IO jumps

Short note today, most of the market is now down (after a promising start) but I got a very nice present with ION jumping nicely today on this news. However, unlike the HTE news I'm continuing to hold io. I think it still has significant legs left. (Even from a short term trade I would think you could squeeze another 5% tomorrow, before it resettles) so its now up 37% since whenever it was I put up that blog. I hope someone took advantage of it!

In other news I tied Dave this week in FF, a TIE. Granted my team was amazingly poor at most positions RB and WR particularly (6 points TOTAL for 5 slots) but thanks to some luck with def, and TE I pulled out the tie, in thanks to Dave's team pretty much choking by the Cardinals running the ball too much (for his liking anyway)

Giants look bad.
World Series looks worse, I may root for the hated yankees 'cause I hate the Phils more.... just horrible.

Portfolio Update

Just in case you have been wondering less blogs= more work at work. It may also be related to the lack of internet/phone/tv at home- which in case you were wondering makes for a very odd view of the world. I have no idea what the weather will be nor baseball game results... in fact a lot of nothing. Which has been good as I have been watching a lot of Blu-Ray on my new Samsung LED tv- which looks by the way out of this world.

Anyway quick update on the portfolio last posted Sept 25;

ANR was 34.87 now 39.9 up 14.3%

CGW was 17.53 now 18.09 up 3.2%

DGIT was 20.66 now 23.00 up 11.3%

ERF was 22.10 now 24.15 up 9.3%

HTE was 6.12 now 9.33 up 52.5% (Disclaimer sold today at 9.29- buyout announced at 10 CDN)

IO was 3.39 now 3.61 up 6.5%

NUAN was 14.33 now 14.74 up 2.9% (Purchased new options for Nov at 15 for .50 yesterday- hoping this pullback is temporary)

WM was 28.98 now 31.46 up 8.6%

So it was a very good month; I will be putting up some in-the-money calls up for sale on DGIT soon (remember I said I have too much? well I still have too much but I had to wait a month before I sold to clear a capital gains loss on a very small portion <100 shares) The HTE thing I'm rather bummed out about; I know that seems dumb but as oil climbs that 9.5 offer is going to look like a joke. I'll probably be investing in another Canroy soon to capitalize on rising oil but for now unless you want a 20 cent guarantee on a 9.3 investment this one is dead money. Interestingly this is another reason (outside of outstanding dividends) to invest in the Canroys- as the deadline approaches for the tax laws currently in place several more may offer themselves up for sale (like Harvest) so if you chose right you might get a pop (like we saw today) Unless the Canadian government suddenly realizes that it screwed investors a few years ago and here comes the payback as Canadian assets get bought up by Asia. Interesting.

What the Dutch do

I was watching the Lehrer Report last night (highly recommended by the way) I find it one of the better sources of news and certainly the best news on TV. Anyway they are doing a special all week on different types of health care in other countries and how they are (or are not) working. You can see the transcript or watch the section here.

Interestingly (and as a fiscal nut I was impressed) two points; One, the Dutch pay HALF what the US pays for healthcare; yet two, theirs is completely universal. Everyone pays the same thing (about 160 a month) which is unfortunately for me about double what I pay now however. The obvious benefits: everyone is covered and everyone pays the same price, and no one is turned away.

"Every citizen is required to buy a basic package that typically costs about $160 a month. The insurance companies are required to offer the same prices to all customers, regardless of age or medical history. Low-income residents have their premiums subsidized. Health care shoppers can choose to pay more for coverage, for things like dentistry, cosmetic surgery, or physiotherapy."

In a twist the Dutch when converting to this plan dissolved all of the government healthcare options and moved them into private insurers to promote a level of competition. This is exactly opposite of what some Democrats wish to have with this so-called 'public option' There are government guarantees on risk to the companies as well as balancing acts should one company be stuck with more 'high cost patients'

The downsides noted are not without mention. First working for a Dutch company I have spoken with many of them an certainly none of them rave about the services they receive; in fact many have said they go almost always to the hospital first- doctors. One American (who I worked with) over there fro 2 years took his wife to Italy to go to the doctor when they couldn't get the drugs needed. And that was mentioned in the piece as well, the plan is very slow to get the latest in drugs and processes; everything needs to be financially viable- not necessarily what a patient wants to here- and certainly something that would have issues here.

I thought it was a though inducing piece however- certainly I was impressed with the financial control, but I'd need some more information on what I'd still be able to get before I sign up. However, it certainly opened my eyes to a universal plan- that has lasted longer and survived better than certainly any public option tried here in the US.

And just because I enjoy this series...

I pull from the vaults the videos made from our trip to Whistler! Thanks to Charles again for lugging the camera around and for catching me in some great (and not so great) footage. (Not to mention some really really good editing.) It really brought back memories of a really great trip. Thanks guys! Day three is probably my favorite; (to some degree you had to be there, the song was played EVERY morning on the TV) the song, the editing, the footage. It was a very fun trip; probably the best snow I have ever had out West.

I thought Youtube had pulled them for copy-write issues, but they are still there! I got a real kick out of watching them again; watch at your own peril. Enjoy!
Day2
Day3
Day4 pt 1
Day4 pt 2