Hi Friends!? This post particularly applies to those that read me via RSS, which may be half of my readership when you consider all of the republishers of my work.? At present, Google has stopped working on Feedburner, and earning money from Feedburner, which currently handles most if not all of my RSS.

I’m planning on switching RSS away from Feedburner, because it is only a matter of time before it disappears.? So if you see your RSS feed go cold, come re-sign up for RSS at my site, and you will get to read my writings on your RSS reader as you have previously enjoyed.

Every 100 or so posts, I take a step back, and think about blogging itself.? Tonight I want to talk about advertising in blogging.

I now get about 75 requests per month asking:

• Can I do a guest post at your blog? (There have never been guest posts, ever)
• I want to place link ads at your blog (I tell them it has to be labelled advertising, I will not let my readers be deceived.? They go away.)
• Some other advertising that I find objectionable for other reasons.

I write this blog to give something back to society in general.? My reputation is worth more to me than making money.? If I did not care about my reputation and wanted to make money, I would write a newsletter.? I’m a good enough writer, and clever enough with statistics that I could easily dupe people and make a lot of money, but I belong to Jesus Christ.? I can’t engage in the implicit fraud that many newsletter writers do.

I sometimes send the above cartoon to the advertisers. Most think it is a funny rejection notice. ? I’ve worked hard to create a blog with credibility.? I will not sell it out for a few measly bucks on advertising, or allow for posts from substandard writers.? I won’t even do it for writers better than me.? This is my blog; it reflects me, with all the warts and wrinkles.

I know that I am an acquired taste, and that many things I write are not congenial to all of my readers, because I write about too many areas.? But I write to give something back, and fight against those who try to cheat investors, even if the thief is our government.

But thanks to all that read me.? I am grateful that you peel off time for me.? I don”t deserve it, but I will do my best for you.

Your friend,

David

I have some happy news regarding my writings at RealMoney.? Between readers who kept copies of what I wrote, and TheStreet.com republishing at the free site some of my best? pieces, I have regained one-third of the writings that are lost.

Now, if there are other readers who saved some of my RealMoney writings, please send them to me.? As it is, I will start republishing the two dozen classics that I have recovered starting next week.

And, I will ask TheStreet.com if there is any way to recover the old posts… if you have some influence there, let me know.? Thanks.

This has been a lot of fun.? This has been a lot of work.? This has been a “labor of love.”

When I wrote for RealMoney, I would sometimes say to my editor Gretchen, “Here’s another labor of love piece,” to which she would give a hearty response, because she liked editing me.? She told me she always learned a lot from me.? I liked working with her a lot.

Unlike some writers at RealMoney, I would sometimes troll through the comments on Cramer’s blog.? Sometimes I would defend him, at minimum I would try to explain him.

At the time, there were some financial blogs that I liked a lot — Jeff Miller, Barry Ritholtz, Roger Nusbaum, Steven Randy Waldman, Eddy Elfenbein, Alea… I know there are more, but I can’t remember now.? I resisted starting a blog for 1-2 years, because I felt RealMoney was my blog.? I especially liked participating in the Columnist’s Conversation.? (Note: if RealMoney would like to invite me back, I am open to the idea.? That said, the CFA Institute has encouraged me to blog for them as well — just don’t know how much content I can produce, because everyone wants original content.)

But I realized that RealMoney and I had different goals, and in talking with some of those that commented at Cramer’s blog, I decided to launch Aleph Blog.? Why call it Aleph Blog?? Many reasons, as noted in the link, but part of the fun was getting to read Borges, who I had not previously read.

When I launched Aleph Blog, I had no idea what I was getting into, and I did not intend on leaving RealMoney.? I liked the editorial freedom, though, and liked the broader interaction with many voices across the internet, rather than only RealMoney columnists, good as they were.? I did research when I started, and so I created my own domain, signed up with Seeking Alpha, and launched just prior to the mini-crisis where the Chinese stock market crashed in Shanghai.? When that happened, I wrote a popular piece that Seeking Alpha picked up that my friend Cody Willard promoted as well.

And off we went!? A grand experiment, allowing me to spread my wings more wide than at RealMoney.? My goal was to do a brain dump of areas where I thought I had competence.? I didn’t want to be like many bloggers where over 50% of their post is quoting others — I wanted to write from my heart, expressing my views on a wide number of topics relating to economics, finance and investment, from my unusual framework, which is Evangelical Christian, mostly libertarian (but not for financials), actuarial, value investor, doubting neoclassical economics and modern portfolio theory.

I was recently at a Baltimore CFA Society meeting, when a few people came up to me telling me how much they liked my blog.? Some quoted to me recent pieces I had written.? This was new; I was surprised.? I have never had local people come to me and say that.? Yes, stats for Maryland on my blog are above average, but my work helping the local CFA Society always seemed to be detached from other things that I do.? My worlds are merging, maybe.

My worlds are also merging from the many evangelical Christians who write to me.? This is a blog written by a Christian, not a Christian blog.? I’m here to serve everyone, but my views on ethics will color all that I write.

At the beginning, I tried focused linkfests, where I drew together posts on a hot topic, and narrated them to give my thoughts.? Those were a lot of work.? Today, my linkfests occur through Twitter.

Twitter: it took me even more pain to decide to do Twitter.? Given that my blogging is more long-form than most — why should I do Twitter?!? My answer for today is simple: to have good conversations, and push good content to readers.? And, for those who don’t do Twitter, they can read my weekly sorted tweets.? I got the idea from History Squared, a newer blog that I like.? Sorting the tweets makes them more useful to readers, so if it takes half an hour to do so each week, it is worth it.

But now I have more followers on Twitter than on RSS.? 6000 vs 5300.? I prefer RSS because people see the whole post, but I understand how the lower bandwidth on Twitter allows people to choose what attracts them.? Twitter makes us all epigram writers in AOL-ese.? It is challenging to do, but I like a good challenge.

I’ve written a number of series that have been significant:

• The Rules
• Education of a Corporate Bond Manager
• Flavors of Insurance
• A Day in the Life of John Davidson

I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them now.? At the same Baltimore CFA Society meeting as mentioned before, one person asked me, “How do you write about the wide variety of topics that you do?”

Part of it is my varied career, and educational background.? I have worked in a large number of areas, and have not been afraid to branch out and try things slightly outside my grasp.? You only learn when you fail.? I’ve learned a lot. I’ve failed a lot.

If you don’t take reasonable chances, you won’t grow.? Look for opportunities to expand your abilities — who can tell where you will go?!? Opportunities go to those who are there, grab hold of them, and win.? If you don’t try, you won’t win.

I know that my blog is an acquired taste, and best for professionals and advanced amateurs.? If you are a beginner, best you should focus on my personal finance category.

My goal has been to give something back to my readers.? I’ve had an interesting career, with many unusual and entertaining experiences.? I don’t have to have more fame or clients.? I enjoy relating the truths of the markets to others, whether they are beautiful or ugly.

To my readers: I don’t know if I will last another thousand posts, but I appreciate that you read me, eclectic as I am.? The one thing I promise: I will do my best for you, poor as that may be.

Your Servant,

David

PS — I know that my views on Fed policy and economics will win me few friends, but someone has to point out that the paradigm is broken.? Same for Modern Portfolio Theory….

Some of my readers might know that one of my hobbies is cooking.? Today I cooked a 24-pound Turkey, 4-pounds of Roast Beef, made gravies for both, mashed potatoes, mulled apple cider, toffee and stuffing, for a gathering of 25 at my house, who brought other foods (salads, some pies).? My kids made pies, Watergate salad, and fudge.? My wife got the day off, which is actually pretty normal at our house, because homeschooling the remaining four kids takes up her time.? The kids and I cook.

One family at the meal has given up on wheat, because of gluten.? They don’t have the celiac disease, but they say they feel better without it.? The pie crusts, aside from one brave attempt to use rice flour, were the only wheat in the meal. (Note: gluten makes a lot of foods possible.? It holds things together.)

But that gave me a challenge: wheat-free stuffing.? Now, my wife has a rule that she employs for when company visits: “Never serve anything that you have never tried before.”? I don’t follow that rule.? I have a different rule: “Taste. Adjust. Repeat as needed.”? I have enough tricks up my sleeve, that if something is not working, I can usually fix it.? Cooking is fairly intuitive for me; I can usually figure out what is needed to make the dish sing.

But I had never run into a stuffing recipe that did not contain *some* wheat.? After all, most cornbread recipes contain wheat.? But when I saw this recipe, and thought it through, I realized that I could create a non-wheat stuffing recipe that would taste very similar to a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing.? So here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 ml) butter
• 2 cups (500 ml) cornmeal
• 6 cups (750 ml) milk
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp (30 ml) salt
• 1 tsp (15 ml) sugar
• 2 tsp (30 ml) baking powder
• 2 medium onions
• 2 stalks of celery
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 tbl (45 ml) parsley (dried is fine for the spices)
• 1 tsp (15 ml) sage
• 1 tsp (15 ml) rosemary
• 1 tsp (15 ml) thyme
• butter to grease casserole dish

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350?F (175?C)
2. Melt butter in a pot on medium heat.
3. Chop celery & onion and add to the pot.? Cook until softened.
4. Add cornmeal. Stir mixture to warm up the cornmeal.
5. Add milk and bouillon cubes. Stir until mixture has thickened.
6. Add parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
7. Beat eggs. Beat in salt, sugar, and baking powder.
8. Slowly add some of the thickened cornmeal mixture to the egg mixture while mixing to temper the eggs.? (Note: Do not add the egg mixture to the cornmeal. Some of the eggs will cook on impact resulting in streaks of cooked eggs and a heavier stuffing.)
9. Stir the egg mixture into the rest of the cornmeal.
10. Pour the mixture into a greased 9×13 inch casserole dish
11. Bake at 350?F (175?C) for 30 minutes or until the top has browned

A fusion of two dishes, never tried before, and it was a hit.? Everyone liked it. Note that the amounts on the spices are approximations — I added the spices by hand, not spoon. “Taste. Adjust. Repeat as needed.”

So, for those that want to have stuffing, but can’t have wheat, this could be a good alternative.

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There’s something more to say this evening.? My wife came to me after talking with a neighbor who is having difficulties at work because of a tough boss.? In my own life, I have had my share of good and bad bosses, so I can sympathize.

In this environment, the first thing is to be thankful that you have a job.? Second, if you have a good boss, be very thankful.? A good boss is often worth more than a higher salary.? I learned more from my good bosses than those that were negligent.

And, if you are a boss, consider how you can better teach and motivate your subordinates.? I was working for the guy who I regard as my “best boss,” when he came in and said “Sorry, David, you drew the short straw, and now you have to oversee YYY.”? YYY was a problem employee who was quite bright as a programmer.? He was slow to get work done.? I sensed that he was bored.? Being more of a programmer at that time, I had some sympathy for him — eventually, my thought was, “How can I make his work more interesting?”? The commercial internet was still waiting to be born, and so I suggested the concept of setting up a “bulletin board” that could be accessed via dialup for our pension clients to use.

That caught his attention, and not only did he throw himself into that project, but he did all of his more “boring” projects well also.

I’m not good with people, but I did turn around one problem employee.

Back to my main point: if you have a job be grateful, but if you have a good boss, be more grateful.

From the Merkel house: blessings to all of my readers, not only now, but always and ever.