Thank God for the internet!

[Thierry Martin]

This is an on-going project of mine

Feel free to spot errors and let me know

I am trying to take Master Cramer's Wisdom and ingrain it

I have two card sets under the Tag of "investing"

The "Stock Symbols" set allows me to play "Lightning Round"

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/mycards

[Thierry Martin]

I am sitting here and while posting a response to a biotech post elsewhere on the site, a commercial comes on for some drug to "Combat" RLS. I know here in America we never "provide care" for anything, but "War on" or "Battle" or "Combat" things. However is it possible this dreadful anomaly rises to the risk that it needs "Combatting" in our "Battle" to "Wipe Out" RLS? That's right folks the hideous malady that needs "eradication" is that scurge, Restless Leg Syndrome. WTF?
I have this image of a bunch of characters in some drug company sitting around the lunch table having this discussion:
Joe VP: "You guys ever notice how Earl in accounts payable is bouncing his leg under the desk? It was driving us crazy.
Larry VP: "It's horrible, tap tap tap all day"
Joe VP: "Well the boys in veterinary product development spiked his coffee with some stuff they were working with for stopping dogs from scratching and WHAMMO no tapping"
Jerry Sales Mngr: "I'm getting a funny feeling in my stomach, that's where ideas come from. You think we could convince people they need this?"
A round of laughter followed and a bunch of "no way people are that crazy" but Jerry's funny feeling didn't go away. 6 weeks later "Stoptappinall" is born and I am forced to listen to their commercial, makes me want to just get up and take a walk. Oh no! Maybe I don't want to walk, maybe my legs are restless and I just think I need to take a walk! Tap Tap Tap

[Thierry Martin]

had a very nice day (my best yet) hope you are making yours.

[Thierry Martin]

I'm no Ford fan, but I imagine those that are can't be to thrilled with this Mustang turned Taurus version. It really tarnishes the image of an American icon imo.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/12/14/...ons/index.html

[Thierry Martin]

I've got some HD stock that I'd like to sell. I've owned it for years and years... probably 10 or so. So, I don't remember what I bought it at and it's split several times since then too. It's also changed companies on who's sold it. It used to be in a DRIP, and then just sitting in a bank and now in Scottrade. How do I figure out what I got it at and how much I've made on it to report it for tax reasons?

Also... Is there a simple way of doing this for all my yearly trading within Scottrade - for the stocks that I bought and sold this year?

Also... what make you a "day trader" and is there any tax related issues there? Should I try not to fall in this section?

Thanks,
Cory

[Thierry Martin]

(This article was originally published Thursday.)

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Minerals Management Service Thursday said it had signed agreements with several oil and gas companies on controversial 1998-1999 leases that omitted royalty price thresholds.
The MMS - which has come under harsh criticism from Congress for its mishandling of the leases - said it had signed agreements with BP PLC (BP), ConocoPhillips (COP), Marathon Oil Company (MRO), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), and Walter Oil and Gas Corporation.
The agency said the companies would pay royalties for production from Oct. 1, 2006, instead of from when the leases were signed as many lawmakers had urged.
MMS spokesman Gary Strasburg said the lost royalties from the leases totaled around $900 million, but a recent Interior Department Inspector General's report said the royalty collection compliance program was so inefficient, the agency couldn't know how much was actually owed the government for all oil and gas royalties.
Strasburg said his department hadn't yet reached a deal with Chevron Corp. (CVX), which earlier this year announced a massive discovery part of which lies under one of the 1998-1999 leases.
Earlier Thursday, the House Government Reform Committee said it was seeking an Attorney General's opinion on whether the government has the authority to recover billions of dollars in lost oil and gas royalties. Also Thursday, House leader-elect Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said one of her top priorities would be to seek the unpaid royalties.
Several Democrats have been pushing to force the companies to re-negotiate or forfeit their ability to sign new leases. Such an amendment only marginally failed to be tacked on the the Offshore Continental Shelf drilling bill that passed Congress last week.
The Government Reform Committee said in its release, however, that according to legal advice from law firm Lowey Dannenberg Bemporad & Selinger, "MMS exceeded its authority in issuing the leases."
The legal analysis "concludes that the administration has the legal recourse to seek recovery of the lost taxpayer revenues."
Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management C. Stephen Allred said in the MMS press release, "I am pleased at the progress we are making on resolving this issue.
"We are continuing to work to resolve this difficult problem in a manner that ensures the American taxpayer receives a fair rate of return," said Allred.
The assistant secretary said the agreements signed Thursday "are a step in the right direction," adding, "we look forward to continuing to work with Congress on this issue."
But Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who has been one of the leaders of the call to force the companies to renegotiate, said, "Their too little, too late efforts to recoup only a small percentage of the billions of dollars of oil and gas royalties that the American people are rightfully owed is pitiful."
A Government Accountability Office said the royalty omission represented an estimated $10 billion in lost revenues for taxpayers.
"When the new Democratic Congress takes office in January, there will be a new cop on the beat to force every big oil company that is currently lining its pockets with taxpayer dollars come back to the negotiating table."
Strasburg said the MMS had not yet calculated how much revenue the deals would garner for taxpayers.
The companies that agreed to a deal are a fraction of the 54 companies that signed the 1998-1999 leases, representing only 17% of the total leases in question.
Other companies that signed the leases include ExxonMobil (XOM), Statoil ASA (STO), Total SA (TOT), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), Eni SPA (E), Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY) and Murphy Oil Co. (MUR).

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; (202) 862 9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com;


So let me get this straight; the U.S. Mineral Management Services screws up, and congress wants to sue the oil companies for perceived back-royalties and use strong arm tactics to force them to renegotiate the leases? You think that would fly if the drilling areas were privatley owned and the privately owned company wanted to be reimbursed for making a terrible deal? I wonder how many of those that will vote for this took big oil's money in campaign contributions?

[Thierry Martin]

Opec and crude inventory levels make a huge impact on crude prices and big oil stocks take off like a raped ape, and right on cue here comes some do gooder non-profit outfit blaming big oil just because the idiots that run BP are screwing up. Those fools need to learn the basic principles behind crude oil trading and ask the people trading it why they buy and sell the way they do. I realize that there could be some illegal trading activities going on at a big oil company and/or hedge fund, and I don't doubt that BP has been involved, but some of the bigger companies have surely been a bigger target with nothing surfacing about them, investigating them all is going to cost a lot of taxpayer money...we could just buy gas with that money

If they want to uncover market manipulation they'll need to do it for all of Wall Street to be fair about it.





By Maya Jackson Randall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Congress needs to use its subpoena power to launch "a sweeping investigation" into all major U.S. oil firms, a consumer group said Thursday, pointing out that federal regulators plan to bring actions against BP PLC (BP) over its trading practices.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission intends to bring civil enforcement actions against BP for trading in unleaded-gasoline futures conducted in October 2002.
The CFTC is also probing other aspects of the company's trading practices. And the Justice Department is probing the U.K. oil giant's gasoline trading as well.
Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, argued that federal regulators aren't doing enough and that uncompetitive oil and natural gas markets are allowing oil companies "to manipulate supplies and gouge consumers."
Thus, Congress needs to investigate the trading, storage and transportation practices of all major U.S. oil firms, it said.
"The current (CFTC) investigation of BP is too narrow, and Congress must examine whether such practices are widespread throughout the industry," said Public Citizen in a notice Thursday. "Such an investigation must include Wall Street investment banks and hedge funds, which play an increasingly large role in oil and gas trading markets."
The group also called for lawmakers to restore transparency in energy trading exchanges and to strengthen anti-trust oversight over the oil industry.

[Thierry Martin]

Imagine your salt mine is Goldman Sachs (yea, the company that gave us Cramer and his "Lightning Round" in its hiring process -- See Cramer's book "Confessions of...")

You toil away at "gs" and bonus time comes and what do you get? Some crappy pile of cash just a gnat's hair worth more than a coal mine in West Virginia!

G-geez!

These poor gs workers cannot even pay to insure Jennifer Lopez's backside — rumored to be worth a cool $1 billion, according to the New York Post.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/FunMo...C-RSSFeeds0312

HEY, KARMA, GET-OFF-MY-BACK AND, AND GO AFTER THE GOLDMAN SACH'S COMPENSATION COMMITTEE!! BE FAIR FOR ONCE!!

[Thierry Martin]

If I live in the US how do I go abouts opening an account to invest in LSE stocks and how differently do I get taxed?

[Thierry Martin]

Anyone else catch this series on INHD channel? Interesting show about different people involved with Wall Street, and the blonde that raises capital for clients isn't hard on the eyes (smart too).