It’s been an interesting week and month of August with the market. The Dow ended up about 1% for the month, the first time it’s been positive since May. My own portfolio rose 4% today thanks to a great surge by Level 3 (LVLT) and XTO Energy (XTO). First off, everyone’s wishes are with LVLT’s CEO who underwent surgery for a benign pituitary gland tumor. Let’s hope he has a speedy recovery and comes back to work in a few weeks. I’m excited with LVLT’s prospects for the rest of the year.

I’ve stated that I’ve wanted this blog to be about investing. That doesn’t include just the stock market. Investing comes in different fashions. By maintaining this blog, I’m essentially investing time and energy into making what I hope to be a great learning and reading site for those that visit. The Internet’s a big place and as such I’d like to get this blog noticed by a larger audience. So here’s my first attempt at a contest for those that are interested.

I currently have a banner ad, 2 large button ads, 4 small button ads, and 10 text link ads available for advertising purchase. This is the first time I’ve ever done this so I’d like to build some buzz as a result. Therefore, I’ve decided to hold a contest. I’d like to give away some of the advertising spots in return for some buzz about my investing adventures. If the predictions are true, this blog may be a rank 3 site according to Google soon so it may be worthwhile to enter! Here are the rules for entry:

Rules for Entry two ways to enter):

1. Add this blog as a Technorati favorite. (Gives you 1 entry)
2. Write a 50-100 word entry on your site regarding this blog and/or the contest. A quick summary, a brief review (positive or negative or both), or a blurb about this contest would work. All I ask is that you link to my site in some way in the blurb. I’m not looking for any specific keywords just the buzz around it. (Gives you 2 entries)
3. If you complete tasks 1 and 2, I’ll throw in an extra 2 entries!

That’s it. When you’ve finished those two just send me an e-mail at investingadventures@gmail.com or leave me a comment under this posting. I’d like to take all entries by September 7^th. I’ll draw three winners from the pool. The first two winners get a small button ad for the rest of September (125×125 size) and the runner-up will receive a text link right under the charging bull picture. If the buzz for this contest is fairly high, I may end up having to pull a grand winner for either a banner ad spot (468×60) or a large button ad embedded in the top post (250×250). If it comes to it, I’ll have the grand winner pick either spot. The ads will run through the end of the month.

So there you have it. If you have any questions just let me know. Good luck and I’ll see you Monday. Stay safe while grilling out for Labor Day!

Bernanke:  Speech stated the financial issues from sub-prime have begun to spill over into the broader market.  Banks have become more protective over their balance sheets.  Financial markets became “impared’ post August 7th FOMC meeting.  the discount rate cut was designed to provide liquidity source even if it’s not being used.  The Fed must take into account the economic consequences right now.  FOMC will act as needed to limit broader economic effects.  Homebuilding is less sensitive to monetary policy and as such so is the overall economy.  Good performance in other sectors is helping to offset housing downturn.  Housing downturn can contribute to a downturn in consumer spending.  No commitments to specific actions at this time.

Quick updates with a few changes to the blog. I’ve opened up the advertising subpage on the blog. If you’re interested in advertising with us, take a quick trip to the subpage or email me at investingadventures@gmail.com. I’ve also opened up the contests subpage. Any contests that we’ll be taking part in will be listed there in order to keep the main page clean and (mostly!) on topic. Have a great evening and I’ll see you in the morning for what will be an interesting trading day with Uncle Ben speaking in the morning. Come on Fed cut, Fed cut, no whammie, no whammie, STOP!

In case you haven’t heard about this, how would you like to be $12 million richer? Easy enough.. pray to become a dog. Leona Helmsley, a deceased cold-hearted bitch real estate developer, passed away a few days ago. Her net worth, along with her deceased husband, approached $4 billion. So how did she break her trust up for family and friends?

Leona Helmsley, the late real estate developer, left the bulk of her $4 billion estate to charity, giving $12 million to her Maltese dog, Trouble, and nothing to two of her grandchildren.

Four grandchildren will receive $5 million each, according to her will. Grandson Craig Panzirer and granddaughter Meegan Panzirer are left nothing, “for reasons which are known to them,” according to the document, which was made public Tuesday in New York Surrogate’s Court.

Helmsley, dubbed the “Queen of Mean,” had more than $3 billion in stocks and bonds and more than $1 billion in limited liability corporations and partnerships, the will said.

Her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, will receive $5 million outright and $10 million in a trust. She left $100,000 to a chauffeur.

Two of her grandchildren, David Panzirer and Walter Panzirer, will receive their $5 million only if they visit their late father’s grave once a year, “preferably on the anniversary of my said son’s death,” Helmsley said in the will.

So there you have it. The bitch leaves the bitch behind $12 million. At least the dog will be taken care of.

In case you haven’t heard of Leona Helmsley, here’s her wiki biography. I’m too young to remember what happened with her in the late 80s (I was only 7!) but her famous quote is truly one for the books. “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” That really is cold-hearted. Congratulations to Trouble I think?

Oh and yeah, she left the mausoleum where her and her husband are buried $3 million for yearly cleanings and landscaping updates. And yes, Trouble does have a future location with Leona and her late husband in that mausoleum.

I was under the impression the selloff yesterday was a result of the continuation of the housing and financial crisis with housing reports indicating a decrease in median home prices by a good 3%. It seems the market was fixated on another piece of news yesterday, the FOMC minutes from three weeks ago. You can find the entire transcript at FOMC’s Minutes and Statements website. A couple of points I found to be rather interesting:

Participants agreed that the housing sector was apt to remain a drag on growth for some time and represented a significant downside risk to the economic outlook. Indeed, developments in mortgage markets during the intermeeting period suggested that the adjustment in the housing sector could well prove to be both deeper and more prolonged than had seemed likely earlier this year.

Members expected a return to more normal market conditions, but recognized that the process likely would take some time, particularly in markets related to subprime mortgages. However, a further deterioration in financial conditions could not be ruled out and, to the extent such a development could have an adverse effect on growth prospects, might require a policy response. Policymakers would need to watch the situation carefully. For the present, however, given expectations that the most likely outcome for the economy was continued moderate growth, the upside risks to inflation remained the most significant policy concern. In these circumstances, members agreed that maintaining the target federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent at this meeting was appropriate.

At least the FOMC recognized that there’s a problem, although from the looks of it it feels as if they were still fixated on inflation and the economy. What will be interesting now is how they react at their September meeting now that the subprime and housing markets have tanked with the latest casualty being Countrywide and Bank of America’s $2 billion injection into their company. With the cut in the discount rate and the fact that the FOMC did notice that the housing and financial markets aren’t as stable as they should be, I think they’ll cut the Federal Funds rate by 25 basis points. That should provide a temporary boost in the economy but if what I remember from high school economics still holds, any cut in the rates take about 6 months to filter through the system. It might be even more interesting and not really as shocking to see the FOMC cut rates by 50 basis points, but that might be highly unlikely. I expect the funds rate to drop to an even 5% come mid-September.