Category: stocks

  • Helping the Poor, Practically

    Kiva
    For a few weeks I have been drawn to a little website called kiva.org. Kiva offer microcredit to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

    How does it work?
    It’s really quite simple. You create an account, you chose someone you’d like to loan money to, and you pay with PayPal. 100% of the money goes to the person who then repays the money to you on a pre-determined schedule.

    Sound shady?
    When it comes to our money, we are so suspicious aren’t we? 
    Well, microlender Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

    Adam, what are you saying?
    Well, I read enough… tonight I invested in a small business in Samoa. The "why" is really simple. Rather than just giving someone a handout… why not help them get started in something that can secure their future?
    We made a simple, small investment in order to help someone out.

    It’s another one of my many experiments. I am keeping an eye on the benefits of this as I can easily see something practical like Kiva becoming a practical part of Light Force or even YMX.

  • XM and Sirius to merge

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_6
    Press release

    All I can say is "phew!" I’ve been waiting for this to happen. Hopefully this will lead to an overall increase in stock values for Sirius.

  • Stocks, stocks, stocks

    It’s been a long time since I thought about my stock portfolio. I suppose that’s just part of a buy & hold strategy. For the most part, buy & hold should mean "buy & forget about." Interestingly enough, some of the stocks I sold last year to lock a small profit have since soared. Tough to know those kind of things. If I knew that was going to happen… I’d be a stock broker and not a pastor.

    Here’s what I’m holding now:

    Sirius: The majority of my portfolio is still in the satellite radio provider. I like the product, but my personal usage has dove since getting an iPod… which leads me to wonder when I should sell. Yet the stock is up 5% this past week on speculation that they may be looking to merge with XM. I have a number I’m looking for before that happens. That stock has done very poorly in the last year and I’m not interested in locking in a major loss.

    Texas Roadhouse: Again, I’m souring on one of my stocks. I don’t like the fact that I went in our local one and it was fairly empty (no line) on a Friday night. Also, the place wasn’t as clean as the steak clientèle wants. I’ve got a sell number in mind on this one too.

    Statoil: I still like the outlook for the Norwegian Oil driller. I like that they are an environmentally friendly driller. They are proving that you can be both safe for the environment and profitable. I like them and I’m holding them for a while.

    Others: I own some mutuals and other companies that are too new for me to say anything about halfway intelligently.

    Upcoming: Here are a couple I’m looking at, still doing my homework on.  News Corp, Cedar Fair, National City, Proctor & Gamble

  • NY Times Article on Housing Allowances

    A YMX forumite posted a link to this NY Times article called, "Religion-Based Tax Breaks: Housing to Paychecks to Books"

    I think the article accurately described the issue. In fact, this is a clearer presentation of what pastors and ministry leaders can get exempt from than I’ve seen anywhere else. The rules and limits have changed a few times in the past several years so I actually appreciate that aspect of the article.

    As someone who lives in the tax world described, I’ll just say that it’s no bed of roses. I would gladly switch back to "regular employee" status to avoid the paperwork, quarterly payments, and tax filing nightmares which may be saving me a total of $1000 per year. (Or less!)

    The article seems to be bringing to light the inequity of the tax-break. It argues that non-religious non-profit workers, teachers, and child care workers are also underpaid in society and deserve similar tax breaks. I don’t know how I feel about that. I think doing so with so many people would devastate the IRS and ultimately raise taxes for everyone. If you ask me, I’m all for the elimination of the IRS and a flat sales tax on everything.

  • A Monster Donation

    GatesnbuffettIn case you missed this, Warren Buffett donated about $30 billion to the Gates Foundation.

    In an announcement on the Gates Foundation site the world’s richest man said about the second richest man, "We are awed by our friend Warren Buffett’s decision
    to use his fortune to address the world’s most challenging inequities,
    and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it
    to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

    Read all about it at Fortune Magazine.

    Needless to say, this is incredible news.

  • A Sirius Comeback

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_5Finally! With a whole slew of good news it appears Sirius is finally starting to rebound. For a while it was down below $4 a share.

    With the lawsuit that XM has going and their restatement of lower numbers, it’s clear that Sirius will win the satellite radio wars… so when will they be rewarded for that with a big upshot on the stock?

    I think some of the problem is that Howard Stern got a boatload of stock and he’s trying to unload it… which has resulted in the market being oversold with Sirius. Put that with my buddy Jim Cramer… who every time he mentions the word "Sirius" we see the thing go down $.20/share… and you see the recent downslide.

    If they really do have a profitable 4th quarter I’m looking for the stock to get back into the $9-10 category. In fact, if I were a stock broker I’d label it a buy.

    Of course, on top of that I think it’s a fabulous product.

  • I’m getting really Sirius

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_4Well I did it again. I’ve bought still more stock in the company I think will win the satellite radio wars. The bottom line why I keep buying more and more of it is that I just think it’s a good product, a good price, and it will be a money maker for a long time. I read an interesting article today that said that the average person listens to their radio 40% of the time they are in their car. But a satellite radio owner listens 75% of the time. This is good for ad dollars. I like it and think Sirius will hopefully go above $6 in the next quarter.

  • Off to the Bend

    The house is buzzing this morning as we get everything ready to head to South Bend for the funeral. The odd thing about funerals is that they have a way of bringing family together. I am looking forward to that aspect.

    In other news, Light Force still rocks. We had our monthly concert of prayer & pizza night. It was well attended… especially since about 10 of our core students were mysteriously AWOL.

    Still more news, clearing the schedule. I am about 75% sure everyone knows that I’m unavailable for the next few days. I didn’t realize just how many meetings I had scheduled until I had to start letting people know.

    Yep, something else. Stock picking time. I haven’t been doing great lately, but I haven’t lost a lot of money. That said, it’s time to make my quarterly investments. I’ve got to decide if I want to add a new company or deapen my investments in one of my current compaines. I’m leaning towards investing in a long-term Blue Chip stock. But I have to do some research first.

    Is that it? Nope. As I am sitting here listening to CNBC this morning, I am beginning to think it would be fun to release Youth Ministry Exchange’s numbers quarterly. Check out the YMX Press Center

  • finally making money?

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_3After my last investment in Sirius (SIRI) the stock promptly lost another $.75. Thankfully, due to two great bits of news, Sirius made a nice rebound. First, it was announced Friday that Volkswagen and Audi will install Sirius radios exclusively in their cars. Previously, some were also shipped with XM. Second, they announced that they’ve passed the 4 million subscriber number. My feeling since the beginning that Sirius will win the satellite radio race. I make the comparison between Sirius and upstart America Online back in the early 1990’s when they were chasing CompuServe. Remember them? They were the "big dog" who brought the ISP to the national stage… but they got swallowed by AOL in the mid-1990’s.

    Texas_roadhouse_1A lot less news on Texas Roadhouse. (TXRH) Things are looking up, the stock… like Sirius… has been making some big gains. As the Roadhouse continues to grow in popularity it my hope that the franchise will surge forward in many new locations.

    What’s next? I’m keeping an eye on the IPO of Tim Horton’s. Since I’m not a hard core investor and this is a new hobby for me, I don’t have a lot of access to IPO’s, but I like to see one of my favorite businesses going public. There is nearly infinite growth potential for this place. Growth is good!

  • Doubling Down on Sirius

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_2I like Sirius (SIRI) so much personally that I doubled down on it last night. The stock has been down as Howard Stern sells off his shares, but the company is good enough, it has good executive leadership, and the product itself is downright cool and developing. So after dumping Intel last week, Sirius is my sole technology stock.