Recently in Personal Category

I will have more to write about the markets in a few days. Instead, this post will be about one of hobbies, photography.

I just finished reading a thoroughly enjoyable book The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters (Voices That Matter) by photographer Joe McNally. This book is ideal for at least two different audiences: first, those wanting a terrific coffee table book with beautiful images; and second, those wanting a book that both shows how beautiful photographs were created and inspires you to go create your own.

Rather than me discussing the book at length, I will enclose two videos. Fair warning, though, the second video lasts about 70 (yes, seventy) minutes in duration. I hope you enjoy the videos.

Video 1

Video 2 – Presentation Made to Google – 70 minutes in duration

For those looking for great photography online resources, I recommend two:

• ProPhoto Home—a forum for serious amateurs and professional photographers, and
• Chromasia Photoshop Tutorials.

There were two articles in the Wall Street Journal this past weekend that caught my attention. First was A Hostage to Fame: After Six Years of Captivity in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt Is a Global Celebrity -- and Too Valuable for Rebels to Release (subscription required), a front page article concerning Ingrid Betancourt who is a courageous and strong woman being held captive by communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC. I have written about Ingrid before here and here.

Ms. Betancourt, a minor presidential candidate when she was abducted in 2002, is one of about 700 hostages held by the FARC, Latin America's oldest and largest insurgency. The FARC, estimated to number about 9,000 fighters, funds itself largely through drug trafficking and kidnapping. All but about 40 of its hostages are held for ransom. The rest include Ms. Betancourt, three U.S. defense contractors abducted in 2001, and Colombian policemen, soldiers and politicians whom the rebels consider prizes of war to be deployed to strategic advantage.

Ms. Betancourt, who holds dual Colombian and French citizenship, has become the face of Colombia's captives and their heart-breaking suffering. In Europe, she is a cause célèbre, so famous that she is simply known as "Ingrid." Her portrait hangs on the facade of the Paris city hall and in Milan's main piazza. France stages marches to demand her release, and Italy holds midnight vigils. Across the world, more than 1,000 cities and towns have declared her an honorary citizen.

But in becoming so famous, the 46-year-old Ms. Betancourt has also become more valuable to the FARC, which has suffered a string of major setbacks in the past few months. Only days after he complained about Ms. Betancourt in the email, Mr. Reyes, the rebels' second-in-command, was killed in an airstrike by the Colombian military on his camp in neighboring Ecuador. Weeks later, the group lost its legendary leader Manuel Marulanda, who apparently died of a heart attack.

The article goes on to discuss Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez's possible role in assisting FARC to destabilize Colombia.

The second article Venezuela's Chávez Urges End to Colombia Insurgency: In Sharp Reversal, Guerrillas Are Asked To Release Hostages (subscription required) shows Chavez changing course.

In a surprising turnaround, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez urged Colombian guerrillas to free hundreds of hostages, put down their weapons and end their almost 50-year campaign to overthrow Colombia's government and install a communist regime.

Speaking on his weekly television program, Mr. Chávez, who has been a public ally of the 9,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said the group's efforts to overthrow Colombia's democratically elected government were unjustified. "The guerrilla war is history," Mr. Chávez said.

The president has been lobbying friendly governments to grant de facto democratic diplomatic recognition to the FARC. "At this moment in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of place."

I am always drawn to people of principle who struggle against seemingly insurmountable challenges. And thus, I admire Ingrid and hope that she and her fellow captives are released soon. She has suffered far too much.

With regard to Hugo Chavez, while I appreciate any effort to help free the FARC hostages, I have strong concerns about his role in assisting FARC and helping to destabilize the region. Unfortunately, the high price of oil is helping to stabilize his regime and allow him to continue to wreak havoc. That is truly unfortunate.

I have long held a strong interest in South America and am drawn to people with strong principles and convictions. Thus, Ingrid Betancourt's story has captured my interest and attention.

My photograph of the downtown Calgary is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Flickr account where you can see more pictures.

Although I have been busy recently and not trading much, I recently finished A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market. I thoroughly enjoyed Jim Rogers' latest book. I am a Jim Rogers fan who has also read his prior books:

• Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers;
• Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip; and
• Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market.

Jim Rogers' prior books serve as a good background to his latest book. His early travel, adventure and investment books discuss different themes as he traveled around the world, first by motorbike with his then girlfriend Tabitha and second by his customized Mercedes car with his then girlfriend now wife Paige. Regarding his second trip, I strongly urge you to visit Jim Rogers — The Millennium Adventure website to see Jim's and Paige's phenomenal trip. His third book discussed commodities, in which China plays an important role as a user of commodities.

A Bull In China has the following sections and chapters:

• Introduction: Catching the China Ride;
• Investing: From Mao Caps to Small Market-Caps;
• Risk: The Perils of Success;
• Companies: Let a Thousand Brands Bloom;
• Energy: Not So Black;
• Transport: Paving the Way;
• Tourism: Up, Up, and Away;
• Agriculture: Have You Invested Yet?
• Health, Education, Housing: Serve the Masses;
• Emerging China: The People's Republic of Tomorrow; and
• Appendix.

Introduction: Catching the China Ride quickly sets the tone of the book by recapping some key points from his prior books. Again, reading his prior books is helpful, though not required, to appreciate better his current book. Jim lets you that he is big believer in China's future potential—so much so that he brought a Chinese nanny to teach his daughter Happy, born in 2003, Mandarin. Jim also informs you that he is not going to provide hot stock tips, but rather to help provide you with a start on your research. The companies he discusses may or may not be successful. They are merely starting points for you to do further research.

Investing: From Mao Caps to Small Market-Caps discusses the growth and evolution of China's markets. Of particular importance, Jim Rogers discusses The Chinese Alphabet Soup—A-Shares, B-Shares, H-Shares, S-Shares, N-Shares and ADR's, L-Shares, J-Shares, OTCBB, STAQ and NET.

Risk: The Perils of Success; discusses some of China's challenges and potential solutions.

In Chinese, the word "crisis" is made up of a combination of two characters. The first signifies "risk." The second stands for "opportunity."

China could face many crises up ahead. As an investor, the ones I need to examine most closely are those where potential risks—the fears they provoke, the solutions they require—have the best chance of creating value.

Believe it or not, I don't like taking chances when it comes to investing. The thrill of living on the edge has never been part of my portfolio. The same holds true for buying stocks in China, even if its people are among the biggest gamblers on earth. If you do your homework, buy cheap, and remain patient, you should be able to walk over and pick up that pile of cash in the corner that nobody else notices.

In this chapter Jim highlights some military, infrastructure and environment concerns. He then goes on to describing several companies that might be well suited to addressing these challenges.

I should note that Jim provides several key facts about the scenario or situation before mentioning key companies where he provides a quick snapshot of each. This information serves as an excellent backdrop for your own research.

Companies: Let a Thousand Brands Bloom is short chapter where Jim teaches you that many companies in China are still at their infancy yet are already household names. He mentions Baidu, a popular search engine in China, and Lenovo, a popular computer manufacturer. Still more companies are unknowns waiting to be recognized. Which companies will emerge the Chinese equivalents of GE, Oracle, Johnson and Johnson, and Sony?

Energy: Not So Black focuses on companies that supply China's energy, whether it is hydro, coal, oil, or alternatives such as wind. Jim Rogers also discusses companies outside of China that might benefit from China's continued expansion. For example, Bucyrus International, Inc. (BUCY), a Wisconsin based manufacturer of heavy mining equipment, is well poised to benefit from China's needs.

Transport: Paving the Way discusses the transportation industry, from road paving and infrastructure to automotive companies.

Tourism: Up, Up, and Away is a chapter about tourism inside China as well tourism for Chinese outside China. Of course, with greater affluence, Chinese will be enjoying tourism within their own country and in faraway places. Several companies poised to benefit from this trend are identified and discussed.

Agriculture: Have You Invested Yet? discusses how companies will benefit from China's growing appetite for better food and drink. Juice, farm seed, tractor, fast food, wine and other companies relating to the agricultural sector are discussed.

Health, Education, Housing: Serve the Masses focuses—not surprisingly—on healthcare.

As of 2004, China spent only 4.7 percent of GDP on health care, compared with 8 percent or more in developed countries (and 16 percent in the United States). In early 2007, as part of making health care a major priority, Premier Wen Jiabao announced the creation of a trial "co-operative medical service" throughout "80 percent of China" by 2010. The state will double subsidies to US$1.53billion and offer small amounts to pay medical bills for all rural dwellers. This is a first step toward meeting huge increased demands of a population that isn't just currently underserved but that by 2020 will have 170 million people over sixty, in addition to the number with chronic illnesses. Old age pensions and other forms of social security will be bolstered by an added US$35.7 billion in 2007. At the same time, a finance vice minister announced that China will be actively encouraging more private investment in the health care industry, offering preferential tax policies to those who would help improve a nationwide system full of inefficiency and soaring costs. All this should mean benefits for emerging health care providers and those that invest in them.

Emerging China: The People's Republic of Tomorrow discusses other key themes that do not fit easily into the previous chapters. Some key themes that are discussed are high-tech, aerospace, internet, film, sport, plastic money, mobile phones, cable tv, publishing, retail and fashion, currency, and commodities.

Appendix discusses additional sources of information for you to do more research. Throughout all his books, Jim Rogers encourages you to play to your strengths. That is, if you have specialized knowledge in publishing, then follow this industry more closely in China because you are able to see more clearly the developing trends than is the average person.

To help you down the road further, I've gathered in one place the best websites for Chinese listings, brokers, and China-related funds. These Internet resources will offer you the most current and reliable data. When it comes to the specific sectors or companies that seem most sound and compelling, your personal understanding, analysis and experience will have to point the rest of the way. As I've said: you do your research, pick the companies you like, and buy them, or you sit at home and watch the movies.

After all, China won't wait.

As mentioned, I have read all of Jim Rogers' books and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Because I am a commodities bull, I found this book helpful in better understanding China's enormous growth. Moreover, I agree with Rogers' in his assessment of China's growing importance. In summary, I highly encourage you to read A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market.

The stock markets are certainly uncertain. Even with the Fed statement of a 50 basis points cut in the federal funds rate to 3 percent, the markets still closed the day lower, albeit just slightly.

Given all pessimism, I want to start buying again, especially commodity related stocks. However, given that the market remains turbulent, I am not sure that now is the proper time to become fully invested.

So what exactly am I waiting for before I do begin buying more aggressively again? To be honest, I am not sure. I know if I saw a sharp correction, I would jump in with both feet. And, I suspect many traders and investors would do the same. I suppose if the markets begin to show more stability, that too might encourage me to start buying. The reality is, I am in a wait and see mode.

Switching topics, the above photographs show Chateau Lake Louise in Banff National Park (see Google Maps). The top photograph shows the result after post processing and the bottom photograph is straight out of the camera with no post processing. I bracketed my exposures to +1, 0, -1 ƒ stops of the camera exposure. I found the 0, and +1 ƒ stops photos too bright and went with the -1 ƒ stop setting. If you visit Lake Louise, you will notice that the lake has a turquoise blue color from the glacial silt in the lake. The original photograph does not show the color of the lake very well. Using some techniques that I learned from Chromasia Photoshop Tutorials, I changed the color of the lake and increased the contrast. I made some other subtle changes as well; however, those are the larger adjustments. I thought some of you might find interesting looking at both the before and after pictures.

The top photograph is linked to my Flickr site, where the photographs are hosted.

With the recent market turbulence, I am sure a lot of you are anxious about your stock holdings and what you should do next. Your first step in making any decisions should be to understand what you own.

Barry Ritholtz wrote an article back in October 2005 titled, Apprenticed Investor: "How My Doin?", where he provided a spreadsheet. Rather than link to Barry's spreadsheet from here, I ask that you visit Barry's article. After completing his spreadsheet with each of your holdings allocated to a sector, you will clearly see how diversified you are. Moreover, you will see for each of your stocks its overall percentage of assets. You will also complete some standard valuation measures such as dividend yield, price to earnings ratio, projected growth, PEG ratio, and beta.

Another excellent source of information to be used in conjunction with Barry's spreadsheet is the S&P 500 website with quantitative data. With the S&P data and your spreadsheet, you can see whether or not you are overweighted in different sectors relative to the index.

If you are managing your own money, you are most likely weighted significantly different than the index. You have taken a deliberate strategy to be different. However, you should review your portfolio periodically and ensure that your current weighting reflect your intentions. Over time, your portfolio weightings will change as some sectors lose while others gain.

My portfolio has a large cash position relative to the overall portfolio. I have been purchasing more oil stocks during this current correction. And if prices continue to fall, I will purchase more. My intent is to be overweight commodities in general and oil related stocks in particular. Nonetheless, I still have stocks from other sectors. So I am not completely concentrated in commodities.

A correction is a good time to realign your portfolio. You should review your holdings to ensure that your overall portfolio reflects your current beliefs and desires. For example, if you believe that financials have been through the worst, you might begin to overweight the financials. As you think through your portfolio holdings, you can begin to think through different scenarios. For example, if the market falls another five percent, you plan to do x. If the markets rally hard, you plan to do y. The key point is to thoroughly review your stock holdings to make sure that you are comfortable with your current position.

I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year 2008. I hope everyone enjoyed their festivities last night and arrived home safe and sound.

As those who regularly read my blog know, I usually comment on business and finance. I expect 2008 to be rather interesting. While there are a lot of economic headwinds as we enter 2008, I expect that the housing crisis will dominate the investment landscape for at least the first half the year. For the latter half, I am not sure. From an investment perspective, the year 2008 promises to be more volatile and exciting than recent prior years.

Earlier this last year on Saturday, 15 September 2007, I photographed the picture above of Lake Louise in Banff National Park, which is located in Alberta near the Alberta and British Columbia provincial border. I believe the top of the mountain in the picture is on the continental divide, which is also the border between Alberta and British Columbia. In Banff National Park, the rivers on the British Columbia side flow west to the Pacific Ocean, and the rivers on the Alberta side flow east to the Atlantic Ocean. There might be some rivers from Banff that flow north to the Arctic Ocean, though I am not sure. The Athabasca River begins in Jasper National Park, which is to the North and shares a border with Banff National Park, and does flow to the Arctic Ocean.

This picture itself is a composite of two pictures. When I originally photographed this scene, I bracketed my exposures. I took one photograph one ƒ stop below exposure, one at proper exposure, and one photograph at one ƒ stop over exposure. I did not use the overexposed photograph. I used the sky from the underexposed photograph and used the remainder from the properly exposed photograph. Out of the camera, the photograph had a slight bluish cast, which I have tried to remove. In more technical speak, the original white balance had too much blue. The sky has been darkened, and the rest of the scene has been slightly manipulated as well, mostly contrast adjustments to bring out the detail better. Lake Louise itself has a magical color in that the fine silt from the glacier runoff produces this amazing bluish turquoise color.

In making these adjustments on the photograph, I used some of the techniques that I learned from Chromasia Photoshop Tutorials. I tremendously enjoy his photoblog and his tutorials, so I am happy to promote his site.

On a somewhat related note, I am still working my way through my Flickr challenges. I will have more to say in a few days. For now, I have restored some of my photographs on Flickr and my weblog. I still have much more work to do, however.

The above picture is hosted on Flickr. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to my Lake Louise picture on Flickr. Almost all of my Banff and Jasper National Park pictures are missing, because I have not had an opportunity to reload them yet.

I am currently experiencing difficulties with my Flickr account. I have a hunch that the outcome is not going to be good. In any event, I ask for your patience with my site while I work on solving my Flickr difficulties.

Update

I have lost all my pictures, comments, favorites, contacts, and friends on my Flickr account. You can read a more detailed explanation of what purportedly happened. I will comment more on this topic in a day or two. So please bear with me and my blog while I get reorganized.

To those who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year! I further hope you are enjoy spend this time of year with your friends and family.

Switching topics slightly, I know that digital cameras are a popular item for Christmas. If you are looking excellent online resources to help you learn how to use your Canon or Nikon digital camera, particularly digital single lens reflex cameras—dslr— or Adobe Photoshop, I highly recommend two websites:

• ProPhoto Home; and
• Chromasia Photoshop Tutorials.

ProPhoto is an outstanding online community where photography enthusiasts and professionals discuss everything about photography. If you want to learn about your camera or about photography in general, you will find the ProPhoto members extremely helpful. Moreover, because this online forum is aimed at those who are serious about photography, the discussion is friendly and helpful. While the forum does have a large number of experienced photographers, there are also those like me who are still very much at the learning stage. What I really enjoy is the diversity of answers. Different photographers will provide different approaches to solving the same challenge. As a student, you can try several different approaches to see which best fits your style.

I have been following David J. Nightingale's Chromasia photoblog for quite some time. He recently decided to share his Photoshop knowledge with those of us who admire his photographs. So far, I have worked through Chromasia's tutorials on the following subjects:

1. Tonal range and the Curves tool;
2. Landscapes: creating dramatic skies;
3. Black and white: part one;
4. Toning colour images; and
5. Portraits: part one.

David produces one tutorial per month. His next tutorial, soon to be released, will be: An introduction to Lab Color mode.

David's tutorials are extraordinarily well done. His explanations are thorough and complete, and he provides sample files. Moreover, he has an online forum where he answers questions. Even though Photoshop can seem complex and daunting, David's well organized tutorials allow you to work you way through the material while gaining a strong comprehension of the material.

This past year, I have become more interested in Photography. I have read several books on photography and Photoshop. And I have begun practicing taking pictures. The most important thing I have learned this past year is how much I do not yet know. There is so much to learn. If you are just starting out, like I was, you need to understand how your camera functions. You need to learn about light and color. You need to understand how to use Photoshop effectively. If you are working with people, you need to learn how work effectively with them to get great pictures. And the list goes on. Asking others is a great method to shorten your learning. I have found that just a quick few words of advice often pointed me in the correct direction. That as a backdrop, I heartily recommend these two online resources to help you learn more about photography.

Calgary model Judith Aldama is featured in the photograph above, which is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture of Judith, you will be taken to where you can view a larger version and see even more pictures of her.

I just received my new book War and Peace from Amazon. I want something fictional to read over the holiday period. After briefly flipping through the book, I am a bit intimidated by its length. I read the introduction by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonksy, who both translated Leo Tolstoy's original Russian book into the English equivalent. I learned that Leo Tolstoy wrote his book between 1863 and 1868, starting when he was thirty-five. My understanding is that the book covers Russian life during the period of the Napoleonic wars of 1805 to 1812. My knowledge of history in general is weak, let alone this specific period. The book, however, does provide notes at the end to explain the various events that were taking place as well as the important people. Words and phrases are explained too.

Although I am looking forward reading Tolstoy's book, I am certain that it will take me several months to complete. The book looks reasonably complex with several different characters. Furthermore, the impression I have from reading the introduction is that this book does not follow the traditional novel format. So it will be an interesting journey.

On Amazon, there are 27 reviews with an overall average rating of 4.5. Given that almost all those who reviewed the book gave it the highest possible rating, I am certainly looking forward to reading it.

Calgary model Judith Aldama is featured in the photograph above, which is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture of Judith, you will be taken to where you can view a larger version and see even more pictures of her.

As those who follow my blog know, one of my hobbies is photography. As such, I follow and have invested in Canon Inc. (CAJ). During this past year, Canon has introduced two new professional cameras: EOS-1D Mark III, which retails for $4,495.95 at B & H; and EOS-1Ds Mark III, which retails for $7,999.95 at B & H. B & H is short for B & H Photo – Video – ProAudio. The first camera was introduced during the Spring and the second camera was introduced this Fall and began shipping only a few days ago. The demand for both cameras outstrips the supply. That is, if you want one of these professional cameras, you have to go on a waiting list.

Of course, these professional cameras require lots of memory. Moreover, they require large and powerful computers and disk drives to process and save the large image files. While I do not invest in many computer related technology stocks, I believe that the demand for these products is still healthy. And, as a side note, for those interested in learning more about these professional cameras and photography in general, I highly recommend joining Pro Photo HOME, an online photography site dedicated to the professional and serious amateur. The participants are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful—there is very little of the traditional internet noise.

While I think that the consumer slowdown will negatively affect camera sales, Canon's projections, available on the investor relations section of its website, still show healthy growth for the fourth quarter of about 13% by sales and 20% by units. Please note, although I discussed two professional cameras, the overwhelming majority of Canon's camera sales by units are point and shoot cameras. Digital SLRs (single lens reflex) sales by unit volume are a small fraction of the overall sales; however, they are more expensive and thus constitute a significant portion of the revenue.

As shown by this Yahoo's five year chart of Canon's stock price, the company shows reasonably steady growth. It has five main groups of products: 1) Office Imaging; 2) Computer Peripherals; 3) Business Information; 4) Cameras; and 5) Optical and Other. I do not understand the optical portion well, though it is one of the smaller groups. Camera sales constitute about 26% of Canon's overall sales and operating profit. The company is not widely followed in North America with only two or three analysts providing earnings and revenue estimates on Yahoo's financial site.

I have included some key statistics from Yahoo as of 5 December 2007:

• Market Cap (intraday): 68.43B
• Enterprise Value (6-Dec-07): 59.93B
• Forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-08): 13.80
• PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 1.43
• Enterprise Value/EBITDA: 6.232
• Profit Margin (ttm): 10.96%
• Operating Margin (ttm): 17.12%
• Return on Assets (ttm): 11.12%
• Return on Equity (ttm): 17.14%
• Revenue (ttm): 39.89B
• Gross Profit (ttm): 13.31B
• EBITDA (ttm): 9.62B
• Beta: 0.67
• Total Debt/Equity (mrg): 0.008
• Current Ratio (mrg): 2.092

As the figures show, the company is conservatively financed. Overall, my general impression is that the company is well managed and provides excellent products and services.

Disclosure: I am long Canon stock.

Amanda Grace is featured in the photograph, which is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture of Amanda, you will be taken to where you can view a larger version and see even more pictures of her.

This past Friday on CNBC's Fast Money, Karen Finerman chose Limited Brands, Inc. (LTD) as her final trade.

I recently purchased Limited Brands shares as well. A five year chart of LTD's stock price (Yahoo) shows that the stock has recently fallen from above $30 to the high teens.

Some key statistics from Yahoo Finance are as follows:

• Market Cap (intraday): 7.28B ;
• Enterprise Value: 8.99B;
• Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 10.27;
• Forward P/E (fye 03-Feb-09): 12.40;
• PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 1.01;
• Enterprise Value/EBITDA (ttm): 6.731;
• Profit Margin: 7.07%;
• Operating Margin: 9.06%;
• Quarterly Revenue Growth (yoy): -9.10%;
• Beta: 0.88;
• Shares Short (as of 09-Nov-07): 19.79M;
• Short Ratio (as of 09-Nov-07): 3.7;
• Short % of Float (as of 09-Nov-07): 6.30%;
• Shares Short (prior month): 19.49M;

Looking at those statistics, I note that the sales growth has been soft—hence, the reason for share price fall—yet the valuation on traditional metrics appears reasonable. Moreover, according to a Barron's article Limited Brands a Black Friday Bargain (subscription required), even head honcho Leslie Wexner agrees that valuation has become intriguing.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Wexner was the biggest purchaser, buying 280,000 shares for $5.1 million, or an average of $18.31 a share between Friday and Tuesday. The purchases were made indirectly through a trust. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wexner said he plans to buy an additional 720,000 shares over the next eight trading days. Wexner now owns 51,642,179 shares, or 14.3% of Limited stock outstanding. It was Wexner's first open-market purchase in more than 13 years, according to InsiderScore.com.

The stock hit a four year low of $16.50 on Nov. 21, the day after the company announced third quarter income dropped 48% and cut its outlook for the fourth quarter. Limited reported third quarter earnings of $12.1 million, or 3 cents per share, down from $23.5 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected Limited to post earnings, excluding items, of 1 cent per share.

All that said, with the softness in the economy because of high energy prices and falling housing prices, I would not be surprised if I am early in my purchase. I consider my purchase of Limited Brands stock an investment, one that might take 12 to 18 months to play out. If Limited Brands falls further, I might increase my position.

Disclosure: I am long Limited Brands stock.

Edmonton model Nikki G is featured in the photograph, which is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture of Nikki, you will be taken to where you can view a larger version and see even more pictures of her.

Slightly over two years ago, I wrote a brief article about a documentary shown on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) concerning the kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt.

I noticed today on the BBC New website an article that Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, might play an instrumental role securing her release.

Mr Chavez repeated his conviction despite the lack of proof that Ms Betancourt, kidnapped in February 2002, was still alive.

"Ingrid is alive. I'm absolutely certain," Mr Chavez said.

"We will do everything humanly possible to achieve (her) release and not only hers, but the release of all the candidates."

Despite my misgivings toward Chavez's leadership of Venezuela, I applaud his work toward freeing Colombian hostages. I hope he is correct that Ingrid Betancourt is alive. According to the article, FARC is supposed to provide evidence by yearend that the hostages are alive. And one can hope that the freeing of the hostages can lead to further improvements.