California Dreamin' ...

The WSJ has an article about the California state government budget deficit growing rapidly. I'd expect that state to get a huge shock on January 15 as estimated tax payments will show a stunning drop. Everyone doing tax loss selling will be able to cut back their payments and will do so at once. And unicnorporated businesses suffering now will have overpaid prior quarters so will cut their payments, too.

That last estimated tax payment was September 15, just before the panic hit hard.

California home prices are still far above the ability of the bulk of people to afford. Long commute distances and traffic jams waste huge amounts of time and money. The state government is bloated and taxes are already very, very high. Once I was did business in California and can write from first hand experience.

Local governments there are often full of pushy, obnoxious tyrants. And even private groups seems to think they are lords of the manor in telling one how to live. Trendy left wing proto-fascists ... or even crypto-fascists ... are always passing laws there forcing one to conform to their foolish life choices. Again, I have lived there for periods of up to six months, so speak from experience.

Yes, I simply do not like that state. Sure, the weather is nice. Big deal. It's a nice place to visit as a tourist, but to live there ... ugh !

What will they do ? I really don't care. Raise taxes a lot, I'd guess. That's their usual practice. California is an endless ratchet of emergency tax increases that become permanent. Home prices must still fall substantially. Hollywood fools will bloviate [*Word of the Day] about "investing" in alternative energy and climate change. If one place will become a desert again under climate change legislation, it's southern California.

Markets

The resource stocks and dry shippers ripped again, so I flipped more stock I bought at very low prices when I "averaged down". Those worked out very well. I have FCX, DRYS, GNK and EXM. I still have a bit too much of each, but for now, it's not excessive. I try trading around to lower my average cost and cut the size down a bit more. I do seem to have retained some trading skills.

I did more research on stocks to buy soon and found a long list of good prospects. I need to go through more closely. My intent is to invest modest amounts in 10 to 20 of these and hold for a couple years. Objective: not a "return of my money" but a "multiple on my money". My target is 5 to 10x total return by some time in 2010.

Obviously these will be beaten down, lower priced stocks and quite risky. Interestingly, though, I find some high quality names, too.

Word of the Day

"Bloviate" - verb [$10] an old one from the file
Bloviate means to speak or write verbosely or windily.
Sentence: Does anyone bloviate to such lengths or with so little factual substance as an alternative energy advocate ? They try to convert the gullible, but are truly quacksalvers as to make their policies work without subsidy, both the laws of economics and the laws of physics must be violated concurrently.