Rosetta

Just got done reading this interesting projection for Rosetta Stone. Most people are extremely familiar with this software and the language learning it offers. For a long time this has been the most popular language learning program out there. I don't see marketing really pushing sales up that much because this is such an established brand and I know few people who have actually purchased this product. The main reason: $$$$$. It is very expensive and no one has that kind of money for a hobby, especially among my friends (maybe I just have cheap friends. Anyway, if you're feeling ambitious, give this one a shot.

NFL

If there was a way to invest in NFL Football without the billions it would cost to run a team, I would definitely do it. I know that this is kind of outside the investing spectrum, but there isn't a more sure bet than investing in pro football. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6424084

Marc Faber Explains Everying.

Seriously, you want to understand America watch this video.

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Jim Rogers on Silver and Gold

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/jim-rogers-comments-triple-digit-silver-and-issues-warning-parabolic-moves-always-collapse?

Basically if Silver goes to over 100 dollars an ounce this year, and the dollar is relatively stable, then it is time to sell as a parabolic move has been made. He also comments on The University of Texas taking delivery of gold they had ordered a long time ago, which is a huge shift from just trusting that it was in the vault.

Row Row Rhodium-Gently down the .....

So much has been written and discussed about the bullish trends of silver and gold. These two commodities provide safe harbors for those of us concerned about the strength of the Euro and Dollar. I for one don't know how the Euro continues to perform so well amidst Portugal and Greece's bankruptcy issues and other countries like Ireland and Spain in serious financial calamity. Markets always stretch and contract and right now we are seeing some serious stretching. Stocks continue to perform well in the United States, although data suggests that the housing market is not half of what is needed for a healthy economy.
Although gold and silver are relatively safe bets for the time being, I'd like to draw attention to another commodity that has fallen upon some hard times. Rhodium was nearing $3,000 a year ago and was a popular commodity option. A year later we are seeing a different story. Rhodium is now under $2.300 as Kitco so nicely illustrates for you graph lovers (http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/rh0365lnb.html). Hopefully nothing will happen like this to the gold market and we'll see a 25% decrease in price, but anything can happen in the market.

Apple of my Eye

Apple stock continues to grow. You might have to break all of the piggy banks around the house to get into a single share of this stuff, but based on previous history this stock will continue to climb. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/04/20/breaking-news-apple-torches-estimates-again.aspx?source=ihpsitth0000001 With multiple products on the market that continue to fly off the shelves, it appears that there is not heights that Apple can't go. This is not a stock that you are going to get rich off of, but it is a stock that has been reliable and performed consistently (except for the 2008 crisis) over the last few years.

Dollar Droppin

I hope that no one is planning on buying any real estate in Europe soon. The dollar has hit a fifteen month low and the Euro is hitting heights that haven't been seen in a year. For our European friends, now is the time to buy buy buy in the United States. With a depressed housing market and low dollar value, now is the time for foreign investors to buy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-20/dollar-near-15-month-low-versus-euro-on-global-growth-optimism.html

The good thing is that we are seeing a stronger Euro, which bodes well for the global economy.

Here's one glad man who is glad he did his European travel last year. The same trip that was taken nearly a year ago would now be several hundred dollars more expensive.

Gold's Continued Growth

So how does gold continue to increase in value amidst strong market data and low commodities trading?

Check this out: http://www.thestreet.com/video/11087343/gold-prices-hit-1500.html#910928509001

Stock Dividend Picks

There are many advantages to having stocks that pay out dividends. As a young man, my grandpa bought me one share of McDonald's stock. I didn't think much of this gift in my youthful naivete and thus did nothing with this piece of paper indicating that I owned 1/1,000,000,000,000,000 of the McDonald's Corporation. Today, I own even less stock in McDonald's, but my share has turned into 2.14 shares of the same stock because I have reinvested the dividends all these years. Thanks to my grandpa's foresight those many years ago, this original one share now is worth quite a bit.

Here are some great stock picks that pay out great dividends that will guarantee you some sort of return on a regular basis without you having to sell your shares. I'd like to indicate that McDonald's is on the list and I have personally benefited from this stock.

Here's the link: http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2011/04/19/you-should-own-these-7-dividend-triplers.aspx?source=ihpsitota0000001&lidx=4

Peter Schiff Mortgage Bankers Speech Nov/13/06

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8rMwdQf6k

Watch it and learn about the housing bubble.

20 is the new 40

The Age of Government strikes again.

A close friend recently confided in me that he was going to Flight Trafficking school in Southern California. He wanted to learn how to be a flight controller for the FAA because 1) the pay was good right out of school 2) there exists a high degree of job security and 3) he could retire in 20 years. As he related the perks of yet another government job I couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for myself. I've probably got another 45 years to work, considering that the cost of living will be higher in the future, I'll probably live longer, I'll have no access to Social Security and I'll be supporting my children financially at some level.

How does someone merit retirement after a mere 20 years of labor? I'm not trying to downgrade the fact that 20 years is a significant time or that the days are easy. Many government workers have stressful jobs with low levels of satisfaction, but so do many people in the private sector.

At the end of last month I was privy to another example of a government failing. My work is planning to construct an adjoining facility that will bring large amounts of tax revenue to the municipality. The plans needed to be approved by the City Building Commission, but as it turns out, they could not review the plans immediately because their offices shut down for two weeks at the end/beginning of the New Year. No one came in for two solid weeks. As a private sector employee, I receive two weeks a year of vacation to use at my digression, but here the government agency decided that they'd received a bit of surplus for the year and everyone was going home for two weeks. If that isn't an inefficiency in our current form of government, I don't know what is.

I look forward to joining my friend at his second retirement when I finally reach my first retirement. I'm so glad that I'll be funding not only my own, but also his life after work through my inefficiently allocated tax dollars.

Sell High??

The adage that I learned from my grandpa when I first started to invest was to buy low, sell high. This seemed like the most logical advice for any investor. It still makes a lot of sense to me, but the big question that still perplexes me is how do I know when a stock is high and how do I know when a stock is low? There is no definitive answer. There is historical data to tell an investor what the stock has done before, but most of the time that is bares no indication to what the stock will do in the future. For those of you who are investing and not simply gambling, relative highs and lows do not matter in the long run. If you are invested in a stock, bond, or real estate that is appreciating in value, hold on to it. By selling high you are opening yourself up to huge tax liabilities and perhaps losing out on the long run opportunity of an investment's returns.

As long as you decide to invest consistently and diversify your investment choices, don't worry about the short term price fluctuations.