Last week at markets was very interesting. Crude oil prices retreat. At Friday closing it hit $128.88 per barrel.

Crude Oil Futures

Four following sessions gave black candlesticks and price broke resistance of some short-term SMAs. SMA15 started to move downward.

This factor influenced indexes. Two strong white candlesticks emerged on S&P500.

S&P 500

However, last Friday on S&P500 was weaker than two previous sessions. There is important resistance near 1275 formed by January and March minimums and I wouldn’t be surprise that before breaking it, index has to do small backward movement. Next days will show whether S&P 500 is able to attack this price level and go up or will continue downward movement. Of course it is strongly dependent on crude oil price. Therefore, currently we should always look at both charts.

“The good thing about bear markets is that they price in such bad news that it becomes easy at some point to surprise positively,” said Alec Young, strategist at Standard & Poor’s.

Gold behaves very well. SMA15, SMA30 and SMA50 are pointed up. I think last few sessions are only a correction necessary for further movement in upward direction. I currently keep my gold certificates (an asset on GPW – Warsaw Stock Exchange) and expect 1000$ per ounce. Of course this is not the level when I immediately sell. If the gold price would remain in uptrend, I keep it.

Gold Futures

Investing your time in physical activities is definitely a great idea. It is both fun and good for overall health. Today, I want to present different frugal activities and if you want to add some action to your lifestyle I’m pretty sure you will find there something that fits to you.

Walking

If you haven’t exercised for a long time, then walk is a way to go. You can develop your new habit beginning with this activity. Walking is free, nice and not so demanding for beginners. Take comfortable clothes and shoes and set a track across a nice park. I walk everyday 15 minutes to the office and back. In the morning, it is a great way to get some fresh air after night and when I finish hard day at the office, 15 minutes of walk helps me to release any unnecessary stresses and tensions.

Running

Running is one of my favorite workouts. Can help you burn fat and is much tougher than walking. Important thing is a good pair of shoes and if you don’t need any other gadgets for runners, you can find it great and cheap activity. If you want to begin running, the best place to get some basic knowledge is beginners guide to running on Zen Habits.

Swimming

I prefer to swim in pools, which is not so frugal option. But if there is a good, warm weather outside and a nice lake placed near your home, it is a possibility worth to consider. Swimming is a great workout for your whole body.

Team sports

Soccer, basketball, volleyball are all great sports you can enjoy with your friends and family. What I find great in team sports is a motivating boost coming from challenge. Everybody wants to be a winner.

Bodyweight exercises

Among most popular are different types of pushups, dips and squats. Everything is for free. The disadvantage is that it is easy to lose motivation. Repeating again and again same boring exercises can be dull. I think it is good option only for a certain period of time and to boost your motivation you can run a small challenge for yourself, like each day increasing the number of repetitions. How far will you go with pushups then?

Basic yoga

photo credit: angela7dreams

I know that probably a lot of you when think about yoga, immediately have an image of impossible to perform stretches and positions. But the basic yoga is something that everybody can perform. Give it a try, because there are a lot of benefits coming from this art. Flexibility, tension reduction, improvement of circulation, coordination… Buy or even better borrow a book, search for on-line tutorials, check for yoga TV shows and DVDs and start practicing.

These are my suggestions. Did I miss something?

Next week I will post a bunch of tips that will motivate you to regular exercising, so stay tuned.

In April I wrote a post about uncluttering keys. As I am a big enthusiast of removing unnecessary stuff from different places and areas of life, today I decided to unclutter my wallet. As probably most of us have oversized wallets, don’t waste a time and join me in this process.

What is inside?

I started with putting everything out of my wallet. You may be surprised with different things you didn’t remember you keep then inside. What did I find in my wallet?

• Money – this is quite obvious. Both bills and coins. I usually don’t have too much in cash. Just for fruits and lunch. This way it is easier to avoid unnecessary shopping.
• ATM card – this also has to remain in my wallet. I very rarely use it, but I prefer to have in case of some unpredicted events.
• Other cards – There is a gym card, which I need almost everyday; few other cards for discounts and bonus points at drug store, gas station etc. What I definitely don’t need to keep in my pocket is my swimming card. It’s almost in pieces and I would better keep it in safer place.
• Driving license, car registration certificate and car insurance – I have to keep them as I use car everyday.
• Few business cards – I didn’t know they even exist in my wallet. Not necessary. Removed.
• Various leaflets and stickers – trashed.
• My student’s card – why I still keep it in my wallet? I won’t throw it away but my wallet is definitely not a place for it. Especially that my student’s card is no longer valid.
• Bus tickets – In past I found myself in situation when I needed them. So I prefer to have few bus tickets in my wallet. But thanks to this uncluttering process I removed few already used and few more which were overdued.
• “Four Wishes” sheet – This one is my personal list of for goals I want to achieve in my life. I keep them in my wallet; read and think about them to motivate myself. It stays where it is.

That’s all from my wallet. It is time to put back everything what I decided to keep. Now, I know everything what is inside and I’m sure I don’t have unnecessary stuff. Additionally, it is neat inside and my wallet is in better overall shape.

The general idea for uncluttering process is simple:

1. Put everything out of your wallet.
2. Separate necessary things from unnecessary.
3. Put back necessary things.

Some of you may have difficulties with removing things that have a special meaning for you. It is okay to keep it, like I keep my “Four Wishes” list, as long as it is really important for you and you are aware that you keep it in your wallet. It’s quite pity to hear that you are emotionally connected to something you have just discovered in your wallet and you didn’t even know it was there for ages.

I wish you happy uncluttering. If you enjoyed it, share your experiences in comments. I would really appreciate it.

photo credit: Saad.Akhtar

Crude oil

Last Friday crude oil hit new record. Early morning was $147.27 a barrel and closed the week at $145.08.

Crude Oil Futures

S&P 500

As long as crude oil is rising, I don’t look too much for gains on indexes. Since last time I was analyzing S&P 500, index broke the support near 1270 and last week definitely confirmed further movement down. I will wait more time for some strength’s signals on the index, before putting my money there.

S&P 500

Gold

Gold continues to behave as I expected. On Friday, gold touched the resistance – half of black marubozu from March. It is very likely that now, there would be small downward movement before breaking this resistance. Then I expect to find it at least near $1000 an ounce. Of course I treat gold as a long term investment and further actions depends on market situation.

Gold Futures