Once again the blog is closing up for some R&R holiday time. You’ll still be able to poke around to your heart’s content, but I won’t be available to respond to questions or comments until after the New Year. But before this year slips away, I did want to say….
Have a Wonderful Holiday
and a
Happy, Healthy and Prosperous
New Year!
Oh, and if you need some ideas for toddler Christmas gifts here’s How to Give Your Kids the Best Christmas Ever. For less than 5 bucks.
And while you read the rest of this post you can listen to a bit of seasonal music from the USAF Band. Fun to watch it come together, too.
Friday December 20th the S&P brushed 1824 the year’s high, before it closed at 1818. This is notable because back in January I wrote a post titled How to be a Stock Market Guru and get on MSNBC. In it I invited readers to enter the first annual Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest. Upon my return we’ll review the results but you might want to start thinking about your own predictions for 2014 in case you choose to enter.
Oh, and my prediction for the year’s high? 1825. Not bad, eh? If you are curious you can read that post and find out how I did it. And why it is meaningless.
Meanwhile, as always when I leave for a bit, here’s a collection of random stuff that has caught my eye over these past few months. Enjoy!
![mount-rainier-shadow-1[6]](https://jlcollinsnh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/mount-rainier-shadow-16.jpg)
Mount Rainier casting its shadow. Up.
What’s cruising under your street?
For those not afraid of heights
When I went to FinCon back in October there were some 499 other financial bloggers there. Now I like to keep on top of this stuff as much as the next guy, but candidly I’m not going to wade thru 499 blogs to find the good stuff. Turns out, my pal JMoney does it for me and if you head on over to his site — Rockstar Finance — and subscribe he’ll do the same for you.
Each day he’ll shoot you an email with three suggested posts. It’s a great way to sample what’s out there. You might even find the occasional jlcollinsnh post. Not nearly often enough, but so far J$ has resisted my idea that Rockstar Finance really only needs one Rockstar…
How the Old West really looked
How much caffeine do you get?
http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/08/putting-time-in-perspective.html
![cornglass-gem-corn-0[9]](https://jlcollinsnh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cornglass-gem-corn-09.jpg)
This is corn, and yes you can eat it.
Think the world is getting small and we are all becoming the same? Maybe not.
![war statue mamayev-kurgan-4[3]](https://jlcollinsnh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/war-statue-mamayev-kurgan-43.jpg)
Soviet War Memorial: Notice how tiny the real people are.
A couple of videos:
Fine dining on tarantulas, cockroaches, scorpions and cow eye balls at
At least they’re cooked.
I didn’t know about these. Did you know about these?
Where the red desert meets the blue ocean. Shark Bay, Western Australia
Since it is the holiday season and you’ll likely be spending time with close friends and family, let’s take a moment and examine the power of “strong ties” and “weak ties.”
Some interesting reads:
http://www.richmondsavers.com/vanguard-funds-and-the-impact-of-fees-on-your-investment/
Ever wonder what happens to your discarded car tires? Yong Ho Ji might just have released their animal spirits.
And finally remember in the coming New Year…..
See you in ’14!