Day Trading

I have found that I rather enjoy my E*Trade account... and I rather enjoy researching companies to buy stock in. I'm a huge fan of technology companies and more recently I have begun looking into green technologies at the urging of a friend. I am starting a watch list of my own of companies that I have been watching and considering buying some stock in. Mostly so that I don't forget, but also because I would love any input from anyone who knows a little about these companies as I am relatively new to day trading.


Advanced Micro Devices - AMD:
AMD used to be pretty competitive with Intel; however, they are no longer even in the same league... they actually are at a low point in their history right now with stocks trading at $1.95. They seemed to be at their high point in 2006 when they were trading very briefly for $41 per share. AMD has recently laid off 15% of it's work force and will probably spend the next year just trying to become profitable again. The reason I'm looking at AMD is because 1) they are at a very low point right now in their history, trading for $1.95 but they have just announced a partnership with ARM to produce 64 bit processors to be used in the Cloud. Cloud computing seems to be all the rage these days and with everything moving to the Cloud, there will be data centers all over the world attempting to keep their servers up to speed and secure. I think that AMD is going to have a come back with the ARM processors.

Reuters has cited sources as saying that AMD is looking to sell some of its patents but it is highly unlikely that the company will be sold... This was devastating news for the stock of the company, but as long as AMD continues to develop new technologies and goes forward with the 64 bit ARM processors, I think they are going to see some gains. IMO.

Vestas Wind Systems - VWSYF:
Vestas is also at a low point... in 2008 they were trading for $140.00 a share, they are now at $4.61 and seem to be declining... again, this should be an indicator to not buy; however, they were just granted a $1.2 Billion line of credit from two banks. The wind turbine industry has become saturated with competitors and Vestas has had to cut projects and lay off employees to stay afloat. I think as natural energy sources such as gas/oil/coal become more expensive, dangerous, and difficult to extract, renewable energy sources will become a necessity to maintain our current energy consumption. I am only watching this one right now and keeping an eye on their R&D department to see what new things they will come up with having that $1.2 billion in the bank. The banks that granted the lines of credit must have seen something positive in their business plan, especially when credit is pretty tight these days for European banks and companies. 

A friend of mine are in agreement that we think Apple is on its way out. I think they have lost their edge and just continue to release the same product over and over again with stupid changes i.e. the iPhone 5 that changed the charger connection... and the iPad mini. They are in need of a new CEO that has some new innovative ideas. Maybe they should get some developers from Google to consult for them?? Just a suggestion.

Any advice from anyone? Any new technology out there I should keep my eye on?

Anonymous

The hacker group Anonymous has decided to celebrate Guy Fawkes day (November 5^th) by hacking into multiple organizations, stealing passwords, and releasing information on the Interwebs… up until this day, I mostly agreed with what Anonymous was doing. They were called “hacktivasts,” only hacking into corporations that they felt were abusing their power and taking advantage of people; of course, them being the judge, jury, and executioner of the decision making when it came to what corporations were hacked was a little one-sided and unfair, but that is a conversation for another time.

They were huge supporters of the web site WikiLeaks, and hacked into Amazon, Visa, and other corporations that pulled their services from WikiLeaks. Although this was not the best approach for gaining support for what WikiLeaks was doing, they were successful in getting their name out there as being an organization of proficient hackers that knew what they were doing, and how to stay anonymous (I suppose the most important aspect of being a successful hacker)… hence their name. Even if it was not the most ethical way of doing business, I admired that people were doing something about the corruption and greed of corporate America. I agreed with their tactics, I agreed with what they were doing… releasing information that the American public had some right in knowing and exposing the greed and corruption that had elevated so many large corporations. I was impressed with the talent that I had read about. They were vigilante justice that helped to bring down the 1% that had taken advantage of poorer people to get to the top… no longer do I agree with what they are doing.

What they are doing now, is a direct violation to Rule Number 1...they are being assholes. Or is it possible that the organization has gotten so big that any computer geek with an outdated download of Wireshark can do what they want and fall behind the veil of Anonymous now? They hacked into Paypal and released 28,000 passwords to the Interwebs today, and they hacked into Telecom Italy and released 30,000 credentials in celebration of Guy Fawkes day; the legendary day in 1605 where Guy Fawkes and 12 of his friends failed at an attempt to blow up Parliament with a stockpile of gunpowder that was stockpiled under the massive building. What Anonymous is doing now is what we here at Amanda is an Asshole call a “dick move.” They are no longer hacktivasts to me, they are now a nuisance to the American people and criminals. They are no longer hacking for the greater good or the best interest of the general public, they are hacking because they are assholes who have lost sight of what Anonymous had originally stood for.

I am disappointed that Anonymous has just become one more public nuisance on the Interwebs. I am disappointed that some very talented hackers who were once using their skills to the betterment of society is now nothing more than a bunch of assholes who are releasing private information to the Internet and contributing to the already rampant problem of identity theft.  

Wedding Fashion

I'm a trendy girl at times... Embarrassingly enough, I do buy InStyle magazine and Lucky magazine. I follow fashion, and used to really love labels. I still love fashion, and I still love labels, but a few years ago I decided it really isn't very important in the grand scheme of life. I decided that I didn't want to be that girl, and I didn't really care if my hair was brushed, or washed for that matter, nor did I care if it was styled in a trendy way and that I was wearing the latest styles. Anyways... you can take the girl out of the trailer but she will still be trailer trash... I still love fashion and I decided I wanted to start sharing my finds. I recently went as a guest to a wedding (where I was grossly overdressed), this is what I wore for it. I'm thinking I look pretty hot, considering I was hungover like a mug that morning from the Halloween festivities the night before.

Dress: Express Long Sleeve Embellished Dress $108. I bought it in black and purple, so I could wear the purple one on New Year's Eve.

I paired the dress with gold sparkly shoes by Steve Madden ($40 on sale from $110, YAY!) and a pair of blackest black tights. 

 

I adore these shoes. I wore them for about 4-5 hours before I had to take them off my feet because they were so painful, but the peep-toe, Dirty Dancing style has me hooked. 

Jewelry is also from Express, it is a pewter colored multi-strand necklace ($18)

The hair... I get a lot of compliments when I wear my hair like this. I have naturally curly hair; however, it is long...so only half of my head will curl because my hair is so heavy it weighs down the top half of my hair. To fix this, I found this great little device made by Revlon. It is pretty much a super curling iron, that you crimp your hair with. I use it to remedy the problem of my heavy hair. I think I paid $25 for it from Target.

 

I am a very curvy girl... by curvy, I mean curvy, not fat. I have hips, a defined waist, and a big chest. I find that Express dresses fit my frame very well, they always have great styles, and they are decently priced.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my dress selection for the wedding. My birthday is tomorrow, I think I'm going to get a new dress for it and wear it out for a birthday surprise. 

Peace out y'all.

Amanda