Interesting odds.......from the U.K.

Online gambling firm BetUS has calculated some of the odds for the iPhone's success, the company revealed today. Giving the same attention to the device that it normally would to sports, the betting house has calculated several factors that could determine its success or failure. Certain outcomes are already fairly likely, BetUS says. Stock value is 1:2 likely to spike by 10 percent or more the next trading day. Odds are also 5:6 that the phone will sell 12 million units in 2008; these chances also carry over to the iPhone's sales in the first month, which BetUS claims are equally likely (5:6) to climb over or dip under 1.2 million units in July.
Certain spectacles that are commonly associated with high-profile launches are also taken into account with less favorable odds, such as reports of camping in line (3:1), trampling or other violence during the launch (20:1), and prices tripling to $1,500 or more on auction sites such as eBay (2:1).Odds have also been given for failures, however. The company points out that while any one malfunction or defect is expected to be rare, the feature set makes breakdowns a possibility."This phone has everything but the kitchen sink," company spokesman Reed Richards claims. "The chances for a malfunction are likely."The most probable example of a failure would be sub-optimal battery life with 10:1 odds, according to the company. Other pitfalls are said to include a mass recall of the initial batch (30:1) and relatively unlikely problems such as iPod nano-like screen cracking and outright "spontaneous combustions," both of which are rated at 150:1.

Alaska status-quo...............

Lobbyists spend over a billion bucks a day lobbying our esteemed politicians. That is the amount that is "legally" reported. I'm sure there are plenty of other freezers full of cash inside and outside the Beltway though.

Politics in Alaska look to be business-as-usual. Remember, if it smells like a fish it's probably very fishy. Here's a snippet on Senator Stevens.

"Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) had his son, former state Senate President Ben Stevens, head a board that distributed $12 million in federal grants to promote seafood companies that, at the same time, paid the younger Stevens upward of $775,000 in "consulting fees."
This arrangement has caught the FBI's attention. Last fall, at least three fisheries were issued grand jury subpoenas to hand over documents related to the lobbying and consulting work provided by the younger Stevens and a former aide to Sen. Stevens, Trevor McCabe. The subpoenas also sought any documents connected to the older Stevens. "

Truth be told......................

Everything I need to know about Islam I learned on 9/11/2001.

Survival of the fittest..................

Watch it all and watch it very closely.................

http://glumbert.com/media/battlespecies

I hope you were able to clearly detect all of the predators involved here. Death can come swift from many fronts both in life and in the markets. The lessons involving the stock market that can be gleaned from this video are many. Here are some you might want to consider.

When you think you are right maintain conviction and go for the juglar and do it fast.

Watch your flanks.

Try to find you who and why they are selling to you.

The big crowd can take you out by leaning on your position.

The market is always right.

Eventually the broad market is going to do whatever it wants to do.

Don't get killed to trade another day.

It's Fathers Day, here is some fatherly advice......

Investment advisors are governed by the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, which places on them a fiduciary obligation to act solely in a client's best interests, or face a lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty. This is a much higher standard than one of mere "suitability." Indeed, a "fiduciary" standard legally obligates an advisor to put aside personal interests, and is required to act in good faith when making decisions for clients.

Faced with the choice of working with a broker who is held to a mere suitability standard, or an investment advisor who is held to a fiduciary standard, investors who require the services of an advisor should always choose to work with an advisory firm who is duty-bound to look out for the investors best interests.

Most investors are not savvy enough to understand this regulatory distinction.

I know this may be hard to believe but try this test. Ask your broker to send you a letter in which he states that he or she is acting as your fiduciary. I doubt seriously they will do it. It is a fundamental problem that cuts to the core of the lack of integrity on Wall Street. Believe it at your own peril.

Even if you don't, trusting your retirement to a salesman is probably a very bad idea.

Native America never, ever forget........

It is not easy to get rich at the Mohegan Sun, Viejas, the Shooting Star or at the local Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley office.

Investing 101..........

Seriously. One of the best places on the planet to find stocks that have merit as viable short-sale candidates is "watching" the internet chat room, "INVESTING" on AOL.

Truly a gem of a place to find the public touting hot picks that crater.

For every Cherokee who thinks they are Indian..........

Or even if only your "grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee princess"..........how many times have I heard that said over my short 53 winters?

Here she is. Do your work. Examine her credentials.

http://stacyleeds.com/