The way the market has been acting convinced me to go even more "pure" with PP.  I just bought my first I bond and my first actual 30 year bond (through a broker, so not 100% pure).  And I'm planning on continuing buying bond direct from here on out.  I was getting nervous holding TLT and ...

Antibiotics allow the animals to put all their energy into growing big.  No bio burden to fight off, no pathogens, no sickness.  That way the animal that is priced per pound can make the most pounds before going to the butcher. 

I'm still in awe of zero calorie food and drink.  It's as if they defy physics and the laws of thermo dynamics.  So in short, they scare me.

About 11-12 years ago, Mrs. Thatcher spoke to all the Officers and Sr NCOs at Fort Bliss.  I arrived about two minutes before she was to start speaking.  I only saw one available seat - in the front row directly in front of the podium.  I assumed it was reserved for a General Officer but slowly mad...

I found this article to be interesting.  http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/groseclose/Media.Bias.8.htm Tim Groseclose and Jeff Milyo used a creative metric to measure media bias.  They used the sources sited by the different news organizations and compared them to the sources sited of congr...

My new thoughts on this sector are really just basic without a lot of volume from the very smart and talented people that analyze, dissect, graph and predict.  I've entered a long term investment in this sector.  I view the volatility as a plus.  The complexity of the things that drive this sector a...

The way i understand the FED's buying program is from the perspective of the Treasury.  The treasury in response to growing demand for it's products is keeping it's interest rates low because that is what it would do all the time, if it could, to keep the cost of borrowing down.  When demand wains o...

I speculate with very minimal amounts of money.  I use the VP to simply satisfy the various inklings I get. 

That is perfect!  Thanks for posting Stone, MT, Melveyr, Lone Wolf, KevinW, and MG.  I like how Stone brought up the point about different theories from different people.  And following his post, that very observation plays out. 

I'm looking to start my own personal education this summer on economics.  What would you suggest as the best economic basics book to start with and why?  This should not include investing books, but I leave it to you to decide what the difference is. What would be your curriculum, if you had to be t...

I'm 32 and found the PP thread in 2009 and then read HB's Fail-Safe.  As they say, I was SOLD!  I then immediately bought TIPS :)  But I got the other 3 allocations right.  So then I sold TIPS and bought a precious metals fund.  Finally I sold that and I am now a proud owner of a gold ETF.  Gold sca...

They have combined the permanent and the variable portfolio in this fund.  I think the issue is, that if they lose money in the variable 20% portion they will fill that 20% back up again, pulling from the permanent portion.  Makes me hesitant to put money into the fund until there is proof and a tra...

That was perhaps one of the finest first posts on any forum in the history of the internet. Bravo. Thanks for the nice words MT.   Treasured beliefs can be beliefs in lies.   Some of the lies are integral to individuals self worth and "specialness" so I think they either die very hard, or...

You are asked to step in and attempt to get to a better outcome than an endless cycle of disagreement and violence. What would you say to the men? The argument is focused on what they have found different between themselves, and their decisions are based on the their ideals alone.  The goal would b...