A few days ago I bought back into Chesapeake Energy (CHK: chart) when it was at $29 per share on June 27.  The stock has been down a bumpy road for the last two months as natural gas futures ($NatGas: chart) started to reflect the warm temperatures through last winter and increasing natural gas reserves.

Just after I purchased the stock, the company stated it would issue 25 million more shares at $29.05 to pay for Barnett Shale Acquisitions, repay debt, and for other general corporate purposes.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I …

Over the last few months TheCornerOfficeBlog has accrued nearly 120 posts in just under 20 categories.  In looking at the breakdown of posts, most of them are filed under investing, real estate, and business.

These categories are fairly broad, and in consideration of the fact that there are many facets to investing, business and real estate, I’ve decided to break down these categories further into sub categories to make searching the archives a bit more reader friendly.

If you’ve got any suggestions for topics let me hear them, otherwise, thanks for reading and contributing!

-Grant

A German businessman is preparing throw a wrench in the TSA’s ban on matches and cigarette lighters.  He is proposing a “smoker’s only” airline.

Smokers International Airways is working on launching the first ever smoker friendly flight from Dusseldorf, Germany to Tokyo, Japan on March 27, 2007.

Alexander Schoppmann, the founder of Smintair (get it? SMokers INTernational AIRways?) is capitalizing on the fact that there are currently no direct flights between Dusseldorf and Tokyo, much less flights where passengers can light up.  Of course, this luxury would come with a hefty price tag.

The company plans on using 2 Boeing 747 jumbo jets with …

About two months ago some friends three doors up put their house on the market. They had plans to build a new home, so they weren’t in too much of a hurry to sell their house. In fact, it would but them in quite a predicament if they did sell their house in record time…

In steps Mr. Murphy.

In no less than 7 days they had an offer on their house that they couldn’t refuse, and off they went trying to find an apartment for the next 6 months.

I thought they were asking a bit much for the …

Recently my wife discovered Picasa.  Picasa is a piece of software from Google that allows you to organize your digital pictures, modify them, print them, save them, email them…

Her favorite feature: Uploading them to Walgreens.

We haven’t printed pictures in years. Rather than creating traditional photo albums, I’ve set up a digital photo album on the internet that anyone in our family can view from their home computers. People can view the pictures whenever they want, not just when we get together for holiday parties.

The Picasa system is very simple to use, and …

While investing in gold stocks is an easy way for the common investor to play the gold market, investing in tangible commodities should not be forgotten.

Sure, you can log on to your discount broker and buy some Gold Trust Shares (GLD: chart) fairly easily, but you can also buy actual gold coins as well. 

Companies like Blanchard Online make a business out of selling coins: gold, silver, copper… you name it.  While not nearly as liquid as a share of stock, it is the purest play in the metals market, eliminating any corporate risk that comes …

It’s never good when you have to take your car to a mechanic for repairs.  It will always cost you an arm and a leg, no matter what kind of work you have done.

Recently, we took my wife’s Honda Accord to a Honda dealer to service the air conditioner.  The result:  A leaky evaporator, a leaking Schrader valve, a bad o-ring, a leak in the….  I quit listening at that point, all I wanted to hear was how much it was going to be to fix the darn thing.

$826.79

Ouch! Smoke started pouring out of my ears, gears were moving at warp speed, the grip on the phone was starting to cause …

Last week I mentioned that I bought some Chesapeake stock just as the summer started heating up and hurricanes were dialing in on their targets for the season.

It looked like I was on to something last Friday after CHK gapped up (chart) and closed $1.50 in the green.

But today CHK released news that they are issuing more shares to pay for a Barnett Shale acquisition, pay off debt, and for general corporate purposes.

ARHG! I’d like to think that Chesapeake has the best interest of stockholders in mind, but every time they issue shares to pay off debt, I take …

Evidently a University of Delaware chemical engineer has developed a liquid matrix to impregnate a single layer of Kevlar so that it’s flexible yet can still stop bullets. Currently, our soldiers wear Kevlar vests that only cover a small portion of the body and are very heavy.

Check out the video to see how it works:

Just think how this will revolutionize the way our war (and crime) fighters will protect themselves in the future.

It also drives home the effect and influence higher education can have on different aspects of everyday life.

I’m about 75% of the way through my latest read: Confessions Of A Wall Street Analyst, and if a rookie investor like me thinks he can beat the market, this book will slap him in the face, take his money and tell him to go play elsewhere.

The first hand accounts of analysts going “over the wall” and sworn to secrecy (lest he violate SEC rules) only to go spill his guts to everyone he knows are very compelling. It makes me wonder how a little outsider like me can ever make a dime in the market.  Evidently insider trading goes far beyond …