ObsessedWithMoney

TGIF

2006-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

So its been about a month since my last entry. So much has happened, I don't know where to begin.
For one, my car got totaled last week in a fluke accident. So now I am taking the train everyday to work. It takes an hour or so, which sucks but at least my company pays for public transportation so I am saving some money (which offsets a little of the pain of paying the deductible on the accident plus an increase in premiums).

At least my stocks are doing well in the market. A few of my stocks that have done the best are Goldman Sachs (GS), McDonalds (MCD), Starbucks (SBUX), Jcrew (JCG), Red Robin (RRGB).

My biggest losers have been Jones Soda (JSDA) and Washington Mutual (WM).

Because of my stock pyramiding strategy, my portfolio is weighted heavily toward the stocks that have been doing the best because I have been adding to the winners every month (and they have continued to advance) while letting the losers sit idle.

Right now, 17% of my portfolio is in Goldman Sachs even thought it is only 1 of 15 stocks that I own. Only 4% is in Hansen, which is my biggest loser so far.

Because I believe in my ability to pick stocks and beat the market, I am planning on infusing more dollars into my portfolio and I plan to own 50 stocks by the end of the year. I am able to do this with minimal transaction costs because of Sharebuilder, which is an outstanding service.
On a side note, any cash that sits idly in a sharebuilder account gets ~4.5% interest, not too shabby.

The Mondays

2006-09-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

So I didn't win the lottery, but I actually did better than I've ever done before. I got 3 out of 5 numbers, but not the Mega. This paid $7. Cha....ching!!!

I was up late last night watching John D'Agostino on Full Tilt play heads up Omaha H/L $1,000/$2,000 limits. Extremely entertaining to watch. His opponent seemed to be tilting at one point and went from $130K down to $40K, but then scraped his way back up to $90K. Really unbelievable swings, makes the limits I play at seem like chump change. I could never play for those limits. I really don't think it would be much fun even if I had millions in the bank. It is fun to watch though.

I love the Lottery

2006-09-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

I love playing the Lotto. I have lotto fantasies at least 3-4 times a week, maybe more. The Mega Millions jackpot is up to $163M now!! I bought $20 worth of tickets yesterday, hey someone has to win, right?

Wish me luck, the drawing is today!!

I Love Red Robin Burger

2006-09-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

When I buy a stock, I look at both qualitative and quantitative aspects.

I ask myself a few simple questions:

Do I like the product?
Is the company making money and generating cash?
Does the company have a healthy debt structure?

Everytime I go into Red Robin Burger, it is packed with people, like pigs lining up at the trough. They serve delicious burgers and bottomless french fries. It appears to be well-run. Based only on those factors, I bought some Red Robin Stock a few months ago. Its up 25% so far and looks like it is on a healthy uptrend. I'm going to hold onto the stock and keep adding to it every month in my Sharebuilder account. This is part of my averaging up strategy. When the stock goes up, I buy more. If it goes down, I hold onto it, but don't sell or buy more.

I think the worse thing you can do is to average down and buy more of a stock when it goes down. Its like trying to catch a falling knife.

Cha-Ching!!!

2006-09-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.................ching!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo!!!! what a game!!!! Pittsburgh pulled off an amazing victory by beating the spread in the last minute on a breathtaking interception returned for a touchdown. Nothing like taking down $1,000 on a football game with no risk!!
I immediately went to Mansion.com and cashed out my $2,100. Yeah baby!!!
Hope some of you out there were able to place the bet before they closed it yesterday.

Chaaaaaa.......ching!

Free Money!!! Read this!!!!

2006-08-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just found this offer from a sportsbook called Mansion.
They are offering a free $1100 bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers game next Thursday.
If they don't beat the spread, they will refund 100% of your money!!
I did a lot of research on this and it is completely legit.
If you want to lock in a profit, you can bet the other side of the bet on a different site so you can be 100% hedged on the bet (you would guarantee a profit of ~$500).

This is absolutely zero risk free money!!!

Do the research for yourself, but this is an amazing arbitrage opportunity. I made my wager last night......

Go Steelers!!!

http://www.mansion.com/Portal.aspx

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2006/8/online-poker-rooms-nfl-style.htm

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=7066625&Main=7059807

Stock Pyramiding

2006-08-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was run to my computer to check the balance in my bank account. I do this fairly frequently. I just like confirming that all of my money is still there.
After I write this post, I plan on walking down to this bagel place to get an Eggwich. Eggwiches are delicous and I love them. Not as much as I love money, but still a lot. If you haven't ever had an Eggwich, you should try one, they are amazing.

After I get my Eggwich I plan on doing some research on stocks. I have a Sharebuilder account and contribute $700 to it every month. I've been doing something called "stock pyramiding" and its working great so far. Its not very complicated. You start of investing in a basket of stocks (lets say 6). When the stocks go up you add more, when they go down you don't add more. I love this strategy and its working great so far. I've been doing it for 5 months.

I really like the Sharebuilder interface. I'm going to blog more about Sharebuilder in a subsequent post. I will also post all of the stocks I own and more about my stock pyramiding strategy. I'm still trying to figure out all of the formatting stuff though, its complicated!! I keep trying to put stuff in the sidebar, but it messes everything up when I try. Oh well, time to go get my Eggwich.

Emigrant Direct vs. ING Direct

2006-08-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! I woke up this morning and my first thought of the day was how much I loved money. I got a comment on my 1st posting questioning whether I viewed my obsession with money as a good thing. What a great question. I think deep down I know that it would be better in some ways to be obsessed with other things. Like if I was obsessed with helping the homeless or curing a horrible disease. Then I'd be helping society. I'd be adding value to the world. Instead, I am just obsessing over someting very personal -- my net worth. Its very vain and selfish, but I can't help it. Thats who I am for better or worse. I love money and I think about it all day.

Today I was thinking about whether I liked my ING Direct account or Emigrant Direct better. I have both of course. I couldn't decide, its like choosing between your children. I like ING Direct because it was "my first" real money-market account. I like Emigrant Direct because it pays a higher rate. If ING Direct was a celebrity, it would be Lindsey Lohan. Its like the town bicycle, everyone's had a ride. If my Emigrant Direct account was a celebrity, it would be Stacy Keibler because it has lots of assets in it.

So I am going to post details of my networth soon once I fiugre out how to insert stuff like that into my blog. I'm still figuring this all out. I love blogging though, not as much as I love money, but still a lot.

I love ING Direct

2006-08-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to be in love with a bank? I spent two hours today daydreaming about my ING Direct account. The interest rate is high there right now, over 5%! I'm thinking of cashing out some old savings bonds earning 4% and then putting that money in ING Direct. Of course I need to think about the tax considerations because the bonds are accumulating interest tax deferred, but I'll have to pay taxes every year on the ING Direct interest. Hmmm, but I wonder if I should pay the taxes on the bonds now because I might (hopefully) be in a higher tax bracket in 20 years. So many choices to make! If anyone has any advice out there on what to do with old savings bonds, let me know.

Obsessed With Money

2006-08-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

My goal is to be worth $1,000,000 before I am 35 years old. I am going to document this journey. I am going to provide every detail of my net worth on a monthly basis and in between my monthly updates; I will share advice, links and musings related to making money and loving money. This is the only outlet where I can talk openly about my love of money because sadly in society talking about money is taboo and icky even to talk about with friends and family. I hope someday that will change. I think the world would be a better place.