Today I made a huge payment on a balance I’ve carried for quite some time.  It’s very liberating.  While I still have student loans to pay and on going expenses like food, rent, etc., I’ve been managing my finances with Fortora Fresh Finance software, available for both PCs and Macs.  It’s a great tool for budgeting expenses and monitoring cash flow.  It’s free to try and $49.95 to buy and use on up to three computers (I’m still using the free version, but find it useful enough that I very well may buy the full version).  Anyway, I’ll be celebrating my financial independence (or rather, being slightly less encumbered by finances) at Otto’s in DeKalb.  You should stop by and rock out to Local H.  Tickets are $15 and the show starts at 9pm.

Also, I picked up a few more handfuls of Ford (F) stock.  Few analysts recommend it, but for every finacial article you read, it seems there are two more that contradict it.  I’m patiently waiting and saving to buy others. If I had the money I’d be buying Apple (AAPL).  It suffered a blow this last month like the rest of the market, but it’s done nothing but rise since then.  Some stocks that I might be looking to buy if they drop more: Harley Davidson (HOG) and Nucor (NUE).  I fully expect Harley Davidson to drop further into the New Year.  People don’t buy motorcycles in a recession and HD’s financing department is feeling the credit crunch.  As soon as the economy turns around, every middle-aged American man is going to regain their sense of entitlement and finance the shiniest motorcycle they think they can afford.  Nucor is a steel company and it happens to be the steel company that my employer orders all their steel from.  I watch the ebb and flow of business when I complete the invoicing every morning, so I’m just going to pay attention to where the bottom is when it comes and hopefully I’m in a position to invest when it turns around.  Steel is another one of those things that isn’t going away any time soon.  Don’t take my word for it though.  It’s all speculative, right?  I’m also watching Evergreen Solar (ESLR) with interest, but it’s a bit risky at the moment. Anyway, I’m hoping to meet with someone at Scottrade next week to see about moving my investments into an IRA fund.

Filed under: General, Materialism by John