Welcome

Hello!

Today I have officially gone "live" with this blog. While you can find a certain amount of content written as far back as the end of April, this has mostly been in a testing stage. I've had a few people review the site from different backgrounds so I could test their reactions. I've decided to open this site to the rest of the world at this time because most of of the feedback from my "test group" has been positive.

A few notes regarding questions I have received:

I have turned the comments section off on most posts. Legal concerns prompted me to do this . Please address any questions or comments to lumencapital@hotmail.com. I will either address them in a separate e-mail or post answers here if I feel there's a benefit to doing so.

A blog is meant to be more of an informal style. I am trying to strike a happy medium in not only what I write but it's tone. Please keep in mind that I have a clientele that ranges from very sophisticated investors to people who don't give a rat's hoot about the markets. I am trying to write for and explain the world of investing as I understand it to everybody.

This blog shows the most recent entry first. To keep to the timeline you need to go back to the April archives and read the entries in reverse order. Each entry is designed to be read in about 5 minutes.

Except in a general manner or to use them to illustrate a point, I will not discuss individual stocks or personal portfolio questions at this site. If I do discuss individual securities I will disclose whether I or my clients own these securities. You will usually see a footnote at the bottom of the post similar to this: "Long XYZ common in both individual and/or client accounts although postions are subject to change at any time."

I think I'll stop for today. I thought I would reprint here my introduction from April {first printed April 26, 2005} to review my general goals and outlines for this blog.

From April 22, 2005:

Solas

Hello and Welcome!

One of my promises at the beginning of the year was to begin an investment series that covered a multitude of topics. Yet as you all can see it is almost May with so far nothing written. It has not been for want of trying but rather timing! I have a lot that I want to cover and not enough time to put it all into literate thought. As an experiment I am going to try for a time to put out parts of this series in serial form on the internet. A blog so far seems to me to be the best opportunity to focus on what I want to write in a time efficient and hopefully interesting manner. However, please keep in mind that so far this is a hit or miss experiment. I don't yet know if this is going to work, how it's going to look or even if I am going to be satisfied with the end product. As a work in progress, especially at its inception, this may be a hit or miss endeavor. I don't know yet how to import charts or pictures or do many of the things that make this look pretty or more professional. Nor am I going to take time away from my business to become an expert blogger. I do over time hope to make this better. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

What this is:
A learning experience.
A way for me on occasion to make a point.
A way for me on occasion to discuss markets and investing.
A place for me on occasion to discuss the vagaries of life and perhaps editorialize.
A place to discuss the investment process.

What this is not:
A forum to tout any form of individual investments. (Particularly individual stocks).
A place for me to give individual investment advice. (Call me or others for this).
A theatre for me to tell you how wonderful I am.
An environment for me to make stock valuation predictions. i.e. "XYZ is worth 50 dollars!"
And anything else that I might think of going forward.
Well with the introduction out of the way, let's begin.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

Chris