TDRS:The Things I Hate Edition

What up Fam? What up Folk? It’s Ya Boy and I’m coming at you one mo gin with a big wazzup. Again I apologize for not publishing that fire on a consistent basis, but moving, career and who would’ve thunk, life “not” on those mean streets of Atlanta, has continued to consume TDRS’s time. No biggie right? Anyway, before I get it started I’d like to send a shout out to the new reader(s), (Felcia Jones…FAMU SBI 1993 and Marissa…wifey of Eddie Trojan) and anyone who this rant about nothing was forwarded to. I have tried for the last few weeks to come up something funny and to no avail. I think it’s because I’ve been so pissed with things going on in the world that it’s clouded my brain. In an effort to get back to the real, TDRS has to spew this week, so please excuse me. I might piss some of you off….I sho hate it. Without further ado, I really hate….

Wimp A$$ Atheletes
So I decided to check out some of the U.S. open tennis matches the other night because (i) Venus was in the quarterfinals and (ii) a brother named Blake was quietly moving his way up to a big match with Andre Agassi. As most of you know Venus is out and the brotha pretty much choked and let Agassi come back from two sets down and a break in the THIRD SET. I mean Blake was doing really well, but Agassi just refused to lose. I just have to get on Blake for his post match comments because someone needs to. Blake said, "I generally don't have much fun losing, but this one was a lot of fun to play. This was incredible." FYI Blake you didn’t lose, you choked. It’s sad that I have to keep bringing back the quote from Herm Edwards of the New York football Jets, but Blake, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! Period. There is no fun in losing, not generally, not at any time!!

Comcast Cable
I hate Comcast. Let me repeat, I hate these monopolistic bastards. All the Baby Bells and wireless phone companies are cutting prices for dsl and high speed internet but not the cocky bastards at Comcast. I know it’s not totally their fault because ESPN and MTV subscriber fees are not cheap. However it doesn’t make sense that my cable bill is basically a Honda civic car note. Did you know that Comcast charges $2.95 for that TV guide that is sent out weekely? I thought it was free and always trashed it because it was clogging my mailbox. I mean just think how much they are making off of this crap. It’s the equivalent of Bell South trying to charge you for the yellow pages. If nothing else please call Comcast today and inquire about this.

Telephone # Disclosure
So a few weeks ago I went to TJ MAXX to shop for house items. Before swipping my card, the cashier says, “telephone number”. Note I wasn’t asked for my telephone number nor was the request for my telephone number followed by the word “please”, I was essentially told to give my number as if it was necessary to complete the transaction. I always give my phone number because I think it is like some form of identification. Well, as I learned this weekend, IT’S NOT!!! In fact some of the stores have it posted clear as day that giving one’s phone number is completely voluntary. Maybe it’s just me but being asked for my number is totally different than being told to give my number. If it’s completely voluntary, then dammit just ask for it and give me the opportunity to say no. Just think if bartenders did this? Speaking of…

Bartenders
I love bartenders, I really, really do. What I hate are these bartenders who use measuring cups to make my “drank”. Are u fhukin kidding me? Before you know it we are going to have automatic drink making machines at the club. Actually that would be sort of cool. Now that I think about it, maybe not, because that would render bar position totally useless and you know how the fellas do when it comes to bar position.

Micheal Vick Haters
Micheal Vicks stats read like this: 12-23 passing, 11 rushes for 68 yards and a 55.7 passer rating. At the end of the day let’s talk about that W that was posted last night. Mike…shake them haters off!

Bary Bonds Haters
Has he failed a test yet? Nuff Said! The man missed 142 games this year and almost hit a homer (doubled instead) and scored a run.

Kanye West
I hate what Kanye did last week. Yeah I said it and yeah I bought his 1st album. I’m not buying album #2 b/c I am not feeling it. Oh yeah, I didn’t vote for Bush either so please save the emails saying I must be republican or something. The situation in the N.O. was sad and downright ridiculous and I hope and pray all of those affected somehow see brighter days ahead. Those in the N.O. and the SIP who saved themselves, families, or others are truly courageous and should be applauded. However, in this time of tradgedy, I refuse to just hand out applause to just anyone…Especially Mr. Kanye West.

Is Kanye really courageous? Courage where? Is he courageous for making such a statement in an already anti-bush environment? Why didn't he do this at the MTV music awards? Or the Grammy's where he was truly on a national/world stage. I guess he was too upset at the American Music Awards when he wasn’t getting any respect. And I’m not talking just about Katrina. Did he just find out that there was signficant poverty in the Big Easy? Did he just realize after Katrina that Bush didn't like Black folk? Come on now. People and blog sites everywhere talk about how much he had to lose for those comments. Please, Kanye had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Kanye’s consumer base is not the same as the Dixie Chicks (for those who remember what happened to them), so he didn’t step out of bounds by his comments. What? Are people going to stop buying his albums? We already know what his album sales did this week. Is he going to jail? Did he get put in jail? Is he on the front lines in Iraq? What does he have to lose? The man exercised his freedom of speech in a free country, so please stop the madness calling this man courageous. Even Master P wasn’t in agreement with Mr. Kanyeezees approach.

Now let me just say that Kanye was pretty close to dead on when he said in the “remix” that George Bush don’t care about “broke” negroes. Bush and all of those who voted for him don’t care about broke caucasions either. The sitiuation in the N.O. was not a blatant attempt to rid the world of the blacks. It did show that local, state, and national authorities were ill prepared and that our commander in chief is truly truly an IDIOT. I don’t think the man is a charter member of the Klan, but I do think he really did ride in the front seat of the little yellow bus. Let me say it loud so everyone can hear it, Bush doesn't care and doesn't need to care. Kanye saying Bush sux or doesn't care is not contrary to popular opinion and therefore doesn't warrant the tag line of "courageous". He was doing nothing but adding another stick to an out of fhukin control, Texas A&M style bonfire.

Are we that "hard" up for a leader that we will put all of our praise and hope into someone who stated the "obvious". At the end of the day Kanye was preaching to basically the "choir" right? Now what? The collection plate was being passed around and money was being directed to the sick and shut in before his comments and will continue afterward. Now I am in no way advocating for "negroes" to keep quiet. The man has the right to free speech in a free country. This isn't 1960? Kanye and his faithful followers believe that everyone wanted to say it, but do they really? Maybe they don't believe what Kanye said. Sure it sounds good and everyone vents amongst friends, but do we really feel that way? Does he think the world is clueless to the fact that blacks have struggeled in the U.S? Again this isn't 1960. Does he feel Bush cares about black people less so than a Clinton or any other "white" U.S. president? Oh I guess Clinton cared b/c he played the sax, smoked a little weed, has offices in Harlem, chilled with Arsenio Hall and cheated on his wife. Please! Take away the dot-com boom and I really wonder what life would have been like under his administration. I voted for Clinton btw.

Bush isn't my most favorite prez for a number of reasons and this is true. However, Kanye West doesn't represent me nor does he speak what I wanted to say, so I am not going to jump on and agree with him or his approach. If I feel what he said was stupid (Which I do), why would I stand behind him? The congressional Black Caucus didn’t back him and I wonder why? Is it that they are scared (doubt it), smart (highly likely), or quite frankly don't totally agree? Maybe I’m in the minority but Bush wasn't responsible for a hurricane to land on a city, state, and region that were ill prepared in the first place. At the end of the day I believe people have nothing to lose for being truly courageous. Now for being stupid or more politely said, unwise, then that's another story.

HollaAtYaBoy

The Mailbag:
Hey, man. I loved your response. I'm always open to a dialogue between people with varying points of view. It's apparent that we were talking about two different types of investors, or men. I was speaking of the portfolio manager, who is a person who generally has an unlimited investment horizon and is seeking to maximize profit while minimizing risk and transaction costs through a buy and hold strategy. They seek companies (women) with a good history of earnings and good growth prospects for the future that they can hold onto for life, or at least until the fundamentals of the market change and dictate that they sell. What you seem to be talking about is the financial equivalent of the "playa playa", the trader. The trader is not concerned with how much
the stock of a company will rise over the next 2 years. What the trader wants to know is what the stock of the company is going to do over the next 2 hours, or 2 days, or 2 weeks. If you're a trader, then the potential rewards of dabbling in the international markets are too great to stay out of them for fear of losing your shirt because competing traders can consistently outperform you if you don't put at least a small portion of your capital into the foreign markets. So once again, it comes down to what type of investor you are.

In addition, I never said that an investor shouldn't consider international companies when putting together a portfolio. In fact, I said that there is a place in everyone's portfolio for some international exposure. I even said that international exposure is a great hedge against weakness in the domestic markets, so I agree with your hedge philosophy. What I was arguing against was loading up on foreign companies to the point where THEY were the predominant assets in your portfolio and not the domestic staples. But I think that based on your latest email you agree with me on that and that you also think that the domestic staples should remain the foundation of a portfolio.

I must respectfully disagree with your assertion that "the higher the risk the higher the return" is an incorrect statement. As far as perceived risks and assumed returns are concerned, all investors should recognize that nothing is fully guaranteed; otherwise it wouldn't be an investment. But it is a fact that US T-Bills are less risky than corporate bonds. This is a fact due to the sovereign taxation power of the Federal government and it's ability to print money to meet its obligations. The only thing that will prevent the government from meeting its obligations would be for it to crumble, which most likely would be proceeded a complete collapse of the financial markets. So yes, it is less risky to buy T-Bills than corporate bonds, which is why the government pays a smaller dividend than GM pays on its bonds. US Treasuries are not risk free investments, but there is no "maybe" that they are the safest investment out there. We can take it to the efficient frontier (for all of the true finance geeks) if you'd like. And their ability to be sold while offering such low returns also proves my point. If investors perceived that Treasuries were riskier investments they would either demand a higher dividend or a lower price to purchase them.

Also, in terms of receiving dividends, due to the broad variety of women out there I was speaking in general terms. I realize that there are some Black women who are shady as hell, and I realize that there are some foreign women who are as pure as the driven snow. There are always exceptions. What I was asserting are the facts of the situation. It is a fact that it is not likely that you are as able to do the same level of due diligence on a foreign person that you are on a domestic one. You didn't go to school with her. Your boy doesn't date her sister. Your parents didn't go to the same church as hers. You are limited in the resources you can use in the gathering of information about her. Now, you may still end up with a great woman, but if you do it won't be because you were able to really delve into her past and make an educated decision. And because of that perceived lack of transparency there is an added risk premium to that decision, which in turn either drives down the asking price of the stock, or ratchets up the expected return.

You make a great point in comparing the $100 investment to the $10 one, but I think that you are missing one important thing. You stated that you would want at least 5x the return if you were putting up 10x the amount of money. But I think that expectation would only be fair if you perceived that you were taking on the same level of risk between the two investments. I would argue that the fact that the $100 investment commands such a price is evidence that it has significantly less perceived risk than the $10 one. And that is the point that I was trying to make. So I ask you again, if you can invest $100 in what isperceived to be a less risky investment and still make a better return, then why would you invest $10 in the more risky investment? Whether a person has $10 to invest or $100 doesn't matter. My point is that the $100 investment costs that much for a reason, and that reason must be that either it is less risky or provides a better return than other similar investments that cost less money. In compiling a portfolio it is less risky (not risk-free) to have more of the $100 stocks that provide $20 returns. Use the $10 stocks that have the potential to grow to $20 as an accent to the main holdings of the portfolio, but don't get too happy when you have a good month and start selling the $100 staples and buying the now $20 stocks because they can go back to $5 just as quickly as they went to $20. That's what I'm saying…B. Armond Davis
okay before i say one word, i gotta admit to laughing my ass off at this: Girls with dough buy really nice gifts and I love nice gifts. okay to the point.... none of that shit applies to me because i'm poor. HAH! i already swagger the about non-monetary plusses beside my name. i guess it's good that i'm nowhere near the 6 figga mark. i'd be a total asshole…..Quia Q
U know i am gonna have to educate this novice investor about the international market dynamics...CEO Profound Source That B. Davis is ON POINT! Sorry for the full distribution list blast, but it needed to be done…M Nahdri
Have you really already picked out baby names? You're ridiculous. You know that, right? I love you, but you're ridiculous! T Hinton