John Mauldin, who I read often, ran a perfectly ghastly :-) article in his Outside the Box yesterday: click here to read it.    I highlight it here for two reasons:

1. The diagram in the middle is an interesting depiction of the ”tells” or warning signs of companies that fail in a big way which may be useful for shorting or just getting out of the way of the next debacle.

2. At the bottom is a reasoned list of “dead man walking” financials which are poised to inconvenience depositors, bite bondholders, and wipe out shareholders.

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My Favorite Trading Books

Tags: CD, investments, short selling

You may have noticed - and I hope you did - that these blog pages carry advertising.   I’m fascinated with affiliate marketing programs and decided to experiment with a few select companies I know and use myself.  

To date, in each post where I’ve put a link to an advertiser, I have included a disclosure that says I’ll get commission on the sale.  Now that I think about it, it’s not such big a deal that they need to get called out in every post.  So I’m going to discontinue that, explain here how it works, and let this post be my blanket disclosure.  
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Tags: advertising, affilliate marketing, commission, commission junction, google, Internet, internet

Here is a high level survey of software platforms to build web sites, ranging from high price professional tools to their free open source counterparts.  This is not meant to be a comprehensive report – its a rundown of my recent experiences.  (more…)

Tags: dreamweaver, drupal, internet, moveable type, open source, template, web, web hosting, web site builder, wordpress

This note on web hosting is part 3 in a series on what I’ve learned about setting up web sites.   Check the category “Internet Business” for the rest.   
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Tags: internet, web, web hosting

Several friends asked about setting up a website so I’m sharing my experiences here in this blog.  I wrote an overview earlier. Today’s post is about domain names.    (more…)

Tags: domain name, internet, web, web site

Yesterday I participated in Market Wizard Ed Seykota’s Trading Tribe Meeting at Lake Tahoe.   (more…)

Tags: psychology, trading

I took a break today and got outdoors blading with a dear friend who is a master-rated figure skating coach.  We had a lovely time on the picturesque Los Alamitos Creek Trail, through Alamden Lake Park in San Jose, CA.  Blading is not for everyone but I highly recommend taking a look at this area in whatever way suits you.

Tags: almaden, blading, los alamitos creek trail, san jose

Do you know, when you look at a web page, what you are really seeing? Do you wonder how this site got here?  I want to share what I’ve learned lately about making websites and give a roadmap for people who, like me, want to have their own sites for business and pleasure.   (more…)

Tags: content, credit card processing, domain name, hosting, shopping cart, web, web site, web site builder

Tags: adventure travel, camping, colorado river, Grand Canyon, kayak, raft, rapids, whitewater

Yesterday at Little Basin hiking with Sempervirens docents, we came across an interesting moth.   At the time, we didn’t know what it was.

Elegant Sheep Moth on Sempervirens Hike

Today docent Karen DeMello identified the moth.  She writes:

What a great day yesterday at Little Basin!  This morning I’ve been poking around the internet to find a photo of the moth that we saw yesterday.  If you scroll 1/3rd down this page, it’s in the middle and called “Elegant Sheep Moth”. 

See what I mean — these docents know their stuff and are dedicated to constantly building their knowledge!

Tags: elegant sheep moth, hike, little basin, moth, redwood, sempervirens, wildlife