So what's been going on lately?
I am getting ready to release a new version of Pretty Good Solitaire. It is nearly ready, but the exact release date will depend on a number of factors, as described below.
One thing that has been using up my time is our furnace. Last weekend it got cold for the first time this fall (it was downright hot in September, and we nearly had a 90 degree day in October for the first time). When we tried to turn on the furnace to heat things up, nothing happened. This week we had a repairman come out and look at the furnace and he declared our 15 year old furnace dead. So we have to get a new furnace, which apparently is going to require an all day installation. The good news is that the new furnace will be much more energy efficient so we will save a lot on heating bills. The bad news is that furnaces cost an amazing amount of money.
We don't yet know when the new furnace will be installed. We won't have any heat until it is. With luck it will be late this week. I'm not going to want to release the new version of Pretty Good Solitaire on the same day that they are installing the furnace, as with workmen around it will be difficult to get anything done. So I'm going to need to work around whatever date that will be.
Also, while I haven't been mentioning it much on the blog lately, I spend a fair amount of time stock trading these days. Things are definitely happening in the market right now and next week looks to be a very important week. The market has been in a downtrend since August and there is a chance that this downtrend could turn very serious. There is a indicator called The Hindenburg Omen that triggered late in September that often precedes a major stock market downtrend or crash (for a look at the track record of this indicator, see this link). October is always a dangerous month in the stock market and this October is looking more and more nasty every day. I am currently have only about 30% of the money I have allocated to stocks actually in stocks. This is remarkable for me, as when the stock market is going well I am usually 80-95% invested. And with my game plan for next week I could easily be only 10-15% invested by Wednesday, if the market continues to be weak.
Many stock market bloggers are getting very wary. See the Fickle Trader and Bill Cara's weekly review. All signs point to this upcoming week or two as being crucial to the long term trend of the market. We are heading into the worst part of the 4 year market cycle (which last bottomed in late 2002) so things could get rough.
At any rate, I'm going to release the new version of Pretty Good Solitaire sometime soon, depending on when the furnace is installed and whether the market decides to make me unusually busy on a particular day.
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