One topic that's been on my mind a good bit lately is the difference between nominal returns and real returns.

To clarify, nominal returns are on a purely percentage basis. The chart below is that of a sector of stocks in the Zimbabwe market. Wow, amazing returns, right?


Amazing -- in nominal terms. However, real returns tell a different story. Real returns are basically...

The Hollywood Stock Exchange, where you can bet on how films will do at the box office, will become a real money exchange, regulated by the CFTC (same bureau that regulates US commodites and currency trading) effective April 20, 2010. TechCrunch has the story:

On April 20, HSX will become a real-money commodity exchange, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As such, they’ve had to file with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for approval, which they did in November, and are now

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Well folks, I exited gold between $1060 and $1080 USD per ounce exiting in portions. Now, I plan to start getting back in in to my full size position.


Above is a daily chart of gold. MACD shows a crossover just as we start to get the recent rallies in gold. The exponential moving averages are starting to make bullish crossovers as well. The hammer at $1040 stands out as a strong support level....

Just wanted to post a quick chart of GLD, the ETF tracking the price of gold.


The daily chart shows the moving averages are getting set to crossover, but price action still looks bearish to me -- if I were shorting, I'd take a closer look at shorting gold at the upper trendline highlighted in the chart. GLD is also seeing volume divergence of late -- price rising, volume declining -- which...

I used to be just like you.

I looked around at all the "professional" investors who did things like buy single stocks because they thought the company had a good product and its prospects for future earnings were promising.

LOL! Silly, right? As if future profits have anything to do with whether or not this is going to be a good trade!

I just stuck to my charts. Simple chart patterns, moving averages....maybe some Fibonacci or RSI if...