We're becoming a quiet bunch again. I see pramodp is back crunching today. Hope the vacation was lots of fun. Haven't heard from Fanie for a good while. Hope you are still well! I wonder if finman is off on summer holiday or, more likely, buried in the details of getting his new house built? RT and YellowAV, I read about the huge high pressure mass that has been parked over Texas is shifting westward to New Mexico and see that the latest forecasts for northeast Texas (a couple hours drive to your east) have the high down to an even 100 late next week. Here's hoping the trend continues and moves westward too! parmesian, how are you holding up down there outside of Houston? Judson, didn't you mention moving your office? That sounds like a big chore. Dr. Mike, what's up with you? How is Joplin doing now that the media has moved on? Marc, did crunching on your dad's machine not work out? Sounded like he couldn't get used to leaving it on. Hey, any chance that the school you work at could be convinced to at least let you try crunching on one of their machines to show it's safe and could be done on the rest (as a service)? That could boost your numbers a good bit (some id would have to be used after all)!

Good Morning MOT

Congratulations Judson


I am sure there are recent pictures of lake Mead. I just did not see them when I looked. I was by there about 3 years ago (September) and it looked about the same. The author of that article seems to think it is cyclical but the cycles seem to be stretching.. I wonder if it will ever fill up again given the demands placed on it.

On the investment issue, I have 20/20 hindsight.
I wish I had bought a lot of gold a year ago, but the prices are so incredibly high now (due to people bailing out of stocks and even bonds at this point) that it does not seem to make sense to me; are those prices even sustainable? On the other hand, where is the safe harbor? I have a slightly conservative portfolio but have to make some changes due to IRS rules this next year. I am stumped when it comes to what to do with it. Lots of options but nothing that is clearly a winner as far as I can see. Our governments (especially Federal) have soooo overspent and acquired so much crushing debt that it has everyone here and abroad nervous and has destabilized the markets, commodities and the value of even the most safe of traditional invesments; like Real Estate. What are any of our assets really worth now? Danged hard to tell; even your home. Anyway, right now I am so uncertain that I am not willing to make any changes the IRS does not make me; and I am none too pleased about that.

Crunch on and Hooray Anyway ...

It's a little cloudy and under 100, actually 86!! Unfortunately, the rain west of us is burning off and will never get here, and we'll be back up to 100 tomorrow...

Unrelated, my globe is no longer dark :-)

MyOnlineTeam Daily Statistics for 08/11 - Active Members

Active team members report
==========================

                                                     Current          Points
Active member name            Rank      Change       Points        This Period
=========================     =====     ======     ===========     ===========
RT                                1          0     110,889,287         233,945
GeraldRube                        2          0      74,444,216         137,365
Coingames                         3          0      53,780,503          72,309
judson Somerville MD              4          0      48,238,090         183,586
parmesian                         5          0      31,667,270          28,680
NiceMedTexMD                      6          0      27,983,745          34,714
brown chris                       7          0      20,725,680          19,306
keithhenry                        8          0      17,957,416          14,384
xroule                            9          0      16,863,380          50,306
Esteban69                        10          0      13,402,376           3,958
Vuj                              11          0      13,210,394          19,554
David Autumns                    12          0      12,717,827          53,021
finman                           13          0      12,672,620          28,638
Blueprint                        14          0      10,315,299          27,416
Fanie                            15          0       9,798,212           6,532
darth_vader                      16          0       8,058,225          14,129
PohSoon                          17          0       7,674,929           5,668
frans6nl                         18          0       7,208,007               0
dkt                              19          0       6,576,255          30,254
lawrencehardin                   20          0       5,384,866           8,211
Rene Punt                        21          0       5,171,026           1,266
Alain Bryden                     22          0       4,880,339           7,381
Tomwp                            23          0       3,603,371               0
smcclarigan                      24          0       3,281,088           6,023
Daeloan                          25          0       3,096,879          27,794
Mike OSullivan                   26          0       3,043,247               0
Sunny L. Kae                     27          0       2,790,952           1,041
johng                            28          0       2,574,695           3,103
Barramundi                       29          0       2,431,851               0
Wunderwuzzi                      30          0       2,213,343           1,240
Jockin                           31          0       2,180,205           1,084
jpenning                         32          0       2,060,308           8,236
harry_i_c                        33          0       2,011,009           1,367
imin                             34          0       1,829,259           1,634
Bon Kuhlman                      35          0       1,796,157               0
elpe                             36          0       1,404,302               0
pramodp                          37          0       1,189,837           1,733
newtod                           38          0       1,049,080               0
dubhain                          39          0         959,814           2,490
Mechanical                       40          0         827,207               0
barney15c                        41          0         670,740             842
hne12359                         42          0         613,157           1,362
YellowAV                         43         +1         528,233          14,008
Natalino                         44         -1         515,125             751
Hintsala                         45          0         493,696           1,357
Lanscader                        46          0         428,672               0
mapplebeck                       47          0         334,354             701
InkTaylor                        48          0         261,652               0
Harry de Swart                   49          0         195,152           1,091
sm217144                         50          0          31,474             165

Note: Active members are those who earned points in the prior 30 days.

Top Twenty active members returning points today:
01: RT - 233,945 points
02: judson Somerville MD - 183,586 points
03: GeraldRube - 137,365 points
04: Coingames - 72,309 points
05: David Autumns - 53,021 points
06: xroule - 50,306 points
07: NiceMedTexMD - 34,714 points
08: dkt - 30,254 points
09: parmesian - 28,680 points
10: finman - 28,638 points
11: Daeloan - 27,794 points
12: Blueprint - 27,416 points
13: Vuj - 19,554 points
14: brown chris - 19,306 points
15: keithhenry - 14,384 points
16: darth_vader - 14,129 points
17: YellowAV - 14,008 points
18: jpenning - 8,236 points
19: lawrencehardin - 8,211 points
20: Alain Bryden - 7,381 points

Total points returned today: 1,056,645
Active members returning points today: 40
Average points per member active today: 26,416.125

RT, since you don't have to make the changes right now, just keep waiting. Things will either settle down and you'll know what to invest in or things will get much worse and you'll want to stay a lot more liquid in that case.