Housing Charts - 1) HMI vs Unemployment

Over the next week or so, I will post a few housing charts. I'll go slow - one a day. The data doesn't come out that quickly anyhow.

Researching the housing market is some of the work that has kept me away from writing, but the charts are interesting.

First up, housing and unemployment:

Ch, ch, ch, changes!

You may notice that I have made a few changes. First, I have added a link to the first usable version of my Healthcare Equipment & Services report on the right hand side of the page. This is just one of the pieces we work on in the Applied Security Analysis Program. As always, feedback is welcome.

Second, to make disclosure easier per Seeking Alpha's request, I have added my personal holdings on the right. I mostly own ETF's, so you won't see many holdings (I don't even own any shares of my former employer).

Third, I have changed my nickname from MarketWizWannabe to rvb1977. I outgrew MWW. Besides, you all know who I am anyhow.

Hitwise

I've written about Hitwise before. Today, while perusing some old stuff that I have yet to read in Bloglines, I noticed another gem. Halloween searches have already begun on the internet. So, if I have Hitwise data, in a few months, I may be able to use it to get an idea of what's kicking but come holiday time. Then can we let the earnings "surprises" roll in?

Of course, this is similar to checking out local malls, too. Combining these two pieces of data might just provide a pretty good edge.

Musings on being busy, apple, oil, and Seeking Alpha news

Hi all, I hope this post finds you well in mind and body. I am still alive, thankfully. The lack of posts is directly related to moving back to Madison and not quite feeling moved in yet (lots of laundry to do), plus we are trying to get acquainted with a host of new things in ASAP as well as portfolio duties (stock picks and economic forecasts).

I must be the 120 gazillionth person to write about Apple's non-news on the 12th. Maybe the iTV is interesting, but I'm not betting on this particular product revolutionizing our living rooms. Time will tell, I guess. But, it only makes sense that the TV and the PC keep coming together. It has been happening for a while. As an undergrad, I didn't have a TV in my bedroom, but I had an add-on card from ATI Technologies that allowed me to watch TV on my AMD K6-II machine (wow, am I putting the years behind me quickly). And how about the millions of unused S-Port cables on PC's that allow you to actually use a TV as a makeshift monitor? Well, that never took off because of the resolution problem. Nonetheless, maybe it's happening slowly, but the marriage is happening. Right in front of our faces.

Remember on July 27th, when I said I thought Oil Prices had peaked? No? Do you remember when I said I believed it even more on August 9th? Well, so far so good on that call. UPDATED: 10-1, I had the wrong chart here, so I updated with the proper one.


Finally, Congrats to David Jackson and Seeking Alpha for landing a deal with Yahoo Finance. Here's another interesting thing happening right in front of us - The Blogosphere versus Sell-Side research. The battle has just begun. I'm not sure the sell-side even knows there's a battle yet, however.

At any rate, please bear with me through September, as this month my posting will be slow.

Go Badgers!

Sirius Satellite Radio takes an interesting turn

Wired News reports today that Sirius (SIRI) has added a wireless listening device, which is definitely a strategic shift from the "old" Sirius of a week ago.

Read the Wired News article

I'm not quite sure what this means yet, but it's definitely interesting. Maybe this will be the magic carpet that brings SIRI to profitability???