Learn

Hey! I am NOT a licensed commodities trader or stock broker or financial consultant or adviser or anything of the sort. I don't have a crystal ball either. However, I can add and multiply. Now, about BWMG, the stock I spoke about last week. Listen and learn. If you had purchased the 500,000 shares at the price I suggested, you would have made a profit of nearly $250.00 by early this morning. Your cost for the half million shares would have been $200 and those shares as of a few hours ago were valued at $450. Now, what bank would have paid you that amount of interest in two days? Buy low and sell high, as they say, and buy hundreds of thousands of shares.  Will BWMG go higher? You be the judge. It's not even at one tenth of a penny right now.  

BUY LOW

This photo shows almost the ENTIRETY of Microsoft in 1978.  In 2012, the company had 94,400 employees.  Microsoft was founded in 1975 but didn’t go PUBLIC until 11 years later.  In between, a lot of people had a chance to invest in Microsoft – to buy shares cheaply.  Those who BELIEVED did, but those who didn’t believe, just shrugged and stayed happy with what they had.  They probably thought the company would stay small.  Would you have invested in these young people?  How much of your money would you have risked?  Of course, when you are an insider you can see things a lot more easily.  From the outside, you hardly see anything other than reports.  The insiders saw how much effort the people in charge at Microsoft put into the business.  By the look of things, it was bound to succeed so the insiders had NO EXCUSE for not buying stock in the company.  

Future Value

In 1977, the third wheel in Apple Computer, sold his stake in the company for $2,300.  He thought the business would fail.  However, by 1980, sales were already at $117 million dollars.  By the end of 2012, his share would have been worth $58 BILLION.  The man now lives a quiet life in Nevada and has stated he made the best decision he could with the information available at the time.  That is an excuse for his monumental mistake.  The truth is he simply didn't BELIEVE in the enterprise.  Jobs and Wozniak had to stick it out – it was their company.  If you don’t believe in your own work and your own words, find something else to believe in.  

Buy very LOW and sell very HIGH

Keep in mind I am not a licensed commodities trader or stock broker or financial adviser of any kind but this stuff is NOT rocket science. If you've heard it once you've heard it a million times: buy low and sell high. Right now, BWMG is at about the lowest point it can get, although yesterday it was even lower. If you have never purchased 1,000,000 shares of anything, NOW is the time. Remember, every penny you put into ANY stock in the stock market is money at extreme risk so play only if you can afford to lose it all. Right now, 1,000,000 shares of this particular stock will set you back about $850. BUT, if it goes up to even HALF a penny, you will have made $4,200 on your $850 investment. In order for it to do that, it must go up at the same rate it did in the last 24 hours - 50% per day. In ONE WEEK. What are the odds - only God knows. Pretty neat I think. 

How to make more money

Remember, I AM NOT a licensed commodities trader, stock broker, financial adviser or ANYTHING of the sort. 
Yesterday, I posted regarding a penny stock - BWMG; in fact, at this point, this particular stock does not even qualify as a penny stock - it is selling at .0008 per share, which is not even one-tenth of a penny. THAT is a great thing. I pointed out that if you invested $250 to purchase 500,000 (that's right, 500,000) shares of this stock you could make a nice pile of cash if the stock moved to FIFTY CENTS per share. It has previously been at $1.90 per share. It was selling at .0005 yesterday and has gone up 53% already. Ok, what that means is that your $250 investment has already paid you $150, AND you still own all the stock you purchased. If you had chosen to leave your $250 in your favorite bank, the BANK would have paid you ONE PENNY. But, let's be conservative and assume that the stock will move more slowly. Let us assume it can go to .05 (five cents per share) in a month. Your $250 investment will have paid you $25,000 by the end of January, 2013. Another thing: it is FAR easier for an affordable stock like this to move 10000% than any blue chip. In fact, no blue chip has ever moved up 10,000%. Nor have precious metals, diamonds, or mining stocks. If this particular stock moves just another 50% by tomorrow or this afternoon, you will have gotten your 500,000 shares for free!!! Are you with me so far? Good luck. 

How to make money

I am NOT a licensed commodities trader or stock broker or financial adviser or ANYTHING. However, I have managed to make a little money using common sense and some luck. If you follow financial news, you know that most people have made fortunes by leaps and bounds, not small increments - via capital gains, inheritances, stealing from their business partners, and that sort of thing. Once you've got a small pile of cash, you can invest some in compound interest accounts and just watch it grow. But you've got to make that first leap first. For instance, this very minute, right NOW, a stock with the stock symbol of BWMG is selling for .0005 per share. Let's say you decide to jump in and buy 500,000 shares. That will set you back $250 plus a very small commission. Let us then say the stock goes up to just .05 (five cents.) In that case, you will have made $250,000. In the past, this particular stock has gone as high as $1.90. The company owns patents but it's very short of cash. It is like a person who might have assets but very little liquidity. Without the liquidity, there is little it can do to market those assets. Will this stock (BWMG) go up again? That is the million dollar question. Good luck to you. 

Obsession

Is it possible to get too caught up in the stock market - to treat it as you would a table card game like poker? I'm afraid so. It can become an obsession - like a beautiful woman or like fine liquor. There is nothing wrong with becoming obsessed, just be careful what you become addicted to. There are always at least two roads to travel - choose wisely. 

Recession and cynics

From the New York Times: “Speaking at a conference in New York in December, Walter M. Pressey, president of Boston Private Wealth Management, a healthy bank with a mostly affluent clientele, said there were no immediate plans to do much with the $154 million it received from the Treasury. “With that capital in hand, not only do we feel comfortable that we can ride out the recession,” he said, “but we also feel that we’ll be in a position to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves once this recession is sorted out.” The report on the TARP concluded that the Treasury’s top priority seemed to be to “stabilize financial markets” by simply giving healthy banks more money and letting them decide how best to use it. The report also said it was not clear how giving billions to banks “advances both the goal of financial stability and the well-being of taxpayers, including homeowners threatened by foreclosure, people losing their jobs, and families unable to pay their credit cards.” For Mr. Hope, the Whitney National Bank chairman, “the main motivation for TARP” was not more loans, but rather to safeguard against the “possibility things could get a lot worse.” He said Whitney would continue making loans “that we would have made with or without TARP.” “We see TARP as an insurance policy,” he said. “That when all this stuff is finally over, no matter how bad it gets, we’re going to be one of the remaining banks.” WHAT UNBELIEVABLE CYNICISM. Isn’t this the same kind of greediness that got us here? Now, thanks to the bailouts, China and the Middle East hold the mortgage on the entire country – first and second lien, as it were. The higher ups don’t care – they will just go live in Europe. 

What's up?

From a Yahoo! News story: “NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002. Upbeat news from Europe set the tone for financials, helping them recover much of Monday's losses and continue a recent robust rally after British bank Barclays (BARC.L) declined to take part in a government asset-protection plan. Even as the broad S&P 500 rose 8.5 percent in March for its best one-month percentage gain since October 2002, uncertainty about the struggling economy left the benchmark U.S. stock index down 11.7 percent for the first quarter.” I think this is rather dumb. Doesn’t anyone adjust for the change in the average? 8.5 percent sounds like a lot but 8.5 percent of 1,000 is a lot less than 8.5 percent of 10,000. There is no reason to smile. Please.

Trust has left the building

From Yahoo! News: “After Geithner's announcement, stock prices fell further and the dollar extended losses while prices for U.S. Treasury debt securities extended gains. James Ellman, President of Seacliff Capital in San Francisco, said: "Investors want clarity, simplicity, and resolution. This plan is seen as convoluted, obfuscating, and clouded." Geithner acknowledged deep skepticism has developed over the fairness and efficiency of a $700-billion bank bailout program approved by Congress in October. He said leaders of some financial institutions that have received money had squandered the good faith that is needed to make the bank rescue effective. "The spectacle of huge amounts of taxpayer money being provided to the same institutions that helped cause the crisis, with limited transparency and oversight, added to public distrust," Geithner said. The revamped approach to the government's financial rescue war chest would use $100 billion to cover risks the Fed would take in expanding a $200 billion program supporting consumer and small business lending to a $1 trillion program that also supports an array of mortgage-related assets. Markets appeared caught off balance by some of the measures that Geithner offered.”
I guess the psychology is now something like what the financial debacle brought to light: If it’s too complex to understand, don’t buy it. One cannot put too high a price on trust, confidence, and honesty. Perhaps those values are the true backbone of the economy? Who really knows? Is there anyone out there who has some credibility with the big investors? PLEASE.

Nonsense

Does anyone really know the stock market? Of course not. Nearly 600,000 jobs were lost in January and the market went up by more than 200 points. If someone with an invisible hypodermic needle went around injecting investors with a good dose of optimism, the market would go up no matter what. That's what happened this Friday, no?

China

There's this story on the net about a statement by the new Secretary of the Treasury having to do with China's manipulation of its currency so that their exports have an unfair advantage over domestic products. It's been like that for quite some time. However, this is not a good time to be making statements like that. The old rule still holds true: never negotiate from a position of weakness. "The statement, which is certain to anger the Chinese government, comes at a particularly sensitive time, with economies in both the United States and China weakening and tensions already rising around the globe over trade. The United States, moreover, is increasingly dependent on China to finance its ballooning deficit." So said the New York Times. It will get interesting, to say the least.

Herd

You've heard of the herd mentality - people behaving as one because they are part of a large herd. Like a game of follow-the-leader. Today, the market behaved badly. It was down 300 points for no good reason other than that everyone thought it was a great time to sell. Tomorrow, it will be a great time to buy. The market keeps hitting bottom (7900) over and over again. The only reason is a lack of courage and an abundance of fear - too much caution, if you prefer. This woman would probably not want to be seen in the company of timid investors. PLEASE. Snap out of it.

Square One

From the New York Times: “Speaking at a conference in New York in December, Walter M. Pressey, president of Boston Private Wealth Management, a healthy bank with a mostly affluent clientele, said there were no immediate plans to do much with the $154 million it received from the Treasury. “With that capital in hand, not only do we feel comfortable that we can ride out the recession,” he said, “but we also feel that we’ll be in a position to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves once this recession is sorted out.” The report on the TARP concluded that the Treasury’s top priority seemed to be to “stabilize financial markets” by simply giving healthy banks more money and letting them decide how best to use it. The report also said it was not clear how giving billions to banks “advances both the goal of financial stability and the well-being of taxpayers, including homeowners threatened by foreclosure, people losing their jobs, and families unable to pay their credit cards.” For Mr. Hope, the Whitney National Bank chairman, “the main motivation for TARP” was not more loans, but rather to safeguard against the “possibility things could get a lot worse.” He said Whitney would continue making loans “that we would have made with or without TARP.” “We see TARP as an insurance policy,” he said. “That when all this stuff is finally over, no matter how bad it gets, we’re going to be one of the remaining banks.” WHAT UNBELIEVABLE CYNICISM. Isn’t this the same kind of greediness that got us here? Now, thanks to the bailouts, China and the Middle East hold the mortgage on the entire country – first and second lien, as it were. The higher ups don’t care – they will just go live in Europe. (The woman is indifferent to all this. She is actually disillusioned too.)

Crystal Balls

From Business Week (the magazine): Some of the worst financial predictions for 2008 and you can see why: “1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" — Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008. 2. AIG "could have huge gains in the second quarter." — Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008. 3. "Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are fundamentally sound.... I think they are in good shape going forward." — Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman, July 14, 2008. 4. "I'm not an economist, but I do believe that we're growing." — President George W. Bush, July 15, 2008. 5. "I think Bob Steel's the one guy I trust to turn this bank around, which is why I've told you on weakness to buy Wachovia." — Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Sept. 15, 2008. 6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" — Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007. 7. "I think you'll see $150 a barrel [of oil] by the end of the year." — T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008. 8. "I expect there will be some failures.... I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks." — Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, Feb. 28, 2008. 9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." — Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007. 10. "There's growing evidence that parts of the debt markets...are coming back to life." — Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian, Business Week, Oct. 1, 2007” THE WOMAN AT LEFT is saying something like "SAY WHAT?"

Celebrations

This makes perfect sense to me. From Tom Dyson: “The Fed has aimed its printing press at the real estate market. The government thinks the falling real estate market is driving the recession and the credit crunch. If it can get the real estate market rising again, it thinks it'll be able to beat deflation and solve all our problems. So any signs of life in the real estate market will validate the Fed's strategy and generate a burst of optimism in the stock market. As I've been reminding you over the past month, the Fed's strategy is absurd. The best way to get prices rising again is to let them fall. The housing market needs to find the price where buyers and sellers meet. The more money the government throws at the market, the longer it'll take for prices to find their true equilibrium and the more time we'll be stuck in a recession.” The woman at left is waiting for us to act responsibly, so please hurry.

Impure gold

This sounds very fishy to me: “Chris Weber, the editor of the excellent Weber Global Opportunities Report, makes the calculation in the most recent issue of his newsletter. He adds up the value of all the paper money in the world... and comes up with $100 trillion. Then he divides this by the total amount of "above ground" gold in existence – 5 billion ounces – and finds a fair value of gold at $20,000 an ounce. If Chris Weber's calculations are correct, the gold price would need to rise about 22 times to match the rise in the quantity of paper money in the system.” So, the question is, why aren’t all the other precious metals factored in???? This must be pure baloney. Gold is at about $850 an ounce right now (today). PLEASE. Even the girl at left knows better. Gold is not edible, remember?

I.O.U.S.A. what???

From an ad I recently read: "At last, here's how you can own the award-winning I.O.U.S.A. documentary FREE on DVD... over a month before it's even available to the general public! It's my gift to you, and it's also just the beginning of what you'll get in our new "Emergency 'Personal Bailout' Bundle" — also FREE — which shows you... What a sham the bailout is, how we got here, and what happened to the America we used to know. How to rescue your retirement with up to 78 personal "bailout" checks instead, paid direct to your account over the next 24 months. And how to salvage the financial security of your children, your grandchildren and America itself." So, you think this is free??? Nope. Nothing is free. If you follow the ad until the very end - it is extremely long and wordy and repetitive and wordy and long (written for persons who have nothing better to do), you will discover that you will be pitched a report on how to get out from having to pay taxes to support the government. If you don't pay taxes, how will that salvage the financial security of America? It is sad and funny at the same time. I don't see the girl on the left laughing. She is sort of asking something like "What's all this about?"

Lesson learned?

From an investor advisory letter: “A lot of people are wondering if there is anything at all good that will come from the financial crisis. Call me naïve if you like or even an eternal optimist, but I think so, beginning with the following: A regulatory overhaul leading to pro-active regulation: With regard to the financial markets, I believe that we will see new mechanisms designed to monitor problems before they get out of control. Some of that will include more transparent valuations and mark-to-market rules, but the lion's share will likely focus on the credit extension problems that have largely created this mess on a variety of levels. What's more, history suggests these changes will stand in stark contrast to Alan Greenspan's repeated refusals to crack down on sub-prime lending practices and his hesitation to impose regulations on derivatives that have figured so prominently in the current meltdown.” I disagree – I think people will always be greedy and irresponsible. In the meantime, Greenspan sits comfortably in his easy chair. Despite his old age, he is not wise. The woman at left probably has no opinion on the matter – she is simply waiting for us to act responsibly, PLEASE.

Deficits and ham

Someone is definitely in a panic over the government’s spending so much on the bailouts. The deficits are mushrooming. Yes, of course. There’s also this guy peddling a video entitled IOUSA. Here's the quote: “It is difficult to know what impact these changes will have on stocks, but I believe, in general, they will drive up prices. In addition to buying the world's best businesses (the Cokes, Intels, and Microsofts of the world), I believe you should have hedges in place for the coming devaluation of the dollar. In other words, you should be buying gold: plain, regular bullion gold coins.” Sure – like the man said: “If I had some ham, I could have some ham and eggs, if I had some eggs.” The woman at left has nothing to do with the credit mess, but it does no harm to have a pretty woman to look at while you go hungry or while you write a blog.