Friday, March 29, 2019

Compared to Brexit, Trump government seems stable, doesn't it?

Gold is a barometer of stability. One day it's way up. Next day, it's up a little more, and a day later, gold's value retreats to below the value a few days earlier. Gold seems to be trending up thus far today.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Poor JEB

Read today that Jeb Bush's embarrassing performance in the 2016 primaries gave his mom a heart attack (never mind that her eldest son was probably the worst republican president since Hoover and struggled to string 5 words together without sounding special). The Obama presidency eclipsed the eldest son's absurd existence enough to have middle America give the republican brand a second look. JEB never stood a chance with the Bush name being equal to Hitler(people still have bumper stickers with Bush Lied, People Died and Impeach Bush).
Considering Bushes and Clinton preceded Obama, there's no wonder the fake Russian collusion story was strung along by the so called "deep state" and the media pundits who were in those administrations. Trump had the birther thing and was savage on all things Obama. Trump trounced Bill Clinton's wife and JEB in 2016. Given GHWB was VEEP under Reagan, one would have to go back to Reagan to Carter to not have a direct cause to be bitter towards Trump. 

Monday, March 25, 2019

gold up? sell, cautiously

After seeming to peak, Gold dipped continuously for a few weeks... and now has rebounded? Did I sell too quickly? I was ahead. I hedged. I'm going to divest some more as the new highs occur. It will be small amounts. I'm able to see the day trend, so I'll cut 5 shares at a time as long as the day is trending up, up from what I last traded off (at least until I hit the complete sell off markers).

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Orange Man Bad

Mueller Time has run its course, so naturally the lack of further indictments  (cause for impeachment) means new angles of attack upon D. J. Trump. The rumors of a possible recession seem to be the newest recycled attack.
Disregard the strange coincidence of Madam Speaker Pelosi being at the helm of government spending during the start of the last recession.
Of course, Mr. Kellyanne Conway questioning his wife's boss's mental state is another mode of attack via 25th Amendment.
News pundits seem to question whether Republican Mueller truly tried or mock the portrayal of a witch hunt by POTUS. Pundits also point to the Mueller indictments and convictions unrelated to Trump-Russia collusion.
Fair comparison is the 2003 WMD situation. There's enough evidence of reasonable existence of WMDs to give Bush administration a pass, but the media had so many sources that turned out to be the same guy being quoted by different people.
The ruse that Trump colluded with Russia spawned by campaign for Hillary is oddly funny because the birther movement also had roots there as well. Oddly enough, John McCain chose to ignore the birther stuff due to his being born outside of what normal people consider U.S.A., but yet wanted to believe the dirty dossier because he was a bitter loser. 
Both Hillary and John voted to invade Iraq... thus signed the death warrants of how many innocent Iraqis?
For all the bad things we were told Trump is thinking, what has he done that's caused as much death or destruction?

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Brexit vs gold (a conspiracy)

A couple weeks ago, I mused whether gold had peaked for the year. It dropped a bit, then bounced back a bit. Brexit chaos in today's news isn't exactly pushing it up from my afternoon gleaning. Three years ago the Brexit vote itself spiked the price of gold. Perhaps there was collusion on the side of pro-Brexit types with gold speculators to ramp up the price of gold? 
Given the markets aren't stable, and it's impossible to time the markets without insider's knowledge... hedging is the only safe move I can envision making until I hit my predetermined goals.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

banks aren't my friend

I have photophobia. The word itself sounds like a psychological problem, but it essentially means I have an allergy. Yes, I'm allergic to light. I don't break out into hives or swell, but rather I start to lose the ability to see clearly coupled with a splitting headache. If you've never had a migraine, the sensation is much like motion sickness while staring into the sun or trying to watch tv with light glaring on the screen.
I've looked into the matter in addition to discussing it with my doctor. My doctor said he could refer me to a neurologist, but there's no cure for it. He said to avoid the migraine triggers.
I have found that having different light sources, particularly natural light and florescent combined, I will start to get tunnel vision. My doctor gave my a couple prescriptions to help once I get a migraine, while Ibuprofen helps prevent headaches, but I'd prefer not to have medicine in me. Wearing a baseball cap with its bill pulled down, helps diffuse light. Wrap around sunglasses also help.
My wife thinks I'm weird. I've had the problem progress a bit since we first got married.  I used to mostly have trouble eating in certain restaurants like Cracker Barrel and Steak n' Shake without positioning myself to not see the lights blending, but now, big box stores, malls, gyms seem to trigger my headaches.
I've taken to wearing a hat and sunglasses as much as possible to avoid the chances of random light causing a headache. Sadly, going to a bank, I am greeted by signs which say that I must remove my sunglasses and hat for the safety of customers.  Very annoying. I feel like I'm being discriminated against though I get that banks need to take precautions against robbers. I hope that other businesses don't follow suit.  

Sunday, March 10, 2019

2020 is a long ways away

It almost feels like the 2016 election still lingers, yet 2020 candidates keep throwing in their hats. The economy seems meh. Unemployment is low, but job growth has stalled. Not sure what exactly the "Blue Wave" is trying to accomplish, but they have a lot in common with the Tea Party from 2010.
People raised tons of cash under the guise of Tea Party mantras, so have the groups under the "Resist." mantra.
Mitt Romney wasn't much of a Tea Party type, yet won the nomination only to lose handily in the general election.
Would be nice if Trump proposed a balanced budget that could placate the less absurd GND elements.
Why not simply tax abortions or at least make them as expensive as delivering a live baby? Tax prostitution. Tax recreational drug use. Tax pornography.
By taxing non-essential surgeries and risky life choices, one would hope the choices would be less frequent.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

RPOS twitter gold

People who criticize Mr. Trump for his avid use of Twitter seem indifferent to its use by his adversaries. I could be wrong, but Trump has willed himself forward as a result of his use of Twitter to challenge the 24-hour news cycle to not ignore him. He picks his battles and doesn't let his battles pick him. Certain people don't hold up well over stretches of time as their snarky rebuttals of legitimate criticism spirals out into alienating natural allies.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Gold vs. dollar

Has Mr. Trump made the economy better? Gold seems to be suffering against a strong dollar. Did I time my FSAGX sale well? I may have sold too little, but I view the investment as long term. I doubt I will completely divest as long as its trading under $44 given my initial buy was at roughly such. I expect to buy back the shares I sold if it dips below $17 again.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Investing is probably dumb

I told my son to learn as much as he can about stocks and dividends.
Having a 401(k) probably is the shadiest legal means to save for retirement. How many people actually know what they're doing? I don't exactly, but I look at what's offered and play with the ups and downs.
Risk management means trying to not lose more than what you put in beyond whatever is being matched by an employer.
It's impossible to time the market, so greed can be a good thing or a bad thing based on timing.
I have a hard time cutting my losses. I tend double down and wait for a bounce back to recoup some of  my losses. Patience is a virtue  that seems to be better served via a system than gut instinct. There's simply too much emotion involved. Emotion impairs decision making.

RPOS lives up to moniker

Telling people that they should be green while not attempting to live the lifestyle may be hypocritical, but to excuse the lifestyle as just "living in the world" begs the question why do you want to abolish ICE?
What a cop out. By saying the United States forces people to use AC and to fly, why should we turn a blind eye to people coming across the border who will increase their personal carbon footprint living an American lifestyle?
Hopefully, people who say they shouldn't have children because of climate change heed their own words.