I've thought about launching an online retail (etailing) business for some time. I've had a number of different ideas. Here are a few.
1. A premium site dedicated to selling high end chess sets, and variations of chess (e.g. the Japanese game of Go, Chinese chess, Korean chess, etc.) sourced from around the world, organized by country of origin. I was ridiculed for this idea, with detractors saying it would never work. Well lo and behold, there are tons of sites on the web that sell nothing but chess sets. I still like the idea, though, and may still do this.
2. A premium site dedicated to selling art (canvas, sculpture, carvings), ethnic delicacies, and novelty items from around the world. I'd differentiate the site through service, quality of product, and by providing information about the cultures of each country, the character of the land, and the symbolism of each product, to help people gain better perspective behind what they are buying.
3. A robust version of blackpages.com for the Canadian space.
For now I will focus on another opportunity though, but may come back to one of these in some way.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Starbucks Cookies, ECA and the 407 ETR
This paragraph is a 407 ETR rant. If not interested, please skip to paragraph 2. Just got off the phone with Christine from the 407. I can't remember having worse multiple customer service experiences than I have with this one. I swear, they must hire based on incompetence. I can see the job requirements now: "Are you useless, conceited, and looking for a job where the ultimate in job satisfaction is how many customers you can piss off in a day? Have you been turned down by other call centre hiring managers? Well, do we have the job for you...". . That's the trouble when dealing with virtual monopolies. Serves me right for always being in a hurry.
Did you know Starbucks chocolate cookies have 450 Calories? Although if you were insane enough to shell out $2.50 or so for a single cookie, then maybe the calories wouldn't really be a deterrent...
Sold 500 shares of ECA today. I like the long term prospects of the stock, but feel that the recent run up is unwarranted, and that there will likely be a pullback in the stock within the next couple of weeks. I will likely pick up BNS in the interim.
Did you know Starbucks chocolate cookies have 450 Calories? Although if you were insane enough to shell out $2.50 or so for a single cookie, then maybe the calories wouldn't really be a deterrent...
Sold 500 shares of ECA today. I like the long term prospects of the stock, but feel that the recent run up is unwarranted, and that there will likely be a pullback in the stock within the next couple of weeks. I will likely pick up BNS in the interim.
Friday, March 23, 2007
ECA
ECA has had a decent short term run up of 7%. I like the stock, but don't think the current rally is sustainable, as it is based on two primary market factors, and 3 primary technical factors.
1. the US Fed decision not to raise interest rates
2. The capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.
The Fed decision not to raise rates is good for oil, but part of the rally appears to have been based on speculation of future rate cuts. This is probably not enough to make for a sustainable oil rally.
The capture of the Brits appears to have been a legitimate move by Iran (the Brits were in Iranian waters), but after the initial posturing I'm sure they'll be released without incident. Especially in light of already existing international pressure to impose sanctions on Iran because of their nuclear program. Could capturing these soldiers put Iran in a better position when negotiating with the UN? Or will it simply add fuel to the fire?
1. The 20 and 50 day moving averages indicate that ECA may be in a bearish trend. (20 day moving average is below the 50 day moving average).
2. ECA is trading at its upper Bollinger band. This means that the stock price is high relative to the action over the last 20 days.
3. Volume appears to be lower than normal (later in the day will give a better sense, but with 30% of the trading day gone, we've only seen 27% of volumes, and that includes market open which is typically volume peak).
I will decide later today but will likely hold off on selling until Monday, in the hope that ECA breaks through the $58 barrier at least temporarily.
1. the US Fed decision not to raise interest rates
2. The capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.
The Fed decision not to raise rates is good for oil, but part of the rally appears to have been based on speculation of future rate cuts. This is probably not enough to make for a sustainable oil rally.
The capture of the Brits appears to have been a legitimate move by Iran (the Brits were in Iranian waters), but after the initial posturing I'm sure they'll be released without incident. Especially in light of already existing international pressure to impose sanctions on Iran because of their nuclear program. Could capturing these soldiers put Iran in a better position when negotiating with the UN? Or will it simply add fuel to the fire?
1. The 20 and 50 day moving averages indicate that ECA may be in a bearish trend. (20 day moving average is below the 50 day moving average).
2. ECA is trading at its upper Bollinger band. This means that the stock price is high relative to the action over the last 20 days.
3. Volume appears to be lower than normal (later in the day will give a better sense, but with 30% of the trading day gone, we've only seen 27% of volumes, and that includes market open which is typically volume peak).
I will decide later today but will likely hold off on selling until Monday, in the hope that ECA breaks through the $58 barrier at least temporarily.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
That's my thought for the day.
Prof. Steve Rogers was the first person I heard use this saying. I thought (and still do think) it was pretty deep. Not in a Dante Alighieri what-the-hell-does-that-mean kind of way, but you know, in a meaningful, don't-be-too-greedy-you-idiot kind of way.
Not surprising that I hadn't heard the saying before b-school. We don't have such creative witticisms up here in Canada (not that I am aware of anyhow), and I haven't been exposed to too many real Americans (I don't consider tv land to be real Americana, is that wrong?).
Prof. Steve Rogers was the first person I heard use this saying. I thought (and still do think) it was pretty deep. Not in a Dante Alighieri what-the-hell-does-that-mean kind of way, but you know, in a meaningful, don't-be-too-greedy-you-idiot kind of way.
Not surprising that I hadn't heard the saying before b-school. We don't have such creative witticisms up here in Canada (not that I am aware of anyhow), and I haven't been exposed to too many real Americans (I don't consider tv land to be real Americana, is that wrong?).
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Statcounter
I've just added my first counter to my blog! I'm using code from Statcounter.com. All in all, pretty easily done. So far I'd recommend this counter based on ease of implementation. We'll see how the functionality holds up.
My First Post... Again
Ok, so when I started out I said this would be about money making ideas. And then I didn't list any of them. So let me revise the mandate of this blog a bit. It will have a couple of key themes.
One of them is Money. Yes, with a capital M. I need it, and I need more than I make. So this blog is going to help me find ways of making more of it. Whether its through the stock market, or through business ideas, its going to help.
The other theme is issues related to the black races. I say races because of the variety of cultures that comprise us.
And the final primary theme is just stuff that I find useful and want to remember. I have the shittiest memory of anyone I can think of except my former boss Carolle F. So I'm going to use this blog (along with my blackberry) as my memory.
Thought for the day: Did you know that Firefox spell check recognizes "shittiest" as a word? Am I the only one impressed by that? Well, guess that means I'm the one with the small mind.
Ok, I'm out for now.
One of them is Money. Yes, with a capital M. I need it, and I need more than I make. So this blog is going to help me find ways of making more of it. Whether its through the stock market, or through business ideas, its going to help.
The other theme is issues related to the black races. I say races because of the variety of cultures that comprise us.
And the final primary theme is just stuff that I find useful and want to remember. I have the shittiest memory of anyone I can think of except my former boss Carolle F. So I'm going to use this blog (along with my blackberry) as my memory.
Thought for the day: Did you know that Firefox spell check recognizes "shittiest" as a word? Am I the only one impressed by that? Well, guess that means I'm the one with the small mind.
Ok, I'm out for now.
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