Portraits of a Young Man as an Artist: fantasy football

So my last post was a little bit of a promo piece for a movie I was in, and just to show that I'm not an ego-maniacle, attention whore I will promote something that has nothing to do with me.

Awhile back a few friends of mine got involved in a small online based company called Anticitrade. I had been milling around the idea of investing in the stock market. It seemed to me that this is the right time to start. Either the market will go back up and I'll make some good money or it will continue to go down, currency will become meaningless, and we'll all beginning trading in ammunition and firearms. And really when I think about it-- playing in the stock market is like playing fantasy football, except you're not totally waiting your time.

So getting into the Stock Market is all fine and dandy, but where do you start. There are thousands upon thousands of publically traded companies. Do you just guess? Turns out most investors do-- they just guess. That seems crazy to me. No wonder most people can't tolerate the risks associated with the Stock Market. There is just no way to really "know" how the market will react. If only there was a way to minimize this risk, sift through the mounts of companies, and anticipate the market: Enter Anticitrade.

See a smart investor will wad through a number of stocks in a cetain sector or industry they believe will go up (i.e. Summer time is approaching, more people are driving, more gas & oil consumption; therefore those industry stock should go up.). They'll research a number of these companies, look at their quarterly reports, compare them, and only if these fundamentals are strong will they invest their money. Completing this kind of comprehensive ratio and financial analysis is both time consuming and beyond the capability of the average investor and certainly well beyond my capability. Anticitrade essentially does this work for you. Using publicly available information, Anticitrade does a full analysis of a stock; comprehensive research into a company's financial statements, competitive position, ratio analysis, and macroeconomic changes... and the cream rises to the top (in a simply easy to understand spreadsheet).

Now I'm not saying this should replace your own research, but it is certainly a great place to start. Think of it like looking for the most delicious apple in a bushel basket as opposed to on the ground of the orchard. Almost all those apple's in the basket are gonna taste pretty good (who knows what you're going to find on the ground), thus reducing your risk of getting worms.

I've been doing the beta testing for this site since March and I've been easily beating the market averages for the past 6 weeks. I'm making my money work me and I'm seeing great returns.

If you're interested check them out anticitrade.com.

I think this guy and the guy from the "Talking Politics" entry should be best friends.

What do you think?

Since I last posted about myself...

... my wife had a lipthotripsy procedure done for Kidney Stones.
... I went down to Lake Powell for a few days with some buddies.
... I began my 13th season as a Fantasy Football manager.
... we finished and furnished our basement.
... I was admittedly ill for the first time in a few years.

And while each of these events is certainly worthy of it's very own post I will only provide the "highlights"-- I should also mention that due to these events (and Labor Day) I have not worked a 5 day work week in nearly 6 weeks-- And let me tell you it is wonderful! I don't know that I'll ever go back! I thought I might "fall behind" in my work, but I haven't-- I'm still just as behind as I've always been.

My wife had a lipthotripsy procedure done for Kidney Stones
This is nearly an annual event-- the Kidney Stone, not necessarily the lipthotripsy. For those of you morons who don't know what lipthotripsy is, it's simply a non-invasive process for breaking up a kidney stone inside the patients body using highly focused impulse shock waves. I've been told the pain is the equivalent of being punched in the kidney about 40 times; of course that is coming from someone who can't take a punch. The best part is that once you're already in pain you get to pass the small fragmented stones. Sounds exciting? It's not-- not really.

I went down to Lake Powell for a few days with some buddies
This was supposed to be a camping trip and it was sort of except for the first night that we ended up staying in a hotel. Yeah I know that's soft, but for the record I was completely against it from the start-- I also slept on the lumpiest part of the floor and didn't take a shower in the morning. We rented a pair of Jet Skis and borrowed my uncle's folding boat. Yes a folding boat! Anyway here are some pictures!

There's the floating boat in all her glory-- carrying every ounce of our camping gear.
Me and my Elton John glasses on a jetski towing our boat to camp.

Camp ended up begin this red rock cave. We couldn't have ask for a better campsite a nice sand to sleep on and a place to park the boat and jetskis. Sat around the fire singing some Bob Marley-- the acoustics were wonderful.

Both Stephen and I caught fish-- by all means draw whatever phallic analogies you want from this photo.
And yes-- I cooked and ate it, Bear Grylls-style. Delish!

I began my 13th season as a Fantasy Football manager
Fantasy Football is really just Dungeons and Dragons for jocks! I'm not really a jock, I've got good coordination, but neither the frame nor mentality to officially be referred to as a "jock". It's comparable to a John Kerry snowboarding--

--not nearly as disastrous as it originally sounded. Anyway I've always watched professional football late 80's early 90's-- I liked the New York Jets and Joe Montana. Being from Toronto I didn't have a "home team" to cheer for and follow, so I just followed the entire league. Eventually a group of older peers started this thing called fantasy football and invited me and a friend of mine to play-- we were 15. The internet was not a prevelant commodity at the time and everything was done in person: drafting, trading, line-up changes, the whole bit. Then you'd buy a Monday morning paper for 25 cents and check your scores against your opponent. Then the internet consumed the world and Fantasy Football took off. Now everyone plays and it's fine-- maybe a little nerdy-- but I was nerdy before everyone else-- and that somehow makes me less nerdy.

We finished and furnished our basement
This was originally just going to be a play room for kids-- and it is still, kind of-- we just expanded of our original vision to include big kids, like myself. My wife posted some picture of her blog. Check it out! It is a "pretty sweet set up".

I was admittedly ill for the first time in a few years
I don't get sick! So for me to actually be ill is quite unusual. I get the occasional headache, but nothing a large Coca-Cola Classic can not fix. I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't get sick-- I haven't. I'm convinced that's why I had perfect attendance in 4th grade. Mind over matter. I also refuse to take perscription drugs, pain killers, etc. See I'm stockpiling natural anti-bodies, so that eventually I will become invincible to sicknesses like the flu, common cold, etc. There is no need to post a comment that I'm crazy-- I've been told. But after the global nuclear hallocaust we'll see who's laughing-- me and the cochroaches that's who!