Sunday, July 22, 2007

Google recent correction/missed earnings reflection

Google is only as expensive as the amount of predicted growth it is expected to accomplish. Unfortunately at this stage innovation will hardly produce substantial growth and or revenue as this stream has been tapped in to and is taken advantage of currently to the max with the hoards of new tech/internet savvy employees. Goog must become a conglomerate and is on the way there now, nonetheless it must journey on faster to please money hungry-stockholders. As of now I see no other way for Goog to produce and sustain the growth/revenue but to take over cash cows or untapped businesses in the early stage of expansion i.e. double-click, utube.

I myself have faith in the company, but soon enough a correction will come when the stockholders realize that it is near-impossible to sustain this growth many will bail and that is when I will buy more. A good, large, stable company with lots of $$$ and a nice road heading to the future, it just very well maybe a safe heaven for money amid the other volatile NASDAQ members.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

oil, economy and politics

oil has been riding up and inching ever so closely to the next drop off, which I might add am expecting pretty soon, concidering the oil levels/prices now these days are worse than the 1981 crisis.

We are also due in for the next major correction +10%>, we just had a 5% but in my mind that was just a preview. Summer slow season is here, the overexagerrated real estate bubble is still continuing, perhaps now is the right time. I am thinking though that mid summer or the fall we will see a decline, just hope its not the bear season, but just a correction.

On the other hand I think the correction will not turn in to a bear because by 2008 election race will be on and everyone and their mother will be trying to fix the economy.
Ilya Ilienko


But then ofcourse Mr. D Cheney will do his best to fix our economy and end the war.

yeah right!

I. Ilienko

Friday, May 25, 2007

reflecting on the GMAT experience...

I started studying in Oct of 2006, 6 months ago, with a first self assessed paper GMAT (untimed) and got a 530......
I thought it'll be easy and I thought I'll do well, but it seems to me that this one is a hard nut to crack.....
many people get the concept after a month or two, i am barely just understanding things now. at first I thought I d be happy with like a ~600 or so, but then the 7++ monkey jumped on my back.

here is my debrief (chronological):

Oct 2006 GMAT paper version 530
Oct MAnhattan GMAT: 560
Nov Manhatta GMAT: 640
Dec Kaplan software: 520
Dec MAnhattan GMAT: 680
Dec Kaplan software: 540
Jan Kaplan software: 540
Jan crackGMAT: 500
Feb 800score software: 620
Feb Kaplan sofware: 550
Feb princeton software: 580

here we go!!!

March:
Kaplan (retake): 560
800 score: 620
800 Score: 680
800 score 670
Princeton software 660
800 score sofware: 660
Princeton software 680:

April:
Gmat prep test #1: 640
Princeton: 680
old 800Score: 640
old 800 Score: 660
Princeton: 700
Gmat prep test #1 retake: 660
notes:
notes:
more notes......

May:
Gmat prep #2: 660
downloaded some JJ's (still don't know what those are, except that they are represenative of real questions on GMAT and are good for studying)

Ladies and gentelmen:
I am not a native speaker , but did graduate a 4 year university in US...
I have a full time job, and I studied on the train to work and during lunch and from work, on the weekends I took full tests and reviewed what I got wrong.
7 months straight.
I searched the net for anything and everything I could find, i looked at everyone's comments and read everyones experiences. I donloaded every piece of software I could find and it all.

I went from 530 to a 680=====
not great maybe in comparison with some, but it was good and I did it by myself, with a full time job and it all cost me 4$ for the train ride to the GMAT and from. VS thousands, some spend on classes (not that I think its not a good idea, I just can't bare spend money on something that I can do myself).

here are my 2 cents:
Kapan software:
waste of time, demoralizing, not represenative and badly worded and put together overall.....would not do it again.

800score: good stuff, especially the newer stuff, good quant.....verbal ok (good practice).

older 800 score: too easy, for someone going for 600+ way too easy, finished some tests with 10-15 minutes to spare.

Manhattan GMAT:
too hard, score is not represenative, quant is devilishly hard.
(i took their tests for free at their center, by signing in with a diffrent name. I would not do it again, had i the opportunity, you get no chance to review the questions you get wrong at the end, then whats the point?)
but i took 3 full tests from them, so my thank you's to them anyway.

Princeton software:
quant is too easy, but verbal is ok, and if you do several of them they can't hurt.....plus I like the software with explanations.

I also downloaded the:
JJ'S (besides good review material)
Barrons book
Princeton book
1000 sentence corrections
OG verbal

Very useful for any GMAT adventurer...
some good links:
800 Score- free full GMAT test
Princeton Review--free full GMAT test
Crack GMAT -- free full GMAT test
4 Tests-- free full GMAT test
Best discussion forum--Test Magic--tips, material, best advice
GMAT--rules, examples, quant and verbal, full explanation of the test