Connecting Blog

It must be nice for all those people that drive those beautiful corvettes I see all the time. I really like the fact that corvettes hug the road and are built low to the ground to take all those sharp turns. It’s not just driving the corvette or how it handles, but it’s all about the styling! Now the best way to make your corvette stand out from the others is to get a new Corvette exhaust system. The Corvette Guys has a lot of different systems to choose from and you can get exhaust systems from Granatelli, Magnaflow and SLP. Getting a new exhaust system on your corvette can be like getting a brand new corvette. You don’t have to stop there either! Go ahead and throw on some nice wheels for maximum head-turning effects!

If you’re a corvette owner and need anything extra, just go take a look at the Corvette Guys and see all they have to offer for your vette. They have a lot more than just exhaust systems for your corvettes. Corvette Chips and Tuners, Corvette Lights, Corvette Body Kits, Corvette Wheels & Tires, Corvette Engine Parts and Corvette Apparel are just some of the things you can get at CorvetteGuys.com.  I took a look through their apparel section and seen a lot of nice shirts for the men and women out there. One shirt had a Blue Stingray on it and that’s one of my favorite vettes! There’s just a lot to shop for at the Corvette Guys and I’m sure you will find what you need for your vette or find a gift for the corvette-lover in your life.

I have 2 ETF’s that I have in my IRA account. They are the WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 Fund and the VanGuard Small-Cap Growth Index Fund. I invested the same amount of money into both of these ETF’s in July of 2007. So as the year of 2008 approaches and it’s December now, I thought I would see which one was making the most money for me in these first few months. I do have different thoughts on both funds and what I expected from each one of them. I figured my WisdomTree ETF would be my steady gainer and be a safer bet for growing my assets. The VanGuard ETF is a bigger risk ETF, but the rewards could be a lot bigger, since this ETF focuses on small companies. So I feel like I have a little extra diversification in my IRA account, by having two ETF’s that have different goals.

Now I invested at two different times in these ETF’s, but put the same amount in both on each investment. In July I put $105 into each one of these ETF’s and in August I added an additional $70 in each one. So my total investment into both ETF’s is $175 for each one. I had to pay the broker and transaction fees out of that money, so my total worth is less than $175 for each one of my ETF’s. So as of right now, it seems that my Vanguard Small-Cap is beating out my WisdomTree ETF by $4.14.

DTN (WisdomTree ETF) 2.849 shares = $160.70

VBK (Vanguard Small-Cap ETF) 2.2993 shares = $164.84

So you can see I don’t have a lot of money for retirement right now. I do have some other stocks I own in a traditional account, but this is my total investment in my IRA account right now. I plan to increase my investment rates as I get older. I would like to invest more right now, but just can’t afford to at the momment. Hopefully 2008 will be a better year for me than 2007 was!

Now if you’re interested in either one of these ETF’s, I do recommend them. I did my homework and I liked what I saw in both of them. My small-cap fund is ahead of the one I was counting on for steady gains and I think that’s a great sign. Here are some of their top holdings for each ETF and be sure to let me know if you decide to invest any money in either one of these ETF’s.

WisdomTree Div 100 (DTN)

1. Southern Copper Corporation 7.63%

2. AT&T, Inc. 2.31%

3. Verizon Communications Inc. 1.82%

4. Bristol Myers Squibb Company 1.72%

5. Bank of New York Mellon Corporation 1.67%

6. Progress Energy, Inc. 1.52%

7. Southern Company 1.48%

8. Merck & Co., Inc. 1.47%

9. Public Service Enterprise Group 1.44%

10. Reynolds American, Inc. 1.42%

Now I love the top 10 holdings for this WisdomTree ETF. My favorite is the 7+ percent they have invested into the Southern Copper Corporation. My least favorite on the list would be AT&T. I would like to see the fund manager invest more of that money somewhere else, but overall I really like this ETF. This ETF is invested in the financial sector with 28% and the utility sector is 2nd with 19%.  (HIGHLY RECOMENDED)

VanGuard Small-Cap (VBK)

1. Manitowoc Company, Inc. .57%

2. Cytyc .56%

3. Denbury Resources, Inc. .55%

4. Stericycle, Inc. .52%

5. ITT Educational Services, Inc. .51%

6. AK Steel Holding Corporation .50%

7. Trimble Navigation Ltd. .48%

8. Frontier Oil Corporation .47%

9. Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. .45%

10. Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Recognize many of them companies? Don’t worry your not alone, but the philosphy of the ETF and when you see the largest holding only accounts for .57 percent of the fund, you know they are diversified well. They are mainly invested in the healthcare sector at 17 percent and industrial materials and business services make up 14 percent in each one of those sectors. So 45 percent of the ETF deals with small companies in the healthcare, industrial materials, or business services’ sector. My WisdomTree ETF is geared toward the financial sector of the market and the Vanguard Small-Cap ETF only has a 5 percent stake in the financial market. So this was the perfect ETF to off-set my other ETF and I think I will do well with both of these ETF’s over the years to come.

If you have ever experienced a military relocation or are about to be faced with one, you can check with GMAC for some helpful advice. Many of the GMAC real estate offices around the country have had experience with people trying to relocate in the military. They can help you make the stressful transition a smooth one for you and your family. They do want you to know that the earlier you start to plan for your military relocation is the better. Check with GMAC and their friendly agents across the country, to help you relocate stateside or overseas.  

It’s easy to get mad and yell when things don’t go our way. It takes a much stronger person or character to overlook the faults of others. It paid off big time for a waitress that had to serve a customer for 7 years. It seems that Walter Swords was not that nice of a customer for this waitress. She had to constantly take care of all his requests and demands, while never showing any rude gestures toward the man. After all those years of getting pushed around and looking over his faults, the waitress got rewarded for her efforts. Mr. Swords passed away this past summer, but right before Christmas the waitress Melina Salazar learned he had left her $50,000 and a 2000 Buick car! Now that must have made this the best Christmas ever for Melina Salazar.

So being nice when it’s hard to can make all the difference sometimes. It’s never a good idea to confront anger with anger. If you always stay nice and positive; it’s only a matter of time when all the people around you follow suit. If by any chance you’re reading this blog post right now Melina, please leave a reply and tell some of the things you had to go through, while you waited on Mr. Swords.

Does anyone remember the first Rocky movie? Some say that was the best one, but I still think Rocky 4 was the best Rocky movie and all time movie in my opinion. Rocky 4 was at the height of the Cold War with Russia and America; that movie would run chills up ya if you seen it in theaters back then. The whole audience would get into it and when Rocky cut the big Russian (Dolph Lundgren) it was electric!

Now if you like the Rocky movies like I do, can you remember the name of Rocky’s turtles in the first Rocky movie? Most people forget what the turtle’s names were, but there is a clear part in the movie where the turtle’s names are revealed. The names of Rocky’s turtles were Cuff and Link, you know like cufflinks? I always thought that was such a great name for a pair of turtles. I guess you could name a couple of puppies or kittens Cuff and Link, but it really fits turtles well. I have owned a few box turtles in my lifetime, but I don’t think I ever gave one a name. I guess Speedy is probably the most common turtle name and that probably comes from the famous race between the tortoise and the hare. It’s a good trivia question you can ask your friends. Most people have seen the first Rocky movie, so you can test them on their knowledge and see if they know Cuff and Link were the turtles name in Rocky.

There are tons of gifts like the  Bose home theater that will offer the best sound that you can imagine for your listenin needs.

It seems like everyone on Wall Street was getting in the Christmas spirit today. Friday was the last full day of trading that will happen before Santa Clause arrives. The markets will open up on Monday, but they will close early for Christmas Eve. It was back in late November when we had a 331 point surge go through the market in one day. We hadn’t seen any thing like that until today. The NASDAQ got in on some of the fun too and it surged over 50 points today! It’s good to see the market finish on such a high, so we can all rest over the last holiday weekend, knowing that our stocks are up! The 200+ point gain is sure to put a few smiles on the big kids this holiday season too!

I would like to take a trip for the holiday season right now. I don’t have much snow where I live and really would like to visit a city that gets snow. I think Vancouver would make an excellent place to enjoy a White Christmas! I can check for flights to Vancouver through Dialaflight and see what the best rates are. Dialaflight is a UK travel company that offers flights to Vancouver! They don’t just go to Vancouver, but they also offer flights, hotels and travel ideas all over the world.

Now going to Vancouver to celebrate a White Christmas is one thing, but there would be a lot of other things I could check out in Vancouver. I would like to take in a local hockey game and watch the Vancouver Canucks play in person. I enjoy all types of sports and golf is one of them too. They have some nice golf courses in Vancouver that claim they play year round, but I’m not sure how to play golf in the snow? I would also like to spend some time at the Port of Vancouver. This is Canada’s largest port and there would be a lot of activities going on there. I would like to see all the different types of ships and boats going out and coming in to the port. The Vancouver Library Square would be another thing I would want to see too. I hear it is a lot like the Colosseum in Rome and the design is in someway similar to that. So making a trip to Vancouver would be a lot more than just wishing for a White Christmas to happen!

As strange as it might sound, there is a very sad story coming out of Rock County, Wisconsin today. Ken Hendrick who is listed as one of the top 100 people in the world in terms of money, died from injuries substained by falling through a roof. He was apparently on top of his garage and was checking the roof, when he fell through and suffered massive head injuries. His wife called for help and attempted CPR on him. Once medical personel arrived they took him to one hospital and later on transported him to another hospital, where he was then pronounced dead at the age of 66. This is a very tragic story and by it occurring just before Christmas; it is going to make a lot more Christmas’s in the Hendrick household, be a grim reminder of this day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ken Hendrick.

So who was Ken Hendrick?

Wikipedia has him listed this way: A businessman who grew a shingle supply company into a 2.6 billion dollar fortune and a spot on the Forbes 400. Primarily assosciated with Beloit, Wisconsin, Hendrick’s lived in Afton, an incorporated community halfway between the two cities.

Kenneth J. Hendricks was born in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1941. He would join up with his dad on the weekends and help reshingle houses. Later on he would start his own roofing company and he had branched out to many other states by 1971. Back then a lot of roofers were just local guys to an area, so Mr. Hendrick’s quest to be in other states wasn’t something that other roofers were doing. He was in a sense pioneering the roofing business that would take him from one state to another one.

Now once the business started taking up a lot of his personal time, he decided to sell the roofing company that he had worked so hard to build. Once his company was sold, he decided to start ABC Supply company and this became the largest wholesaler of roofing materials in the U.S.. In 2004 Mr. Hendricks was added to the Forbes 400 as sales from the ABC Supply company were approaching 3 billion dollars a year. In 2006 is when Ken Hendrick’s was added to the “world’s billionaires list” by Forbes. He was also in the process of building an environmentally friendly roof for one of the complexes at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China.

I admire a lot of the wealthy people that are around the world today. They are some really great stories of rags to riches, but one of my favorite has to be Ken Hendrick’s story. One of his favorite songs is by Alan Jackson and it’s called Little Man. He looks as the little man being like the mom and pop type stores, competing against the Wal Mart’s of the world. While growing up he saw a local country club that had high standards and how they would look down on his father, because of his profession of being a roofer. I think it was things like this that kept the man so motivated and the type of legacy he’s going to leave behind.

Ken Hendrick didn’t have any fancy educational degrees from Harvard or Yale. In fact, he actually dropped out of high school so that he could work with his father more with his roofing company. He describes his success this way: “We didn’t invent anything, but even Jesus Christ had a roof and it probably had to be repaired“. I got that quote from Forbes Website and I’m glad it was there for me to find. Seeing this man use Jesus Christ as an example of his success, lets me know that he had religious values. I’m sure Ken Hendrick was a christian and somebody that had a relationship with Christ. I would imagine that Ken Hendrick would give a lot of credit to Jesus for the success he had in life. They say God needs the good ones early and they sure got one today! They must have needed him up there more than down here, because I’m sure he still had a lot more to give in this world.

The 3.5 billion dollars that Forbes has him estimated at, is not even enough to get into Heaven with, but it sounds like Ken Hendrick had the right ticket to get in the gates of Heaven. I think in time, that quote that is listed on Forbes website will offer comfort to the family one day. If one of the family members of Ken Hendrick sees that website or reads my blog here, they will know that he said that part about Jesus Christ having a roof. It could have been something he said all the time and the family may have heard him use that example on numerous occassions. There’s just something about seeing something in print, as opposed to memories and I really think it will be something that will comfort a family member or members one day.

Yes the world has lost a great man in Ken Hendrick and all the things he accomplished in his 66 years are worth noting over and over. I think he has left behind a strong legacy that will carry over the next several generations and beyond.

Alan Jackson’s Little Man

In Loving Memory of Ken Hendrick (1941-2007)

I love to make homemade chili and I usually add a few different types of chili peppers to it, so I can get that right flavor I enjoy. A lot of good health benefits have been discovered from chili peppers, so they make a lot of sense health wise. If you need to add Vitamin C to your diet, be sure to add a few more peppers in your diet.

Now if you know someone that cooks a lot with chili peppers; why not get them some kitchen accessories with the chili pepper theme? You can buy them drink coasters, chili pepper spoon rest, chili pepper tortilla warmer, chili pepper sun catcher or many more products like this, that will all have the chili pepper theme associated with them. These are perfect gifts for the upcoming holiday season for the people that really love their chili peppers.

Now I am always looking for a good chili recipe. So if you have a great chili recipe that you think I would enjoy, then please leave your chili recipes in the reply area. Thanks!

Here is a great fund with some international exposure and has a lot of holdings in the energy and telecom services. I really think energy is a good place to put your money right now and the telecom sector just seems to keep going up. So if you notice your paying more at the gas pumps and see a lot of people talking on their cell phones; why not capitalize on this? Now you can with the Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF and this ETF has really been performing great as of late. It was at $30 a share last December and is now around the $50 mark. If this continues, you could see this ETF selling for $70 a share next December and maybe a stock split for 2008. I think this is a very attractive ETF that investors should be taking a look at. The stock symbol is: EEB (Claymore/BNY BRIC)

TOP TEN HOLDINGS

1. China Mobile LTD. ADR   9.92%

2. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. ADR   7.39%

3. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce ADR   6.85%

4. Brazilian Petroleum Corporation ADR   6.17%

5. PetroChina Company, Ltd. ADR   5.65%

6. China Life Insurance Company, Ltd. ADR   5.51%

7. Vale Overseas Limited ADR   5.22%

8. Bank Bradesco ADR   3.93%

9. CNOOC, Ltd. ADR   3.65%

10. ICICI Bank, Ltd. ADR   3.23%

As you can see this ETF has a strong International flavor and a lot of their top holdings are directed toward China and Brazil. This could be the best performing ETF for the 2008 year and I like this ETF for future years too! There is some risk associated with this ETF so be sure to look it over carefully before investing.

Check out some of the latest funny t-shirts you can now buy online. These shirts are great to start conversations with friends or strangers when you wear them out. You won’t believe what some of these shirts have on them. These are some of the funniest one liners I have ever seen on a shirt before. If you want a good laugh just go check out some of these funny t-shirts you can find at Road Kill T-shrits!

A lot of baseball players are being named in the latest Mitchell Report that has came out. You can see a complete list of baseball players on the Mithchell Report that names some pretty big stars. Most people are focusing on Roger Clemens and his name sees to be swirling around the most from this. I think Barry Bonds probably welcomes the Mitchell Report and he doesn’t have to have the spot light shined on him so much now. He’s still the biggest fish of all with steroids in baseball. He is the current homerun king of MLB and it’s that record that some would like an asterik by.

The asterik came from another homerun record in baseball when Roger Maris beat Babe Ruth’s single season record of 60 homers in a year. Roger Maris hit 61 and he played in a 162 game schedule, while Ruth hit his 60 homers in a 154 game schedule. It was thought at the time to be a good idea to have the famous asterik by Roger Maris’s record, since he did have 8 more games on the schedule than Babe Ruth had. Now it seems all sports talk about the asterisk and even some want the 2007 New England Patriots to have that, due to the “spygate” incident that was brought to the NFL’s attention and how the Patriots were recording the opposing team’s coaches on film. They would steal signals so they could prepare better for the next time they would play a team. Don Shula wants the asterisk in place if the Patriots do have a perfect season in 2007. I guess only time will tell where the New England Patriots and the Mitchell Report will end up in the legacy of sports.

The price of oil is affecting everything in its path. Food and services are just some of the things going up these days, as the price of gas continues to soar. Those medical supplies that you buy for your family each week at the grocery store is going to go up too. This could limit the medical supplies in homes that have low incomes. The price of gas may start to have a serious effect on the people that it will hurt most. Middle to low class Americans depend on their home medicines and band aids they usually keep in stock like most households do. The higher cost of gas is going to make it difficult for families to keep medical supplies in supply at their house now. I’m sure we are going to see a ripple effect throughout the economy with the higher cost of gas, but someone needs to step-in and make sure families can continue to get medical supplies at the best price possible!

Only two bidders were the only ones bidding in Michael Vick’s old house in Virginia. The ex-quarterback star of the Atlanta Falcons is serving time in prison for dog fighting charges. One serious bidder came in with an offer of over 700,000 grand but apparently that wasn’t enough for the person in control of the property. He said the property was worth a million dollars at least. Now I’m surprised they didn’t let the man have it for that price. I always thought an auction was to bid it out and the highest bidder wins. I know people can set a minimum bid offer, but it seems like they let the auction continue until there was no one going over the 1 million dollar mark. The minimum bid offer should have been announced prior to the auction, so that people would only bid over that amount. If no one bid over that amount, you could then have no one buying the house at auction. It doesn’t seem like this was the case for Michael Vick’s house. It’s now going to be sold in a more traditional way and I wonder why they just don’t put the home on Ebay. I think a Michael Vick home on Ebay would do very good, since you would have bidders from other countries bidding on the house.

It can be a lot of fun fixing up your pick up truck. I know a lot of the younger guys like to spend all their money in tweaking their trucks to perfection. Just adding some new tires, rims, or perhaps a tonneau cover can make any truck look so much better. When someone takes truck accessories and use them to make their trucks look better; it can be a type of art form they’re doing. A guy fixing up his truck is more like an artist in work and it gives the truck owner a greater sense of accomplishment. Once you add a few new things to the truck, it’s off to the cruising strip to show everyone what you have created with your art. Feel free to let me know some recent things you might have added to your truck or what you plan to do in the near future.

Someone that has had exposure to asbestos for a long period of time might have a form of cancer known as mesothelioma. We didn’t understand the dangers of asbestos years ago, but luckily we are aware of the effect it can have on people now. Many businesses and factories have had to rid their buildings of any asbestos products, so they can prevent the risks associated with asbestos and mesothelioma. If you now suffer from mesothelioma and think it could have been contracted through a job you once had or currently have, you might have a legal case against your employer. You don’t have to look hard to find a mesothelioma lawyer that will help you get a settlement these days. Many attorneys are doing all they can to help people suffering from mesothelioma get the compensation they deserve. This is very serious and can be life-threatening, so the best medical care is needed for these individuals and a good lawyer helps too!

An interesting story is developing that dates back to 2004. Apparently a woman from Washington won a brand new car from the popular game show The Price Is Right. Now after owning the car for a year, the woman took it in for repairs. She was then told that the car had been wrecked and someone was clearly hiding the damages. So it makes you wonder just where the Price Is Right gets these prizes from?

Now the car dealer denies the claims and states that there is no way he would sell a car that he knew was damaged. He says he only sells cars as new if he thinks their new and the car given to the game show should have been new. The Price Is Right had no comment for this story. It should be interesting to see what the Price Is Right does to fight these claims. The game show is already struggling with the departure of the most famous game show host ever in Bob Barker. The Price Is Right just isn’t the same anymore without Bob Barker given the contestants a chance to win cash and prizes. They still end the show with the famous line “get your pet spade or neutered”. So his animal rights legacy continues as Bob Barker is no longer on the show.

Vacation and stay at one of several Condo Hotels that are becoming available in the larger travel destinations.

If you have a cyst on your hand or wrist, you are probably thinking of ways to get rid of it. You can pay money and have the doctors to help you take care of it or you can do it on your own. Doctors use to recommend getting something like a book and just smashing the cyst. Your cyst is probably a ganglion cyst and you can smash it with a book to get rid of it. The doctors of today wouldn’t recommend this traditional way of getting rid of cysts, but it can be a very effective way to get rid of it.

Usually fluids from the wrist have built up in a sac that is located on the hand or the wrist. This sac is filled with a honey-like fluid that can harden over time. If it’s not too hard and enough pressure is exerted on the sac, you can bust the ganglion cyst. If you have a cyst and are ready to get rid of it, you might can consider taking a book and having someone to give it a good whack. There won’t be any gurantees that it won’t come back or if it will even help, but it is certainly an option you have.

I have a ganglion cyst on my wrist and have been thinking of how to get rid of it. I think I am going to try and save the doctor bill and smash the cyst on my own. I just need to find somebody that is willing to hit it with a book. Knowing my friends, I don’t think I will have much trouble finding someone that will won’t to hit me with a book.