Sunday Winter Steaks

I am going to do some work on new stock positions later but I doubt I will be buying anything before I see how Monday goes in the markets. I will update later with any ideas.

Sunday Winter Steaks
I go into hibernation during the winter because I hate the cold. Today it was over 60 degrees here and I was motivated to cook some steaks on The Big Steel Keg. I am in no way trying to influence the author of the site The Golden Truth as he considers what type of grill to buy in the Spring. Not me.

As you can see, it is still winter here big time:

Ugh.

I bought a huge ribeye for me and two tenderloin steaks for the wife and mom in law. I put a bit of sea salt and black pepper on the steaks, nothing fancy:

Quick brush of extra virgin olive oil before the steaks hit the grill will give you killer grate marks on the meat.

I was out of lump charcoal but I did have some Stubbs All Natural briquettes which did the job fine and got the Keg singing near 700 degrees:

The Keg will go thermonuclear if you want (way over 800 degrees) but I have never needed more than 700 for anything.

Steaks almost done after 3 minutes per side twice:

NICE!

I oven baked some potatoes (350 degrees for two hours directly on oven rack) and I boiled some onions and sliced portabella mushrooms in beef broth (20 minutes) to round out the dinner plate, which was square:

I may have eaten too much.

It was fun to grill for once and I am glad for the nice weather day though it has started raining now. Back to work tomorrow and my Birthday is fast approaching. Ugh again.

Added:
Looks like Norman the Pug ate too many table scraps:

Oooh, so tired!

Added:
Way too much to look at tonight. I am liking metal plays SIL, MGH, and EGI. I am reviewing stocks that could move and they are HRZ, HSFT, and CTXS. I should wait until after tomorrow but I am getting itchy.

Added:
While discretion is the better part of valor, I am going with SIL, MGH, EGI, and HRZ for this week.

Have a good night.

A Little Levity on a Thursday, Yes?

It has been a busy week at work and I am ready for the weekend. Next weekend is EconomicDisconnect's 35th birthday so this weekend I plan on partying like I am 34 for the last time. Where does the time go? As Indiana Jones said "It ain't the years, it's the mileage". Indeud.

As always, Friday night blogging is a go, so please get some requests in. We can have some fun with just about anything people want to see or share so do not be shy.

Behind Schedule
Running behind schedule! I have work to do on my holdings as I am looking for some exits after a big rally day which pushed some winners to target areas. Will update later with any changes.

Great Question
Great question came up over at The Illusion of Prosperity in the comments (which is why comments are important!):

Stagflationary Mark said:
Warren Buffett was on CNBC recently and he had this to say. He'd rather own all the farmland in the USA than all the gold in the world. I'm with him on that one.

Fascinating!
This can go in so many places but I do not have the time to give to it right now. I will post a poll at the TOP LEFT so please vote. Discussion will come this weekend. Thanks Mark!

Nickels all the Time
If you have no idea what the Nickel (US 5 cent) mania sweeping the land is about, you just don't know. Check out Kid Dynamite, Credit Bubble Stocks, and Illusion of Prosperity and get caught up!

Made up my Mind
I have spent plenty of time and brain cells (such that are left) thinking about debt, bonds and government usage of those vehicles. MMT (modern monetary theory) is amazing to consider and the posts over at The Pragmatic Capitalist are wonderful. I had recently settled my view (right or wrong) but Jesse at the Cafe put it into words:

The Fed is monetizing debt, colloquially known as 'printing money.'
At this point you either understand this or you do not, and if not it is probably because you will not.

The MMT crowd say the same thing about folks like me. Too bad, so sad.

Must Read
I do not have kids and I don't even like kids until they are over 21, but this guest spot by Dinosaur Trader at Josh's site was enough to get a monster smile out of me. No excerpts, you will have to check it out. You will not be disappointed, guaranteed.

Libya all the Time
Hard to be funny about the Libya situation. I saw the President was leaning towards using US military aircraft for "evacuations" from Libya. As I understand it, only carrier based aircraft are in the hot zone. How many people can a US F/A-18 Super Hornet take out of harms way anyway?:

Maybe they installed handles on the sides? I dunno.

I would send submarines to the Tripoli Coast for rescue operations:

All aboard!

Added:
US Strategic Oil Reserves
Ok, one darker note for the night.

I have NO IDEA why Treasury head Geithner would say this:
Geithner: We can tap oil reserves if we need them
I will not approach the fact that the US reserve is not fuel, but unrefined stuff, set that aside. The point is that stuff is supposed to be for total military emergencies, not support of an economic recovery (whatever that means?) or a presidential run (Al Gore asked Clinton to ease oil prices during his run). I man, the f#ck, has everything been taken into supporting the economy? What gives?

Have a good night.