The Signal Amidst the Noise

Nearly everyone in the States were touched by John. I use his first name as though he was a personal friend. I use his first name despite we never met. Most of my life I lived within 100 miles of John. He resided around Malvern PA. And... Because of my Career in Transportation, favorable odds say I crossed his path at some point. But I wouldn't have paid attention or noticed John. I've read about him, heard about him, and knew he created the Vanguard 500 Index Fund but I have no idea what John looked like.  I don't know how to describe John's success. Did he fall on something big, because he was lazy? Did he accidently notice something unbeatable in Wealth Building, because he was ambitious? By his own account (From my memory), he read a book about Investing. That book outlined the concept of an Investment based upon the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. John realized that such an Investment Index of Equities didn't exist. He saw the potential.  We must tak...

It was a weekend day. I know this because I wasn't traveling down a road during the early cold hours of a winter morning. As a matter of fact, I was calmly pacing back and forth in my living room and carefully weighing the latest earnings gyrations I've heard from various conference calls. I was wearing my favorite pajamas. Yesterday's denim and no top or socks. I was sipping a fresh cup of French Vanilla flavored Maxwell House Dark roast from my favorite, "I Love Dad," mug. Investing in a   saturated  consumer market has little volatility but sparse-volatility is easily seen, if we are mindful of competitive growth and retraction. It's the coveted, "End of Year," Earning Season. You are a foolish Investor, if you're not listening and mindful of what's happening. It's the most important Earning Release of the year! I thought to break the silence of my quiet home and turned on my television. I knew the morning News was airing. Although I...

Today I write wearing my Dad hat. It doesn't seem to fit to well anymore. The internal debate is deciding whether that hat has shrunk or my head grew! I've been dealing with Teen Ambivalence for a couple years now. I knew it would come. There are even age-old Biblical passages expressing the understanding that it will happen. Clearly, there are different degrees of Parent-Teen Ambivalence and I think many effected handle it in there own way. My experience is minor but harshly impactful. While I don't have the answers to overcome this dilemma, I have my reasoning and rationale.  My first thought, my Teenager is finding herself. Surely, to some degree I'm confident this is the case. We should try to teach them right from wrong. This I firmly believe is our goal as a Parent. I always tried to be Authoritative in that pursuit. By this I mean, I put a lot of thought into not using the phrase, "Because I said so". When I shared my views and insights, with the auth...

Life is full of changes and unexpected, but possible, surprises. This Sunday, I'm starting this write with a lot of excitement. I've learned there's one in the oven, a Stork on its way, and most importantly, a new obligation. I'm instinctively at Bat for Security, Providing, and Rearing. The test was positive, the mother is family oriented, and I'm excited looking over the horizon. Thereby increasing my motives for financial security, accepting of a supportive posture, and heavy emphasis on stable long term growth. I start this write with one of my favorite investments in mind. An entire BORING sector that possibly parallels the security of US Treasuries. Ah yes, the Utility Sector... Boring, Hidden, Demanded by All! The Utility Sector is primarily made up of three segments. Each offers a moat, in respect to consumer necessity. Human society is very dependent on Energy, Natural Gas, and Clean Water - Waste Water Treatment. My focus, starting 2019, is Electricity. ...

Sometimes, the wrong choices bring us to the right understanding. That mantra can loosely be applied to many endeavors in my life. It fits well with my theories and logic when buying and selling Stock. Equities to be more specific. Reflecting on that, I've had my share of wrong choices through my Self-Directed Investing career. I've learned to assess where my choices might have been misguided and how I could avoid them in the future. Moreover, it shaped a simple and concise algorithm to apply when choosing a company. But before explaining part of my current algorithm, a little dose of my logic. One of my favorite youth Sports was Baseball. My Coach once told me I was a rare catch for his team. Foremost, I was a decent Pitcher that could throw a moderate, "Sinker" and amazing, "Fast-Ball". I Pitched quite a few, "No hitters," and became a good friend with the one Catcher, "Pete," that seemed to know what I was throwing at him. I paid lit...

In the Investor's mind, "Risk," is the possibility of something losing value. But without some risk there is no hope for a gain. And possibly, the greater the risk, the greater the gain. Marijuana has provided a lot of gain for quite a longtime. As we all know, those gains have been realized through Black Market activity with Very High Risk.  I have a vivid childhood memory of a neighbor that was busted with several pounds of Marijuana. Twenty Two, if I remember correctly.  The family seemed to do very well. That was exemplified by fancy Boats, Cars, and spoiled children. They operated a Detail Shop. So I guess the Viper was, "Advertising,". But it still didn't quite fit the neighborhood. On the forefront of my memory is everything being seized by the Police! The house was taped off with bright yellow plastic tape labeled, "Police Line Do Not Cross" like someone got shot. As a matter of fact, we all thought someone got killed at first. We didn...

Possibly to help develop perspective and understanding of a Solar Installation, I am sharing some of the details of my System and the Installation. Coupled with an Electric Vehicle, this is an outstanding Investment. Conducive with most Home Improvements, taking the task upon yourself offers significant savings. More importantly, there are various options to retrofit a solar system to your home, some more productive, that are not generally offered through highly advertised Installers. Let me make it clear, the lowest priced Installer I found quoted a price of $18,000.00 for a Three Kilowatt System. So far, I have acquired the components of a more advanced system, that is easily expandable, more productive, and safer.  I have been sitting-on my Panels for slightly over two years. Mainly due to an injury that held me back, shy of a year.  I purchased my Solar Panels through a Distributor I found on Ebay.  Then, after some research I decided to use Enphase MicroInve...