Email On Steroids

Whoever invented the Blackberry is definitely a genius. In the fast paced world that we live in, I can't imagine anything better than the BlackBerry. It's no wonder Barack Obama refused to let go of the device when he became president.

And if you have several email addresses, then the Blackberry is for you. If you want to do some real time facebooking, you got it. Real time tweets, no problemo. Stock market quotes, there you go.

The only thing that could rival the blackberry is possibly the iPhone. And that is because Apple opened up to developers and used the Mac network to reach out to an already loyal base.

The down side of the Blackberry is that you have to pay for the data plan. It's not that expensive but I'd hate to think that I will be paying at least $20 per month for the rest of my life to keep the device running.

On the down side, I am yet to find a good Blackberry holster. I've had 2 holsters so far because the clip is not sturdy and easily breaks. After the first one broke, I went to the engineering shop at work and had them remove the broken clip and re fix it to use the leather bit. I bought a replacement, and it didn't last as long as the first one. And now I have a second modified holster. Because of the magnetic sensor in the holster, I can't buy a generic holster for the phone.

That said, if any knows where I can get a good holster, kindly let me know through the comment section.

Nairobi Real Estate Bubble

This weekend's real estate article in the Nation newspaper is a confirmation that the property market in Nairobi and its environs is in a bubble. Going by the Magazine cover theory, media headlines are usually contra-indicators.

The said theory states that by the time an investment class is on every ones lips, chances are that you are in the last innings of the upward cycle. It is during this phase that fools rush in and their dumb money gets taken out.

We saw the same here in the U.S., where we had all manner of real estate TV shows, and everyone and their brothers became land lords overnight. It didn't help that magazines such as Newsweek and The Economist gave prominence to real estate news.

It is worth noting that the biggest argument against a Nairobi real estate crush is that there is a scarcity of housing and land in Kenya. What they seem to have forgotten is that the same mania characterized Safaricom's IPO which in turn marked the top of the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

We will find out soon.

Start-up Roller Coaster

Trying to run my own business is turning out to be a roller coaster.

Some days are exciting, and other days can be depressing. In the morning I could be feeling low, only to retire at night on a high note.

Sometimes I sit back and wonder what I was thinking when I decided to start my own business. Time will tell.

Signed,

Incorrigible Optimist

Still Buying..............

I had planned on buying some shares during yesterday's last hour of trading but it totally slipped my mind. I only remembered after the market was closed.

Even with the current sell-off not every stock has been thrown out with the dirty water. I couple of companies are still standing strong. At this point in time, it is worth mentioning that both the fundamentals and technicals don't count. We broke through the previous lows on 8.5 billion shares and VIX is subdued compared to last year's fear levels.

As of today's market close, the S & P 500 is trading below the 744 level when Alan Greenspan made his Irrational Exuberance speech 13 years ago.

So where to start? What to buy?

I picked up some GE stock at $7 a share and I will be back for more below this level as there is a big downside because of the GE Financial 'Black box accounting' gimmicks.

DJIA Slips Below 6,000

I wish I could say you heard it here first but AP beat me to it. According to this Yahoo headline, DJIA is now trading below the 6,000 level.

On a serious note, we just breached last years lows. I forgot to check the volume of Friday, but last Thurday 8 billion shares were traded on the NYSE. If the trend continues, we are looking at a full blown crash.

At this levels, I am hard pressed to find anything worth buying. The stocks that I have my eyes on are not moving downwards with the market. At the top of my list is MOO and RSX. I managed to buy a bit of RSX below $11 a share several weeks ago and I've been waiting for another opportunity since then.