- Work out! Lose beer gut and build muscle.
- Be a better boyfriend, 2008 wasn't exactly the best showing and '09 will bring a big change, so let's make it count.
- Read more, reduce personal internet time to 30 mins per day and go back to reading for an hour a day.
- Prepare for work in NYC. Research CFDs, equity swaps, and continue building options knowledge.
- Play sports again. Soccer in the spring and boxing or karate in NY.
- [not for public viewing]
- Graduate with a 4.0 semester to end a magnific academic career (for now).
- Learn to delegate, let the Management Committee run the Society this semester.
- Rebuild BSC, devote a couple of months to finding the right people before doing anything big.
- Go back to Summer of '08 mentality....Top of the world, baby!
- Kick ass in everything, be extremely awesome, yet always humble.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Goals for 2009
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
back to blogging
I have spent many hours in the computer the last month but have not really typed anything significant besides a couple of emails and wall posts on Facebook.
OMAHA TRIP
The last 2 months of my lie have been great! I finally met Mr Warren Buffet at the meeting for international shareholders during the Berkshire annual convention. That was my first big goal of the year that I accomplished successfully. I will post more details about it on my other blog dedicated to that trip and Warren Buffet here. I met some cool guys in Omaha and had a great time hanging out. They are Ben, Jay, Mike, and Jason. I learned a lot about me during that weekend and forged a nice friendship that will hopefully last a long time. Each one taught me something different without knowing. Here are the main lessons that I learned:
Ben - Make a plan of action before doing anything else on a project. List the objectives and work hard to achieve them. Do not waste time and never procrastinate.
Jay - Enjoy life responsibly. The excellent way to play "caps".
Jason - Value your family and make each choice according to the values that were given to you by them.
Mike - There is great joy in helping others.
All of them were also very spiritual and reminded me about the power of faith and how it helps you keep focused.
If you guys ever read this thank you very much for being such cool hosts and you know you have a friend in San Antonio.
SCHOOL
I started summer school last month and that made me very happy. I took 3 classes for the first summer session and so far I have received an A. I do not know the other 2 grades yet. The second summer session is under way and I am taking another 3 classes for a total of 18 hours during the summer, well on track for a May 2009 graduation.
Like I said, I am very happy and excited to be where I am right now. I believe that this past year taught me a lot of things about life and myself that will make a huge difference in how I approach everything from now on. I learned to focus on how your present actions will affect your future and to work towards achieving today what you want tomorrow. I have met some great people at school. I made a couple of new friends and will start working on some projects with my new buddy David. I feel very fortunate to be in school with a clearer picture of "the real life". I am very motivated to excel in my classes and stand out at UTSA so that I can move on to bigger and better things.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
As far as business goes I have made some important advances. I researched different businesses that would allow me time to be 100% into school and still able to manage them effectively and decided upon a classic urban opportunity. I am in the ice cream truck business now. I bought two trucks in June for a very low price and have been fixing them up to get them on the street by the end of the month. One is a 1971 postal truck and the other one is a 1994 dodge van. Both came somewhat ready to work but I have decided to repaint them with my own color scheme and re-brand them accordingly. Once again, I am really excited. Although I have to admit that I have had some major hurdles on the way but these are things of the past now because I have fixed most of the problems. I look forward to this new venture.
STOCKS
The stock market has been awesome this year and I have enjoyed the bull ride.
Exxon (XOM) and Tesoro (TSO) have risen up along with oil and I still see some more room on the upside as we go into hurricane season.
Apple...what can I say...iPhone + new mac computers....expect to see $200 next year as earnings come in strong from iPhone sales and the nice margin on them.
My two short-term plays, Shutterfly (SFLY) and GlaxoSmithKleine (GSK), have done very nice even before I expected them to...especially SFLY (up 7% today). SFLY is a takeover target, I expect to sell around $26 if no big announcement comes by through this month. On GSK I am expecting higher earnings (Earnings call on July 25) for the second quarter because of high sales of the new weight-loss product, Alli.
Berkshire is the only stock that has lagged the market this year and that is not surprising but it does worry me for a historical reason. I think BRK is way behind the S&P500 this year because the market does not know how to value the conglomerate adequately. Wall Street seems to like companies that grow really fast during some periods and BRK does not fit there. The business model is very complex as the company depends on how 40+ sub-companies do, valuing that is difficult. Another reason for the performance of BRK is that most of its revenue comes from the insurance companies that it owns and many investors are waiting for many hurricanes this season, putting pressure on Berkshire's insurance revenue projections. The worry factor: Historically, Buffet has lagged the market during inflationary bubbles and with the Dow Jones approaching 14,000 really fast I question whether we are in a bubble right now. The real estate bubble popped in Q1 2007 and the subprime mess will strain the system during Q3 as a majority of ARMs adjust in October. Another bubble that seems to be reaching its peak is the private equity/junk bond bonanza; the first signs being the possibly-failed Salli Mae deal.
I love to comment about the markets but I have to go for now... I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning and I have not packed. May you enjoy your weekend!
OMAHA TRIP
The last 2 months of my lie have been great! I finally met Mr Warren Buffet at the meeting for international shareholders during the Berkshire annual convention. That was my first big goal of the year that I accomplished successfully. I will post more details about it on my other blog dedicated to that trip and Warren Buffet here. I met some cool guys in Omaha and had a great time hanging out. They are Ben, Jay, Mike, and Jason. I learned a lot about me during that weekend and forged a nice friendship that will hopefully last a long time. Each one taught me something different without knowing. Here are the main lessons that I learned:
Ben - Make a plan of action before doing anything else on a project. List the objectives and work hard to achieve them. Do not waste time and never procrastinate.
Jay - Enjoy life responsibly. The excellent way to play "caps".
Jason - Value your family and make each choice according to the values that were given to you by them.
Mike - There is great joy in helping others.
All of them were also very spiritual and reminded me about the power of faith and how it helps you keep focused.
If you guys ever read this thank you very much for being such cool hosts and you know you have a friend in San Antonio.
SCHOOL
I started summer school last month and that made me very happy. I took 3 classes for the first summer session and so far I have received an A. I do not know the other 2 grades yet. The second summer session is under way and I am taking another 3 classes for a total of 18 hours during the summer, well on track for a May 2009 graduation.
Like I said, I am very happy and excited to be where I am right now. I believe that this past year taught me a lot of things about life and myself that will make a huge difference in how I approach everything from now on. I learned to focus on how your present actions will affect your future and to work towards achieving today what you want tomorrow. I have met some great people at school. I made a couple of new friends and will start working on some projects with my new buddy David. I feel very fortunate to be in school with a clearer picture of "the real life". I am very motivated to excel in my classes and stand out at UTSA so that I can move on to bigger and better things.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
As far as business goes I have made some important advances. I researched different businesses that would allow me time to be 100% into school and still able to manage them effectively and decided upon a classic urban opportunity. I am in the ice cream truck business now. I bought two trucks in June for a very low price and have been fixing them up to get them on the street by the end of the month. One is a 1971 postal truck and the other one is a 1994 dodge van. Both came somewhat ready to work but I have decided to repaint them with my own color scheme and re-brand them accordingly. Once again, I am really excited. Although I have to admit that I have had some major hurdles on the way but these are things of the past now because I have fixed most of the problems. I look forward to this new venture.
STOCKS
The stock market has been awesome this year and I have enjoyed the bull ride.
Exxon (XOM) and Tesoro (TSO) have risen up along with oil and I still see some more room on the upside as we go into hurricane season.
Apple...what can I say...iPhone + new mac computers....expect to see $200 next year as earnings come in strong from iPhone sales and the nice margin on them.
My two short-term plays, Shutterfly (SFLY) and GlaxoSmithKleine (GSK), have done very nice even before I expected them to...especially SFLY (up 7% today). SFLY is a takeover target, I expect to sell around $26 if no big announcement comes by through this month. On GSK I am expecting higher earnings (Earnings call on July 25) for the second quarter because of high sales of the new weight-loss product, Alli.
Berkshire is the only stock that has lagged the market this year and that is not surprising but it does worry me for a historical reason. I think BRK is way behind the S&P500 this year because the market does not know how to value the conglomerate adequately. Wall Street seems to like companies that grow really fast during some periods and BRK does not fit there. The business model is very complex as the company depends on how 40+ sub-companies do, valuing that is difficult. Another reason for the performance of BRK is that most of its revenue comes from the insurance companies that it owns and many investors are waiting for many hurricanes this season, putting pressure on Berkshire's insurance revenue projections. The worry factor: Historically, Buffet has lagged the market during inflationary bubbles and with the Dow Jones approaching 14,000 really fast I question whether we are in a bubble right now. The real estate bubble popped in Q1 2007 and the subprime mess will strain the system during Q3 as a majority of ARMs adjust in October. Another bubble that seems to be reaching its peak is the private equity/junk bond bonanza; the first signs being the possibly-failed Salli Mae deal.
I love to comment about the markets but I have to go for now... I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning and I have not packed. May you enjoy your weekend!
Monday, March 19, 2007
My life these 10 months
So I went from a full time student to a ......
Homeless mexican-calendar salesman
High-roller NYC tourist
Rising-Star business man
Official college dropout
Corporate finance consultant
Web developer
Exotic car dealer
Hot-shot mexican
Innocent scam-bystander
Business loan cosultant
Real Estate advisor
Web 2.0 addict
Loan Officer
.........................to a 20 year-old with money in mind and many ways to make it. A determination to succeed but a hueva to break it.
Homeless mexican-calendar salesman
High-roller NYC tourist
Rising-Star business man
Official college dropout
Corporate finance consultant
Web developer
Exotic car dealer
Hot-shot mexican
Innocent scam-bystander
Business loan cosultant
Real Estate advisor
Web 2.0 addict
Loan Officer
.........................to a 20 year-old with money in mind and many ways to make it. A determination to succeed but a hueva to break it.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
a new blog...
I have started a new blog at http://visitingtheoracle.blogspot.com
That blog will track my before and after trip to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting.
That blog will track my before and after trip to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Mr Warren Buffet"The Oracle of Omaha"
Mr Buffet is my inspiration. His life and investments are incredible. He is the second richest man alive and he owns one of the wealthiest companies, Berkshire Hathaway.
My goal is to meet Mr Buffet or at least share a roof sometime. My plan is to buy a b-share of his company ($3500) and that entitles me to go to the shareholders meeting where he gives a speech and then answers questions. I am too excited to think if I want to ask him something and seriously I do not know what to ask him. Meanwhile I am making travel arrangements by purchasing discounted airfare from Southwest and looking for a bed through Craigslist.
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