Buying a stock and then regretting the decision

Buying a stock and then regretting the decision

This is a five year time capsule post.  Thursday, October 13, 2016: UN, Unilever, after being at a high of $45-$46 for several weeks came down to $43 something.  I looked at the options.  If I buy at the market price and then sell options for November 2016 I will have my cost covered till the stock drops to $37.  So Thursday night I set up the automatic purchase: if UN is at $43.40 I’ll buy 100 shares. Friday, November 14: Coming back home after walking children to school, found out that Capital 360 had made the purchase of 100 UN stocks at $43.31 each.  I quickly looked at the options and set up to sell UN at $40 on November 18, if I get $6 per stock today.  By the end of Friday, the option sale was not done.  Now I am worried.  Did I buy at the wrong time?  Is the market going down and I should have been patient?  What if I am stuck with Unilever with this high price for a long time to come?  Only time will tell.

Upper Lake Fall Festival 2022

Upper Lake Fall Festival 2022

"Music, food, beer, booth, arts and crafts vendors, raffle items"

For some reason this festival was not as well attended as the Kelseyville Pear Festival 2022 or the Lakeport Festival 2022

 

Bring me your mother’s heart

English translation of an Urdu short story about a mother’s love for her son


Bring me your mother’s heart

“I love you and you don’t even know how much I love you,” he told his lover.
“How much do you really love me?” The woman asked.
“I can do anything to see you happy,” he assured her.
“Anything?” She asked.
“Yes, anything.  Go ahead and make a wish,” he said with confidence.
“OK, then bring me your mother’s heart,” she said, articulating each word clearly.
This strange wish of his lover stunned him.

When he reached home, his mother was waiting at the door.
Mother greeted him but quickly figured out her son was not happy.
“What’s wrong, my dear?  What’s bothering you?” She asked
He did not respond, went straight to his room, and locked himself in.
Later, he ate the dinner with his mother but finished the food without uttering a single word.

Next morning when the mother found her son still lost, she held his hand and said crying, “Please tell me what’s going on?  What’s hurting you?  You are my everything.  I cannot see you unhappy. I beg you, please don’t hide anything from me.”
And he told his mother what happened.
Surprisingly, listening to his lover’s strange request, the mother did not look upset at all, On the contrary she said, “What is there to be worried about, my son?  My happiness lies in your happiness. Go ahead, Get the biggest knife you can find.  Kill me, get my heart out of my body, and present it to her.”
He shuddered, turned around, and quickly went to his room.

For the next two days he walked around like a zombie.  He would only come out of his room for the meals.  He would eat quietly, go back to his room, and lock the door from inside.  When he was awake, he would just lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling.

The third day started a little differently.  The late morning sun shining on his face woke him up.  
‘What happened?’ he asked himself. ‘Why did mother not wake me up today?’  

He got up and went to his mother’s room.  What he saw there shocked him.  His mother’s dead body was hanging from the ceiling fan. There was a note on a table by her body. The note read:

“My dearest son, you are the whole world to me and for the last three days seeing you sad has made me heartbroken beyond belief.  I am making it easy for you.  I am killing myself.  You can now take my heart out of my chest and present it to your lover.  When she will find her wish fulfilled, she will be pleased, and she will embrace you and that hug will make you joyful. I am already happy thinking about that moment.”

So, with tears rolling down his cheeks he did exactly that. He took his mother’s heart out of her dead body, put it on a plate, and ran towards his lover.  On his way to the love of his life he tripped over a rock and fell. The plate slipped out of his hand and the heart rolled out of the plate.

Then his mother’s voice came from the heart, “Are you OK, my son?”

Kelseyville Pear Festival 2022

September 24, 2022

Kelseyville Pear Festival  2022

Small towns like big festivals.  A good time for people to get together and catch up with the latest news.

Why was Jakov Dulcich, owner of Jakov P. Dulcich & Sons, killed?

 

Jakov P Dulcich, born in Argentina of Croatian parents, and later raised in Croatia, came to the USA in his late 20s.  He learned farming from his uncle and started buying land and growing grapes.  Dulcich called his farm ‘Pretty Lady’, honoring his wife.  By the time Jakov Dulcich died he, along with his sons, was running a successful farming business owning thousands of acres of land in California’s heartland, around Bakersfield.  The American Dream that was earned by hard work came to a violent end through another facet of American life: mindless shootings.  Shortly after Dulcich was killed in his SUV, police arrested Mariano Fernandez Perez as the prime suspect.  Perez was arrested because he had a criminal past and a car that he used was found burning by a roadside, far from the crime scene.  When Dulcich was shot multiple times in his car, there were no cameras recording the scene.  But there was an eyewitness, driver of another car that happened to be at the shooting site.  The eyewitness picked up Perez from the Police lineup.  But later, during the trial, the eyewitness showed ambivalence about the identity of the shooter.  The guy who killed Dulcich was not as tall as Perez, and the murdered did not have any tattoos, the eyewitness testified in front of the jury.  Add this to the fact that Perez did not have a motive to kill Jakov Dulcich.  The court acquitted Perez.  But within a year Perez was found beaten to death.

Perez was not found guilty but still Jakov P Dulcich was killed in cold blood.  Who killed Dulcich and why?  Here are two possible scenarios:

1.It was Perez who killed Jakov Dulcich.  The eyewitness changed his statement in the court because he knew about Perez’s gang affiliation and was afraid of his life if Perez was sentenced because of eyewitness’s testimony.  What was Perez’s motive in killing Dulcich? Perez was a lowlife criminal, most probably with a short fuse.  Maybe it was a case of road rage.  Something that Dulcich did while driving infuriated Perez and in his rage, Perez killed Dulcich.
2. Perez did not kill Jakov Dulcich.  The actual killer is still roaming free.

To pursue this case further, especially with respect to the second scenario, we have to find out who benefited from Jakov Dulcich’s death.

Tags: An unsolved murder case shaming the Delano Police Department, Central Valley, Vineyards

Remembering Lawyer and writer Obaid Ur Rehman

 

 

Urdu writer and lawyer Obaid Ur Rehman died on December 8, 2021 in Virginia, USA. 

He is survived by his wife Qudsia and four sons: Ibad Ur Rehman, Imad Ur Rehman, Ifad Ur Rehman, and Fawad Ur Rehman.

 

 

Obaid Ur Rehman Advocate, Urdu Writer

 عبیدالرحمن ایڈووکیٹ، اردو نثرنگار چارکتابوں کے مصنف تھے

 کتابوں کے نام یہ ہیں 

 یاد ہو کہ نہ یاد ہو

 یاد ہے سب ذرا ذرا 

مجموعہ خیال

 نقش خیال 

 Urdu books by Obaid Ur Rehman Advocate 

Yad ho keh na yad ho 

Yad hay sab zara zara 

Majmoo-e-Khayal 

Nakhsh-e-Khaya 

 حلقہ ارباب ذوق انجمن ادب اردو ادبی مرکز ایک شام، ایک شاعر کے نام سول سوساءٹی آف اردو لٹریچر واشنگٹن ڈی سی ورجینیا جامعہ کراچی سندیلہ، لکھنءو بیگم حضرت محل کی تواضع سندیلہ میں کھچڑی سے ہوءی 

Qazi Obaid Ur Rehman Advocate, Urdu Literature, Karachi, Pakistan, Sandila, Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal 

Tags: Obaid Ur Rehman Lawyer, BD member, Advocate Supreme Court, Member Majlis e Shoora

http://rehmanlaw.com 

misspellings: Ubaid Ur Rehman, Obaid Ur Rahman, Ubaid Ur Rahman, Obaidur Rehman, Obaidur Rahman, Ubaidur Rehman, Ubaidur Rahman

A spring of alcohol flowing in the otherwise dry Pakistan

Farasat Kazmi, Murree Brewery's media advisor, is an energetic man.  Kazmi was very kind to arrange my visit of the Murree Brewery factory in Rawalpindi, on a very short notice.

Along with Tops, its sister company, Murree Brewery makes several popular soft drinks.  And then of course are the alcoholic drinks.  Besides its four varieties of beer, Murree Brewery makes Whisky, Vodka, Rum, and Gin.

Murree Brewery is not allowed to export its alcoholic beverages outside Pakistan: not a very wise decision of the Pakistani Government.  Alcoholic drinks coming out of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will be welcomed by the world and the brewery can generate significant foreign exchange for the country.

Pakistan's Muslim population is reported to be around 96%.  Murree Brewery caters to the non-Muslim population of Pakistan;  Pakistani Muslims are not allowed to buy alcohol.  Still, Murree Brewery is having a hard time meeting the local demand of alcoholic drinks.

The light is out: Goodbye Amjad Noorani

 

 I am not sure when was the first time I met Amjad Noorani; it must have been in 2009 or 2010.  Amjad Noorani and his wife, Najma, were physical therapists by profession and had recently retired and moved from Salinas to Los Altos. In the Bay Area, Amjad Noorani had become a desi circle socialite.  We ran into each other often. His big smile and affable demeanor attracted people; I too became friends with him.  I visited him at his home and went hiking with him.  Of particular interest to me were his childhood stories of Karachi, my hometown.  Several years before I discovered Karachi’s country club, he went there to hitch rides on private aircrafts flying out of the Karachi Aero Club.

In his quest to make the best use of his retirement years, once Amjad Noorani got involved with The Citizens Foundation (TCF), there was no turning back. Providing quality education to every child in Pakistan became his dream.  He not only understood the philosophy and work environment of TCF he decided to write a book to tell the story of this one-of-a-kind nonprofit to the world.  The result was ‘Agents of Change’, a book he coauthored with Nadeem Hussain.

 We all have our expiration dates mostly unknown to us but if the checkout time is  revealed, our priorities suddenly become clearer.  After Amjad Noorani was diagnosed with cancer, I noticed a sense of urgency in his desire to get the ‘Agents of Change’ published.  The book got printed a year ago and was well received in literati focused on social change and universal primary education.

 Having heard stories of his younger years and reading the memoir part of ‘Agents of Change’ I thought about doing more in-depth interviews of Amjad Noorani and ultimately become his biographer.  That did not happen.  Amjad Noorani succumbed to the cancer today.

What makes Joe Biden say, 'Putin cannot remain in power'?

 Biden: ‘Putin cannot remain in power’

Look at this photo.  He is the most important man during the ongoing Ukraine conflict.  His name is John Sullivan, and he is the current US Ambassador in Russia. Presumably, through its staff in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok, and paid informants within the Russian Government, the US is constantly collecting information about the prevailing views in the Russian Government and the military about the Russian war in Ukraine.  What made President Biden, during his Poland visit, say ‘Putin cannot remain in power’?  Has the US received information about a growing dissent within the Russian establishment, or is the Biden’s statement part of a psyop meant to put distrust in the mind of Putin for his close associates who may try to unseat him--and by making Putin distrustful of people around him, alienate him from his confederates to ultimately make the prophecy come true?  With in-person peace talks between Ukraine and Russian officials starting very soon in Istanbul, all of us are anxious to see an end to the war and peaceful times to return.

Photo, courtesy of the US Embassy in Moscow

3/28/22; It turned out Joe was just being senile; the State Department says Biden was saying things off-script.  The US has no plan for Putin to be or not to be in power.

Thoughts on Movies: Goodfellas

 

The 1990 film ‘Goodfellas’ is based on the book ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicholas Pillegi.  Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta) is half Sicilian (and Jewish) being raised in a New York neighborhood dominated by the Mafia.  He looks up to the cartel and wants to grow up to be a gangster.  And soon in his adulthood he becomes an integral part of the criminal network.  Extortions, thefts, drug deals, murders…all happen very frequently.  This goes on for a while till one day Henry becomes dispensable for the gang.

Movie poster, courtesy of imdb.com