Hillary came back at the invitation of Sarah and John of our online stock trading group.  She was planning to talk on a number of things, including the Investors Bill of Rights.  Hillary had worked for a brokerage firm and had agreed to work to mentor our online stock trading club.

Our assignments were to really check out our brokerage firm and make sure that we could obtain information on the various components of the Investor Bill of Rights. Not much could be more important for online stock trading. 

The next meeting we had a lot of shifting of information to do. 

There were a couple in our group, including John, the president of our club, who found out that they has less than stellar information from their firms.  Sarah, the vice president of the club, had a much better profile of her company. 

My company was really good and followed all the suggestions of the Investor Bill of Rights. 

Hillary’s talk at our last meeting was about preserving the capital we needed to have to maintain our lifestyles.

She advised us that really no matter what we do in today’s market it is all speculative. Anybody who says they know for certain what the markets will do is being very foolish. We are in uncharted waters, she said, as far as investing goes.  When the central bankers, wall street wizards and United States Treasury cannot even figure out what’s happening, the likely hood that the small individual investor will call it right is not great.

What was that ancient Chinese saying?  May you live in interesting times?  That was not meant as a positive, Hillary said.  She left with a warning to be careful in any investing today, as the rules seem to be changing daily.

When Hillary left you could have heard a pin drop around our table. We knew there was value in the market; we just had to be sure that we could determine it.

 There's nothing like seeing the Chicago Cubs from a roof top deck.  It gives the whole game a different perspective.  However, that aside, you would like to believe that what happened against Cincinnati could never happen, but it did.  I just couldn't believe Lieber!  One inning and he gives up four home runs.  Four!  I couldn't believe it.  And they sent Rich Hill off to do some farming.  This was Leiber's first start since last year, and I'm thinking it should be his last start.  What are those guys thinking at the Cubs?  Well, that's just it: they aren't thinking.  What a route, 9-0.  Why show up at all?  Why not just phone it in?  Unbelievable!  But typical.  That's why you just can't let what I call the "Cubs Experience" get to you.  You have to just enjoy the over all experience and remember that baseball, especially as it is practiced in Chicago is just that — a diversion.  Still, would you like to just see it all come together and have the Cubs win the whole deal?  Like the White Sox managed to do in 2005? Just once.  Whole generations have come and gone.  Two world wars have been fought.  Man has landed on the moon.  And yet… the Cubs can't win the World Series.

Dallas Mavericks

jacket in their cart. Those jackets are very expensive and I just can’t see myself buying my kid (if I had a kid, that is) one of those jackets. My daughter says they are called starter jackets, and it may not be a good idea to walk around in certain areas wearing one. It seems they can attract trouble if you happen up on the wrong people. She has heard of kids getting their jackets taken right off their backs. That’s very scary to hear.