Stock Values

It has been more than three months since I wrote anything of substance on individual stocks or the general market. (The story about me spending $100 on Live World Productions penny stock doesn’t really count, does it?) No, I have not been sleeping; I have been following through on my plans for the year and am happy to report that as of a week ago, Friday, January 22nd, I have accomplished what I have set out to do just over a year ago. Allow me to elaborate...

After only 9 months at his new dream house in Aurora, Colorado, which he took much pains, time and money to set up just right, my cousin Jacob is moving again. What could possibly motivate a single father with three kids to move again so fast? You would never guess.

Most mortgages issued in the US are due on the first of each month, are amortized monthly and carry a grace period of 14 days. Payments on these mortgages could be received by the mortgagee all the way through the 15th of the month, yet they must be credited, as if they were received on the first - no late fees charged and no additional interest accrued.

It's easy enough to move your settings between two working Windows machines running Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 or later. Microsoft has a tool for that - the "Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard." It is easily accessible from Start>Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard.

Today, a short history note on an obscure little company with a long history, surprisingly capable and agile management team and uncertain future. LiveWorld, Inc. (LVWD), which now trades in Pink Sheets, is one of the very few remaining survivors of the 2001 dot com bust. The company got started from the ashes of Apple's short-lived eWorld, the successor of Apple's original 9 year adventure into online services, AppleLink.

Last Saturday I finally got my long awaited Extech EC400 ExStik Waterproof Conductivity, TDS, Salinity, and Temperature Meter from Amazon. (I ordered it on November 11th with the free Super Saver shipping.) I needed it to test the Salinity of a soil sample. Well, it would not turn on. I measured the four CR2032 batteries that it came with - they were of three different brands and as Billy Crystal in his role of Miracle Max in The Princess Bride would say, "mostly dead."

Five years ago I identified this as the most likely scenario for the next decade and moved to the wheat country (Colorado Eastern Plains) shortly thereafter. Under every scenario I can imagine for the next decade (short of Socialism), productive wheat farm ground bought to currently yield at least 3% after expenses will be a good and defensive investment.

We have eight cute little kittens that were born in the chicken house house / greenhouse about six months ago. Their mother was a farm barn cat and she perished before she could teach them how to hunt for mice. We were hoping that they would come around to learning it on their own, but they prefer to come begging us for food, instead.

The question on many stock market participants' minds these days is how much longer will the current rally last. Most of us are sane enough to realize that the good fortunes bestowed upon us by the markets since March will be taken away again at some point in the not too distant future.

My darling little daughter somehow messed up the dishwasher - pressing all the wrong buttons at all the right times and it went into a fault state - flashing "clean" light. The manual only says to call service. Well, a service call is not cheap, they only come out this way once a week and that means having to do dishes by hand for at least two weeks - forget that! Not to mention that the last time they came out a couple of years ago for this same problem, all they did was push a couple of buttons. Now, which buttons were those, again?!