Journals of Doc Surge

Feb 28

Lets Talk About Mediocrity (Ahem, I Mean Mutual) Funds

February 28, 2009 by Chris Billows in Business Beller 0 comments tags: Smart Money Management

My first investment was in mutual funds which is what most people invest in because the mutual fund industry is very effective at promoting its products. There is a certain sense of security knowing that everyone else is also buying mutual funds. Unfortunately for the most part we have been sold a product that does what it says but does not deliver what you need. Yes, mutual funds do invest in the stock market. Yes, mutual funds do diversify the risk over hundreds of stocks but no, most mutual funds do not give you the returns you need. Diversify and Die? Mutual Funds will give you built in diversification. Some of them invest in entire stock market indexes, others invest into a combination of stocks and bonds, and some invest into other company mutual funds (which are called Fund of Funds, yikes!). Diversification of your investment money is important. You should never put all of your money into one company. Because you have no control over how that company does or how other investors react to the company’s news, it is best to hedge your dollars by spreading the risk around. Yet it is possible to over-diversify. Because mutual funds […]

Jan 29

How to Pick the Right Stock Picking System

January 29, 2009 by Chris Billows in Business Beller 0 comments tags: How to Understand Money, Smart Money Management

Just like there are thousands of stocks to pick, there are hundreds of stock picking systems. And more are being created all of the time. But just like most stocks, most of them are not worth your time. This article will tell you what is wrong with most stock picking systems and what to look for in a system that works. There are basically three fundamental mistakes that need to be avoided. They are: 1) Choosing a system that is too narrow. 2) Choosing a system that is too broad. 3) Choosing a system that is too inflexible. Mistake #1: Picking a System that is too narrow Some systems will base their entire strategy on just technical indicators, multi-day candlestick patterns, or some form of divergence. The problem is that all of these systems are only using two factors: price and volume. Imagine if you were about to invest in a horse that competed in racing. Would you be satisfied with only the weight and speed of the horse? No matter how you graphed those two variables, they are only two criteria. You should also be interested in the breed of the animal, the competition it was racing against, the […]

Jan 22

The Fairy Tale of Obama’s Inauguration

January 22, 2009 by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Foolishness, Political Opinion

When Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States yesterday, I was and still am amazed over all the pomp, circumstance, and glitter that accompanies the presidential rite of passage. It’s a spectacle that stands in stark contrast to Canada’s celebration of a new political leader. New prime ministers are simply sworn into office with little more than a low-key ceremony with the Governor General at Rideau Hall, attended by a handful of dignitaries and family members. Inauguration day of the U.S. President is a grand affair, with the swearing-in at the majestic Capitol, an inspirational speech to kick off the new presidency, a packed parade to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue and then a series of star-studded dusk-to-dawn balls. With such a grand, awe-inspiring celebration, I would expect to see a king being crowned. Yet the United States went to war with Britain to dispose of the monarchy and the entitlement of royalty. It is just pure irony that Americans celebrate and treat their President and the First Family like fairy tale royalty. And just like the fairy tale kings of old, Obama’s rise to the top is a real fairy tale in the making. For […]

Jan 17

Ultima Storyline FAQ

January 17, 2009 by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Games Analysis

I have decided to resurrect an old document for the sake of posterity. It is the Ultima Storyline FAQ, which is an old computer game series that ran in at least thirteen installments, helped launch the CRPG niche, and was the basis of the first Mass Multiplayer Online Game, Ultima Online which is currently running. I started the FAQ by posting it to the rpg newsgroup. It was my first attempt at Retroactive Continuity and was one of those points that gave me some excitement relating to world construction which has influenced me in my work with Promaginy. Ultima Storyline FAQ by Chris Paul Billows Final Version 1.5 10/30/95 This FAQ is in no way affiliated with Origin. All information within this FAQ is from the author, contributors or from books. Since this is the final version of the FAQ I will no longer be accepting any comments pertaining to it. Thank you. The purpose of this FAQ is to ask and answer some the questions that come up when one plays any of the Ultima game. These questions do not pertain so much to how to solve the game in particular but is more to try to make sense […]

Jan 05

Book Review: Small is Beautiful by E.F.Schumacher

January 05, 2009 by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Foolishness, Free Enterprise, Human Condition

It remains painfully obvious that this book is written by a crank. Only a crank would tell us that we need to rethink our consumption patterns, how we manage our economy, and our relationship with our environment. Going against conventional thinking is pretty fashionable today, but to do so in 1973 and still be so relevant is testimony of a crank who knew what he was talking about. E.F. Schumacher wrote this book in response to what he saw as the quickening and centralizing nature of modern society. He saw governments and businesses getting bigger and losing their essential and natural sense of scale, which is human friendly or simply “small”. Thus prompting the title of the book. It was through this book that Schumacher is credited with influencing green economic thinking from the 70s and afterward. He articulated the fundamental question about growth: “How much further growth will be possible, since infinite growth in a fine environment is an obvious impossibility”. Such thinking was radical, yet not socialist. Instead his thinking was the basis of humanistic, or human-centred economics. This book helped shift the tired and largely irrelevant debate of Left wing vs Right wing economic politics or big […]

Dec 23

Ideology: Scourge of the Modern World

December 23, 2008 by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Foolishness, Human Condition, Human History

The Economist posted an article, Why Wars Happen, explaining that the cause of most conflicts in the world during 2008 is due to ideological differences. This reinforces my conviction and past blog posts, Ideology vs Philosophy and Confessions of a Recovering Ideologue. that ideology in all of its forms is the scourge of the modern world. The research about world conflict was conducted by the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, and has some pretty amazing information there. Does my criticism of ideology mean I am anti-thinking? No, I would instead argue that ideological thinking is an oxymoron. Ideology is a mental disorder that afflicts politics, religion, culture (political correctness), and business. To be ideological means to not think and to abdicate one’s rational powers. To truly be a thinking person one must be philosophical and open to new information.

Home

Lets Talk About Mediocrity (Ahem, I Mean Mutual) Funds

How to Pick the Right Stock Picking System

The Fairy Tale of Obama’s Inauguration

Ultima Storyline FAQ

Book Review: Small is Beautiful by E.F.Schumacher

Ideology: Scourge of the Modern World

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories