0

Passive Income - April 2008

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on May 1, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Finance, Passive Income

Tragically when my bank cut my interest rate again last month, it was not an April Fools joke, now the rate is 3.01%… for shame.

  • Interest: $36.22
  • Dividends: $10.04
  • Credit Card Rewards: $18.37
  • AdSense: $11.78
  • Text Ads: $25.00
  • Misc website income: $15
  • Surveys: $12.00

That’s a total of $128.41, so I made just slightly over the $100 a month target.

Read more…

 
0

Apple Q2 Earnings Preview

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Apr 22, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Apple, Finance

Remember kids, tomorrow Apple is set to release its Q2 earnings after market close. While their earnings should be impressive and likely beat the market expectations of $1.11 per share, it’s the Q3 guidance people will really be focused on. As we’ve seen in the past an overly conservative outlook can destroy investor confidence in a hurry (see Apples Q2 outlook as reported with their Q1 earnings), almost as much as missing a quarters projected EPS.

With the economy in a slow down Apple’s pricey computers and accessories may not be as likely to move, which is a point thats been raised over and over by analysts. It should be noted that some believe that Apple’s high prices make it recession proof, purely from the standpoint that they can drop the price per computer by $300 and still make a handsome profit. Apple dropping their prices‚Ķ Yeah, that’s likely to happen (please pay attention to the dripping sarcasm there).

However, the impending launch of the 3G iPhone coupled with the expanding availability of the iPhone in other countries should do nicely for offsetting any slow down in computer sales. Although since investors tend to act like a bunch of girls, they may see a decrease in computer sales as bad news and run scared.

Let’s try and focus on Apple as a whole, not just their computer division‚Ķ Mm’kay? After all, they did drop the Computers from the name, remember?

In the interest of full disclosure, I own shares in Apple Inc. so I might be biased, yeah, maybe a little.

p.s. Remind me to sell when Apple hits $200

 
0

Blockbuster Hearts Circuit City

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Apr 14, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Blockbuster, Circuit City, Finance

In a move that no one expected, or can even understand, Blockbuster has offered a cash buyout of Circuit City… Wait… What?!

Zac Bissonnette of BloggingStocks puts it quite well:

This deal would be the absolute epitome of “two drunken sailors trying to hold each other up.” Both of these companies have experienced precipitous declines in recent years, reporting losses as industry changes and more nimble competitors take their market share.

Blockbuster is said to be offering a cash buyout between $6 and $8 a share. Shares of Circuit City are currently up 28.46%, or $1.11 to $5.01. Shares in Blockbuster are down 13.74%, or $0.43 to $2.70

Now I don’t mind Blockbuster, but I hate Circuit City.

In other news, Google announced its plans to acquire Payless Shoes, citing the pivotal shift in market strategy Blockbuster is forging with its attempted acquisition of Circuit City as the driving factor behind the deal.

 
3

Economic Stimulus Payment Schedule

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Apr 6, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Economic Stimulus Package, Finance, Taxes

Now that you’ve figured out how much money you’re getting back from the Economic Stimulus Rebate, you might be wondering when exactly you’ll be getting that fat check from the feds. Wonder no more! The answer is after the jump.

Read more…

 
1

Calculate Your Economic Stimulus Rebate

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Apr 5, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Economic Stimulus Package, Finance

By now I’m sure you’ve received your letter from the IRS stating that you may be entitled to some free money. If you’re not sure how much you’ll be getting back, use the calculator below to figure it out.

 
0

The 10yr Rule

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Mar 15, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Finance

The theory is that every ten years your investment doubles in value, and now I have proof!

So I haven’t exactly been actively investing in the stock market for ten years, but unbeknownst to me just under ten years ago my Grandfather took out an Educational IRA (much like a 529 plan) on my behalf, at the time he invested $400 in an American Century fund and set it up with a DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program)… Now ten years later, even though the fund has dropped significantly in value, his original investment is now worth $903 thanks to that DRIP. Pretty cool.

Now the 10 year rule is a nice thought, but I’m sure it doesn’t always apply. And in todays market, it hard to imagine any investment doubling in value.

 
0

iPhone SDK + Firmware 1.1.4

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Feb 25, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Apple, Finance, Installer.app, iPhone, iPod touch

This is all pure speculation/wishful thinking on my part, so please don’t take it too seriously.

I personally love the way Installer.app works, I can install/uninstall applications where ever I go, that being said I’m not looking forward to installing apps via iTunes.

So my question is this, will Apple be able to offer the same on-the-go application management style as Installer.app with the release of the iPhone SDK? I genuinely hope so, however that functionality would likely require firmware 1.1.4 to be released alongside (or soon after) the SDK with a major overhaul to the mobile iTunes application.

Completely doable, but will Apple choose to follow the logical example set by Installer.app? If they plan on allowing developers to sell applications it makes great sense financially, after all I’ve purchased more than my fair share of stupid games for my cell phone at random times when I was utterly bored and had no form of entertainment readily accessible.

That being said, what do those of you who actually own an iPod touch or iPhone think?

 
2

Death and Taxes

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Feb 11, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Finance, Taxes


In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

- Benjamin Franklin

It’s tax season, kids! And you know what that means, right? Yeah, me neither. Anyhow, I’ve been rocking the tax scene for the past four hours and it has been pretty painful, I knew going in that I was going to have to pay in of course, and that it was going to be a lot… but it still hurts.

So, a mere six cups of coffee and $11,237 of deductions later and I think I’m in business. I now only have to pay in several grand and the world is a much happier place, I will take the time to try and lower that figure further before I actually file, especially since I’m in no hurry to pay the feds any of my hard earned money.

What about you? Are you getting money back, or paying in? Worse yet, have you not even started your taxes?!

 
0

Passive Income - January 2008

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Feb 1, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Finance, Passive Income

My passive income for January was slightly lower than December, mostly because I had to pay for classes, my speeding ticket, and the bank cut my interest rate. Ah well, still not a bad start to the new year.

  • Interest: $30.58
  • Dividends: $11.53
  • Credit Card Rewards: $13
  • AdSense: $9.93
  • Text Ads: $16.02
  • Misc website income: $15

That rings up to a fairly respectable $96.06 for the month, I’m hoping to see an average of $100+ per month this year, we’ll see how that works.

Read more…

 
1

I’ve Returned

Posted by Aaron Nelsen on Jan 28, 2008 in Aaron Nelsen, Bruised Ego, Finance, Google, Hacks, Random

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but apparently that doesn’t apply to Google, although it is slightly reassuring to know that their server clusters don’t actually incorporate human hearts. I digress. Over the course of a few days I’ve all but disappeared from the hollowed pages of Google Search, major bummer, I used to be the number two result (also numbers 3, 4, 7, 12, and 42) when searching for ‘Aaron Nelsen‘ but now I’m stuck at the bottom of the first page of results, plus Hijinks Inc. doesn’t show up until page two.

In other news, banks cut interest rates because of the cuts the Fed made, and the market continues to be as unpredictable as an inebriated schizophrenic. Both of which are major thorns in my side.

Along the same lines, I’ve made more money in the past six months by changing a portion of my cash holdings from the US dollar to the Euro than I have from the stock market. That’s depressing.

Oh and I’m in the process of upgrading my iPod touch to the 1.1.3 firmware and attempting to jailbreak it, if I’m successful I’ll post instructions on how to rock that scene.

Copyright © 2008 aaronnelsen.com All rights reserved. Theme by Laptop Geek.