- 420

Another sell off. Dow closed at 10,990.

Mortgage interest rates at 50 year low: 30 year fixed at 4.15%.

"Experts" are saying we are on the cusp of another recession. I don't think we ever got out of the last recession.

AFL @ $35.36
GE is testing $15 again. Closed at $15.34.
INTC @ $19.77. Yielding 4.25%.

+423 (3.95%)

The roller coaster continues.

Dow closed at 11,143.

The S&P was up 4.6%.

-520 points (-4.6%)

It literally is 2008 all over again.

DOW closed down 4.6% at 10,720.

I think we are oversold. Yields are getting juicy.

MDT @ $30.41. 3.2%
LMT @ $66.87. 4.5%
INTC @ $19.93. 4.21%

+430 (3.98%)

I knew it would happen. Big rebound day in the market after fed says they will keep rates at 0 for the next 2 years. Wild day as market was down over 150 late in the afternoon an d rallied 600 plus points to close at 12,240.

The talking heads are putting chance of double dip recession 50/50.

Personally I hope for a training range in the 11,000-11,500 range so I can continue to accumulate positions.

Buys today:
ABT $150@ $47.68 (4.03%)
MO $150@ $24.44 (6.22%)
EXC $200@ $40.00 (5.25%)
GE $250@ $15.35 (3.91%)
JNJ $150@ $61.16 (3.73%)
KMR $350@ $57.25 (8.03%)
LMT $250@ $68.95 (4.35%)
PAYX $200@ $26.18 (4.74%)
PEP $150@ $62.26 (3.31%)
PG $200@ $59.91 (3.51%)
RDS.B $250@ $62.30 (5.39%)
TEVA $350@ $38.72 (2.07%)

These purchases will pay $120.43 worth of dividends over the next 12 months.

2008 all over again -634.45 (-5.54%)

It's 2008 all over again. S&P downgrades US Govt debt from AAA to AA and market responds w/ 635 (5.5%)drop to close at 10,810 and S&P drops 6.9%. Russell 2000 index drops 8.9%.

NASDAQ down 12.4% over the last 3 days.

Ugly.

CLGX down almost 50% over the past month and over 42% over the last 5 days!

BAC down 20% to close at $6.51.

Buys today:
TEVA $1030@ $38.14 (2.1%).

This purchase will pay $21.59 in dividends over the next 12 months.

Precious Metals

Man, it's been a while since I posted. Lots of news and it will take a few posts to catch up.

Silver and precious metals have been on fire.

Silver is up over 60% this year with inflation fears and the fed destroying the American dollar buy running the printing presses at full throttle.

Silver closed today at $27.33 an ounce. Gold at $1354.

Silver American Eagles are running at over $31 ( I bought some last month at a little over $28).

I like owning silver bullion. I get some satisfaction of being able to hold real value in my hand. Definetly more rewarding then a paper asset. I plan on adding more PM's but will look to do this on dips. I have my eye on 90% silver coins. Currently going for $2k for $100 face generic bag.

Dont fight the fed

Funny (and very sad) video on QE2:

GE raises dividend 20%

Good news on Friday as GE unexpectedly raised their dividend 20% from $.10 to $.12 per share.

My GE annual dividend income jumped from $214.13 to $256.96.

GE climbed 3.29% to close at $15.71.

Critical Mass

I was been thinking about this today. I will call it critical mass. I actually picked up this term from another blog I read last night:

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2010/03/money-goals-and-score-keeping.html

Anyways, this is the point where you are making more- or just as much money from your investments each year as you do at your job.

I think of it as a rolling avalanche behind you and it rapidly picks up more speed every year.

I think once you hit this milestone, you can take the short ticket to retirement..its not too far off. At least you can slow down a little. You have this compounding monster behind you growing bigger and bigger.

How much is critical mass?

I think it is $500,000 in investable assets not including your own home.

I am going to include 401k and retirement in this number, though my opinion may change down the road.

If wealth building is your goal, I think one should try to reach this as fast as possible. If one reaches before 40, I think you can retire by 50.

It's like the old saying- the first million is always the hardest. After you have the first million..the second is much easier.

Lost Decade

The 2000's will go down as the 2nd worst performing decade for the DOW. If history is an indicator, the next decade should be good for equities.