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Stock Ideas Investors Daily Edge Harleys, Jazz, Girls, and Stocks
Stock Ideas Investors Daily Edge Harleys, Jazz, Girls, and Stocks 
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| Harleys, Jazz, Girls, and Stocks |
| Friday, 29 August 2008 | ||||||||
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Those who know me think I’m pretty rational. Not too liberal, not too conservative. I even have my girlfriend confused on the whole thing. I loved going out all night and getting into trouble. But then I’d come home, pull up a chart, and start talking fiscal policy. Hell, sometimes when I was out partying I’d still talk fiscal policy. For some reason, that’s what my friends and I talk about often. What makes things even stranger is the fact that these friends consist of a construction worker, a pool boy, and various other jobs not associated with the investing world. But since they consider me an ‘expert’ on the subject, they direct questions at me. “Charles, what are your thoughts on free trade?” I love this question because my friends lean even further to the left than I do. Heck, their fathers loved the Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix as much as anyone growing up in the '60s did. So, as you can imagine, when it comes to free trade they are skeptical. Me, not so much. Maybe it’s because I come from a very conservative Puerto Rican household. But as much as I lean to the left on certain topics, when it comes to free trade I’m as right as can be. Do I feel free trade has been done ‘right’ thus far? Not in the least. Too many countries have too many politically sensitive tariffs to protect their domestic industries. These tariffs really hamper free trade… and any benefits associated with it. Yes, yes, they also protect the domestic industry from getting screwed by the big importers. But they also keep domestic prices much higher then they need to be.
My friends, needless to say, never like my argument on the matter. If it were up to them, every domestic industry would be protected by the hand of the government. But ask them about Wal-Mart and the typical answer is “Wal Mart Rocks!” The irony is hilarious. Liberal or Conservative… it’s Only a Label I’m going to cut to the chase here… because it really doesn’t matter if you think I’m a conservative or a liberal. In fact, it doesn’t even matter who is conservative or liberal. It’s nothing more than a label. You dig? I mean, think of how broad those labels are, and it seems anyone who doesn’t fit within the confines of the two, is labeled a moderate. Whatever happened to good ideas? It seems to me that labels do nothing more than make people a little lazier. Some people will often say… “Oh what, he’s a liberal? We’re very different!”. Who would’ve thunk that this liberal (yes, me) is in favor of offshore oil drilling and free trade? Some people are simply far more complex than any label can explain. This brings me to a great bit of feedback from Thomas F.… Yes, Charles may be just a tad suspicious. Maybe just a bit paranoid and ill-informed due to liberal nonsense learned in school. Truth is, I could dig going for a ride with him if he would get a Harley. Listen to some jazz, check out the girls, discuss stocks (I am sure I could learn a ton from him about the market!) Alas, I don't think Charles likes me too much- oh well. Before I get into the good, let me defend myself. Some may call me paranoid… and some may call me ill-informed, but I doubt it had anything to do with school. Maybe if the article had to do with global warming, I could sympathize. After all (and often times, this is a third rail in the financial newsletter industry) I DO believe global warming is real and happening. A Bit of Honesty in a Shady World Of course, a good number of editors wouldn’t admit that to you because, well, they don’t want their readers to think less of them… But I’m here writing to you because I want to help you become a more informed investor. Along the way, you’ll get to know me. The last thing I want to do is lie about who I am and my intentions. I’m not a politician after all, I’m a financial editor! So am I paranoid and ill-informed? I’ve been called paranoid before. But it’s that paranoia which helps keep me out of bad investments. After all, I’m skeptical about any company that comes across my screen. As far as being ill-informed, I put out an article last week that showed where I got my information. (For those reading this for the first time, the article had to do with terrestrial radio as a dying industry. The proof showed that this sector underperformed even newspapers in the last five years) What I really loved about your comment, Thomas, was that you love Harleys, girls, and dig Jazz music. These are things that I can definitely agree on with you. But as of right now, I still don’t have a Harley. I don’t know that I’m going to get one anytime soon, either. I’m helping my father buy a retirement home out in Puerto Rico (who would’ve thought the first home I buy wouldn’t be for me!). And then I plan on using that $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit (a 15-year, 0 interest loan from Uncle Sam) to get debt off of my credit cards and possibly buy a used motorcycle. While a Harley is definitely under consideration, they’re still too big for a novice rider such as me. But as Wayne from Wayne’s World said… “She will be mine. Oh yes! She will, be mine.” Some Hope for Dreary Times My article a few weeks ago on fuel efficiency got a huge response. It’s obvious fuel efficiency is a big deal to everyone. Amidst those comments, many people (mainly from Europe) talked about how they had a car that got 40-50MPG back in the 80’s and early 90’s. They agreed with me that the technology to make cars more fuel-efficient has been there for years. Many agreed that we need to do something to lower our dependency on oil. But my favorite comment – which is what I will end this article on – gave me a call to action. And it reminded me that there are many people out there aware of the problems we are facing and actively looking for the solution. I hope you feel the same way I did after reading what Dr. Mark R. had to say… Now is the time for our all Americans to stand up and say, "No longer will we become slaves to oil producing countries". We are slowly bleeding, and the American dream is slipping away for our children. That is NOT the legacy our generation should be leaving behind. We should not expect the young people of today to clean up the mess we created by being a gluttonous generation in every corner of our lives. I believe our generation is willing to do whatever it takes; do you? Stay free, Charles P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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