I started this post twice on Saturday and three times on Sunday and twice on Monday, and here it is Tuesday in a New Year and I am still working on it.

Let's give a visual so you can see what we are dealing with.

Everything I try and do takes a little longer now.  Whoa! I am not looking for sympathy, as I am the idiot who punched the door.  I am just saying that the little things take a long time to do in this condition.

Some examples might illustrate my point.

Today, Devin and Jack have sun and a balmy 20 degrees (-6 for my Celsius Readers) to go and enjoy a few runs down the powdery hills of Alta, Utah.  (That line only had 7 typos including this insert.)

Devin graciously offered to "bag" my arm for me so I could shower.  I waved off the polite offer.  When I decided it was time to get squeaky clean, I got out the garbage bag and the roll of duct tape and looked at myself in the mirror.  What was I thinking?

I can't safely use duct tape with two good hands.  I unrolled the tape and used my teeth to rip it.  (A trick I learned from Rambo, McGuyver, Steven Segall, to name a few.)  Apparently my beard is more connective than theirs as the 16 inch piece of tape was now intimate with my face and beard.

After painfully using my bad hand to tear off a new section of tape, I inserted my hand into the garage bag.  As I maneuvered the tape onto the bag, it made slight contact in three places.  Each place was now a gaping hole in the bag and the tape was worthless.

More tape and a new bag.  This time I got the bag and the tape on, but it was not secure enough to wear in the shower.  I got another strip of tape using my teeth (I was just feeling tough now and besides most of my beard had been torn off by the previous attempts.) and placed the tape tighter on my arm.

Unfortunately it was actually on my arm, my hairy arm. 

As I contemplated hitting a door, I calmed down and thought of all the people in the world who deal with issues like this everyday.

As I started my shower, I remembered my lovely wife had bought me an 83 ounce bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo. Most of you know my follicle inventory so I will pause a moment till the laughter stops.  Well I had to unlock the pump with one hand.  It can't be done.

After wrestling with the barrel of shampoo, I did use my wrapped hand and untwisted the pump only to have 17 ounces shoot all over the floor of the shower.  Hey this is fun.

Then, after getting squeaky clean, I had to cut myself out of my bag.  Everything was going fine until I remembered the hairy arm portion of the story.  I only cried a little Coach Welch.

For one more example, yesterday I was trying to be helpful in the kitchen.  Devin forgot about my temporary predicament, and suggested I empty the dishwasher.  Normally a two minute non-descript event.  17 minutes later I was done emptying the dishwasher.

You see I have limited use of two fingers and a thumb on my right hand.  The way it is splinted, I cannot pick up much with the right hand.  Each fork, knife, and spoon had to be handled with my left hand.

Even something as simple as opening an 18 pack of toilet paper becomes an arduous task.  I will end that topic right there.

Don't get me wrong, this has been one of the best holidays ever.  I think Devin likes having me "winged" as she has been very maternal of late.  I would not jump right to sympathetic, but after all, I did hit the door.  BUT, if you consider that she was the one who wanted solid wood doors after our flood, she does have some culpability in this incident.  (Please don't let her read that. We are far enough into the blog, she never reads this far!)

Let's give you a quick round up of what we have been doing this week.

Had a great visit with my buddy Ben, his gal Sandy, and her boy Jed.  They did some skiing, we had some nice meals, and more than our fair share of wine.

We had a great dinner with Sandy, Ben, our Utah family, Brian and Elizabeth, Dennis and Jerene, their daughter Lauren and her beau Alec, a mutual friend and reader, Mary Kate, and of course Devin and I.  The dinner was held at the magical place, La Caille, where we have been dining for 7 years, and where our daughter Kristin and Ryan were wed a year and some time ago.  It was one of our best evenings as Devin was in rare form and having a blast.

Sandy, Jed, Ben, Devin, Jack and I and my splint, made it over to Park City for a few hours and a very enjoyable lunch (Thanks Ben).  Park City was really beautiful covered in snow.

After Ben and gang headed home, we had a fairly relaxing day as Devin began packing up some of the Holiday decorations.  Dennis and Jerene came over for a fun night of left overs and Wii games.

Everyone bowled with their left hand out of respect for my near death experience. (Worst idea ever-Jack)

As any post, there was a moment to remember.  This moment came Sunday.  Devin was packing something downstairs and looked out on the new fallen snow.  (after 7 days we had more colorful words to describe the precipitation)  She then asked, "Whose poop is that?".

People, I cannot make this stuff up.  Devin had spotted one of the dog's heat seeking gunkers, which they had rudely deposited in the middle of the pristine snow covered back yard, and apparently she wanted to know which dog had done the doo doo. 

We are still awaiting the DNA results. 

Beep Beep!

I am not sure, but I think we all fell for one of the Road Runner's sneaky tricks on Monday.

The market finished way up on hope that the Parliament of Whores in DC had reached an agreement to keep us from falling off the cliff.  The Dow finished the year at 13,104 versus my February prediction of 13,073.  The S&P 500 finished at 1,426 versus my peg of 1,358.  The deltas were .2% and 5%. 

We were not sitting back sucking up eggnog over the break.  While we were waiting for a confirmation of a true correction (which was dramatically reversed on Monday with unusual heavy volume to the upside and a VIX which dropped and gold which advanced-yes we have a green flag flying again) we executed a few trades.

In March 2012, the S&A 12%  news letter floated the idea of getting into ECA below 25 a share.   I have had it on a watch list since March.  I liked the two year weekly, 6 month daily, and 1 month 60 minute charts and finally saw a nice entry point.  $19.50 looks like a nice base for a two year double.   

An excerpt from the March newsletter, "Based in one of the "energy capitals" of the world - Calgary, Alberta - Encana is a big, well-managed, blue-chip natural gas exploration and production company with $8.9 billion in annual sales and over 4,100 employees. It's the second-biggest natural gas producer in North America (after ExxonMobil). In 2010, Encana produced 3.18 billion cubic feet of gas per day. As of the third quarter of 2011, it was producing 3.5 billion cubic feet per day.

Encana's prized asset is its 11.7 million acres of energy-rich land, from northern British Columbia, Canada through the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. With huge landholdings in some of the best shale gas plays in the U.S., Encana is well-positioned to exploit the Bush legacy..."

We are LONG ECA at$19.49 with a stop at $18.75.  My target is 40.00 in 24 months.  We will write option contracts around this position while we own it.

We sold some February 162  PUT options against GLD, assuming a bump in price from 162 to 168-170 by mid January.  We are Long GLD.

We wrote (sold) some February 700 calls on GOOG as the long term, intermediate, and short term charts are all saying a correction to 680 or lower.  We are LONG GOOG.

Now in a strange and freaky logic and with Devin's help, we executed a couple of trades based upon the aging baby boomer market.  I have had RMD and SYK on watch lists for a long time.

ResMed Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and distribution of medical equipment for treating, diagnosing, and managing sleep-disordered breathing and other respiratory disorders. It offers various products for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and other respiratory disorders, including airflow generators, diagnostic products, mask systems, headgear products, and ventilation devices, as well as other optional accessories, such as cold passover humidifiers, carry bags, and breathing circuits. The company also provides data communications and data control products consisting of EasyCare, ResLink, ResControl, ResControl II, TxControl, ResScan, and ResTraxx modules that facilitate the transfer of data and other information to and from the flow generators. ResMed Inc. markets its products to sleep clinics, home healthcare dealers, and third-party payers. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, independent manufacturers, representatives, and direct sales force in approximately 70 countries primarily in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. ResMed Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in San Diego, California.

Stryker Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a medical technology company. The company operates in three segments: Reconstructive, MedSurg, and Neurotechnology and Spine. The Reconstructive segment offers orthopaedic reconstructive (hip and knee) and trauma implant systems, as well as other related products. The MedSurg segment provides surgical equipment and surgical navigation systems, endoscopic and communications systems, patient handling and emergency medical equipment, reprocessed and remanufactured medical devices, and other medical device products. The Neurotechnology and Spine segment includes neurovascular products, spinal implant systems, and other related products. The company sells its products through local dealers and direct sales force to doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities, as well as through third-party dealers and distributors primarily in the United States, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, the Pacific region, and Latin America. Stryker Corporation was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

While we fell asleep with RMD (pun intended), we feel the stock is temporarily over bought and due for a haircut.  This will be a long position for us but we will short it to catch a better price. 

We are SHORT RMD at 41.64 looking for an LONG entry below 39.50.  We have a protective buy at 42.50.

As far as SYK, we like the 54.25 entry, have a stop at 49.75.  We are looking for 66.50 by fall 2013.

We hope you had a great new year and look forward to publishing this, my first post of 2013.

Since 12/31/2012

I am not a professional investment advisor. Anybody reading my blog and investing accordingly must be out of their minds. I have made more money than I have lost. There are many more qualified people than I to actually tell you how to invest your money.

BAGAKOAA=Boys And Girls And Kids Of All Ages

Salve Lucrum=Latin for Hurrah for Profit.

Brian's estimate :

2012 Year Ending

Dow 13,073

Actual 13,104

S&P 500 1,358

Actual 1,426

Tool Box

Salvay And Lewcrum Explain

Buying Call Options

Market Direction