
Finally, if you are going to apply for a loan or mortgage, you might want to see your actual FICO score. For $15.95 each, MyFICO.com can give you your Equifax and/or TransUnion FICO scores (Experian no longer sells their FICO score to the public).
There are, however, a few sites that offer free alternative scores that correlate to your FICO:
1. CreditKarma.com - Once a day, you can pull a copy of your TransRisk credit score from TransUnion.
2. Quizzle.com - Once every 6 months, you can access your CE score from Experian.
3. Credit.com - Once a month, you can see a credit report card based on your TransUnion report. The report card shows a letter grade, as well as a numerical FICO range.
Finally, if you are going to apply for a loan or mortgage, you might want to see your actual FICO score. For $15.95 each, MyFICO.com can give you your Equifax and/or TransUnion FICO scores (Experian no longer sells their FICO score to the public).
99% of trading systems use the same old indicators. 99% of all trading books say "the trend is your friend". 99% of traders fail to beat the market. The brutal fact is that a free market is about price discovery. A market works like an organism - "consuming" new fundamental and technical information and rendering it ineffective.
Traders and investors need a system that is flexible and robust - that does not depend on the market moving in trends or creating chart patterns. Praveen Puri created a simple and elegant Zen trading system that doesn't use any news reports, indicators, or charts to distract from Now - the present moment.
Praveen Puri is a minimalist writer with a passion for simplicity, elegance, and Zen. He has been a software developer, full time trader, consultant, and a vice-president at a major bank. Stock Trading Riches is available from Amazon.com.
Traders and investors need a system that is flexible and robust - that does not depend on the market moving in trends or creating chart patterns. Praveen Puri created a simple and elegant Zen trading system that doesn't use any news reports, indicators, or charts to distract from Now - the present moment.
Praveen Puri is a minimalist writer with a passion for simplicity, elegance, and Zen. He has been a software developer, full time trader, consultant, and a vice-president at a major bank. Stock Trading Riches is available from Amazon.com.
Friday, 3 September 2010
| I was interviewed by a Wall Street Journal reporter for their FINS financial website. They even mention my book Stock Trading Riches! http://www.fins.com/Finance/Articles/SB128353087745234097/The-Five-Best-and-Worst-Things-About-Telecommuting-The-Finance-Edition?Type=0&link=FINS_hp_article_photo |
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