OK, I’m sure you have all heard by now, Al Gore won the Noble Peace Prize. Big surprise. Here’s a few notes.

One, a Peace Prize for environmental awareness work? Explain. Explain to me how Al and the UN IPCC have helped stopped the genocide in Darfur, how they have limited conflict in Africa, how they have worked towards sectarian conflict resolution in Iraq—just throwing it out there.

Does this put him in line for a Presidential run? Even if it does, he has no shot. The machine is in motion. Hillary will be their nominee, barring a Howard Dean-esque meltdown. However, I do feel a little vindicated by the media for even suggesting it, as I brought it up at the beginning of the year.

Other notes are much better put by Patrick Michaels, who just happens to be a Noble winner from today as well. He is a Cato fellow and member of the UN IPCC. Check it out!

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8744

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In a presentation before the [Georgia] Governor’s Education Finance Task Force, former UGA president and current chairman of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, Dr. Charles B. Knapp spoke passionately about the dire state of public education in Georgia and the nation as a whole. According to Dr. Knapp, American public education “is a train wreck that has already occurred”. If clean-up of this mess does not begin immediately, the consequence will be not only the continued loss of jobs overseas, but also as a long-term decline in the American standard of living.

The data supporting the view that American public schools are failing is a wake-up call. Since the 1970s, there has been almost no growth in the percentage of American adults in the workforce with a high school diploma. Meanwhile, other nations have caught and exceeded our levels of workers with secondary school diplomas, resulting in a decline of competitiveness of the American worker. Moreover, the education received does not seem to be doing the job of adequately preparing students for post-secondary study. Longitudinal studies cited by the Commission show that of 100 students beginning 9^th grade, only 68 will graduate high school on-time. Of these students, 40 will enroll directly in college and a mere 18 will graduate with an Associates or Bachelors degree within six years. Additionally, the cost of educating students over the past 30 years has risen with no appreciable increase in common benchmark test scores, such as 4^th grade reading scores. Something must be done.

While the Commission has proposed robust reforms for the national K-12 system that they would like to see actualized by 2021, in the interim the onus is on states and localities to produce the type of workforce that will best be able to adapt to an ever changing global environment. One way that Georgia can do this is to adopt charter school legislation that would provide parents with school choices that best fit the needs of their child while at the same time pushing schools to excel. Two options were recently presented before the Joint Charter Schools Subcommittee, H.B. 469 and H.B. 881.

H.B. 469, proposed by Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), would create a system by which charter schools can be authorized from multiple sources, not just local Boards of Education. Included in the list of proposed authorizers are any local elected body (city, county, etc.), a public university, or the State Board of Education. The goal here is to create a free-market environment in which educational needs can be met in a way that encourages excellence in all public schools, charter and non-charter, through competition. Additionally, H.B. 469 would allow all state and 90% of local education monies to follow an enrolled child. Another proposal, H.B. 881, presented by Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta), would create the Georgia Charter School Commission, a central body that all charter schools are accountable to. Aside from having regulatory roles, the proposed Commission would also be able to authorize charter schools without local Board of Education approval, allowing for the proliferation of charter schools in districts where local board members may be less-than-friendly to the idea. Additionally, 90% of all funds will follow the child should they enroll in a charter school.

 The efficacy of charters schools is undeniable. Graduation rates are higher by 8-12%, more schools meet federal standards, and parents are able to target the needs of their children better while not having to resort to expensive private education. In the absence of comprehensive systemic changes, encouraging educational excellence through competition is the best way to get American education back on track. Legislation that encourages the creation of charter schools is a step in the right direction.

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I can honestly say that getting a higher return in a portfolio is actually easier than most people think. My investment strategy is becoming a little more complex, but my theories are still pretty basic. Find good and profitable companies with long sustainable growth. Of course one of the biggest changes that I’ve done is purchasing more shares of a company instead of diversifying in many companies with a lump sum. I would rather a return of 20% with an investment of a $1000 in one company versus a 30% average return in ten companies with the same investment amount. I know I’ve been covering this issue a lot lately, but I truly think it’s an important topic. Trading fees can kill an investment when you buy in small increments. I know a lot of bloggers disagree with me on this, but in my personal experience its worked wonders.

Last year my individual stock portfolio returned a pretty healthy return, but I’ve already made almost double that even when I incorporate trading fees. I realize that putting more of my eggs in fewer baskets can be dangerous, but doing your homework can really save that “investment risk.”

This year I’ve made some big purchases (for me at least) in some good growth companies. As you know, I’ve decided to buy Nintendo and E*Trade.  I still have $2200 left to add to my Roth IRA. Here are the stocks that I am looking at purchasing later on this year. Masimo Corporation was brought to my attention earlier last month. Jim Cramer also reinsured my position after speaking highly about the company earlier this week. The company recently became public and they’ve done a great job in the medical technology field. They have patents on their most profitable products and apparently they have technologies that will change the whole industry.

Pengrowth and Penn West are still looking good and have those extremely high paying dividends, which is always a good investment. I’m leaning more towards Penn West because Pengrowth just lowered their dividend yield. The nice thing about these companies is they pay their dividends on a monthly basis. This means your investment compounds monthly and grants you a higher return than the quoted dividend. I want to maximize my returns this year. I want to aim at getting a 54% return. I know it seems high and unrealistic, but I could sell the shares I already own and put them in cash and make a 32% return.

Everyone has a different investment strategy and I am not saying that mine is perfect, but since I’ve changed my style, money is certainly coming faster than before. Just remember that diversification in small amounts will lower your return. I would recommend putting your money in a high-yield savings account until you reach a $1000 dollars. After that, you can look at what stocks fit your investment style and strategy.

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I love it that there is now awareness to declare our independence from foreign oil. It’s good geopolitically and it’s good for the environment. While I am not a fan of fanatic global warming rhetoric, you all know my stance…stop spewing crap into the air, everyone will be happy.

But we need to think before we act. The recent energy bill was going to force oil companies to invest their “windfall” profits into alternative energies, like wind, solar, and ethanol. However, as in typical Dem and academia fashion, there was no thought into where that money will actually come from. Do you actually think that those companies will just give up those profits, no freakin’ way! Just watch the price of oil increase, it is simply economics. Thank goodness that amendment was defeated.

And another word of warning about ethanol-based fuels, like E85. This is a good in theory, bad in reality idea. There is the darned problem of increase in corn prices. A recent interview with a Nebraska farmer on CNN about the issue revealed the problem at the supply source: a stall full of feed corn last year cost this man $200. This year, due strictly to supply and demand increases, it cost him nearly $500. We are seeing it right now, as the R&D for this fuel is ramping up, food prices are rising steadily past the rate of inflation. I’m not discouraging the use of ethanol, but be careful what you wish for. Plus, at this point, the production of E85 is less efficient than the refinement of crude oil. Basically, you get less bang for your buck from ethanol at this point in time.

I think that these technologies are quite a few years off. Right now, we need to be concentrating and encouraging the building of refineries with the capability to transfer to cleaner technologies in 20 or 30 years when the cleaner, non-oil fuels are ready. I still like wind power, but I worry where it is all going to come from. The infrastructure is enormous in size and I have concerns of land values in populated areas. SoCal is the place the build these things, but will the people who paid $500,000 for a 3 bed house on 0.25 acres go for it? No energy source is without it’s issue until we can knock down the price and increase efficiency on solar or perfect and develop fusion power, we are going to have to be responsible and combine options. We also have to do it ourselves. I love the stat that if every house had one of the new high efficiency bulbs, we could power 400,000 more homes. Wow, just freakin’ wow. So I challenge everyone who reads this to do that. I have my whole house loaded up. Cost me $40-50 bucks. They will last 8 years and save me over $200 dollars per year minimum. And my whole lighting system is running on 99 watts, not 1100. That’s a big difference. Just a thought. This is a start to energy independence and independence from reactionary energy politics.

Check out the house in the picture posted here. That is badass, using technology to solve a problem. In fact, that is the definition of badass. Let’s get that down in cost so individuals can afford it. But until then, get the bulbs, enjoy the savings.

Just a stat that I read this week to leave you with: Did you know the evil oil companies only make 10 cents per gallon net on gasoline? Did you know that the Feds make 18 cents per gallon? Realize that oil companies put a s**t ton into R&D per year, more than you would believe.

By the way, Top Chef is a glorious show. Just glorious. God, I love food! They are updating old, unhealthy family favorites now. Awesome!!

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I hoping everyone got to see the debate that happened on CNBC yesterday. I thought it was a pretty good debate involving some important issues. Healthcare, social security, federal spending and taxes were the center of attention and I honestly feel like this was the first debate that you can start picking your potential GOP candidate.

Federal spending is the cornerstone to all of the issues that the presidential hopefuls debated about. As you all should know, federal spending has been off the charts. Yet, taxes have not increased, but DECREASED over the past eight years. Can someone please tell me how you can pay for a war and still offer tax cuts? Pretty much you can’t do that (unless you want to be in debt forever!).

This is one issue that most presidential candidates do not want to talk about other than Ron Paul (Please watch this video! It pretty much explains everything). It really does suck that Ron Paul is voted the most important presidential candidate online and in polls, yet the mainstream media doesn’t want to give him any air time. Extremely sad. He is the only candidate that wants to bring America back to what it used to be and, more importantly, what it always should be.

I just think it’s amazing how no one really wants to talk about the deficit and pretend like it’s non-existing issue (Ron Paul excluded and a lil’ McCain too). Cutting taxes and participating in a war is an oxymoron. You can’t double dip unless the government is getting the tax revenue to fund the war. One of my anti-war friends thinks that there should be an Iraq War Tax to wake up Americans. Pretty good idea… Our faux-Republican government has lost their touch and everyone can see that now. Limited government? Gone. Federal spending down? I don’t think so. Cutting taxes? Well, yeah that’s happening. We need a full scale enema. We need the Reagan times to come and shine again.

I am hearing a lot of discussion about reforming the tax code; which I am also in total favor for. BUT… it still doesn’t change our current situation. The only way we can get ourselves out of this mess is by either INCREASING taxes or DECREASING federal spending. I know everyone gets really scared when you hear tax hike, but our system will end up failing horribly at some point. And that “some point” will inevitably be in my lifetime. The math does not make sense people. Our economy couldn’t handle the credit crunch. What makes you think our federal government can? Instead of worrying about cutting taxes, start demanding federal spending cuts.

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I know investing is not always easy. I know that most people want to sell when their stocks are down and have a “let it ride” mentality when their stocks are reaching new 52 week highs. It’s always nice to see when your stocks perform much higher than indexes, but sometimes you need to know when to hold em’ and when to fold em’. You can never actually make any money in the stock market without selling some stock. When you are sitting on some nice gains without shaving some profits, this situation could turn into a disaster.

Apple keeps hitting new 52 week highs and it seems like they are still trucking for more. They still have their new operating system and the 2^nd generation iPhones waiting to be released. I purchased the stock when it was floating around $100 a share. Now it’s floating around the high $160’s. That’s a 60% gain! Imagine your portfolio could get that every year. You would be the richest person alive in about 30 years.  Unfortunately, that does not happen, but you can still take the profit and run. There is no shame in cutting and running once you struck gold with an investment. If your stock is up that high, why not take out your investment and let the gains ride. You have nothing to lose. You are playing with “house” money at that point. Remember that this strategy will only work if you have enough money in the actually stock. Trading fees can kill your return so make sure it’s worth selling. Try finding a broker that offers lower trading fees so nothing can disrupt the money you’ve earned.

You also need to realize that selling a stock that is down can sometimes save you tons of money or really cost you tons of money. The “street” can overact on some companies which can damage their share price very quickly. This is actually a great buying opportunity if you are involved in a company that has long-term commitments to profitability. For instance, Walgreen’s  is a great company and the largest drugstore in the U.S. Because they didn’t meet the streets expectations, their stock price fell 8 points. Does this actually mean Walgreen’s will perform like crap forever? Probably not. There’s a reason why they are number one. They will learn from their mistakes and fix the issues that ended up hurting them this quarter. On the other hand, selling off a stock that falls because of the corporate structure, they are in mounds of debt, and other companies keep suing them for patent infringements could mean it’s just a bad company. That’s the story about Vonage. I learned my lesson about some risky company’s and you should always evaluate before you buy and sell stock.

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