I got an email welcoming me to my new Carnival Sea Miles credit card. I haven’t gotten the card yet. When it comes, I will transfer the balance from my current credit card (AAdvantage), and then cancel it. I will get Sea Miles for the transferred balance. Then I will pay off the balance. Way cool! I get 5000 Sea Miles just for activating the card in the first place. I take more cruises than I fly on American Airlines these days.
How dumb are these $100 gas rebate checks? I love getting free money and everything, but this is not free money! Where does the money for these $100 gas rebate checks come from? It comes from us. So basically they are give us money that we already paid in taxes, or will pay in taxes. This is like the bank saying they gave me $100, when it actually came out of my bank account. The Government will get their money in the end. It’s not like they are going to be cutting expenditures by $100 per person in the USA to pay for the $100 gas rebate checks. And from what I read, every person in the US will get a check. So people who don’t even drive, will be getting $100 gas rebate checks? Again, how stupid is this?
This is what I call found money! I was at the library, and found a $20 bill lying on the ground. No one was around, so I picked it up. It was kind of balled up like someone had shoved it in their pocket. Then when they pulled something out, it fell out. Maybe they should have taken better care of their money. It’s mine now! Like I said! Found money!
Once when JP Morgan was asked what will the market do, he replied that it will fluctuate. That’s what the market does. Goes up and down on a daily basis. But in the long run it goes up over time. Why? Because price follows earnings. But why to earnings keep increasing? Because years ago things cost less. A candy bar cost a dime. Lets say the mantufacturer made 20% or 2 cents from each bar it sold. Now candy bars sell for 75 cents. 20% is now 15 cents. So the company is making more from each candy bar it sells. Overall the market should keep going up.
Regular Brokerage Account:
| Name | Sym | Shares | Value | Gain/Loss |
| Advance Auto Parts | AAP | 31.273 | $1,217.15 | ($26.54) |
| Amazon.com | AMZN | 32.090 | $1,155.56 | $11.62 |
| Cabela’s | CAB | 26.247 | $542.26 | $44.36 |
| Carnival Cruise Lines | CCL | 20.746 | $988.13 | ($23.28) |
| Citigroup | C | 0.047 | $2.26 | $0.03 |
| Dick’s Sporting Goods | DKS | 52.390 | $2,147.99 | $307.04 |
| eBay | EBAY | 25.911 | $906.88 | ($97.27) |
| GOOG | 0.936 | $410.44 | $13.89 | |
| US Real Estate Index | IYR | 36.218 | $2,585.24 | $234.27 |
| Lowes | LOW | 24.935 | $1,577.89 | $82.10 |
| Red Robin Gourmet Burgers | RRGB | 31.934 | $1,532.83 | $58.84 |
| Target | TGT | 17.508 | $890.28 | ($65.34) |
| Total | $13,956.91 | $539.72 |
My Roth IRA Account:
| Name | Sym | Shares | Value | Gain/Loss |
| DJ Select Dividend Fund | DVY | 0.061 | $3.85 | $0.08 |
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | EEM | 40.816 | $4,363.23 | $849.49 |
| US Real Estate Index | IYR | 51.264 | $3,659.22 | $538.90 |
| S&P SmallCap 600/BARRA Value | IJS | 23.981 | $1,773.16 | $263.22 |
| Pengrowth Energy Trust A | PGH | 25.430 | $619.98 | $75.31 |
| Primewest Energy | PWI | 21.264 | $638.77 | $93.49 |
| Total | $11,058.21 | $1,820.49 |
Wife’s Roth IRA Account:
| Name | Sym | Shares | Value | Gain/Loss |
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | EEM | 9.987 | $1,067.61 | $70.61 |
| S&P MidCap 400/BARRA Value | IJJ | 14.550 | $1,141.30 | $134.66 |
| US Real Estate Index | IYR | 32.928 | $2,350.40 | $314.03 |
| Total | $4,559.31 | $519.31 |
401k:
| Name | Value |
| INVESCO 500 INDEX TRUST | $56,724.74 |
| DREYFUS MID CAP INDEX | $61,211.63 |
| ROYCE LOW PRICED STOCK | $69,837.92 |
| AIM INTERNATIONAL GROWTH | $68,545.74 |
| Total | $256,320.03 |