I argue that for most people, college is a crutch. Their intellectual curiosity is sated by four years in college - they read, they take interesting courses, they graduate and 58% of them never read a book again. Bubelah thinks college is necessary for growth, and that college forces people to expand in ways they never would on their own. I say that college can only assist growth - intellectual curiousity, if someone has it, won't stop with college.

Look you don't even have to be here! Girl scouts is a decent program with wonderful goals designed to help girls with leadership and life skills, how exactly do you expect me to teach them if you don't want me to be anything more than an every other week drop off?

Good grief, I am so sorry I took on this role.

It looks like the McCains violated the first rule of couple money management: Talk about your finances.

Even if you keep, for the most part, separate accounts, you still should know some basics about your spouse's finances. In the worst-case scenario, your spouse dies, leaving you with no knowledge of his or her accounts and at the mercy of outside financial advisers with whom you might not be familiar or comfortable.

So John and Cindy, I know things are a bit hectic right now, what with the Republican Convention coming up and that nagging VP decision still hanging out there, but make some time to talk about your money, OK?

If you were in a relationship that wasn't defined and decided to go on vacation together - how often would YOU offer to share the expenses, if at all?

Other Voices: Links for 6/3/06 - 03 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/5/06 - 05 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/11/06 - 11 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/13/06 - 13 July 2006

I argue that for most people, college is a crutch. Their intellectual curiosity is sated by four years in college - they read, they take interesting courses, they graduate and 58% of them never read a book again. Bubelah thinks college is necessary for growth, and that college forces people to expand in ways they never would on their own. I say that college can only assist growth - intellectual curiousity, if someone has it, won't stop with college.

Look you don't even have to be here! Girl scouts is a decent program with wonderful goals designed to help girls with leadership and life skills, how exactly do you expect me to teach them if you don't want me to be anything more than an every other week drop off?

Good grief, I am so sorry I took on this role.

It looks like the McCains violated the first rule of couple money management: Talk about your finances.

Even if you keep, for the most part, separate accounts, you still should know some basics about your spouse's finances. In the worst-case scenario, your spouse dies, leaving you with no knowledge of his or her accounts and at the mercy of outside financial advisers with whom you might not be familiar or comfortable.

So John and Cindy, I know things are a bit hectic right now, what with the Republican Convention coming up and that nagging VP decision still hanging out there, but make some time to talk about your money, OK?

If you were in a relationship that wasn't defined and decided to go on vacation together - how often would YOU offer to share the expenses, if at all?

Other Voices: Links for 6/3/06 - 03 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/5/06 - 05 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/11/06 - 11 July 2006

Other Voices: Links for 7/13/06 - 13 July 2006

There was a bit of a move up in the market today, but there was very little news to push sentiment one way or the other. Traders are too tired from the beating they have taken since Memorial Day.

Short interest figures for stocks traded on both the NYSE and Nasdaq were released yesterday: Short sellers jumped out of both financials and big tech, signaling a possible turn up in those sectors.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) continued to rally, extending hopes they will not have to be bailed out by the government and that common shareholder will not be crushed. Late in the day Freddie was up 17% and Fannie 12%.

Continue reading Closing bell: Modest gains for stocks; FRE, FNM rally, UAUA, NWA drop

Continue reading Wind, solar face yet another hurdle: The power grid

And there's more trouble in the mix. Cerberus said in a New York Times story that Chrysler is meeting "every financial metric." But Cerberus considers the world's current economic turmoil to be a temporary problem, not the economic world change that it actually is. Meanwhile, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli is smiling because Cerberus has given Chrysler lots of money, and he gets to cut heads.

Continue reading Can Nardelli and Cerberus possibly make money with Chrysler?

Continue reading The best housing stance for buyers, sellers? Staying put

"We are moving headlong into oil," notes John Reese, who analyzes stocks based on the criteria used by "legendary" investors such as Buffett, Graham and Lynch.

In his Validea newsletter, he says, "My fundamental models indicate that the oil industry is where the best values in the market are." Here's a look at W&T Offshore (NYSE: WTI), which is based on the criteria used by contrarian David Dreman.

"The economy and stock market have gone through a legitimate crisis because of the credit woes, and it takes time for something like that to work itself out.

"But the important thing to remember is that we've been through financial crises before -- even bad-debt financial crises like this one -- and the market has always stabilized and then pushed higher.

"And history has shown that those who can stick with the stock market through down times like these will be rewarded.

"David Dreman -- one of the gurus I base my strategies on -- notes in his recent Forbes column, 'If you pack up now, chances are you'll miss a good part of the next bull market. A large part of the gains are always made in the first few months of one, when market-timing investors are still on the sidelines.'

Continue reading W&T Offshore (WTI): Drilling with David Dreman

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an October bull-put credit spread below the $17.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in just seven weeks as long as TOL is above $17.50 at October expiration. Toll would have to fall by more than 25% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Continue reading Has housing bottomed? Mortgage data lifts Toll Brothers (TOL), others