Cheapo Groovo

Earn over 9% with this stock

From 2000 to 2006, Canadian royalty trusts ("Canroys") were all the rage. Canroys  offered high yields although this yield was reduced by the 15% foreign tax withholding.

But on October 31, 2006, and commencing in 2011, trusts would be taxed like all other corporations, at the full 31.5% rate!

Approximately 90% of Canadian Royalty Trusts have either converted to corporations, merged with other companies or simply liquidated.Their share prices have been cut in half. So now is a great time to re-look at the survivors. In particlar PGH.

I sold 3 puts at $5 and if I get the stock put to me, I earn about $12 every month. I don't see the stock trending lower, and my price target is $7.

Final Trade of 2012

Still like the risk/reward trade in natural gas. Global warming is a farce and January has the coldest temperatures .

Sold 2 BOIL Jan 19 2013 35.0 Put @ 0.65

$118.46

Couch Potato Cash

I have yet to share all of my alternative income streams. I do this so you can realistically see what it takes and understand my philosophy of real diversification. **You can participate in these income streams by clicking them in my sidebar**

1. Utilizing my money seminars!
2. Teaching a few classes during the year.
3. Selling college textbooks on half.com & at Faculty Books.
4. Fiverr allows me to do small tasks (like clciking google ads) and earn $5.
5. Finding freebies and utilizing high-value coupons.
6. Collecting aluminum cans for scrap & the MI deposit.
7. Performing small tasks on Amazon Mechanical Turk.
8. Swagbucks ~ paid to search the Internet.

The Natural Gas Trade Turns To Poisin Gas! #investing #fraud

I have been a big fan of using natural gas for transportation and electricity generation. Unfortunately I was buying the commodity thru stock ticker GAZ when it was near $8 and has since dropped like a rock.

My strategy was to sell out of the money covered call options and wait for the move up. The move up has occured thanks to MARKET MANIPULATION!

First, the real value (Net Asset Value) of GAZ on 2/16  was $3.05. Yesterday it closed at $4.41. Why was it selling at a premium? The managers of GAZ  (iPath) have halted share creation in order to avoid bumping against limits set by regulators like the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Too much speculative demand w/o enough supply.

Second, the SEC is allowing naked shorting on this security. Sellers don't have to deliver any supply of this product even though it is collateral!

Budget Plan Boondoggle

When it comes to your utility bill, it is almost always better to pay as you go. Here is a recent analysis:

I save $125 a year just paying what I actually owe. Yes, you get the difference back, but you made an interest free loan to your utility company. Take a look at how much forgone interest costs in the long run!

Fixing The Economy Without Austerity Measures

The easiest way is to simply ask the banksters for our $16 tillion back. But since the banksters rule the world, I guess we won't get that!

 

 

Social Security
Means test benefits. If you made twice the median salary (approximately $33,000) in your last 5 years of employment, you  get reduced benefits.
Eliminate the income limits. Why should you stop paying in just because you made more than $106,800? There are no income limits on medicare.
Do not raise the retirement age. This will only exacerbate the unemployment problem as fewer job openings will occur.

Revenues
Legalize and tax marijuana. That may be $40 billion to $100 billion in new revenue!
Legalize and tax sports betting. Although only 35 states currently allow "gaming", that number is sure to grow. Adding $50 million to a state budget will help to eliminate the need for federal dollars.

Economic Growth
A natural gas based economy. Get fleet vehicles and 18 wheelers running CNG. Get Detroit making those vehicles. And export LNG to other countries (USA nat gas is $3.76 but it can be liquified and sold at $16).

Commodity Investors Whipsawed by Changing Regulations/Rules

Folks that follow my blog know that I'm not convinced by the "FED induced/M&A" stock market boom and have switched over to trading commodities. Commodities should be dictated by free market forces, a.k.a. supply and demand. But alas, regulators step in and crush the little guy w/o any warning. Here are 2 examples of this:

CME Margin Requirements Keep Changing

Position limits imposed by the CFTC

Nat Gas Sale

Jim Cramer's strategy of buy high sell higher is a losing strategy. Instead, you want to buy things when they're on sale! You can go long nat gas a number of different ways. For more info, check out the nat gas guide

The chart above plots the average price going back ten years as the dotted line. The next closest lines underneath and overtop of the average price represent one standard deviation, which in simplest terms refers to the normal price channel over this period. Right now, the price of natural gas is BELOW the normal range.