Olympics buzz at work place
As the Beijing 2008 only 8 days away, I am hearing quite a bit Olympics query from coworkers lately, mostly from curiosity and good will (wish Beijing and China will do well). As a Chinese living in America, I certain also hope things also work out well, amid all the security challenges, air quality, traffic, etc. One interesting story I read yesterday (Chinese) is some Beijing Si He Yuan (wiki: tradional Beijing house) are opening to foreign visitors. They call it 奥运家庭旅馆 Olympics Family Hotel. This is real neat, and I think it’s a better experience than staying at 3 star hotels.
At the same time, I sincerely hope my goverment can improve the living for ordinary people. I know those migrant worker worked on the BirdNest may not have oppertunities to watch the game. This is ok, as long as they get paid fairly, their kids education get taken care of, they get affordable/good health insurance, and last but not least, they don’t have to wait in lines for days to get a train ticket to go home in the Chinese New Year.
Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) reported disappointed earning this morning, but the catch here is the company said it may split into two: E&P and refiner (Houston Chron). I bought a few MRO shares two weeks back because I thought the price was low at the time. I decided to take profit (sold it at $47.04) this morning.
(Update 3 PM) Obviously I sold this baby too early. The stock went back to $48-49, and closed at $49.47 today. I left some money on the table. Note Major stock rule No. 2: stock went up after Major sells it 🙂
Get Creve Coeur based company stock
I bought some Arch Coals (NYSE: ACI) shares today. Yesterday I saw from China CCTV, the Energy bureau chief says next 2 months they are in crisis mode in terms of coal supply.
Thinking getting another used car
I am thinking about getting another car, as my wife is going to work and she is getting ready to take driver license test. I searched the local Craigslist, and found a few prospects: from Audi (1997 A4, 1999 A6), to Nissan Maxima (2001), to Camry (1998).
BTW, I found there are lots of scams on the car section of local Craigslist, because I saw 2003 Honda Accord sold for $4700, 2004 Corolla sold for $2800. My rule of thumb is “if something is too good to be true, it probablly IS”.