Friday Folly

Bubblevision is hyperventilating about the monthly jobs report. With the huge revisions being so common, I don't see a big reaction unless there's a major change in trend. Any number between 75,000 and 200,000 is OK with me.

India markets near the 15,000 level on the Bombay Stock Exchange aka BSE. The index I quote is the BSE Sensex.

Today's title is partly taken from the famous book of Erasmus, "Praise of Folly" written around 1500. I heard a lecture about it on the drive to/from Ohio last week in the "Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition" course I have on CDs. The book is styled as a "declamation" [aka a harangue at a feast] by the Greek goddess, "Folly" about why she is the greatest of all gods. It's a fun read [I not finished yet - will write more about it later].

The Nazz and Nazz 100 charts are looking OK. The S&P shows a possible bullish continuation pattern similar to March. The Rut is still in a consolidation pattern.

Earnings season will be important, as always. We might get clues about the next leg up. If new leadership groups show up, I'll try to find some new stocks in them.

I gave Mrs. B more $$$ yesterday - she wanted to buy MCD and CLX. Her broker talked her out of buying MCD in March :-( I bought in the Alpha Fund [ :-) ] and held it until April 15 when I sold it to pay taxes. So we didn't lose much of its recent move. Mrs. B is learning about stocks. I set up a full service account for her with a real broker and stay away from it [mostly ;-) hehe, I drop hints once in a while]. I wrote about it before - I call it the "Sky Fund" after our Kelpie puppy, Sky. So far it's working out well. :-)

Uh ... notice I put my $$$ where my mouth is ... buying dips.

PS: Some birds built a nest in a large rhodedendron bush in front of my ... uh ... bunker [great camo ;-) ]. This is probably a second nesting. The little birds are sure chirping away. It's very pleasant living near nature. I just saw a Blue Jay on a tree outside a window [oops, firing port hehehe] preening itself. Very, very pleasant most of the time.

PPS: Note the oil ETF - USO - should NEVER be bought as a long-term investment. It's just a trading vehicle. When it was created, the ETF's price was about equal to the nearby crude price. Now look: nearby oil is about $72 and USO is only $55. That ETF loses money every month due to the contango in the crude markets. The underlying futures contracts lose money every money as nearby crude is cheaper than forward crude. So unless that market goes to backwardation, stay away from USO for long-term investments. As a trade for a few weeks, it's fine.