Thank God for the internet!

[Thierry Martin]

are there any good stock stations on sirius or xm radio. i need something to listen to at work, and since i tend to have an amazing memory for lyrics of songs i figured if i listened to people talking about stocks and economic relations ill also have a good memory...hopefully.

"Formal education will make you a living, Self education will make you a fortune"

My Mutual Fund to beat the S&P500:

LONG: FXI, GS, MO, AAPL, RIMM, PCU
SHORT: LVLT

Funds- OBCHX- 80% in one year
OBIOX- I love International

International is my idea of a gold mine for the upcoming years

[Thierry Martin]

Hey aiki, I saw in your profile that you practice Jui Jitsu. Thats pretty cool. I and my two children do also. We are part of the Gracie-Barra camp. How long have you been doing so?What other fighting arts do you practice?
btw- In which section would I start a thread asking you to further explain covering long positions with put options?

[Thierry Martin]

I set up a private group on yahoo sports for any traders who want to fill out a bracket and compete against each other. Its free to fill out a bracket just go to yahoo.com fantasy ncaa tournament challenge and join our group.

Group #: 93782
Password: pinksheets

[Thierry Martin]

The Savage Truth: Seasoned Credit Lines


By Terry Savage
TheStreet.com Contributor
3/11/2007 9:19 AM EDT
Click here for more stories by Terry Savage


This has to be the first great scam of the new millennium. It's called Seasoned Trade Lines. The premise is simple. You have great credit. Others have lousy credit. If they could just "borrow" your good credit for 60 days -- by becoming an authorized user on your credit card -- then they could apply for a mortgage and pay a lower rate, based on your good credit.

This column should end right here. The risks are obvious. You would rightly hesitate to add your own son or daughter as a co-signer on your credit card. After all, if their credit is good, they can easily get their own low-interest-rate card. And if their credit is bad, then they probably shouldn't be borrowing at all. Why on earth would you add a complete stranger as a co-signer on your credit?

The companies that promote this concept of "seasoned trade lines" call it an "honest credit boost." For a fee, they'll match you up with someone else's credit. Of course the deadbeat never personally meets the sterling credit risk. It's not really like a dating service. Rather, it's sort of a "credit sperm bank" -- a brief, impersonal encounter with long-lasting results!

The appeal to the person with terrible credit is obvious. The Web sites of the companies that promote this dubious product proclaim that they can, in less than 90 days, raise your credit score by more than 200 points! That will allow you to easily "buy a new home or take the vacation of your dreams." All of these "lines" are guaranteed to come from people with credit scores above the 700 level. They promise that once your credit score has been "improved" because you've borrowed someone else's good credit history, "you'll pay lower rates and can borrow more."

I can see how desperate people with bad credit would be willing to try this gambit -- even though it comes at a steep cost. Oh yes, to get attached to someone with good seasoned credit, it will cost Mr. Desperate anywhere from $700 to $2,000 -- up front -- depending on the size of the credit line you access. Then again, as one Web site claims: "A higher credit score is priceless!"

But what could possibly be the appeal to someone with good credit -- and thus presumably with a working set of brains? As P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute!"

The online advertisements promise that people with good credit can "Earn up to $10,000 a month or MORE." For each additional authorized user on your card, you'll be paid about $100 to $150. They won't tell you exactly how much until they "see your credit."

In case the math escapes you, if you decide to sign up for this insane idea of "sharing your good credit," you're not getting paid nearly as much as the company collects from the deadbeat who wants to borrow your credit. The difference is the huge profit these matchmakers get.

Matching desperate borrowers and greedy cardholders could be a big business. One site brags that it has over $1 million in "aged credit accounts" -- just waiting to add you as a user. Click on the link for "credit investors" (those with credit to spare) and they remind you that many cards will let you have at least 10 additional signers, and some card issuer allow 99 people to be authorized users.

But what happens if the deadbeat actually charges on your credit card and then doesn't make the payments? The first salesperson I spoke with told me that they never give the deadbeat your full credit card number. Sure, but what happens when it shows up on their credit report, now that they're an "authorized user"? What's to keep them from calling the card issuer and asking for a replacement card?

Steven deJesus, the president of one of companies whose ads are the most ubiquitous, concedes that "you bear all the risk of any unauthorized charges." Since his Montana-registered, Florida-based company started offering this "investment opportunity" in October 2005, it has attracted 38 "investors" (credit sharers) and more than 300 people who have been added as additional authorized users. He says he's had no complaints -- so far.

Of course, deJesus declares, if something goes wrong, you could always sue him. He continually uses the term "credit investors" for those who offer use of their credit, but he says he doesn't have to be registered in any way to conduct his business. And he and others with the same concept pay to have their ads pop up frequently on Google and Yahoo!.

[Thierry Martin]

Just made my car arrangements for my upcoming trip, had the choice of a Boxter and a Lotus Elise, went with the Elise. Looks like it should be fun. If any of you folks haven't been, Wales is a great place to tool around, lot's of nice little towns, great driving roads, and the National parks ( The Brecon Beacons and Snowdownia) are really terrific. The Trout fishing season began on 3 march and we'll be in Hay on Wye which has great fishing and the best book stores in the UK, maybe the world. Gonna see the Blues play the ospreys on 24 march (Rugby), there is nothing like it and the Millenium stadium is a great venue. Hearing 100,000 people singing the team songs is a rush.
I hope the upcoming week goes well, I hate leaving on a down note. But not going on a down note is worse!
Disclaimer, I have no connection to the Wales tourism industry, the Blues, or the Lotus motor company. I am hoping to make a connection with the trout.

[Thierry Martin]

As I continue my journey through past CramerLand Programs for my Homework Site, this caught my eye--NOTE THIS PLAY IS A YEAR OLD, BUT IT MAY BE WORTH PUTTING ON YOUR WATCH LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From http://www.thestreet.com/pf/funds/ma.../10273834.html

Sotheby's (BID:NYSE) .

"...It's great for a trade because there is an annual catalyst in May, when all the really big contemporary and impressionist art sales happen.

These sales will be covered in the media everywhere and the stock is likely to pop as a result, he said.

Cramer recommended taking a double-down position before the big sale in May, sell some into the spike and keep the rest as an investment.."

===========
http://zyzzyva57.googlepages.com/calendar

[Thierry Martin]

I'm watching Business Nation on CNBC, what a piece of $hit this David Gunther is, using his handicap of being wheelchair bound to file hundreds of lawsuits against company's that have violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and make a nice living doing it. He even gets busted on one claim that he couldn't open the door to the business premises, the owner refused to settle and found the taped footage from Gunther's visit..the a$$hole didn't even open the door, it was propped open, he wheeled himself right in. When the interviewer asked him about this he calmly responds that he was mistaken, wtf?
The guy even has the balls to sue a company that converts vehicles into handicap enabled.

[Thierry Martin]

I need to take a sec and just say how blessed I am.

I have had back problems since 1998 (~1 yr after I started flying in high g aircraft with the USAF). All I had to do was lean over wrong and - BANG! Sciatic pain that would radiate down my left leg and keep me hobbled for 2-3 weeks. Eventually, the pain went away and I'm left to slowly stretch out the back and leg. This happened about every year and a half to 2 years, until recently.

On 17 Nov, I was doing sprints on the treadmill and a leg workout. I leaned over to get something from my gym bag afterwards and BANG! I knew immediately I had done it again -- only this was 9 months since the last episode, and this episode lasted 3 1/2 months!

I tried chiropractic, physical therapy, prescription painkillers, and it was still getting worse. The MRI told the story -- two herniated discs that were pinching the nerve bundle running down the left leg. Nothing left to do but get surgery.

I went in on tuesday morning, and actually walked out that evening under my own power from the hospital. Aside from discomfort and soreness from the surgery sight -- NO PAIN! I have to walk each day for therapy now -- I'm slow as heck, but no shooting pain anymore.

I just feel so blessed that I have modern medicine available that could fix the problem. The pain was excruciating; I could see the pain drive anyone to drink or worse -- I'm just so happy that the pain is gone.

[Thierry Martin]

Inmate's Mother Arrested For Trying To Smuggle Him Drugs

POSTED: 8:13 am EST March 9, 2007
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- Authorities said an inmate's mother was arrested when she tried to smuggle him drugs at the Charlotte County jail.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Teresa Fletcher told detectives her son was having problems sleeping and asked her to bring him the drugs.

She and her son, Jerry Fletcher, were both charged with felony possession of Alprazolam, possession of oxycodone and introducing contraband into a county corrections facility.

The sheriff's office said during visiting hours, the mother spoke to her son through the glass window and pulled a plastic baggie from her pocket. She tried forcing it through a crack in the wall, but was later arrested.

The sheriff's office had received a tip that Teresa Fletcher would try to bring her son the drugs when she visited.

[Thierry Martin]

Man Sentenced To 15 Years Over Three Dollars

POSTED: 7:46 am EST March 9, 2007
STUART, Fla. -- A 75-year-old man with terminal cancer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, and he never even got his $3 back.

John Paul Kent had prepaid $40 to gas up his Oldsmobile Delta 88 last summer at a gas station near his Jensen Beach apartment. He became angry when a clerk couldn't open the cash register to give him his $3 in change.

Authorities said Kent left the store and returned with a nine-millimeter pistol. He then fired five shots into the floor.

This led to a six-hour stand-off with deputies outside his apartment, which was located in a retirement community.

Kent pleaded guilty to the shooting and no contest to aggravated assault charges.

Kent's attorney said the shooting and stand-off were probably the result of "end-of-life issues and a great deal of anger."