Parsad

With all this discussion of premium services or paid subscriptions, I have decided to add my own such service! Beginning July 4th, I will start a premium service for $10 a month where I will list one monthly burger restaurant recommendation...no not as an investment, but which one produces the best tasting burger! Each month, I will cover another restaurant in a different state or province. I will not be travelling to the locations on most occasions, but just getting them to Fedex me a burger wrapped in aluminum foil. I expect this to be the best paid subscription burger recommendation service on the internet. After the first six months, the fee will increase to $128.88 per month...I like the Feng-Shui around that number and expect alot of my future subscribers will be from booming Mainland China, who will pay up for the stupidest things right now just to get their money out of China! For my compatriots in India who do not eat beef, and for my vegan friends who do not eat meat (Dave that would be you, as I only have one vegan friend), the subscription fee will be $12.50 monthly if you are going to make me eat chicken and tofu burgers simply to serve your needs. After a year, I will start the super-deluxe monthly paid subcription which includes a stock pick and burger recommendation. A la the Motley Fool premium service, I will charge you a fortune and give you nothing but anecdotes and a screen of five ideas based on statistical ratios that you could have done yourself on Yahoo Finance. The burger recommendation comes free with this service as I would have jacked up the monthly fee to $499.99. So, I look forward to all of you long-time members signing up right away...Uccmal, Ericopoly, Cardboard et al...this price is only good for six months and then after that everything is fair game! Cheers! PS. If you haven't realized it already, because the markets closed early today I have little to do, and thought I would blow a little time on how I feel about "paid subscriptions" in this expansive, albeit lazy, attempt at sarcasm!

I'm not sure there are any fund companies that don't push their own funds over others, since it is the incestuous ways of the financial industry, so this probably is another article on JPM that is making a mountain out of a mole hill. Nonetheless, the bad press for JPM continues. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/48058039

Here are the various "living wills" of the various large global financial institutions. Good reading! Cheers! http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/resolution-plans.htm

Good article focusing on Brin, but really in general on innovation: http://business.time.com/2012/07/03/how-googles-chief-innovator-sergey-brin-is-making-science-fiction-real/?hpt=hp_t2 Also, very good interview with Marc Andreessen on Charlie Rose: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12430 Cheers!

Folks, Let's not get carried away one way or the other. I don't think what he did was the brightest thing, but at the same time I think as the title originally said, it was done "unwittingly". Jacob's site has gone from like two to three thousand unique users to something like 50 thousand plus in a little over a year. With that comes the guys who want you to "analyse" a stock for them through "paid coverage". A young guy, whose business is suddenly booming, and someone comes to you and says hey if you write a report on our stock, we'll pay you x dollars for your work, it's hard to say no. I think he felt that the disclosure that it was "paid coverage" would indicate to any readers that it is buyer beware, but in my opinion, with that readership comes the responsibility of not putting your readers in that circumstance to begin with. I would not have done it, but I'm alot older than he is and I only have to feed myself. With the vociferous outcry on here, I think he probably got the message, but I think everyone can tone it down again. Now it's up to him to decide how he deals with the attention he is sure to continue to get from these types of promoters as his site grows and grows over time. Personally, I chalk it up to a learning experience and best of luck to him with his site. Has anyone thought about the fact that he could flip this completely around and do an expose on these guys instead? Maybe Jacob's site would do better and better if it investigated these types of shenanigans. I'm fed up of watching these types of guys feed on unwitting investors in Vancouver, let alone everywhere else. So give the kid a break...I think he heard you all loud and clear! ;D Cheers!

...cyber-terrorism exclusions? Watched a very good 60 Minutes yesterday on Stuxnet: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57460009/stuxnet-computer-worm-opens-new-era-of-warfare/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel Actually was a terrific episode of 60 Minutes, with the other two stories covering Qatar and Chinese Truffles. Well worth watching! Cheers!

Jacob seems young, and his site has been getting gangbuster viewership, so with that comes offers from those seeking attention and I think he may have been suckered. I would suggest he tells whoever paid him for the coverage to go f**k himself next time. Also, do more research and find out who you are dealing with. A quick review of some of the people involved, their previous company registrations, and just reading the financials would have indicated that the story is probably too good to be true. 1st Q 2012 Report: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1470915/000107878212001595/f10q033112_10q.htm Really not much in assets and a few hundred thousand in revenue. Market cap is at $15M right now at four cents and was in the hundreds of millions recently...looks like a typical promotion. Article from 2008 on the Barch family and Clotamin: http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/070208/bethnew213017_32358.shtml David Baines, who is an award-winning investigative business journalist in Vancouver, has been covering Sunpeaks, including the Barch family, and it isn't good. http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Sunpeaks+Ventures+went+public+with+cheap+shares+offshore+accounts/6459821/story.html http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Baines+America+hottest+penny+stock+links+controversial+Osoyoos+family/6444357/story.html Cheers!

Bloomberg investigative piece on Xi Jinping and the secretive wealth of his family members. I'm sure many in the politburo have equally wealthy family members, yet somehow none of that wealth has trickled into their hands...hmmm! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-29/xi-jinping-millionaire-relations-reveal-fortunes-of-elite.html

I guess they are finally catching on! ;D Cheers! http://www.forbes.com/sites/genemarcial/2012/06/29/bank-of-america-attracts-smart-money-crowd-as-it-streamlines-operations-to-refocus-on-core-goals/?partner=yahoofeed

Article on Ackman and railroads. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-29/ackman-like-buffett-buoyed-by-fracking-in-bakken-freight.html?cmpid=yhoo

They did exactly what I said they should do. I told a couple of people to buy this thing out when it was around $17-18, but no one wanted to buy it. The actual Frisch Big Boy burger restaurants are cash cows, but Golden Corral was eating up that cash flow and bleeding money. All they needed to do was sell off the Golden Corral chain and focus on the burger restaurants. They have limited market they can expand into, so they shouldn't grow much more than they have. Just run their restaurants well, make sure they are clean and up to date, and pay most of the cash flow out to shareholders. Cheers!

I don't think Burry should be overly praised either. It's how they all do over time, not on any single idea. Cheers!

The good, the bad and everything else in between. Very good article! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-28/paulson-forgoes-prognostication-as-greatest-trade-sequel-flops.html

Mdhousa, I totally agree with you. But if you take a look at the pages and pages of threads, the thread titles are almost all universally non-political. Often, an investment-related discussion disintegrates into political ideology, and that's where I could use some help from the boardmembers, as I don't have enough time to read every single post. If anyone sees a post that is way off topic and completely political, alert me through the "Report to Moderator" on the bottom right side of every post. That way I can view the post and delete it. The more I delete those types of posts, the more likely a boardmember will get the message that the post was political and not completely appropriate. At the same time, I do give some leeway to political posts if they have a direct influence or ramification for the investment industry or your finances, so they won't go away completely. Cheers!

Double ;D! Cheers!

For that price, it's a pretty damn good product. I didn't consider the Playbook because of the long-term support issues and lack of apps, but I will probably take a really good look at the Nexus 7 before considering an iPad or Surface. Cheers!

I will if it gets down there! Cheers!

Falcone is going to be sued for using client funds to pay personal taxes. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-26/sec-said-to-authorize-lawsuit-against-harbinger-s-falcone.html

Here are the photos and the video clip from Chanticleer's closing bell: http://www.nasdaq.com/marketsite/marketsite-events-detail.aspx?fn=201206-close06262012.txt http://www.nasdaq.com/marketsite/marketsite_events.stm Cheers!

Yeah, panini press was huge too! You can buy those, along with breadmakers at garage sales now for $20! ;D Cheers!

Don't forget slowcookers! My cousin swore by hers when this slowcooker fad started a couple of years ago. She cooked with it at least 3-4 days a week...the convenience, tender meats, efficiency and savings were all touted. It now sits in her cupboard and gets used once every couple of months! Cheers!

Yup! Painful to watch yesterday for those families, and I can only imagine what they are going through. I think more people should have watched it...a pretty humbling episode that probably many other people need to see, especially in overpriced Vancouver. Do you know how many high end cars and apartments are around Vancouver now...it's insane! Saw three Ferraris and a McLaren on my one block walk from the bus-stop to my office. They were not going anywhere together but in different directions. Cheers!

Didn't you guys love the explanation from the Mugs'n Jugs owner on why the scantily clad hostess is leaning over the pool table showing off her assets on their website...that it was because she was playing pool and normally she would be standing up! ;D Cheers!

Article on the growing appeal of "Breastaurants"! Also a brief mention of Mike's group that took over HOA and the makeover they are working on. I've been to Hooter's restaurants maybe twice in my life because the food sucked, but I'm glad they are remaking the menu and restaurants. I'll be in Vegas mid-July, so maybe I will go to one there. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/47951618

Did you watch Dateline yesterday? It was a very good episode and discussed how so many Americans are struggling. At the same time, while many are facing daunting financial hurdles, most are fighting and optimistic about getting back on their feet over time. This too shall pass! Cheers!