Archive for November, 2008
T.I.'s Whatever You Like – Obama Spoof
Nov 29th
Came across a funny political spoof video that you may enjoy! I thought it was hilarious.
Technorati Tags: obama, t.i., whatever you like, shaun carter
It's Time For Holiday Photo Cards!
Nov 29th
It’s that time of year again, to get the family together for a picture and send out Holiday Photo Cards to
all your friends and family members. Vista Print offers a wide selection of Holiday and Christmas photo card options at very affordable prices, some starting as low as $3.99.
You can choose from folded cards, 4″x8″ photo cards, holiday collage cards, foil accented photo cards, holiday letters and caricature holiday cards. I personally like the folded cards that can have one or multiple photos on the front of the card and then a message on the inside.
Ordering from Vista Print involves a very simple step by step process and the site offers help at every step of the way. You will need to make sure you a have the photo you wish to use for your holiday card loaded onto your computer so you can upload it to Vista Print. You will then be able to view your holiday card online with the picture on it and make any changes you want to either the front or inside of the card using Vista Print’s online editing tools.
Don’t forget to watch for special one time offers that are made available to you during the checkout process and after you submit your order!
My Black Friday Shopping Experience
Nov 29th
I didn’t get up quite as early as I wanted to, but arrived at Walmart at about 6:30am and had some difficulty finding the electronics items I wanted because they were not in or near the electronics department. By the time I arrived I found out that the blu ray movies and ps3 games were already gone, but there was a mountain of Garmin GPS units still sitting behind the wireless counter so I got one of those since my Magellan GPS decided to break on me a few days ago. The GPS was under $100 and has worked great since I started using it. I also grabbed a 4GB USB drive for $9 and a 4GB Smart Card for $10.
Next, I stopped at CIrcuit City where they were still holding people outside in a line and letting them in a few at a time. I picked up a blu ray movie for $8.99 and also a new webcam, which will be only $9.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. I’m not a fan of rebates, but this was a good enough deal and is a webcam normally priced at $80. This will replace my five year old logitec that has a grainy picture.
I spent a lot less money than I planned on, which was good. But I didn’t get near as many items as I had hoped, oh well.
Technorati Tags: black friday, shopping, circuit city, walmart, shaun carter, usb drive, smart card, sale, webcam, gps, garmin, magellan
'Tis The Season For Frames
Nov 29th
With the holidays in full swing and shoppers in the stores, isn’t it a good time check out some Holiday frames for your pair of eyeglasses? Zenni Optical offers a wide range of specialty frames that start as low as $8. Zenni Optical has a large selection of frames made from metal, plastic, titanium, and aluminum.
My favorite pair of holiday frames is the one pictured below:
I like these frames (Metal Half Frame with Polarized Magnetic Snap-on Sunlens) because of the built-in polarized shades that can be clipped on over the prescription lenses. The price for these sunglasses/eyeglasses is only $23.95. This price includes the frame and lenses, and you can easily customize your order to include different color shading, Anti reflection coating and more. All you need is your prescription from your eye doctor to begin filling in the order form.
Zenni optical has a 30 day money guarantee on all its products and will refund 50% of the purchase price, less shipping and handling for all returns. Shipping can take anywhere from 10 – 21 days depending on the complexity of your prescription and costs only $4.95. Zenni Optical is located in sunny San Rafael, California and accepts orders online and by phone by all major credit cards.
Walmart Associate Killed During Black Friday Chaos
Nov 28th
Customers of a Walmart in New York trampled to death an associate at the start of Black Friday shopping after breaking the doors off the hinges to get inside. It’s really sad that people are this messed up that they feel the need to break down doors and trample innocent people to get a low price on a plasma TV or Blu-ray player. I hope the police use video camera footage to criminally charge those that broke the doors down, although it may be hard to determine blame considering the entire group of 200 people had no regard for the safety of those around them.
Technorati Tags: walmart, black friday, associate, plasma, blu-ray, shaun carter
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal on CNBC
Nov 24th
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was just on CNBC live for an interview with Maria Bartoromo and it proved to be a very interesting conversation. The Prince has increased his stake in Citigroup to 5% and is supportive of the US Government’s increased lending to the bank. I think this additional governmental bailout of Citigroup is still just the beginning and we will continue to see more banks fail and struggle without government aid.
Prince Al-Waleed also talked about oil prices and hoped for a steady price increase from the current $50/barrel back up to a more profitable level. But he was very passionate about the increase in price not being speculative in nature like the previous run up to $148. This is inline with my own prediction for the price of oil through the rest of 2008 and 2009 and has resulted in investments in Can Roys and related oil investments.
I don’t think this is the last of the bailouts in the financial sector and I see a full-blown recession emerging in 2009. Experts are predicting a very soft holiday shopping season because of the lack of a “must-have toy” this year. I am moving more and more in that direction and have been moving money into industry specific Ultra Short ETF’s, particularly Financials, Real Estate and Consumer Goods.
Technorati Tags: ultra short etf, financials, real estate, consumer goods, shaun carter, prince al-waleed, can roys, crude oil, citigroup, maria bartoromo, cnbc
My Black Friday 2008 Wish List
Nov 23rd
I haven’t really determined a budget this year for my Black Friday shopping trip. I usually spend a few hundred dollars and anticipate doing the same this year, perhaps more of I can find a good deal on a 1080p HDTV.
My wish list:
- 1080p HDTV – Under $600 would be ideal, if I can’t find one for that price I can always wait because LCD prices continue to drop each year.
- MP3 Player headphones – I accidentally broke my portable headphones so I need a replacement pair. Anyone who knows me knows I will need to find a very high end pair to go with my full-size Sennheiser pro headphones. As of yet I haven’t seen any of these kind of headphones advertised for Black Friday.
- Blu Ray Movies – Now that I have my PS3 on the way, I will need some movies to watch so I will be hitting up Walmart’s selection of Blu Ray movies for $15 and Circuit City for $9-12.
- PS3 Games – Need to get some games as well. Walmart is offering select titles for $10 & $30 each and Best Buy for $20 each.
- Winter Jacket – Walmart appears to have jackets for only $8. I’m not sure what the selection or quality will be like, but it will be worth a look.
I’m sure I will find other items of interest once I get into the stores, but these are the key things I’ll be looking for. Be sure to check out the Walmart Black Friday post I made yesterday if you haven’t done so already. The best deals are going to be at Walmart, as usual.
Technorati Tags: black friday, day after thanksgiving, sale, shaun carter, ps3, playstation 3, blu ray, movies, jackets, video games, hdtv, 1080p, lcd, tv, television, mp3 player, headphones
Walmart Black Friday Ad 2008
Nov 22nd
I have found a copy of the Walmart Black Friday circular for 2008 and it looks like it has some amazing deals in it. Included are some images of the best deals that I will most likely be taking advantage of in the wee-hours of the morning this coming Friday.
HD Televisions
Blu-ray – GPS – Digital Camera
$128 is a great price for a Blu-Ray player. I opted to purchase a Playstation 3 recently that I will use as my primary Blu-Ray player. I was able to purchase a brand new PS3 for UNDER $250 with no catch! I’ll be sharing with you how I did it in a later post, so keep checking back.
Computer – Printer – USB Drive
This computer would be a great gift for a student, although I will warn you that each store will have a VERY limited quantity of this item available. Typically fewer than 10 or 20 will be sold depending on the annual sales volume of your local Walmart. People have typically begun camping out the night before for computers on Black Friday. I will be picking up one of the 4GB flash drives for $9 though.
Xbox 360 Bundle
The Xbox 360 Arcade is listed at regular retail price, but includes a free Guitar Hero 3 game and guitar, a $75 value. Personally, I wouldn’t want the “Arcade” version of the Xbox 360 because of its limited features but this could make a great gift for younger kids who are not hardcore gamers.
Video Games
Movies
Toys
Jackets
Hoodies
Technorati Tags: walmart, black friday, shaun carter, xbox, playstation 3, hoodies, jackets, hdtv, lcd, plasma, gps, digital camera, desktop, computer, printer, usb drive, video games, ps3 games, xbox games, blu ray, movies, toys, shopping
How to Trade Oil Now
Nov 20th
Crude oil prices have been plummeting and is trading at $50.75/barrel as I write this. That is a big drop from the all-time high set just this past summer of $147.27. I think this dramatic pullback in oil prices could be a terrific time to start buying into the sector for a long term hold.
It is now proven that oil can break the $100/barrel mark and will most surely head that way in the future, perhaps 2009 or shortly thereafter. Oil is a finite resource and OPEC will do anything in its power to restore the enormous profits they enjoyed from high oil prices.
Consumers will also likely resort back to old driving habits and the reduction in use of gasoline will likely level off over the next few months as prices at the pump drop and hold below $1.75/gallon. While a global recession will likely curtail overall spending, the long-term outlook for oil prices remains quite strong.
I am looking into Canadian Royal oil trusts for their high dividend rates (20%+) and the fact that the price movement of their shares directly corresponds with crude oil prices. These companies face some changing tax laws in 2011 that will adversely effect their business models, but I think significant profits can be booked well before that deadline.
Technorati Tags: crude oil, gas prices, canadian royal, oil trusts, shaun carter, dividends, gasoline, opec
