the stock markets and the news

i don't know much about the markets. i tried to look into investing but quickly realised i knew nothing. however, it appears most people know nothing. although i am basing my evidence here on the sample of journalists who write for the bbc.
yesterday i read this article, which stated that the reason the market was going up was because of the EU bail out for Ireland. (note, it was a reason given explaining why the markets were going up, not a prediction.)

i had to find it in the google cache because it has since been deleted. because the markets changed.
there is now this article, preceded by this article, which states the markets are going down, because of the EU bail out....
The exact same reason is given for why the markets are no going down. note again that it's not a prediction, but a reason given for why something happens.

This indicates to me they don't have a clue what they are talking about. which is somewhat comforting and makes me think if i learnt enough, and was lucky enough maybe i could invest. but don't hold your breath.

i have realised all the bbc is good for is unintentional humour.
see this article, about a man whose home was infested with rats in lala land. what was the first thoughts of his neighbours? call a reality tv show. obviously.

just when i thought it was boring...

i sat down to whack out an entry this morning and realised nothing of note had happened. at all. so i decided to go out for the day and see what would happen. i was not disappointed. 
first, there was the sign for the psychic fair. i figure they should all know when and where it is without being explicitly told.
then there was the 3 yard run to the bank. maybe it's just me but i know there is always a massive queue. so when, like today, i see someone walking to the bank i up my pace to overtake, or if coming from opposite sides, beat them to the door. but today i did not play this game. for i was going to change money which has it's own queue, so i held the door open for this little lady. good deed done.
bizarrely, it was the second bank i had tried to change money in. the nearest one i went to didn't change money for non customers apparently. surely, anything that makes them money is profitable and if they're already set up to do so, why not take my money fleecing me on the exchange rate?
haven't played since last weekend. read a bit of omaha strategy and might give it a crack for small stakes during the week ahead.

been a little while

not too much happening at the moment. which is no bad thing. got a few things in life to sort out which means i'm not gonna play much for the remainder of this year.
i did have to go outside the other day. not before a man came to take my electricity meter reading. bizarrely, i don't think he was from the company that supplies me.
went out to a shopping centre (not out of choice). i despise people that get to the top of an escalator and then just stop. standing still at the top with torrents of people behind them. even worse when they have little kids with them. it's just a recipe for disaster. what i'm saying is, even though i ran into them on purpose, it wasn't my fault. (i didn't but a small part of me wishes i had)
i also walked through a department store known in the business as john lewis. they put the perfume counter right at the entrance. just like the shops who make men walk through all the women's section to get to their stuff, the shop layout people know that men don't go shopping by choice so they only set things up for women. i have no problem with this. i merely state it to explain why i walked through the perfume section to see the hilarious sight of the attendants (is that what they're called?) of one company wearing white lab coats. brilliant. because that's what makes you a scientist, and thus all the people will believe you products are the best.

my last observation was when walking behind two girls who i guessed to be about 14. i reminisced about people i knew in their twenties who were short. as i overtook them i noticed they were probably both in their late 50s.

whilst i haven't played much poker people clearly haven't forgotten me and must continue to think i'm a retard (they're only semi correct)*

6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: villain ($400 in chips)
Seat 2: small blind ($148 in chips)
Seat 3: big blind ($400 in chips)
Seat 4: utg ($439 in chips)
Seat 5: hero ($934.20 in chips)
Seat 6: co ($719.40 in chips)
small blind: posts small blind $2
big blind: posts big blind $4

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [3c 3d]
utg: folds
hero: raises $8 to $12
co: folds
villain: raises $24 to $36
small blind: folds
big blind: folds
hero: calls $24

*** FLOP *** [Ad 3s 8c]
hero: checks
villain: bets $52
hero: raises $80 to $132
villain: calls $80

*** TURN *** [Ad 3s 8c] [Th]
hero: checks
villain: checks

*** RIVER *** [Ad 3s 8c Th] [Qs]
hero: bets $766.20 and is all-in
villain: calls $232 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($534.20) returned to hero

*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [3c 3d] (three of a kind, Threes)
villain: mucks hand
hero collected $803 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $806 | Rake $3
Board [Ad 3s 8c Th Qs]
Seat 1: villain (button) mucked [7d 7c]

*or maybe he doesn't pay any attention anyway and is just not very good?

honesty

i didn't really want to post last month's graph. in fact, i didn't really want to ever post again after that last session. with too many things stressing me out in real life, combined with internet not keeping a stable connection my head finally went again. i haven't played a single hand since then. i need to be able to put things in perspective better. being couped up just writing and playing cards, without seeing much of the outside world it's easy to get lost. i hear a lot of other people talk about a 'balance' in life, and whilst i think it's correct i think it isn't the best word to use. i went to town t'other day to watch a film from the russian film festival. i don't know why i torture myself by going to the cinema but it seemed that there were less (only perhaps 1 or half) popcorn munchers in attendance. also, the seats were really comfy at the apollo in 'pick a dilly' circus. speaking of circii (which is how the plural is spelt in queen's english) there was a pikey fest at Leicester Square. i haven't been to one since i was cheated out of a rasta doll in on of the old grabber machine machines. but this time it was all different. 6 cans in a two dimensional pyramid, 5 balls, 1 thrower (me). i watched a few other people fail before i decided to have a go. some dude came to within one can of winning on two occasions and lucked out at the final hurdle. my five british pounds wagered that i would go one step further. things started off well when my first ball knocked two cans off. 4 balls left, 4 cans left. the next took another one out, but my third ball ,whilst hitting the target, failed to remove a can from the shelf. three cans and two balls would be an impossible task were it not for the fact that one can was on it's side in front of another. i aimed for that first, knowing i needed to take them both out. my cod training kicked in and i blasted them almost into the bumper cars. one ball one can and i finally believed that i would be winning a massive panda pear (cuddly toy version).
i took a breath, thought of joe montana winning the superbowl in 89 and reminisced about john candy. i threw my final ball and missed by inches. i was crushed.
and then i began to once again appreciate all the things i have and all the things i don't need to do yet, like work with people who appear on x-factor, apprentice etc.

ps here's my worst. graph. ever.