Music: Listening to something old but something new to me
Posted By RichC on January 16, 2015
This content is restricted.
TechFriday: The movie Unbroken and ebook on Overdrive app
Posted By RichC on January 16, 2015
It has been a few years since my wife and I have gone to the movie theatre, but when Katelyn and Drew were visiting 
they convinced us to go with them to the movie Unbroken. Besides being a history oriented true story based on the book by Lauren Hillenbrand, the WWII timelined story put to film by Angelina Jolie was very much my taste. I enjoyed the movie so much that I added the book Unbroken to my Overdrive library borrowing app on my iPad (see more below).
The movie follows the first 32 chapters of the book (movie trailer at bottom of post), but knowing a little be about the WWII hero and Olympian Louis “Louie” Zamperini, I’m looking forward to chapter 33 to the end and his Christian testimony. Besides forgiving his Japanese captors for the brutality Zamperini suffered in POW camps, he is a great example of what can happen when Christ is first in ones life. Louis Zamperini is a terrific example of what can happen when “The Light of the World” takes hold and for those who are compelled to do what Billy Graham spent his lifetime doing.
As for the Tech Friday part of this post, I wanted to mention one of my favorite apps for the iPad. It is call Overdrive for iOS or Andriod and along with an Ohio Digital Library associated membership, permits “checking out” books to read for 2 weeks. It’s not perfect, but if you have patience for a book to become available, it offers the “free” one is accustom to from a public library … only in the convenience of a digital reading device. A worthwhile addition to your tablet.
The Swiss Bank surprise has investors rushing into Gold
Posted By RichC on January 15, 2015
While watching the stock market decline and gold prices 
rise this week (Swiss franc against the euro decoupling) and listening to economists suggest deflation is likely, it is becoming clear that the slowdown overseas will be impacting earning for large cap companies and international funds. The U.S. economy seems to be holding up, but pension funds and retirees heavy in bonds and interest oriented investments will likely lag the returns seen by mid and small cap 
stocks and funds where sales are more heavily tied to North America.
Perhaps the one conservative investment to look at is something tied to gold? It may move higher as European investors continue to look for safety after the Swiss National Bank announcement and signs that gold has risen past it’s 200-day moving average.
The Spot Gold price today (below) rose over 2%on today’s news making a climb of nearly $80/oz since the beginning of the year … only 15 days ago (graph right).
Archive: A mini woodstove for a sailboat
Posted By RichC on January 15, 2015
While posting a few bits on Facebook this weekend, I ran across a January “sale” for Cubic Mini Woodstove sized for RVs and boats. I’ve entertained the idea before and concluded that a small propane fired bulkhead stove aboard Encore would be the best way to warm up the cabin, but there is something attractive and cozy about a little woodstoves. I suspect everyone thinks that way until they get real about installing, hauling wood, tending and cleaning soot of the decks. I might be premature in mentioning “soot” but from my experience in heating our home when we live in Hudson, Ohio I suspect there is a bit more smoke than propane or even a diesel fired stove?
Anyway there are a few more items vying for the few 2015 boat dollars this year so the Cubic Mini Woodstove will get filed under the “archive” category.
I made and inquiry about size in order to check on the space in front of our salon table … just in case I opt for one.
PDF diagram for installation size with shield and a PDF front view
Always looking for the next cool thing in automotive aviation
Posted By RichC on January 14, 2015
Imagine the Elio if it also came with wings? It might look something like the Aeromobil 3.0 prototype. I have to admit that I’m one of those dreamers who envisioned a flying car in my lifetime. Perhaps it is just a pipe dream, but I do envy those fortunate enough to be working on projects like the Terrafugia or Aeromobil.
Below is a short video highlighting the concept … who knows, with the driverless vehicles nearing reality … we might be getting closer to flying cars?
Volatile up then down day for the U.S. stock market
Posted By RichC on January 13, 2015
When looking at the U.S. financial indices for the first half of January 2015, one would be hard pressed to believe the optimistic opinions from most financial analysts and those talking about the domestic economy. Most cite the low interest environment and low energy prices as a reason to be optimistic, but day to day movement on Wall Street tells a different story … one that may look more like a roller coaster.
After a early morning “off to the races” move for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the markets slid over fears of “deflation” worldwide. The triple-digit swings are becoming more normal as perhaps should be expected as the Dow now trades in the 17,500 point level. Still going up 1.5% then down 1% is 400 points – not something that is easy to get use too.
The Big Game: The Bucks vs The Ducks in Arlington, Texas
Posted By RichC on January 13, 2015
The first ever College Football Playoff Championship game will determine this season’s best college team as the National Championship game starts in about and hour. The game with see the Pac-12 champion Oregon Ducks against “our” Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Odds makers favor the Ducks by 7.
Both teams have have had an outstanding year, although few expected Ohio State to even make it to the big game (seeded again #1 rated Alabama in the ), particularly since they are down to their 3rd string quarterback. BUT … football being a team sport saw the Buckeyes come together and rally behind their talented running back Ezekiel Elliot and quarterback Cardale Jones. The question is, can they even compete against Oregon who crushed the Florida Gators 59-20.
The Ducks have Marcus Mariota, an extremely talented Heisman Trophy winner leading their team and if he plays even half as well as he did in the Rose Bowl, Oregen will be a challenge for the battered Buckeyes. For now … it is nearing the pre-game and I still have supper dishes to clean up! (Written Pre-game)
Tune in … ESPN.
Postgame: 12:30AM
The Ohio State faithful couldn’t have been happier as the high speed Oregon offense was matched and beaten by a strong showing by every member of the Buckeye defense who kept the Ducks to 20 points. The Buckeye’s young offense did their part … and more … by dominating the clock and controlling the ball on the ground. Ezekiel Elliot and the OSU offensive line tired the Ducks defense and even with 4 giveaway turnovers were able to score 42 points. The most amazing player had to be the young 3rd string Buckeye quarterback Cardale Jones won made his 3 career start in this National Championship game. He was the picture of calm control and used his strong downfield arm and 6′-5″ 250 lbs size to keep a series alive. I’m not sure Urban Meyers would have wanted a different leader. Congratulations to all those who made us proud to be from Ohio.
Ohio State 42 – Oregon 20
Archive: Future hope for Ménière’s, tinnitus and hearing loss
Posted By RichC on January 12, 2015
As a conservative … politically, I probably don’t give enough credit to the Old Gray Lady for their often excellent articles covering content outside of politics. 
This weekend was no exception and I wanted to archive an article which has personal interest … and is something I’d like to look in to as an investor too. I’ve dealt with Ménière’s disease and its long term impact on my day to day life since the late 1990s. Thankfully, having just hearing loss and tinnitus is tolerable nowadays, but the vertigo in those early years was intolerable. Ugh, bad memories.
Auris Medical Hldng – EARS $3.61 1/9/2015 close
Otonony, Inc – OTIC $33.25 – 1/9/2015 close
Companies are also working on drugs for tinnitus, in which sound is perceived without a source of the sound being present. Roughly 10 percent of American adults, or 25 million people, have experienced at least one episode lasting five minutes or more in the last year, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Tinnitus can be caused by many things, including hearing loss. Treatments include behavioral therapy and devices that can mask the sound. But many of those just help people tolerate the condition, not get rid of it. Some drugs like steroids and lidocaine are used off label.
Auris is in late-stage trials of AM-101, a derivative of the anesthetic ketamine, which it hopes will dampen the aberrant signaling in the auditory nerve that is perceived as tinnitus. In a midstage trial, the drug, injected into the middle ear, was not more effective overall than a placebo. But a subset of patients whose tinnitus was caused by trauma or infection said the drug made the sound in their ears softer, less annoying and less disruptive of sleep.
Investors appear to be cautious given the challenges. Auris went public on Nasdaq in August at $6 a share, using the trading symbol EARS. The stock is now trading at about $4.
Otonomy’s stock, by contrast, has roughly doubled since its August initial public offering. That is perhaps because for now it is pursuing what might be more tractable problems.
When Mr. Lichter suffered his first attack of Ménière’s, he received steroids, a commonly used off-label treatment. But when the drug is injected into the middle ear, patients have to lie on their sides for 30 minutes and not swallow to try to keep the drug from draining into the throat through the Eustachian tube.
Otonomy, based in San Diego, developed a way to deliver the steroids as a gel that does not readily drain away after injection. The company has started the final stage of trials for the Ménière’s product. It hopes its first product — it will apply for regulatory approval in the first half of this year — could be a gel form of an antibiotic to be injected to treat middle ear infections, an alternative to ear drops.
Mr. Lichter said the intense bouts of vertigo, which left him bedridden two or three times a week, have not returned in four years. But he has constant ringing in his left ear and can barely hear through it.
Mr. Lichter, a managing director at Avalon Ventures in San Diego, said that although he had helped start 15 or 20 companies, “This is the one that is special to me.”
The Third Stage of Terrorism may be at our doorstep
Posted By RichC on January 11, 2015
This past week’s killings at the Charlie Hebdo offices needs to be a real eye-opener for those we elect to protect our citizens and nation. What many fear most is that this “radical Islamic terror attack” will be lost into the same hole as many of the previous terror attacks (or “workplace violence” if you are of the Obama mindset).
What was different in the recent attack in Paris, is that the three four terrorists involved were radicalized and trained to efficiently target and kill. 
Previous “gun oriented” attacks in the U.S. seemed to be less organized and more of the lone wolf style. The concern is that Al Qaeda and similar groups will build on this pattern as President Obama scales back the offensive War on Terror, closes Gitmo and reduces our intelligence gathering ability. We unfortunately sometimes need strong visuals in order to understand the enemy we face … and if beheadings do not do it for you, seeing cold blooded nature of their killings might – graphic video.
Columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer laid out the 2015 landscape frighteningly clear when he referenced this as the “third stage of the jihadist war against us.” We know what we face, but do we have the resolve to fight?
| Charles Krauthammer on FN Special Report (mp3) January 9, 2015 |
Pension plans continue to fall behind as stock market gains
Posted By RichC on January 10, 2015
One would think that a “rising tide lifts all boats” when it comes to gains for financial markets, but that is not the case for conservatively managed U.S. pension funds. The strong stock market returns during 2013 and 2014 have helped most individual investors recover from the 2008 financial collapse, so as long as they remained invested, but private pension funds actually lost ground. The trend is not pretty when looking at this last slow recovery from the Great Recession (Towers Watson graph below).
According to a CNBC article citing Towers Watson, the “average private pension fund held about 80 percent of what it needs to cover payments. That’s down from 89 percent at the end of 2013 and represents an overall deficit among large corporate plans of about $343 billion, nearly double the shortfall a year earlier.”
In a previous interview with Dave Suchsland, a senior retirement consultant at Towers Watson, he stated, “We experienced another big year of pension de-risking in 2014, with significant lump sum buyout and annuity purchase activity. Given the change in funded status, we expect many plan sponsors will need to reevaluate their retirement plan strategies in 2015. Last year’s results surrendered most of the funded status gains earned in 2013. This year will most likely bring higher expense charges and unless there is an uptick in interest rates or equity market performance, eventually additional contribution requirements.”
So … should the Federal government (taxpayers) back pension funds? 
I wonder where Rick Santelli comes in on this idea (video)?
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.