Category: General

In preparation for July I’m going to start looking into 2x inverse ETF’s such as those from Rydex, Direxion and ProShares Ultra. Primarily Investor Sector ETF’s like SZK – 2x Inverse Consumer Goods and SKF – 2x Inverse Financials (nothing like betting against the banks).  There’s a few reasons I’m going to gamble against the markets:

1. On June 30, the Federal Reserve is expected to shut the door on the quantitative easing program QE2.  It seems universally agreed this will lead to market volatility.
2. There will be a sell off in stocks.  Oil prices are starting to dig in now causing Bear Sterns to issue a recommendation to go light on commodities.  If the stock and commodities markets fall together a good ETF is where to be.
3. Bond yields will go through the roof when QE2 ends.  That will mean very few bond buyers.  Bond prices will fall and US Treasury yields will spike.  A bond sell-off in the U.S. could result in sovereign debt fears of the type seen in Greece.
4. Last but not least, the 10,000 pound elephant in the room: The Debt Ceiling.  If for some reason we even get close to August 2 without an increase in the debt ceiling the end of QE2 will look like a tiny market adjustment.  Markets will panic, sell-offs will ensue.

Just today the ProShares UltraPro ETF’s such as SRTY (Short Russell 2000) and Powershares Crude Oil Double (DTO) closed up 9.3 and 4.91% respectively.   Due to recent successes in the market they are at or near their 52 week lows making them good deals right now.  If the politicians live up to the credit I give them they will argue the debt ceiling until the last minute or not raise it at all.  I want some of the Sept. and Oct. 2009 short fund action after Paulson’s famous “we won’t have an economy on Monday” speech.  The end of QE2 combined with the debt ceiling could make this looming “catastrophe” even more profitable.

For those who can’t get enough of this and want to know Kate Middleton’s new official and future royal titles, I went through the exercise of researching her royal ascension.  It might surprise you.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will actually be Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales only after William becomes Prince of Wales once his father ascends to the throne or dies, whichever comes first. Then she will be Princess of Wales. She doesn’t have to wait for William to ascend to the throne to become Princess, as many have incorrectly stated.

When Charles becomes King she automatically becomes Duchess of Cornwall and Rothsay. When William ascends to the throne she will be Queen. Since an heir can only ascend to the throne through blood Prince Phillip has been forced to remain a lowly Prince to his Queen Elizabeth. He could not take the title of King because the throne supersedes the Queens. Not so for Catherine. William will be King and she will be his Queen.

Four decades ago I was birthday present to my grandfather, Hon. Judge Harold Brown Singleton.  From 1971 on I spent every birthday with him during his lifetime.  It’s getting hard to remember most of my first ten years.  During the 70’s I remember jumping on my bed listening to Snoopy and the Red Baron when I was around 4-5 years old.  I remember putting on KISS makeup with Donnie Sasser and performing concerts for our parents in Bluefield, WV.  Our only instruments were buckets and cardboard keyboards.  I still remember the day we moved to Raleigh and many days in the creek and woods at the end of Beardsley Ct.  I still remember the first phone number I memorized at eight years old…847-8504, the number of my best friend who lived near the that creek.

One of my most vivid memories at eleven or twelve is when a sixth grade English teacher unknowingly stood beside a poster depicting the evolution of man while asking if I “believed in the creation”?    The whole class waited for my answer.   She insisted for one when I did not speak.  I nodded my head yes.  Even then my response was to avoid argument, debate or ridicule on the subject.  Later on I remember getting in-school suspension and after school detention for the first time for being among a group who were spitting out a second story window of Carrol middle school as a teacher walked by below.  She literally pointed me out.  Yet I was never near the window.  I was in my seat for near the front door of the classroom the entire time.   The irony is that I’ve been guilty of almost everything I was ever accused of from that day on.

At twenty I thought I was going to pick up a camera and conquer the world abroad by capturing still moments in time.  I recall my Photo Chemistry 101 and 102 instructor, Bob Heist, telling me how digital photography would never come close to the resolution of emulsion grain in my lifetime.  Bob is retired from photography instruction now.  I work exclusively with digital technology.

Then along came the bands, bar tending, and a stint outside of my element that lead me into the same closed office as Vice President Dan Quayle, Jerry Falwell and a few US Marshall’s in the Vines Center at Liberty University.  A time in my life that would affect my religious, political and social views in unexpected ways.  Irony knows no limits.  This was the time in my life when I learned who I was.  It was a decade of discovery and the start of a career path.

Thirty is when the best decade of my life began and it started when a 21 year old young woman literally just showed up at the front door of my apartment at Five Points, just above Lilly’s Pizza.   Not a bad start to my 30’s.   My very first words to her were “oh wow, you’re pretty”.   Amy just laughed.   Within a couple of weeks she never left.  Which is good because I’ll need her for at least the next 40 years.   I’m a happier person because she lets me draw upon her youth and beauty.  My only regret in the last ten years is that our sons won’t get to meet my grandfather or Amy’s father.

Life leading up to my twenties was far more of a crisis than I could ever imagine today.  I’ve  reached “mid life” but I feel no remorse for the past or apprehension for the future.  My wife is younger than me, my sons are growing bigger and stronger than me (and probably smarter but don’t tell them yet), I have a career and a boat waiting at the beach.  I am about as far from crisis as anyone can get.  Thinking back at this weekend I spent with my beautiful, young wife at the coast I can honestly say I’m happier than ever.  I have no reason or excuse not to be.

…and take your Product Replacement Plan with you.

I just recorded the end of a conversation I had with Best buy Product Replacement Services in their corporate office.  When I bought Amy’s cell phone I paid $40 extra for the Best Buy “guaranteed” Product Replacement Plan which will “cover any damage no questions asked”.  Well, Amy damaged the phone and took it to Best Buy where the customer service employees regurgitated something about the PRP (Product Replacement Plan) not covering physical phone damage, “only software”.  Well, they sold it to me as “cover any damage no questions asked” didn’t they?  “Software only” is simply the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard for a smart phone warranty.

So I called the administrators of the product replacement plan at the Best Buy corporate contact number.  They informed me the plan did, in fact cover replacement on this phone and said they would call the store on my behalf for an explanation.  Store number 1492 in Knightdale, NC.  After 20 minutes all customer service and management ignored the call of the corporate rep from PRP services until she had no choice but to hang up.  That’s right, the store employees, including the manager ignored a call from the corporate office regarding a customer service issue and product plan they were wrong to dishonor.  I will be selling any future gift cards I receive for these losers at a bargain basement price.  I have lapsed in the past but my resolve is firm now: I will never make another purchase from this company again.

This is one of the best summaries of the current political devistation occurring based on hard right ideologies I’ve ever read.  From the comment section of the NY Times article Obama Rejects Further Budget Stopgaps:

You have to grudgingly admire the Republicans’ sheer chutzpah, even as you despise it. They create a financial catastrophe by doubling the national debt in 8 years under Bush and by deregulating the financial services industry over the past 30 years so that it ran amok and brought the whole economy to its needs.

Having caused the mess — aided, to be sure, by a spineless opposition afraid of its own shadow — the Republicans then use it to enact a strictly ideological agenda that serves only the interests of their core constituents: the wealthy and corporations. The middle class, the needy, and the poor are thrown to the wolves.

Why the middle class, the needy and the poor continue to vote for these people, whose heartless agenda is so obvious and blatant, and so adverse to the interests of those constituents, is the single greatest mystery of modern American politics.

The “trickle down” ideas proclaimed in this budget proposal have been tried for the past 30 years, and the jury is in. We’ve seen the results. It is very, very clear that when you give rich people and corporations tax breaks, it only serves to make them richer. They do not invest in America or create American jobs. They invest in China and great Mexican jobs. They hoard their increased earnings in foreign tax havens, buy more yachts and houses and cars. And they also back the careers of Republican politicians, who continue to feed them tax breaks and privileges at the expense of the rest of us.

I honestly feel that unless the average American does not wake up and smell the coffee soon, if the Democrats and the President do not find their spines and offer real alternatives to this corporatization of the nation, then America as we know it is done. The country is bought and paid for by what George Carlin called “The Ownership” of America. Real change is becoming almost impossible, as conservative ideologues are stuffed into positions of influence and on the benches of the judiciary, so that desctructive conservative policies can be unchallenged in any venue.

The process is almost complete. Either we act, or we sink into the Darwinian social jungle the Republicans want to see replace any semblance of fair society. This proposal is one more step toward the undergrowth.

Gfagan – 4-5-2011

So many posts on facebook and a few on twitter.  No entries in the ‘ol blog for over a month.

I think I’m being socialed out.  My new word…”socialed”.  Facebook is where all the photos live and an occasional rant.  The blog was once a place for me to vent frustrations.  Now it’s just a lonely space that few visit except for updates on tired, old issues that aren’t going anywhere.

Work is outrageously busy.  Amy inherited a little money from her Grandmother who passed away on Nov. 21, 2010.   We’re trying to sit on.  Possibly some home improvements.  I bought a Lieca D-LUX 5 camera (I might return) and Amy got a new phone.  We all got a new TV for the living room.  Other than that we’re trying to stay humble.  Going to invest and save most of it.  A few home renovations are definitely in order.

Connor learned to ride his bike and tie his shoes during Christmas break and Logan has started preschool.  Zach is a full blown toddler now.  He’s a walker and cute as can be.

I’ve got this domain, rtpinbox.com and I really want to do something with it but I haven’t figured out what.  I was thinking of a technology project blog but don’t know if I have time to post about a lot of things I’m working on.  Web based mail is already available from gmail…. I really don’t have any ideas but open to suggestions.