I'm So Proud

Thornburg Mortgage has come a long way. Just a few short months ago the stock was trading at $0.66 and looking to be the next victim in the mortgage crisis. I was really upset to see Indymac get seized by the government, especially since I bought five hundred shares of it earlier in the year. They say over 150 banks have been seized in 2008 alone!

TMA just recently went about a reverse-split and has amended various proposals to meet the demands creditors. Just a few moments ago on www.yahoo.com I read that a woman purchased an abandoned home in Saginaw, MI on an ebay auction for $1.75! President Bush enjoys 27% approval rating, beat only by Nixon, as the nation's least popular president. Will America re-elect Bush through his clone John McCain? Even the conservative-leaning AOL polls are now leaning for Obama - thank God.

The President created such a mess in his eight years that he literally had to beg the Congress on the headlines of newspapers across the nation to vote for the plan. The vast majority of the Congressmen that voted down the initial bailout were members of his own party! Not many, except for that corpse with a pulse (Joe Lieberman) still hail the chief on the floor of America's Legislature.

Back to stock predictions... I'm really sad to see what's become of Rite Aid. I know the chain is all but out of Florida as of the late 80's/early 90's, but not so in Michigan. In fact, a Rite Aid seems posted up against every Walgreens in Lansing. RAD spends big money in its mailers, stores are generally well-stocked, employees are nice too. Sadly, however, most Rite Aids don't have 1hr Photo and don't even process any film on site. Also, I yet to see a single RAD open 24hrs.

RAD is the nation's third largest drugstore chain and has acquired partial rights to GNC. Every Rite Aid store has a sizeable (3-5 aisle) section of GNC goods and therein may lie the problem.

GNC is still working a mid-to-late 90's sales strategy were bodybuilding & fitness goods are largely inflated and reduced by piecemeal "sales." Selling 2lbs of protein powder for $45-$50 is ridiculous. Walmart, Meijer, and even select Publix Supermarkets are selling whey, soy, & casein proteins for $20-25 per tub. Bodybuilding.com allows a customer to 5lbs of superior whey isolate protein to GNC's bulk whey concentrate for less money & includes shipping that has your tub by your door in 3 day via Fed-Ex/UPS.

While RAD turned heads by the buy, it's spend-spend-spend strategy has yet to give any results. Earlier this year the share traded at $4+, today it's at $0.99. "RAD" needs to step it up!