The "Sell" of 2006 is here!

The Bulls have come thorough for me once again! I have sold the majority of my portfolio for this year and come out with a retun of 15% before taxes, for 2006.

The big gainers for me this year were Microsoft (MSFT) up 22% and Bank of America (BAC) up 18%.

I broke even with Symantec (SYMC) after expenses. This stock was a spur of the moment purchase and I learend my lesson without losing my shirt..... The lesson being DO NOT RELY ON MARKET ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS. Our almost-efficient marketplace does not allow one to make money based on publicly presented analyses. They key is to do your own analyses (will post more on this later).

The losers for this year were Sirius Radio (SIRI) and XM Radio (XMSR). I lost close to 10% of my initial investment in these stocks.

Overall a positve retrun of 15% ! Still does not beat the 30% return I reaped in 2005. However slice of pie was primarily due to Evergreen Solar (ESLR) doubling in value in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

For now the cash will go into an online cash account (APR of ~5%) and will go back into the 2007 portfolio, once gas prices go up again!

Counter trial

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Johns Hopkins or University of Baltimore

I want to start business school in January 2007. After a lot of thinking the decision is to get my MBA with concentration in Finance. The dilemma at hand is: should I attend Johns Hopkins University or University of Baltimore/Towson University.

Advantages of JHU:
Name recognition
Low faculty to Student ratio - which means I will learn a lot outside the classroom!

Advantages of U-Baltimore/Towson University
AACSB (Assc. to Advance Collegiate School of Business) accredited.

If the accreditation did not concern me, JHU would win hands-down. The problem arises if I decide to relocate prior to completing my degree. The JHU courses would not transfer to another business school because of the lack of accreditation. Which would be a bummer.

I have appointments with faculty at these 2 school during the next two weeks. After that I plan to make the decision. Applications are not due till the end of November.

Shenandoah Valley, VA (October 9th through 12th)

View from Franklin Cliff Overlook.
"Someday this will ALL be mine......"

Zarah and I during our LimberLost Trail Hike. This one was wheelchair or stroller accessible. Tania thought it was a rude name for the trail.

Tania and baby, same trail. This was the last trail we hit and by far the easiest. Good decision, since we had not quite recovered from the strenuous hike up White Oak Falls Trail the previous day. Pictures below:

White Oak Falls Trail. This one was crazy. Approximately 6 miles round trip and a very difficult climb. What made thing interesting is that we had the baby with us. People could not believe we were carrying her through all the rough terrain. But she was loving it. Here we are resting at a bridge we came across. The trail went up and down a 1000 foot elevation and it got tough at times.

The girls taking a break. This was the actual trail. Look at the terrain if you will.

Ice cold water!

A waterfall we came across.

Feeding time!

Zarah in the woods.

We made it. This is when we just got back. Exchanging high-fives. There were no pictures taken on the way back because it was getting cold and dark in a hurry. We had run out of water and swarms of bugs were emerging from the foliage. We rushed back.

Mouse and me watching the sun set at one of the cliffs.

One of the many deer we ran into.

Row Homes

Over my past 14 years in the US I had not paid any attention to row homes that I came across while traveling through major cities. This changed when I saw some "rehabbed" properties in Baltimore earlier this year.

The places are tiny. They are typically 3 stories tall and very narrow (~12 feet wide). But I have seen them refurbished real nice. I would not mind living in one of these in a Baltimore neighborhood such as Federal Hill or Canton. Some of the pros would be relatively low energy bills since these homes are insulated by other homes on both sides.

However these properties are currently priced very high (~5M$) - a trend which is surely changing. Also, because of our little girl who is very curious, we prefer to stay in a home with no stairs for a few years.

Some of the properties that I refer to have penthouses / rear decks with mesmerizing views of Baltimores Inner Harbor, as seen in this picture.

Philanthropy / Community Building

(Inset: Cabin on Lewis Mountain that we plan to stay in, the next time we visit Shenandoah Valley)

After much thought, I have decided to add a "Community Building" section to my resume. The primary reason being not to impress anyone who sees this document, but rather to track areas I have contributed to over the years.

Thinking back, I have volunteered lots of time to various charitable events in my community. However I plan to track these contributions starting 2006. Hopefully it will be a good feeling of accomplishment, when I look back to it, say 5 years from now.