Saturday, October 6, 2007

2007 MUSCLE DRIVER USA NAS INC National Championships

Nationals is the next contest on my horizon. Its the biggest amateur contest of the year. Winner gets their pro card and is 2007 amateur national champion. It takes place November 16 in Las Vegas.

Events are as follow:
1) 80lb kettlebell clean and press. Max reps in 60 seconds. Kettlebell is taken from the ground to the shoulder, and then pressed.

2)Farmers walk. 260lbs per hand. 80 feet turns. Max distance.

3)Yoke walk. 700lbs for 80ft. Fastest time wins

4) Tire flip. 800 lb tire for 80 feet. Fastest time wins

5) Atlas stones. 5 stone series- 240, 280, 300, 300, 365

There will be over 100 competitors. My goal is a top 5 finish.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Dow closes at record high

Nice way to start October! The DOW smashed through 14,000 to close at 14,087- a 1.38% gain. The S&P closed with a 1.33% gain. The market seems to be optimistic of another Fed cut at the end of the month.

The market has been red hot the past 3 weeks and has recouped all of its gains from the 10% haircut we took in July and August.

I have stayed fully invested and added to my postions through the dip. All of my positions have recovered except for one (HCFCX which I bought right before the market drop). I am still dollar cost averaging into this fund.

Just another reminder you can't time the market!

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Saturday event training

We train events on Saturdays. I am about 2 months out from Nationals . We have started to train for the contest.

Did 3 events on Saturday.

Kettle Bell Clean and Press. 44KG kettlebell (about 97 lbs). I bought the kettlebell last week and this was my first time trying these. Took me about 10 minutes to get it. Did couple sets of 5. Pretty easy. The contest weight is 80lbs. Max reps in 60 seconds.



Yoke. Worked up to 660lbs for 60 feet. Did a backoff set of 600 for 70 feet. The contest weight is 700 for 80 feeet. My back has been jacked so I am trying to ease myself back into yoke training.



Stones. My back was pretty fried. Worked up t0 a 350 single to 48" platform.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

New position to porfolio

Opened a long position in SHLD yesterday. Ive been watching this stock for a while and believe I got a good entry point. I am a bit of a contrarian, and look for good stocks at lows that may have been oversold a bit. I view SHLD as more of a holding company ala Warren Buffett then a retail play. I would not bet against Eddie Lampert.




On my watch list- SNDA. Its been up 26% before it came across my radar. Chinese internet gaming company. They make role playing games like World of Warcraft for Chinese. Low P/E (16) considering industry type and the fact that it's a China play.

Chinese consumers are dying over these games, prostituting themselves out, spending money on face weapons... It's like investing in legal heroin.
http://www.geek.com/chinese-man-dies-after-week-long-gaming-session/?rfp=dta

Shanda has been beating estimates every single quarter. I believe this is a great buy now. Trading around 36. Look for a top of at least 45-46.

Monday, September 24, 2007

End of the month

I have alot riding on the next couple days. Its the last week of the month and the quarter. My monthly bonus and my quarterly bonus are on the line. I should be close to hitting my number. I will be at work extra early this week.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Increasing income vs. Frugality

Whats more important?

Saving more money vs making more money?

It seems many bloggers "side" with frugality. Its easier to control spending rather then increasing income they say.

I'm a sales guy. I work in a highly competitive environment where I can control how much (or how little) money I make. This is all I have known since I started my career. I cannot image having and expecting the same pay check month after month. My paychecks fluctuate depending on my performance.

While I definelty do believe in living below your means.. I also believe in expanding your means. I can easily do this through my effort and hustle.

Life is too short to not take that vacation or go to the game with your buddies.

You can have both..just make more money!

ESPP bloodbath

My company has a stock purchase plan whereas employees can use a certain percentage of their paycheck to buy company stock at a 15% discount. There is a one year holding period. I have been participating since late 2004 and have amassed a sizable amount of stock. Alot of my coworkers that have been with the company for a while have also amassed alot of stock. This has been great as the stock has greatly appreciated since 2004.

That is until roughly 90 days ago. Since then, it has gone from a 52 week high to a 52 week low. This constitutes roughly a 50% haircut. This has not been a good ride for my participating coworkers (myself included). Today in a product training meeting, one of the product trainers said he lost $7k last month. Most of the room nodded their heads in agreement. I know this trainer owns many more shares then I do. He is not especially financially savvy either.

The scary thing is that I am not sure when the bleeding will stop. I am not going to sell now and have continued to purchase shares (dollar cost averaging). Its tough, though, when you check the market in the morning and realize you have already lost $500-$1000 before you even start your day!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Welcome

Welcome to my first post! I am not sure what direction this blog will go. I will talk about my journey to increased wealth. Looking forward to the journey!