Portfolio of the Week

[Rob]

Honesty, Cash, Inflation

Well Mr. Rob...I figure it is better to be an Honest Loser than a Lyin' Winner.

You are so right. I wish more people in the world would adopt that philosophy.

However, of those who are in the top half today, the majority have made it there by holding onto their $$CASH$$.

Yeah, I know.

Especially with the Fed taking yet another opportunity to rub in the fact that they'll just keep on raising the rates until it's evident that our economy is in a tailspin.

I know that's a tough pill to swallow, but I can't say that I completely disagree. If you check out the CPI numbers back to '96, you'll see that the rate of inflation in April was never higher, with the exception of September last year. Even the dreaded March 2000 had a lower inflation rate.

[New-born baby]

Just forget it

New-born, have I missed something? I didn't have you as having entered the contest this week. I just did a quick scan back over the messages posted since Friday, 4:00 p.m. and didn't find anything.

Rob,
That's okay. I've been so busy that I haven't done anything with POTW or anything else for several weeks. Just forget it It's all good. But for fun you can watch PARL fall if you want.

As for fighting inflation by raising interest rates, I think we need to consider how inflation got here in the first place. The Congress, which holds the purse strings for our govt and not one dollar can be spent without their approval, has spent money that the govt does not have. Thus, inflation. Raising interest rates makes every American (illegal immigrants excluded) pay for what Congress has spent. They would rather do that than cut spending for their friends' pet projects.

[Lyehopper]

Rob,
That's okay. I've been so busy that I haven't done anything with POTW or anything else for several weeks. Just forget it It's all good. But for fun you can watch PARL fall if you want.

You are still HUGE NBB.... A little late but HUGE nonetheless.

Thanks for putting up the chart on PARL.

[Rob]

Economics

New-born, as far as I know, inflation is not a result of deficit spending. The rate of inflation was high in the first quarter of 2000, even though there were budget surpluses every quarter from Q1 1998 through Q2 2001. Inflation is tied to the amount of money in circulation, and that is regulated by the nation's central banking system we know as the good ol' Federal Reserve. When there are too many dollars floating around, they need to drain the pool a little, and raising the rate of interest they charge banks is one way to do it.

If you want to check out gov't receipts and expenditures, the Bureau of Economic Accounts has a Web site with some cool interactive tables.

[billyjoe]

Rob,
Cover HOM

billyjoe

[jiesen]

AMLN long for me, please!

[IIC]

HOM trashed again...True or not...I don't think this is helping the stock:

http://www.stocklemon.com/06_06_06.html

[Rob]

Calculated Risk

I'm going to take a calculated risk here, since My IMCL management boys did not deliver a good conference call on ASCO results last night ... (good science, good results, poor management)

Sell IMCL ..... Short HOM

[IIC]

I'm going to take a calculated risk here, since My IMCL management boys did not deliver a good conference call on ASCO results last night ... (good science, good results, poor management)

Sell IMCL ..... Short HOM

Hey Rob...it looks like the only thing that's gonna stop you is if it is halted...Doug

[The Stock Girl]

I'm going to take a calculated risk here, since My IMCL management boys did not deliver a good conference call on ASCO results last night ... (good science, good results, poor management)

Sell IMCL ..... Short HOM

mmmmmmmmm, your skillful play gives me goose bumps! Rob, you are beyond HUGE!

[Rob]

Shorting

Hey Rob...it looks like the only thing that's gonna stop you is if it is halted

Well there certainly doesn't seem to be a lot of buyers moving in. I don't like shorting, I'm only using it as a survival mechanism in this contest. I feel really bad for the people who are losing their shirts on this stock, unless they're complicit in any alleged fraud that's going on. In that case, I say roast 'em.

[Rob]

Sg

mmmmmmmmm, your skillful play gives me goose bumps! Rob, you are beyond HUGE!

Well thanks for the compliment, SG, but if I were as huge as all that, I probably would've had the guts to make that play in real life, which I didn't.

p.s. "SG," hmm ... I have a guitar called an SG, made by Gibson. I bought it in 1981 from the Guitar Center in Hollywood, CA. I guess that's about the most interesting thing you've heard all day.

[IIC]

Well there certainly doesn't seem to be a lot of buyers moving in. I don't like shorting, I'm only using it as a survival mechanism in this contest. I feel really bad for the people who are losing their shirts on this stock, unless they're complicit in any alleged fraud that's going on. In that case, I say roast 'em.

I tried to warn everybody...It doesn't matter whether the allegations at StockLemon are true or not...Rumors can wreak havoc on a stock...IIC

[billyjoe]

HOM is a perfect example of why people lose faith in the market. Whatever is going on it's obvious the average stockholder and the company executives are playing by a different set of rules. FA or TA isn't going to save you from these guys. Who can sit watching the ticker all day so they won't get caught in a 23% reversal in 2 hours. Like I said earlier , the CEO and his cronies have already got their millions so if they lose a few hundred thousand as the company goes down the toilet, they'll just resurface with another scam , probably some sort of pyramid sceme in a couple years . Remember what the President's brother did (the one they don't talk about) a few years ago with the Silverado Savings & Loan ? Cost the taxpayers 1.6 billion. He came out smelling like a rose. Until recently was still getting secret service protection. Makes a fortune as a consultant .All's fair in business especially if you've got the right connections.

billyjoe

[Rob]

Covering HOM

I am going to Cover HOM at this point. Take the money and run. Anybody else care to short it?