Exited MDSO for a 2.2% loss. i wanted to get out sooner than later since it and the market are going sideways, which is bad odds for me. i should have tried to exit even earlier at a new prior hi but i probably wouldn't have been able to get that.

i had a great time at the rodeo last night with my girlfriend. I saw the rascal flatts, took pictures with Elsie and pet a bunch of animals. after the concert the really big carnival got overwhelmingly crowded. people were literally pouring in, thousands of people. so we left and didnt even ride anything. while i was doing that, Japan had the worst earthquake in the world in 140 years.

our stock market went up well today but the TSE was obviously having problems. i dont think the earthquake will be a temporary setback at all like some people on tv. over 1000 people have died and im sure they are still counting. for a modern, developed, industrial nation to lose that many people from a natural disaster is huge. that should give you an idea of how costly all the damage will be. and this is a country who is used to earthquakes. its in their culture to worry about earthquakes. im sure it will taint most of the nation's business for the rest of the year, at the least.

oil is still trading down. i keep putting in only 1/4 tank into my car cuz i keep thinking the prices at the gas stations should drop any day. but they keep hovering around $3.35 a gallon. i guess it wont actually go down until everyone else starts nickel and diming it like me. gas stations charge you more if oil prices rise, but they only charge you less if you stop buying it. people have to fill up several times at high prices before they remember they have to live under a budget and start to conserve, and thats why gas stations lower prices slowly. even if oil prices dropped from $100+ a barrel down to $20 a barrel, if people mindlessly kept paying the $100+ barrel - gas prices at the pump, gas stations would never lower their own prices and get super rich.