Sunday Leftovers: Volume 02: Issue 13

Howdy true be-loggers, welcome to Sunday Leftovers. I have been effectively snowed in this weekend left to think and cook, let's see what has crossed my mind and what is leftover.

[The Back Window]





CREDIT: Pathological Lovers - I am the Interest Rate

[Brokers]

A few months before Allison and I got married, we decided we should get involved with stocks and investments. I asked a few people I respected for their opinions and one of my friends hooked me up with his brokers at SmithBarney. I called them and they agreed to meet with us. At their office in Center City, we discussed our assets, the wedding, and our plans. I asked them about Roth IRAs and they suggested I put my money in a mutual fund. Something didn't sound right about that since all of my other contacts said to get one. I decided to give them a small bit of money in Allison's name and mine and see what they did with it. I told them I fully expected the market to crash and I wanted to see how they navigated it and those actions would determine how much I would give them in the future (this was before total stock market/economic melt down, there was just the obvious signs). Months passed, we didn't hear from them. The mutual funds they set up were doing terrible and I wanted to see what they had to say for themselves (and we had some post-wedding money we could use to invest). I sent the younger partner in the duo an email which I kept:

From: Joey Lombardi
Date: Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Subject: Checking In
To: "Ana XXX" , "Sandra XXX"

Ana & Sandra,
I wanted to check in and say hi. The wedding is over, the economy is in the dumps, lets talk about investing some money. Since Citigroup/SmithBarney isn't doing well, what's the situation with you gals?

From: Sandra
Date: Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Subject: RE: Checking In
To: Joey Lombardi

Congratulations on your marriage. Hopefully all is well and everything went off as planned. I don't know how much money you're talking about investing , but give us some idea so we can give you a proposal. We'll wait to hear from you.
By the way, would appreciate if you did not call us "gals". Thanks.

At this point I want to pause and remind you that they had lost 50% of the money we gave them; considering that information, my message was rather friendly. Besides her snooty email, my major concern about the situation was that SmithBarney had just been bought out by Citigroup and then Citigroup was all over the news for being in bad shape. I was most definitely pissed off at their lack of communication and poor foresight, but I kept a friendly tone to see if they had a plan. They didn't... and I felt they were rude, but I kept my cool and apologized for the apparent insult. I suggested a dollar amount and asked them for their ideas. It took them a month to respond and it was more cookie cutter programs that wouldn't require them to do much managing (I was suggesting a nice bit of money to invest too). I wasn't satisfied with their suggestion and asked for other options. I never heard from them again. I decided I was done calling and offering to do business (which I am sure that is exactly what they wanted to happen).

I assumed the stock market would bounce back a bit and we could recover more money for the mutual fund, so I waited to close it. As the months passed I got letters saying the duo was breaking up and new people were being brought in to manage my fund under Sandra. I just waited til my losses were under 20%. Before the holidays of this year, I got a letter stating I was being put into a new program in April that "would help me realize my goals more efficiently". This made me nervous, but I waited until after the holidays to get more information. Of course my money managers didn't have direct contact information on the statement, so I called the main line and spoke to a nice 1st level person. He proceeded to tell me that this new program would subtract $40 per quarter from the account and additional $50 at the end of the year. This mutual fund as never made money and now they were going to take out $170.00 per year unless I invested $25,000.00 with them.

I canceled the account immediately and asked my wife to do the same when she got home. I am done with mutual funds and asshole brokers. I am going to take matters into my own hands and I am going to talk about it here.

NEW FEATURE: [Sunday Stocks]

NOTE: I have absolutely no experience in the stock market nor am I a trained financial professional. I am just someone that is tired of letting some asshole manage my money for me. I might succeed, I might fail but I can only blame myself.

I did some digging to figure out where I should invest. I have my own personal ideas, but I wanted a general framework to operate from. My research based on my age and a moderate-risk style lead me to this breakdown:

1. 30% Large Cap Investments


2. 25% Small Cap Investments


3. 25% Foreign Investments


4. 20% Bonds

As I await my money to come back from SmithBarney, I am looking for stocks to invest in. After reading T. Boone Pickens' books, I am convinced that long term investment in energy (including oil) is going to be a money maker for me assuming I picked the right ones. Right now my attack strategy is look like this:

1. Large Cap: Exxon, AIG, and a managed mutual fund by Vangaurd (VTI)


2. Small Cap Investments:I like a company called Zolteck (Zolt) which makes Carbon Fiber building materials


3. Foreign Investments: I have my eye on China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (SNP)


4. Bonds: American Funds - High-Income Trust (AHITX)

These are the primary players I am going to watch for the next few weeks and based on their performance, I will determine if I am going to purchase them. This should be an interesting ride readers :-)

[Recipe of the Week: The Buffle-Joe Sandwich]

This sandwich only comes out on Superbowl... here's how to make it

INGREDIENTS
1 large crusty baguette (try to get one that is wide)
3 chicken breasts sliced into strips
Celery stocks (cut into strips)
Blue Cheese Dressing
Shoe-String French Fries
Cooper-Sharp Cheese
Two Large bottles of hot sauce (your choice)

DIRECTIONS

1. The night before: Mix two cups of milk with a cup of Tabasco sauce and 3 table spoons of salt. Add the chicken and seal in a zip lock bag overnight. The next morning, take out the chicken, pat it down with paper towels.
2. In a bowl, mix two cups of hot sauce with an egg. Dip the chicken in the wash, and then coat with paprika, salt, and crushed red pepper. Get a frying pan and coat with oil, cook the strips.
3. Use the same seasoning and coat the shoe-string fries. Place in oven and cook as directed.
4. Mix blue cheese with hot sauce and treat as a spead for the sandwich.
5. Add the cooper-sharp cheese, then the celery, then the chicken, and then top with the fries.

[DIY of the Week: PVC Pipe Shelves]

This is simple and looks good. From Apartment Therapy:
DIY Pipe Shelving

[Video of the Week]



[Conclusion]

Grrr... I need to go out and shovel some more. If you need to reach me, you can do so via email at: "blog at joeylombardi.com". As always, don't take shit from anybody.

Smell You Later,
~ Joey

Joey Lombardi | Create Your Badge