Diligence

Is there a simple word for diligence?

work

good work

effort

good effort

He is diligent. They are lazy. They get little done. He gets much done.

Diligent doing what? Working on what?
Diligently doing nothing. Diligently waiting.

Diligent in pursuit of the practice and understanding of love.

Practice love diligently. Work on love. Work lovingly on love.

diligently or lovingly or carefully
look on all your labors with love
constantly awakening

Gold Bear Market?

Gold plunges again and gets very close to the 20% decline from the September top.

Top was September 5, 2011 at $1,900.23 per oz.

20% decline would take the price to $1,520.18.
Right now it is at $1,533.4 and has been lower earlier.

So is this the bear?

breaks out below $1,500 and I would say for sure.
funny thing is
this does not predict the future

this could be the end of the bear
if the bear started in September it would have been going on for 4 months and this could be the end

but I still believe that the cost of production ultimately will determine the price and I hear the cost of production of gold is really down around $500 an oz.
So in that case the price has a long way to fall.

and where has gold come from?

back in 2001 around ten years ago gold traded as low as $277.90 an oz.
am I right in saying that at the top it had gone up almost 800%?
that is a pretty big increase

now if house prices going up 100% is a bubble then what would a rise of 800% be called?
a super bubble?

A Better Place

People often say they would like to make the world a better place.

Can't be done. The world is already perfect.

Already the days are starting to get longer again after the winter solstice
Who among us has the power to move the sun?

Human vanity is all, this idea of making things better than they are when they are already perfect. Just open your eyes and see the light. It is wonderful

So just do what you do and be who you are and have faith

"Don't forget to breathe!"

2012 Predictions

More of the same

more words

many words

some true

some correct

At a party we talked about the spirit and the many teachings and there was disagreement but no animosity, only attempts to find common ground and love one another

And I say

It is all true!
I believe everything!

Fuel For Economy

what does our economy really run on?

not oil
not low interest rates
not government transfer payments
not low taxes
not weak regulation
not immigrants
not technology
not labor, not capital, not education
not infrastructure!!!!

IT RUNS ON OPTIMISM AND CONFIDENCE

Things That Can't Go On...Don't

So much about income inequality lately and also a lot about deficits.
Here is an example of these two issues running into each other.The State of California has a very big budget deficit.
And at the same time a lot of people employed by the University of California receive enormous compensation.
They say they must pay them a lot in order to retain talent.
I doubt it. I expect there is plenty of talent out there. These people have a talent for getting high pay, and not much else.
So what is it here that cannot go on?
You can't keep spending more and more and more on less and less. Eventually there will be some sort of change.
I hope it does not come to a revolution.
I hope it does not come to violence.

I have always been taught to keep a low profile.
Our big earners don't seem to know that. They act like they are entitled to ostentatious living.
Something will catch up to them
Something

6.8% Yield With Small Risk

We live in a low yield environment. Interest rates on savings are virtually 0%.
Here is a clever way to get a higher yield on cash. The yield in this example is 6.8%.
But there is risk. But to me the risk is acceptable.

The strategy is to buy good stocks with good dividends
Then write deep in the money calls on the stocks out a year or so as long as you can get some premium on the position.

Here is the example

500 shares of Procter and Gamble bought at $65 a share

cash outlay is $32,507.95

write 5 calls dated 1/19/13 at a strike price of 60, price is $6.87 so you get cash back of

$3,438.12

so the net cost of the position is

$29,069.83

over a year the dividend will be $1,050
if the stock closes above $60 on 1/19/13 the position will be called and you will get back $30,000

total cash returned to you will be $31,050 on a cash outlay of $29,069.83

so income from this position will be $1,980.17 for a yield of 6.8%

the risk is that the stock drops below $60, a 7.7% decline.
but the premium you are getting is $1.86 per share so you would not really lose unless the stock dropped to $58.14 which would be a 10.5% decline.

Furthermore, if the stock drops you can always buy back the calls at a profit and write more calls at a lower strike price.

Is this too complicated? For most people it is too complicated and that is why it is a genuine opportunity

The other "risk" of writing covered calls is that the stock goes up a lot. But there the risk is just that you don't make as big of a profit.