Is That Gold?!?!?

Hey, how are ya??

Well, maybe not in this blog, but I've said it from time to time, we'll know gold is starting to get noticed when the cover of some financial magazine has a stack of kruggerrands on it...

Well, they're not K-Rands, but...

Yep... Those are United States Gold Eagles... 1 troy ounce pure gold coins... an excellent investment.

It's okay though, the article inside completely poo-poo'ed all over gold, and acted like the amazing 4 year run up is "over", and it could take "a big fall"...

For the record, I don't see how, as the Fed is busy day and night debasing our currency, and foreigners now seem determined to "co-inflate", to protect their home industries, and their beautiful trade surpluses... ahem, as if their tariffs weren't enough. Do you ever get tired of living in the last country on earth that doesn't have their borders closed, and firm import tariffs in place?? Just wondering...

Speaking of gold...

Not bad... Only a couple months ago, I pointed out that gold hit a 16 month high in the low $700/ounce range... these are all time records, kids.

Anyways, it's been bitter cold here. I picked up a couple used games for the XBox 360, at bargain prices. Full reviews will follow. But for now:

Lara Croft:Tomb Raider Legend. Visually very nice, a beautiful game. Fairly easy learning mode to ramp up. Abilities seem intuitive to grasp. I really struggled with Prince of Persia... this is easier. I'm just getting started... but so far, I like.

The Darkness. Very creepy gothic horror adventure thing. So far, nice. Not that easy to learn. The "darkness" powers of your undead main character are original, but also strange, and sometimes clumsy & difficult to grasp, even with a game guide, which I would say is a must for this one.

No Football this weekend. Seems strange... what did we used to do before football season?? Oh yeah, we rode Harleys, and waxed cars, and sat in the sun and read books... right. Hmm, it's so effing cold out right now, maybe that's the problem.

You like the Patriots?? I do. I think we see a monster Super Bowl Blowout on the way to 19-0. Thanks to Tedly Thompson, who, in his brilliance has built a warm weather team in Green Bay Wisconsin, the very weak Giants have been delivered to the Super Bowl. Good thinking Ted.... that's why they pay you the big bucks....

Saw a good movie... I rented "The Kingdom". Real good. The politics is more of a backdrop, it's really just a decent adventure suspense FBI type of thing... starts off slowly, but builds up nicely. Great performances by Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, and Chris Cooper. Real nice. This cast has some real chemistry, and it's very nicely shot. I can't really give a plot synopsis without giving it away, and there are some surprises, so, you'll just have to take my word...

Everyone's gotta believe in something.... I believe I'll find a snack...

Buying opportunities...

Hey, how are ya??

Got my truck back. Looks good. It's frozen right now, but it's nicely repaired...

Well, the markets are down... And do you know what that means?? That means the stuff you want is ON SALE!!!

THIS is when you buy!!!

Look, lets say I looked at a Harley, and they wanted $13,000 for it... And I said "Naaah" and went home. They call me the following week and say "Hey, how about $11,800??"

It's the same bike. In the same place. Same. Just cheaper.

Maybe you like Microsoft. Maybe you like The Amex Gold Bugs Index. Maybe you like Gold and Silver coins, and oil stocks (and if you do, I like how you think...)

Maybe you like Mobil. Whatever. Look, in these "general market corrections", Mobil may go down, but again, Mobil hasn't changed! It's the same Company, with the same properties, same wells, same fleet of trucks.... same. Just like that Harley that went on sale. Same company. Just cheaper. You're always trying to buy food, clothes, computers, big screen TV's, and cars when they're on sale.... why not your stocks??

Do you know what the HUI INdex is?? Better known as the AMEX Gold Bugs Index... a basket of decent gold mining stocks.



As you can see, this thing goes up and down, especially lately. Now, back in August, it was down to below 300 briefly. That was clearly the time to buy. When this thing is downtrodden, and everyone hates it, jump in. There was another point there in December at 380.... that would have been a decent entry point too.

Look, usual disclaimer: I'm a small doggie. Do not take any advice from a small doggie. My primary advice is to get a bacon cheeseburger and give it to me!!! I am not a financial analyst. I hate suits, and I hate double talk. I'm just throwing out ideas. But I would urge everyone to examine your beliefs, read, read some more... subscribe to a newsletter! Whatever! But do SOMETHING, find something YOU believe in, and don't be afraid to be a little bit of a contrarian...

These dips in the market, these are your buying opportunities....

If you wanna watch "Mad Money" on CNBC, go ahead. But keep in mind, that's a cross between entertainment television, and sports gambling "Tout" services, selling their football picks on a 900 line.... Cramer is no different than "Joe Diamond's Ten Star lock of the year".... use caution.

Also, the Internet is really a great tool.... back when I was at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm School of Business, it was really really hard (and expensive) to get your hands on the data... nowadays, any one of a dozen websites has charts, moving averages, whatever. It's all out there. It's free and easy. Read! When you're done, read some more!! We could only DREAM of access & info like this back in the day.... I found that chart in 2 seconds. Uploaded it in 30 seconds. Boom. Just like that.

So, good luck. Many of these companies & Commodities are the buy of a generation right now....

Crash! Boom! Bang!

Hey, good day...

Well, as you may or may not know, some kamikaze pilot driver cracked into the Envoy, so that's back at the body shop.... nice.


So, I get a rental car... they show up en masse from Mayfair Rent a Car, this body shop is so busy.... and the way people are driving, I'm not surprised... gives new meaning to the term "reckless disregard". So look idiots, if you're gonna strap on the white headband with the rising sun on it, pleeeze stay the f*** away from me on the road, okay?? But anyway, they show up with a Neon, some minivan pos, and a Chrysler 300. So, in a very odd, almost out of body experience, I'm sitting there HOPING the Chrysler 300 IS FOR ME?!?!? Yes, I kid you not. And it was! lol!






Yeah, so, let's run down the Chrysler 300:

Thumbs Up: 1. Decent looking sedan, for a 4 door.
2. Drives nice, and actually isn't a complete death machine in the snow, despite being rear wheel drive.
3. Seat has a humongous range of adjustment... if you can't get this thing set comfortably, start taking the bus... could use seat memory though.
4. Lights and wipers work reasonably nice.

Thumbs down: 1. I've heard it said that Chrysler wants to move upscale, to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln, and this is the flagship. Uhhh, you're not there yet. This 2007 300 falls well short of a 1997 Eldorado Touring Coupe in many areas.
2. This complicated gate deal on the automatic transmission, is that necessary?? Is that supposed to seem sporty?? It seems like I gotta look at it and play with it a lot to find the gear I want, to be honest...
3. A 2.7 Liter V6?? Utterly inadequate. At WOT, it gets louder, but not much happens. When you floor a Northstar-powered Cadillac, you better have a LOT of open road ahead of you, because you will be going 100 real soon...
4. You go to rear-wheel drive, and then you make the numbest steering setup I've ever seen. May as well have a joystick in it... zero road feel. If you're gonna have zero road feel, you may as well have front wheel drive...
5. Complex hood opening... and the owners manual is full of helpful tidbits like "If you have any problems, take it to the dealer." I'm real annoyed with that whole thing, from car makers... do you mind if I check the oil?? Battery is nowhere in sight. Basic stuff like oil changes, battery, air filter... that stuff should be accessible so that the owner can do it... That's part of good engineering, that has been totally ripped out of the process by accountants, dealer people, marketing, whoever.... make the damn thing so I can do the basics myself. Would that kill ya??
6. Touchiest brakes I have ever experienced, ever. Ultra touchy. I mean, I thought my C5 Corvette with a complete West Coast Corvettes caliper and rotor set on it was touchy... and it was... but it was nothing compared to this thing. You breathe on the brake pedal, and the sensation is just like, if you chained the car to a building, and the slack ran out, and the car just snapped to a stop...

Summary: it's actually not that far away from being an okay car. In a way, I wonder if I might be happy with a DeVille... this 4-door doesn't seem that bad. Now, with a V8, and loaded with amenities, it might be nice. I suppose this thing is a stripped rental deal, to be fair. Loaded up, it might have merit, in some ways.

So, I pick this thing up yesterday, and head off to work. On the way there, 2 idiots almost crack into me big time, in the snow... I tell ya, I'm on a roll.

More playoff action tomorrow. I'm psyched. I'm plotting the huge bacon cheeseburger I'm gonna put away during the game.... ahhh! The Doc made me chocolate chip cookies, too... nice.

Happy New Year!!!

Hey, Happy New Year. Wow. 2008. I'm speechless. I may need a bacon cheeseburger, to regain my composure...

Well, I hope you all got what you wanted for Xmas. Try not to be too disappointed by those $25 Home Depot cards I got you.... if I made money like our pal Lloyd, I swear, I would have bought you a Corvette Convertible. I swear!! If you think I'm lying, go ahead and get me $70 million, and I'll prove you wrong.

And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, review December's entries....

Well, I put my new Harley License plate frame on the truck... and my new super slick lighted trailer hitch cover!! Yeah, I know, slick, hey??



Very nice. Special thanks to TT, for getting me that stuff... thanks man.

He also got me this, the narrow thing in the upper part of the picture:



Kind of a shadowbox, with 5 pewter Harleys in it... fits that little narrow wall I have very nicely. TT set that up too, I traded my extra tire for that.... a decent deal... for me at least.



Just rented "Resident Evil: Extinction". If this were a videogame, I suppose the rating would be "Fanboys only"...

If you haven't seen the original "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil: Apocalypse", don't bother, you'll have no clue what's going on....

If you saw them, and did not like them, don't bother.

However, if you did like them, this is a worthly addition to the series. Ali Larter gets a nice supporting role, you might remember her as the blonde in "Heroes" with a split personality, and a classic Cadillac, and a real nice Sniper Rifle... and some familiar faces are back, along with Milla Jovovich, who, if anything, has really grown into the role, and looks better than ever, and gives a well above average performance by horror movie standards.

Again, you directors out there, again this time, the deleted scenes held key plot points that would have been best left in the movie... I mean, really, is there a big difference between a 93 minute movie and a 97 minute movie?? Really?? Is there?? I don't think so. Espcially when critical points that make the whole story are left out....

Nice movie though. Let's go to the checklist:

Extreme zombie violence?? Check.

Extreme "Man's inhumanity to man" violence and themes? Check.

Milla Jovovich clearing a room with a .45 automatic in each hand?? Check.

Jovovich riding the motorcycle through the post-apocalyptic desert?? Check.

Post apocalypse Las Vegas?? Check.

Juicy Sequel Possibilities? Half a check. Allegedly, the sequel will be an animated film, which would really suck, because we've reached a point in the story where it looks like Alice just might get revenge on the Umbrella Corporation, on behalf of all mankind....

Anyway, it's lunchtime, and I need a bacon cheeseburger....