Playing Catch Up

So I just spent the last few hours reading some of the many blogs on my usual reading list. Not all of them, not even close. There's just sooo much stuff out there. But it must be done. Thankfully, I have some free time at work.

Anyway, time for a quick reco on a web site and then I'll delve into some other random shite.

I know there are some Information Arbitrage readers out there...somewhere...hopefully. If not, then you should check it out. The posts tend to be long, the kind of posts I hope to write one day. (Hmmm. "Whatever happened to that post about the similarities between investing and good driving, K?" K: "Good question. I'll get back to you.")

Anyway, IA has some really awesome, thought provoking posts. They're not all necessarily investing related, but more so about applying intelligence to companies and markets, from which we can then discern possible investment theses, particularly in the Internet and technology spaces. At least, that's how I view it. Whether or not that's the intent of the author, Roger Ehrenberg, I find it useful just from a big, broad stroke perspective. I'm always looking for new ideas and new ways of looking at existing ideas. Needless to say, I love this site though I haven't yet used, and likely wouldn't exclusively use, it to generate investment ideas.

Anyway, go check it out.

So I finally closed out that bum heating oil trade. How sad. Literally, the front month heating oil contract go to within 1 cent of where I needed it to be for the trade to be (slightly) positive before retreating. I guess winter in Siberia hasn't been quite cold enough.

*weep*

At least my options application FINALLY arrived. It seems that my broker had the wrong address on file even though it was one of the first addresses I changed when I moved. So they sent the same stuff to the same bum address twice. Whatever happened to mail being returned undeliverable? Sheesh! Things like this make me think the USPS should be privatized (however bad a move I think that might ultimately be). It shouldn't be that bloody difficult, especially when you have a mail forward in place.

I'll spend the rest of today working on that and waiting for a response back about the house I made a verbal offer on yesterday. Yes, it was that time of the month again. I am a member of one of the larger and better known real estate investor groups in the DC area. I haven't been to a meeting since late summer however, just due to conflicting commitments. But I did manage to drag myself out of bed for Saturday's meeting, and hopefully it will result in a successful close of another investment property. We'll see how that rolls.

Anyway, more to come but its starting to get hectic here. Until next time...