Tag: Apple

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UpDown.com Virtual Investing

Recently I stumbled upon a virtual investing site called UpDown.com which provides you with a fictional $1 million to start investing. You can compete it real contests which can earn you real money depending on which place you finish – some even provide prizes for the top 50 investors. Also, every month you are eligible to earn some cash if your portfolio for the entire month out performs S&P 500.

I take a little pride in investing (virtually) and ever since winning $800 prize way back in high school I have joined contests to see how well I can do. I think it’s fair to say I end up in the positive more than I end up in the red so that’s a good sign. Think you are good? Why not give this a shot just to see. You can always just buy a couple of stocks and let it sit long term or do daily trading… whatever suits you.

Here is a brief summary of my portfolio so far:


I’ll give a little detailed description of my portfolio right now where in about less than a week I am up 2%. I have a couple of big technology stocks in Apple and Google which do bad when the market goes out but definitely out perform the market on the good days. I shorted on a couple (which are currently paying off but I would never short in real life). Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and BlackRock are the ones I shorted on and all three have declined this week. It’s a careful balance on when to cover those shortrs and not get too greedy. Also, I am hoping for Sirius Radio to shoot through the roof soon as it is awaiting a merger in the upcoming weeks or months so I will be holding on to that.

The one stock that has just exploded these past few days is little known Pyramid Oil Company (PDO) which I had bought at a measly $12 per share and it has jumped $2 already. I had thought about Exxon Mobil (XOM) but the price on that is a little steeper than I want to invest in an oil stock. I stuck to the smaller alternative and so far so good.

I’ll keep updating every now and then to see how my portfolio is doing against the S&P and I already know that people like Mike, Justin and my sister have joined in on this. I have a mini group just to compare how everyone does against each other so if you decide to join, let me know. It’s a fun little thing that you can check in on every now and then or heavily follow if that’s the type of investor you are.

Once again, the site is called UpDown.com and it’s free to join. What can beat that?

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iWaiting for iPhone

So it has been 8 days since I placed a Direct Fulfillment Order for my iPhone 3G since it was sold out in all the local stores (Apple and AT&T). Originally I was told it would only take 5-7 days and I assumed it would since Apple was releasing their phones worldwide and I thought Apple would be ready for a release on such a massive scale. Turns out I was a little wrong in my judgment.Why So Serious?

As of day 8, I am currently #15 #12 (3:17 PM) in the waiting list at my local AT&T store which is approximately getting about 5 shipments of iPhones a day (you do the math – at least 3 more days of waiting at best). The 5-7 has turned into 7-10 day wait for most people if not 2-3 weeks already. If you want to place a DF order now, you better be ready to wait nearly a month to get it. My suggestion would probably be to keep an eye out at a local Apple Store since they seem to be getting more frequent shipments and hope be lucky at get your hands on one through a walk-in.

There have been a couple of sites such as Where Is My Damn iPhone and ATT Direct Fulfillment Watchdog that have been providing some comfort (not a lot) by listing all the AT&T orders (whether they were iPhone related or not to show you your place in the queue). Also on the AT&T Wireless Forums there was a thread created on 7/13 called Has Anyone Receive Their iPhone 3G Through Direct Fulfillment and in merely 9 days it was already generated 5,140 comments from disgruntled customers (myself included). Although the anger has somewhat subsided and patience starts to kick in for most of the people, the iWait continues and hopefully will be concluded soon enough.

I will definitely review the product once I do get it and for anyone reading this who already got their hands on one, let me know what you think. Was it what you expected? Pros? Cons?

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A Really Rotten Apple

As if Apple really needed to give me a reason to not like them anymore. Let me preface this by saying this… Yes I have an iPod that was gifted to me several years back and yes I use it to listen to music on the go but more and more I have gotten angry with it, with iTunes and now the Apple Software Update program.

The hassle of the proprietary software use with Apple has just gone over the top. I have been limited to using iTunes for my music because of my iPod and if I want to use something else, I’ll still have to update my playlist in iTunes if I want to update it on my iPod. I have pretty much given up on that fact and I just stick to using the resource hog program. I will say though I like the rating system, the “Top Rated” songs only playlist and the smart playlist that changes on the fly according to the criteria you have set.

Anyways, that’s enough praise for Apple from me. What ticked me off today occurred while I was eagerly awaiting a Windows Update to occur so I could install the Service Pack 1 for Vista that was finally released. While I am waiting… my screen gets littered with this prompt from the Apple Software Update Program.

safari.JPG

Honestly, I almost had the urge of uninstalling iTunes right there on the spot and never using my iPod or iTunes again. I am quite happy using my Firefox 3 (Beta 4) which I might add has been running quite smoothly and I can’t wait for the final release. I don’t need no Safari on my laptop. No Safari is not the “fastest and easiest-to-use web browser for the PC”. I don’t need Apple trashing my computer with more of their products and lies.

I apologize to all the readers who are Mac fans but I cannot stand it anymore… and that’s why I’m ranting at this time of night. I am truly an Angry Brown Guy right now!