Jul
1
IOU vs. Promisory Note
July 1, 2009 | 1 Comment
An IOU (I Owe yoU) is an acknowledgment of debt, normally specifying debtor, the amount owed, and sometimes the creditor. A Promissory Note is a contract specifying unconditional terms on how to pay the debt, including interest (if any) and time of repayment. The State of California is issuing IOUs to their vendors (essentially telling [...]
Dec
10
US Mortgages Worse Than My Prosper Account
December 10, 2008 | 2 Comments
This is no laughing matter. Blomberg reports that “One in 10 American homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments or were in foreclosure during the third quarter…” . My prosper account is not doing great either.
I have so far removed $3,000 from the original $20,000 investment, which makes current principal investment in Prosper $17,000. (These come [...]
Feb
29
Wait for the 2nd Day?
February 29, 2008 | Comments Off
I am more of a value investor. I look for companies who have good growth potential but for some reason have been neglected by the market. I do this on a long term horizon as well as a medium term one.
When there is a bad day in the market, I tend to feel the urge [...]
Feb
20
ESPP: Employee Stock Purchase Plan
February 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
Many companies have them, yet not every employee takes advantage of them. I wonder why?, and the only reasons I can come up is: lack of knowledge, laziness, or the fact that most people live paycheck-to-paycheck — All of them are conditions that can be fixed if we really want to.
I think Employee [...]
Jan
14
Prosper – More Prosperity for 2008
January 14, 2008 | 2 Comments
Ironically, Prosper.com is the only one of my portfolios showing all nice and green. Better than I expected, it shows all loans either current or paid (1 paid). So far, I have issued 31 small/shared loans, one of them has been paid off. The initial principal was $3,000 (small amount, but [...]
Jan
8
Things Have Shifted During Flight
January 8, 2008 | Comments Off
My year end vacation is over, and as I stand on the Admirals Lounge in Honolulu I notice that things shifted… by about $100 grand in the negative direction in about a month, more than all the 2007 stock market gains by a big margin. Not a fun sight.
Those tracking my investment [...]
Sep
14
What Besides Banks?
September 14, 2007 | 1 Comment
You can poison yourself on too much of a good thing. Those who know me are aware I love to invest on banks: great dividends, good growth in an economy that depends on them, and a great business model that has proven itself over centuries. However, being invested on a single sector [...]
Sep
5
Prosper … Will I Prosper?
September 5, 2007 | 6 Comments
Life is not all about stocks. It is about loaning money as well, about helping other people achieve their dreams, grow the economy, and fill your pocket. For a long time I have toyed with the idea of starting either a bond portfolio, or a Prosper loan portfolio. For those not [...]
Aug
28
Money Moving In The Opposite Direction
August 28, 2007 | 1 Comment
For a long while I had a rule: money that goes into investment account stays there. Dividends: reinvested, capital gains: reinvested, spare money in checking: invested. All of the money flowed into the Ameritrade stock brokerage account.
In my new stage in life I have to make changes on that rule. Now I am living out [...]
Aug
18
Day Trading Lessons Learned– Halfway Through August
August 18, 2007 | Comments Off
Since I am not working in a traditional 9 to 5 job anymore, decided that rather than eating up my interests and dividends, I would try to live out of very short term trading of good but volatile stocks – while I am in between contracts. I consider myself an above average long [...]
