Feb 2016

Where we're at:

Dow: 16639
s&p: 1948
10 yr: 1.79%
VIX: 19.81
CAPE s&p P/E: 24.62

1yr: -1.6%

mix:
equity: 36
bond: 56
cash: 8

Volatility continues to reign.  I'm learning about DCF, not so much to pick stocks, but to understand over and under valuation which I think will make me a 'smarter' investor.  I'm trying to understand how to value a company either as an equity buy or as an entrepreneur.  We're down a bit, but not bad considering.  The bonds and CDs help me sleep so I can stay in with the equities.  I'm also exchanging off some int'l in tax-deferred and buying it in taxable, to get the foreign tax credit next year.

Thinking about buying some dividend stocks, but everyone is doing that and they also seem overvalued.  So, I like my int'l trade right now, undervalued and decent dividends.  A peer from KC is asking me to talk to his company about an opportunity, maybe a possibility, but with our house sold it would take a lot to get me to move.  Have an open contract job, but the client can't decide whether to pull the trigger.  I am tiring of data science on-line courses, so I think I'll dive back into SQL server, since it's more popular here.

I had some bad news this week, a good friend from TXT was found dead in his car last week from a heart attack.  We hadn't spoken in about 6 months.  I knew he was under a bit of stress with his job, I wonder if he was over working?  It reinforces my '5 year IT plan', to basically get out of this career before I smell like a dead fish.