2009 Stock Picks Mid-Year Report Released!

Back in January we made the announcement of our top 9 stock picks for 2009.  At the time we also announced the accompanying special report which was to be released.  However, 2 days after we made the announcement I became deathly ill (well I felt like death) and a week after that all of our family crisis, which most of you students are familiar with, started up.  Long story short the report has sat there in the archives of my computer half finished for half a year now. 

The good news though is I have taken this week (which was suppose to be a week off) and updated and finished the report!  It's just become a mid-year report instead of a start of the year report.  But all of the stock charts are completely updated, complete with my lines drawn for your trading enjoyment.  As we speak the report is with our editor going through final revisions and will be available for download tomorrow!

The full report includes our 9 top stock picks plus 41 bonus picks as well as some extra bonus picks I call "dessert".   A full chart of every stock is included in the analysis as well as a full size chart of every stock included in the appendix to the report.  The entire report is over 120 pages of charts and analysis!  And it's yours for free!  And the best part is since we made these picks 6 months ago, our mid-year analysis has totally confirmed these were AWESOME picks.  

If you're new to The Financial Puzzle and would like to know how you can learn to analyze stocks on your own as well as how to trade the market in no matter the economic conditions, why not signup to take our new class starting June 1st.  We're offering the class for free even though it usually costs $600 and we've had many students say it's worth at least twice that.  But for you the class is FREE - so sign up right now.  

For the rest of you the Top 9 Picks for 2009 and 41 Bonus Picks Special Report will be available for download tomorrow.  

Book Review: "Economics In One Lesson"

Today I have decided to finally answer the call of many students who ask such inquisitive questions as "who was your mentor...?"  It's a natural question and one I would gladly answer if I had just one mentor.  Unfortunately when I learned to trade I learned the hard way... by studying my butt off.   Of course during that study I met many wonderful teachers, trainers, and dare I say mentors... it's just that most of them came in the form of books!  So to finally fulfill the answer to these persistent questions I have decided to do so by offering reviews/reports on books I have read or I am in the process of reading.  In the case of today's book... well it's an oldie but a goodie. 

I first became acquainted with this book when I was in college.  It showed up in a general education class where we were suppose to learn all about socionomics and economics... I personally only learned about Mt. Dew and Coffee.... but I digress.

  

Not long ago I whipped out this little gem and thought "I wonder what I was suppose to learn from this book".  Upon this more recent reading I confirmed that in fact my college education was there all along - it was I who was missing from college.  For this little book contains prophecies written many years before Credit Defaults, Bank Bailouts, TARP monies, and any of our current troubles began.  But these prophecies... oh somehow they knew this day would come.  

For those who haven't read it Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt is a classic book originally published in 1946 which teaches just that... the whole substance of economics in just one lesson.  The irony of this lesson is the fact that it has much less to do with the lesson than it has to do with the false thinking that leads a government to ignore the insights in the lesson.   The lesson is simple: Economics is a constant battle of cause and effect.   I believe the world of physics has brought us such insight as "every action has an equal and opposite reaction".  And yet few in our modern world have drawn the conclusion that economics also obeys the same law - for every economic action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  

Hazlitt wrote his book just after the great depression and managed to foresee 60 years ago exactly where the US Government is today.  Discussing everything from Government subsidies to state and local taxes, imports & exports to the cost of goods - Hazlitt offers an excellent discussion of basic capitalism and how free markets are destined to work so long as government does not interfere.  While I wish I could make everybody in congress read this book I know I can not.  But I can certainly encourage you to read it.  Well worth your time Economics in One Lesson will help you understand why government spending and bureaucratic control  can never by it's very nature fix the problem they set out to solve.  All government can do is prolong the natural healing of the free market cycle.  

Be careful.  This book may make you rethink your position on government and certainly any party loyalty you may hold.  But it will no doubt give you insights in to what is happening today and why the free markets are responding so negatively to this government control.  

Memorial Day: Thank You To Our Troops

Memorial Day.   In America this very special day is a day we remember those who have served our country with the highest honor - the honor of serving through military service.  Hundreds of thousands of men and women have served during our short time as a nation - many of them have given their lives for what they believed.  Those sacrifices are the very reason you and I are able to live in a world with a country like The United States of America.  A world where free enterprise is the predominant form of economy.  A world where capitalism is king.  A world with free markets that allow us to participate in the brilliant ideas of others.  Yes I believe with all my heart the sacrifice of our military is by all means one of the greatest contributions a person can make with their life.  

 I believe it not just because I'm an American but because to me it's personal.  Not because I have ever personally had the honor of serving, but my family has.  My grandfather fought with the US troops in World War II.  And this very day as I write this blog post my uncle Rodney Whaley is currently serving our country in his uniform in the nation of Kuwait.  I'm proud of these men.  They are more than family, they are heros to me.  Their core belief in what our country stands for and believes is the reason they have put their lives on the line.  And on this memorial day I choose to use the relatively small platform I have in the form of this blog to say thank you.  Thank you to to Uncle Rodney.  My Grandpa Whaley.  And thank you to everyone who has ever put on the uniform of the US military to help protect and defend our freedoms.  

 (As a side note - Financial Puzzle offers completely free or highly discounted rates to all active duty military.  Please send a private message if you qualify)