This'n'That; January Tenth #3; Military Presidents

The Presidents In Their Uniforms:

From left to right; top to bottom:
(U.S. Army) General-of-the-Army Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower
(U.S. Navy) Lieutenant John F. Kennedy
(U.S. Navy) Commander Lyndon B. Johnson
(U.S. Navy) Commander Richard M. Nixon
(U.S. Navy) Lt Commander Gerald R. Ford
(U.S. Navy) Lieutenant Jimmuh Cahtah
(U.S. Army) Captain Ronald "Ronaldus-Magnus" Reagan
(U.S. Navy) Lieutenant George H.W. Bush (41)
(U.S. Air Force) 1st Lieutenant George W. Bush (43)
(High School Band) "Slick-Willie" Clinton
(Street Agitator; Closet Muslim) "Clown Prince ZERO-bama, the Narcissist"
Til Nex'Time....

This'n'That; January Fourth #3; A Closer Look?!?

Santorum Deserves A Closer Look
    Like lots'a others, I really didn't give Rick Santorum even 'a passing glance,' politically speaking!  He just never 'jerked my chain,' although I liked his message on practically every topic.  So far, the only one I take issue with is his stance on the Second Amendment; he's voted for various levels of gun control.
    Let's have a look at Iowa:  Although Mr Santorum lost by ONLY EIGHT VOTES, statistically that's a dead-heat.  Emotionally, it's a huge win for Santorum over Mitt Romney!  But.... there IS a benefit to finishing SECOND or worse, in Iowa:
In 1976:  President Gerald Ford won the Iowa republicRATic Caucus but wasn't re-elected.
In 1976:  Jimmuh Cahtah placed second in the Iowa owe-bamacRATic Caucus and was elected (UGH!!) president.
In 1980:  President Jimmuh Cahtah won the Iowa owe-bamacRATic Caucus but was not re-elected.
In 1980:  "Ronaldus-Magnus" placed second in the Iowa republicRATic Caucus and was elected president.
In 1984:  Walter Mondale won the Iowa owe-bamacRATic Caucus; "Ronaldus-Magnus" was re-elected.
In 1988:  Bob Dole (r) and Dick Gephart (owe) were their party's Iowa Caucus winners.  Third-place winners George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis were their party's nominees.  George H.W. Bush was elected president.
In 1992:  Tom Harkin won the Iowa owe-bamacRATic Caucus. "Slick-Willie" was a dismal fourth.  "Slick-Willie" Clinton was elected (UGH!!) president.
In 1996:  Bob Dole won the Iowa republicRATic Caucus.  "Slick-Willie" was re-elected.
In 2000:  George W. Bush and Algore won their party's Iowa Caucus. "Dubya" became the fist Iowa winner to be elected president since before 1976.
In 2004:  John Heinz-Kerry won the Iowa owe-bamacRATic Caucus.  "Dubya" went on to re-election.
In 2008:  Mike Huckabee and barack owe-bama won their party's Iowa Caucus.  The "Clown Prince" was the second Iowa winner (ugh!!) to be elected president since prior to 1976.
So.... Maybe Rick Santorum is in the desired position going into New Hampshire and beyond.... I think so!!
Til Nex'Time.... 

This'n'That, November 3rd[Stocks;Mutual Funds]

Well, Tomorrow Is The Big Day As they say in Chicago [and adopted by ACORN]: "Vote early-Vote OFTEN!!! Retirement Funds As with almost everyone else, my IRA is down, WAY DOWN!! Since the first of the year, mine has dropped 47%!! Dropped so far that I'm considering changing fund families. The account is currently in a family that I've dealt with for probably twenty years. I'm considering changing to another family that I've previously dealt with, although not for as long nor with as much money. The Stock Market And Stocks My active [non-retirement] stock account is down about 65%. I don't expect a very quick recovery so I'm planning on selling the bulk of the losers prior to December 31st. The sale[s] will generate a deduction from my taxable earnings. I have some that the proceeds of a sale WILL NOT cover the cost of the transaction!! These I'll hold, only because it would be a net expense to sell them. At my on-line trading site, I've established several "watch lists." Each list is separated by objective, like dividend paying, penny stocks, depressed blue chips. Anyone who knows me very well has heard about my greatest investing coup; that of buying Siris Satellite Radio [SIRI] @ $0.60 and selling @ $7.75, a nearly 1,300% gain!! Well, SIRI has caught my eye once again. Last Friday it closed at $0.338. Siris Satellite Radio recently merged with XM Satellite Radio, making the new company [SIRI] THE ONLY PROVIDER of satellite radio informtion and entertainment. One can set a vehicle satellite radio to a particular channel and drive from "beach-to-beach" and "border-to-border" and NEVER LOSE THE SIGNAL!! I guess the best definition of my investing philosophy is that I'm a "purchase-price driven investor." As a long-haul trucker, I always had XM Radio in my trucks, but invested in Siris due to the stock's price. At the time of my sixty-cent purchase, XM stock was in the 12-dollar range. In the "Blue Chip" sector, one I'm watching is General Motors [GM]. Last Friday GM closed at $5.79. Just about a year ago [11/01/07] the stock closed at $38.80. Given recent activities involving Chrysler, it's hard to tell how long GM will take to return to a positive financial path. Nevertheless, GM is still considered a blue chip stock and as such, should be considered a sound investment. Another automotive stock to consider is Ford Motor Co [F]. Last Friday F closed at $2.19. A year before [11/05/07] it closed at $8.99. Five years ago, Ford was in the $15.50 range. Ford seems to have a lot of room for advancement once the general economy sorts itself out. As a sometime NASCAR fan, I'm continually searching for racetrack and race team stocks. NASCAR itself, is what's called a "closely-held" corporation. The France family and possibly a few close friends own all the stock in the organization. I suspect that there's one of those "sell it to me, first" agreements amongst the current stockholders. NEVER do shares of NASCAR come available to "commoners" like you and me. Sofar, I've been able to find the following three racetrack stocks. Dover Motorsports, Inc [DVD] has racing venues in Dover, Del., Memphis, Tn., Nashville, Tn., and St Louis, Mo. Last Friday DVD closed at $2.14. Earlier this year [01/29/08], DVD closed at $7.68. DVD pays a quarterly dividend [annual rate: 2.8%]. Speedway Motorsports, Inc [TRK], closed last Friday at $15.95. A year ago [11/06/07], it closed at $38.77. TRK pays an annual dividend at the rate of 2.13%. International Speedway Corp [ISCA] closed last Friday at $31.39; a year ago [11/13/07] at $45.31. ISCA pays an annual dividend at the [dismal] rate of 0.38%. Remember: Due Diligence!! Ji cuz I like a stock certainly don't make it a good investment!! One has to do his/her due diligence, researcing all the "nooks and crannies" to find any and all information concerning an interesting stock. Some metrics the investor should know and search out during the research process are: ***Net Profit Margin [net pretax profit divided by revenue]: The bottom line-the amount the company has left over after every other expense is taken out. ***Gross Profit Margin [gross profit divided by revenue]: It's the company's revenue minus what it costs to make the product/produce the service. ***EBITDA Margin [EBITA divided by revenue]: This is used by companies as a shorthand measure of cash flow. EBITDA is Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization. ***Return on Equity [net income divided by total equity]: The return investors [shareholders] are realizing on their investment. ***Return On Assets [net income divided by total assets]: The net income generated for each dollar of assets. Especially relevent for capital-intensive industries, like manufacturing. ***Interest Coverate Ratio [EBITDA divided by interest expense]: This rougly shows how easily a company can repay it's debts. ***Debt To Equity Ratio [total liabilities divided by total equity]: What the company owes compared with what it owns. ***Inventory Days [inventory divided by cost of goods sold, multiplied by 365]: The amount of time it takes to convert inventory into sales. ***Accounts Payable Days [accouts payable divided by the cost of goods sold, multiplied by 365]: The average number of days a company takes to pay it's bills. ***Accounts Receivable Days [accouts receivable divided by sales, multiplied by 365]: The aerage number of days a company's customers take to pay them. ***Current Ratio [total current assets divided by total current liabilities]: The amount of cash [or assets easily converted to cash] on hand. ***Quick Ratio [cash+accounts receivable divided by total current liabilities]: Similar to the "current ratio," this is a good measure of a company's short-term cash position. The Jeep Compass Has anyone driven one of these? We got rear-ended in our 2007 Honda Accord a coupla weeks ago. The car "was admitted" into the repair shop this morning. The other guy's insurance provided for a rental car. We were unlucky enough to get a 2009 Jeep Compass. Man, I DO NOT LIKE this vehicle!! It has an automatic transmission [naturally!!] and the way it shifts is kinda funky. Ya hafta push the floor-mounted shift lever sideways to advance "up" the drive range; like from D-1 through D-6. G-O-O-F-Y!!!! If I was given one of these today, I'd sell/trade it "before the sun went down!!!" Til Nex-time........

This'n'That: October 6th

The current Housing/Financial Crisis: The current fiasco had it's origins in the first and second "Slick-Willie" administrations as well as George H.W. Bush's [#41] presidential term. The Department of Housing and Urban Destruction's [HUD] 1991 financial statement was so inaccurate and lacking in current financial information that the Auditor, PriceWaterhouse, couldn't file an opinion. For the previous 15 years, the "Contracts for Rent" records HAD NOT been reconciled. That period was included in the Carter, both Reagan and the G.H.W. Bush administrations. Precipitated by the "King" riots of 1992, the following year Sec'y Henry Cisneros [HUD] memoed then President Clinton asking for "a multi-faceted urban policy," with tax and housing credits for the working poor, expanded home-ownership programs, and economic empowerment zones to encourage business investment. Clinton put $5 billion into "Empowerment Zones" which was intended to help communities to develop their own recovery plans and become economically viable. Apparently, Clinton isn't/wasn't a really student of history. If he had been he would have realized that the actions of his predecessors hadn't worked or were only marginally successful. The presidents and their attempts: TRUMAN [Urban Renewal], KENNEDY [War on Poverty], JOHNSON and NIXON [Model Cities], FORD [Community Development Block Grants], CARTER [Urban Development Action Grants], REAGAN, BUSH-41 and CLINTON [Enterprise Zones]. Looks to me like there are two schools of thought at work here; The Democrats doing what they do so well-Pissing away hardworking taxpayers' money through poor/no planning and the Republicans who use crap like this to buy votes. [Continuing on......] A New York Times Magazine article by Nicholas Lemann in January, 1994, stated in part: "Economic revitalization efforts pass every test but one, the reality test. They are popular among all the keys players in antipoverty policy; they sound good; they have bipartisan appeal; they are based on tax breaks rather than on spending so are easier to pass. The only problem is that so far they haven't worked-which creates a larger problem." Poor planning was in evidence when Johnson asked and Congress passed legislation in 1965 to create the Department of Housing and Urban Destruction. The legislation failed to enummerate the responsibilities of the lateral organizations as well as regional, state, county and local organizations. HUD deals with approximately 3,100 public housing agencies that disperse 80%[+/-] of all HUD funds and manage 1.3 million housing units. HUD has such arms as Federal Housing Administration [FHA] and the Government National Mortgage Asssociation [GINNIE MAE] The private Federal National Mortgage Association [FANNIE MAE] is the corporate "sister" of Ginnie Mae and is subject to regulation by HUD. Til nex'time.....