TigerJ

Like anything new it can be intimidating to start. It's not all that hard. 1. Decide how much service and advice you want from a broker (the firm that buys and sells stock on your behalf). If you want to do your own research, you want a discount broker. If you want someone to give you advice about what to buy and when to sell, you want a full service broker. You will pay a much higher fee every time you buy or sell stock with a full service broker, $35 and up. If you're trading $10,000 worth of stock at a time, the higher fee is not onerous at all, especially if the broker is giving good advice. You'll make the money back quickly. If you're trading $500 worth of stock, the fee is costing you 7% of the value of the stock when you buy and the same dollar amount again when you sell, whether you made or lost money on that company. You'd have to get consistently very good returns to make money under those conditions. A discount broker will charge a fee in the $10-$20 range. If you can be very disciplined about putting money aside there are even a couple brokers like sharebuilder.com who let you start with very small amounts of money and very modest fees, but there are some restrictions youo have to be comfortable with. 2. Shop for a broker who fits your investing style. You can probably find a full service broker in the yellow pages of your phone book. You can find al kinds of discount brokers on the internet. I use TD Waterhouse. They provide a modest amount of service, but I generally do my own research. A couple other names are Ameritrade and ScottTrade. They all have websites. You can also do a search on google or msn for stockbrokers. 3. Once you have picked out a broker, the website can guide you though the application process if you apply online. If you apply on line, you may have to send a check where instructed to get your account started, if you use an online discount broker. Depending on the broker, there is probably a minimum amount you'll have to meet, $500 or $1,000, unless you do something like sharebuilder. You can add to the account as often as you want by continuing to send checks to the broker. 4. Once your account is funded, you can start buying stock. If you do your own research, and your broker doesn't have what you like, there are some decent free sites you can use. Msn.com has a financial page with some decent tools. Every company has a stock symbol. You type in the symbol and you can get company reports, financial results, stock charts, company news etc. 5. Your risk tolerance will determine your investing style. In general you'll want to diversify to some extent. If you're starting with $500 you won't be able to diversify very much at first. Pick stocks with relatively little volatility and predictable earnings. It's easy to for the stock of a very small company lose 50% %70, even 90% or more of it's value if that company runs into a string of bad news. As your portfolio grows, you'll eventually want to have maybe 10 or so stocks in it. To many becomes hard to manage. Too few doesn't give enough diversity. You'll want to have the stock of different kinds of companies; choosing from among tech stocks, energy stocks, precious metal stocks, durable goods (like cars), consumer products, real estate etc. Maybe eventually you'll want a small portion of your portfolio to be in high risk high reward stocks, but that would be up to you. You can sometimes make your investment back fivefold or even tenfold or more. You can also lose it all in those stocks. Right now, I'm overweight in energy, gold, and mortgage REITs. The price of oil is dropping though so I may nave to readjust soon.

I would classify her as "handsome." Seriously, I don't mean that as a backwards slam. She has pleasant enough features. I would guess if she were a little younger, lost a little weight and had a makeover from a good beauty consultant she might then be considered very attractive. If you want to find some smart women who are hot, check out CNBC. Liz Clayman is one of a number of them.

Would have been funny had I caught it.

I'm making the assumption that Vincent is a guy with a great attitude, and that he honestly just can't play. Bills Daily reports that the knee just is not getting any better. Makes me wonder if his career is done. He's 34 now, I just can't see the Bills wanting to keep damaged goods haning around next year especially since he'll be 35.

I don't mind hearing "hear say" stuff at all. It would not surprise me at all if Modrak has spoken to Eagles brass. I suspect he's spoken to other teams as well. It's still early though and lots of things can happen before any trade involving TH takes place, with any team.

I have a 403b. Similar rules though. My employer actually contributes more than I do, about 11%. I'm contributing about 5 % now. When my kids get out of college, I'll up that to about 7%, or more likely start a Roth IRA for anything over the 5%.

I understand Losman is something of a weight room fanatic, and VERY strong. That's why at 6'2" his arm strength is comparable to Bledsoe's and Roethlisberger's. The broken leg was a fluke, not an indication of frailty.

I'm in OK shape personally. I do have questions though. As a pastor, I normally spend a session in pre-marital counseling talking about financial issues: budgeting, debt avoidance and management, insurance, retirement etc. I usually recommend that you couples get term insurance rather than whole life or universal life. My rationale is that term insurance is pure insurance rather than having an investment component like whole life and universal life. There are better places to invest and people who better warrant you trust in investing than insurance companies. Would you agree with that advice for a young couple with limited funds? I heard Ben Stein, yes THAT Ben Stein (he's very astute on financial issues. He suggested that at retirement you want to have a balance of roughly 20 times you annual salary at retirement age in all your retirement vehicles (401K, Roth IRAs, annuities etc.)That seems right to me. Is that a good rule of thumb? One more: Our church trustees are extremely concerned about principle preservation when it comes to managing the church's endowment funds. The result is with the current interest rate environment we aren't getting squat in our returns. I recently read about an investment that might provide an answer, principle protected notes. What can you tell me about them? What is your opinion about them, and can you point me to a good information source about them? Would the church's broker (Merril Lynch) be able to give informed advice about them. Are they traded like stocks?

I'll have to try that "Zep" fro Home Depot. We have that problem from time to time Weve been using the Liquid Plumber foaming snake product, but it takes about three bottles of the stuff to get rid of the clog. If you've got time to waste and it is completely clogged, you can use a plunger, but you have to prepare. First remove the drain stopper. I normally means removing a couple screws. Then you have to find some way to seal the hole where the control for the drain stopper comes out. Otherwise you can't create any suction. It will eventually pull the clog out. Having seen such a clog, I can tell you it is mostly hair. Gross too!

Thanks for stopping by Des, and other Phin fans. You are being too kind, Des. Buffalo is indeed out of the playoff hunt in every way but the math. It's possible that the Bills could be dangerous next year. A lot will depend on who the QB is, and how they perform. Right now the money is on JP Losman, but how he does is entirely up in the air.

NFL Draft Blitz has Buffalo taking OG Elton Brown of Virginia with their first pick, currently about 41st over all, in the second round. Wesley Britt is currently rated a second rounder, RR, so he is certainly a possibility. Some other names for rounds two and three: Winston Justice-Miami OT (underclassman), Andrew Whitworth-Oklahoma OT (underclassman), Vince Carter-Oklahoma C, David Bass-Michigan OG, Max Jean-Gilles-Georgia, Riob Petitti-Pitt OT, Chris Colmer-NC State OT, CJ Brooks-Maryland OG, Anthony Alabi-Louisville OT, Ben Wilkerson-LSU C, and Jon Dunn-Virg Tech OT

There was a time, in the middle ages when doctors and barbers were the same person. It is interesting that it apparently came back once already. I had a cyst removed from the crown of my head about a year and a half ago. It seems to be gone for good. I had it done in the Dr's office.

Said coach did not address the running game, but Mularkey basically admitted the Bills abandoned the running game when they got behind in the second quarter. Willis did not have a great YPC, but he did have some decent runs along the way. Before declaring said coach an idiot, 1billsfan, did you take the time to go through the video and break down each play and time how long Drew had to pass like said coach did? BTW, I think he was refering to the last three games at least when talking about the line's improvement. I don't mind people disagreeing, but i think "idiot" is a term thrown around all too frequently around here.

That rumor has been around since TD went with Mularkey. Ithink it may have gone down that way, but it's water under the bridge. If TD felt that Drew Bledsoe had something left, then right or wrong, he has to act on that instinct. It appears to be wrong, so I expect if TD is not fired, then he will be willing to move on (from Bledsoe) now.

I would have agreed with you yesterday, but I saw an interesting post on another Bills fan forum done by a high school football coach, who is also a Bills fan. He went through his video of the NE game play by play to break down the play of the line. His conclusion was that the play of the line has improved immensely. The problem, he maintained, is that Drew seems to have worked so hard on getting rid of the ball quickly that he has sacrificed footwork and is locking in on one receiver even when well covered (often Eric Moulds). That was where the interceptions occurred. The coaching staff has for all intents and purposes abandoned the deep passing game, so the Patriots cut way back on blitzing, and linebackers dropped back in coverage, not worrying about the deep ball. That cuts down on yards after the catch in the passing game. I tried including a link, but TBD's software apparently is programmed not to allow a link to a competitor. That's not to say Buffalo shouldn't look at upgrading the line, but it may not be as bad as some think.

Will do. I do want to respond to your questioning of God's plan. I can only tell you what I believe. I do not believe that God micromanages our lives to the point where God makes us do everything we do, or saves us from the consequences of what we do. The tragedies in life are real but I don't believe God causes them. That does not mean I think your friend is responsible. I don't know the particulars of the car accident, whether he caused it, another driver, vehicle failure or something in the driving conditions for which he could not be prepared, but all of them somehow relate to human decisions. I drive a car like just about everyone else. In doing so I accept the risk that something can happen that would put me in the same position as your friend. In our culture we tend to place a higher value on life than anything else. Surprisingly, that's not true of every culture, nor is it true of the Bible. In the Bible, the highest value is placed on trusting God. As a believer, I have confidence that as long as I'm trusting in God, somehow it will work out in the end. That does not mean I will be protected from the tragedy that has affected your friend, but that in the end the promise of eternal life and eternal fellowship with God will make even that a worthwhile price to pay. I know some will slam me for that point of view, but that's how I feel. I do feel for you and for you friend, and I do believe in the power of prayer.

I agree that Bledsoe's days as a Buffalo Bill are numbered, but I disagree that 31 other teams would start Shane Mathews, or that it would be a great idea to do so. Before the NE game, Bledsoe had a couple pretty good games. At home in the more comfortable confines of the Ralph, I think he may well have a pretty good game versus the Rams. I think he may well have a better chance of helping the Bills win than Matthews. I do think that the Bills need to get Losman some quality reps in practice so he will be able to play sooner rather than later. Since the Bills need to change things up on the road where they have fallen on their faces all season long, maybe the Bills should consider giving Losman a shot either at Seattle or at Miami depending on how soon he cam be ready.

I went with Vermeil because except for some injury problems (Priest Holmes) he has essentially the same team as last year. He did change DCs in order to shore up the defense (ha ha) and Priest Holmes does make a difference, but not THAT much of a difference. I give Mularkey a pass becaues of the rookie factor. I even give Joe Gibbs something of a pass because he has not had the opportunity personnel wise to really put his stamp on the team yet. It's really close, IMHO between Vermeil, Parcells, Fisher and Gruden.

They suggested it might have been the longest (timewise) passing play ever. It was very cool to watch.

I started watching "Day of Destruction" on CBS, then I would turn back occasionally to catch a little "Day of Destruction " on ESPN. It was a little easier to watch it on CBS because I knew it wasn't real.

Contain Brady.

There's Nick.

The neck feels much better. Don't know if he'll go the whole way, but he'll play some at least.

As others have said, we'll do our best. Go Ravens! First and goal from the seven, gonna tie it up in a moment?

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