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Thursday, July 30, 2015

The Writer's Life 7/30 - Steamed

Is this Deflate-Gate nonsense ever going to end?

I've tinkered with my stock portfolio. I've been waiting for Twitter to fall to $30 for about a year. When it went below $32, I put in an order to buy 100 shares. I behaved similarly with Facebook and the strategy provided a nice profit. I also put in a stop order at $120 for Apple. If it touches that price, my 100 shares will be sold, and I will net about $2500 after holding it a little more than a year. I did it for three reasons: Steve Jobs is no longer there; the Apple Watch tanked; competitors are catching up to the Iphone. Of course, my all time worst trading move was selling Apple at $25 just before Jobs returned to the company. Six months to a year later the Ipod hit the market, and the stock has rocked since then. Fortunately, I'd owned only 25 shares. I figure the move cost me ten grand, tip money by the standards of real traders. Look at it this way -- given my mediocre investing history, it may be a great signal to buy Apple if it falls to $120. Don;t say I didn't tell you.

It was pouring just after nine AM, so I decided it was a good time to redeem recyclables. I didn't bring an umbrella, and it felt great walking in the rain after the heat and humidity of the past two days. Unfortunately, there were two Asian women with huge bags of plastic bottles ahead of me and, of course, the third machine was out of order. In the middle of my turn, the machine I was using shut down. The attendant opened the cabinet door and went into a rant when he saw that one of the plastic bags was not properly in place. It was probably replaced by a civilian while he was out of the room. He had to shovel half the debris into the bag by gloved hands and was muttering the entire time. I bit back laughter and thanked him when he finished.

I was again lucky at the floating book shop, despite the steambath the rain had brought, as there was a large enough window between showers for me to open up. And Kinesha, aka Mrs. Eclectic, happened by with her daughter, who is suddenly as tall as she is. She bought seven paperbacks, including, at my suggestion, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I've never read it, but it is highly respected. I saw the movie and was turned off by its feminism. Thank you, madam, and also to the woman who bought two books in Russian. The highlight of the day was the appearance of Miguel, who makes pizza at Delmar, and who was carrying a couple of boxes of food. His adorable son was holding a bunch of balloons. "Cuantos anos tiene usted?" I asked, and he held up his hand, smiling, his missing teeth prevalent. "Cinco?" I said. "Wow!" Feliz cumpleano, amigo.
Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

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