I've been wanting to try some options trading for awhile, but have not gotten around to doing it until now. I just finished entering my first covered call.

This is something of a big step for me. I've been "in the market" since about August 2006, and semi-actively trading for about two years. A little while ago, my step-father told me about his regular use of covered calls to generate income and bring down the cost basis of his investments, and I thought it sounded like a neat idea.

It's a common epithet these days: "Taxpayers are shareholders." You read it in online articles, hear it in the news, feel it reverberating in the air, see it in the bounce of people young and old who really have no idea about the truth.

Taxpayers don't own a single thing.

Howdy all!

It's been awhile since I've blogged, and I apologize. Hopefully nobody's been anguishing about my lack of posts, and you've all taken some time to catch up on other financial matters that need attending to.

According to a story at Market Watch, Clear Indexes LLC is giving some college students a opportunity to design a new ETF. In addition to bragging rights and the euphoria of designing a successful product, the winner will receive $4,000.

Today I experienced my first stock split: Simulations Plus (SLP). I figured I'd write up some of its effects on me and my finances for anyone who wants to know what it's like from a newby perspective.

On Thursday, PowerShares Capital Management announced that they have received regulatory relief from certain SEC limits for all of their exchange-traded funds (ETFs), specifically from Section 12d-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. As their press release explains:

I gotta admit, I'm a lover of exchange traded funds (ETFs). Ever since I bought shares in the PowerShares Water Resources (PHO) fund last year as part of a ShareBuilder promotion, I've been a convert. I've added to my position several times since my initial purchase, and I'm up 18% collectively since last September. (This is not a recommendation to buy PHO now, just a historical look at my own purchases and a testimony to my conversion.)

Disclaimer: This post is in no way an endorsement of the Stock Doubling project, its related Web sites or of any stocks recommended on those sites.

About a month or so ago I stumbled across the Stock Doubling blog. It's a very interesting project: Basically, one guy is trying to see if he can pick at least one stock per year that will double. If successful, With a starting capital of $500, that means he will reach $1 million in 11 doubles (approx. 11 years).

Kent Thune, a.k.a. Financial Philosopher, has a post containing, um, "evidence" that financial blogs are making markets more efficient. Basically, his argument goes: