Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

1) Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) - We sold Jan '12 $20.00 puts. On Tuesday Medtronic was down almost 12% resulting from its earnings miss. Volatility (CBOE Volatility Index) was up 12%. Medtronic is a company with a wide moat, i.e., a durable competitive advantage versus its peers in the medical equipment industry. Its Great Recession low was $23.98 on 3/2/09.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending August 27, 2010. We added a new Internet Resource, the Financial Crisis Observatory, to aid our understanding of market bubbles and crashes.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Etcetera

1) Sit Still This is Going to Hurt. Click here.

2) Birthrate is lowest in a century. Click here.

3) The arguments of Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, resemble those of conservative Republicans in the U.S., who have argued against additional fiscal measures even in the face of high unemployment. Trichet cites high debt as biggest threat to recovery. Click here.

Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Covered Calls

1) United States Natural Gas Fund LP (NYSE: UNG) - We sold Jan '12 $12.00 calls.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

2) Intel Corp (Nasdaq: INTC) - We sold Jan '12 $10.00 puts. On Thursday Intel was down almost 4% resulting from its acquisition of McAfee Inc (NYSE: MFE). Volatility (CBOE Volatility Index) was up almost 9%.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending August 20, 2010. We revised the Personal Saving Rate data to reflect the results of the annual revision of the National Income and Products Accounts (NIPAs) release.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Etcetera

1) The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) resumes Wednesday, September 1. Click here for what's on tap.

2) The Layoff Kings: The 25 Companies Responsible for 700,000 Lost Jobs. Click here for who's on the naughtly list. Berkshire Hathaway comes in at # 17.

3) 18 Companies That Consumers Absolutely Hate. The American Customer Service Index rates hundreds of companies based on satisfaction surveys. Our selection of the 18 worst includes four airlines and four cable companies. Banks claim three spots on this consumer blacklist. Click here for the BusinessInsider slide show.

Investors & Friends:

There is no new investment activity to report since our last weekly update.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending August 13, 2010.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

There is no new investment activity to report since our last weekly update.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending August 6, 2010.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio

Investors & Friends:

Here's a summary of our investment actions from the past week.

Option Strategies - Naked Puts

1) Vivus Inc (Nasdaq: VVUS) - Our September $4.00 puts, that we sold, expired.

The date we opened the trade was 5/20/10.

Click here for the Investrio Stock Selector Fund Bull and Bear Market Indicators Report for the week ending July 30, 2010.

Click here for upcoming IPOs.

Lead Fund Manager
Investrio