After a few experiences of frustration with "Financial Advisors" where I was left with the impression of "I could do better than that" and feeling like they were making more money off of my investment than I was, I've decided to put my money where my mouth is and invest directly in some stocks. I'm just dabbling for now, as I don't want my initial lessons in the market to be too costly; the majority of our money is in mutual funds.

I have to admit that Jim Cramer of Mad Money is also a big reason why I'm investing. I had flipped past Cramer on CNBC a few times and my first impressions were really negative. I'm a pretty laid back guy, and hyper people get on my nerves. It wasn't until I heard Cramer's bio that my opinion of him turned around and I've been watching him semi-regularly for the past few months now. He seems to be a pretty polarizing figure, and perhaps the antithesis to the finance professors I will likely be exposed to in business school; however, I believe he provides valuable insights into a pretty mystic industry. However, I am certainly not going to follow his advice blindly, but I believe he is the last person on the planet, err street, that would advocate that I should.

I'm off to a pretty decent start. My first picks have been AMD, OSK, NYX, and AAPL. I had buyers remorse with AMD after a week or two, and sold it on the upside, although after transaction fees I lost about $6 on the trade. But, the stock is almost $3 down from where I sold it, so I still did pretty good. Why did I sell? I think AMD makes a great product and they are slowly chipping away at Intel's market share, but the fierce competition between the two is reducing profit margins as each try to undercut each other. Great for consumers, bad for investors.

Oshkosh Truck Company, headquartered just 30 minutes away from me here in Wisconsin, is a well run company with excellent products. I think they are a long run play and one of the better mid-caps. They have been getting more business outside of defense, so they aren't as sensitive to that line of business. This stock is actually one where I ignored Cramer's advice, but I'm up about 7% to date.

My next pick is the New York Stock Exchange itself. I bought in to Cramer's thesis on this stock. They are buying the European Stock Exchange Euronext and look to have their sites on Japanese and other foreign exchanges. They are also automating their operations. The trading floor of yore is turning into a lean money-making machine.

Lastly is everyone's darling, Apple. I had pretty good timing on this so far and bought it a little depressed and right before the iPhone announcement. Let's see how Motorola's lawsuit affects this.

So, there are my initial picks. I'm planning on picking two more stocks, then letting the $2,500-$3,000 mill around and see what comes of it after a year or two of my personal management. I've added my portfolio to the sidebar so you can follow along if you are so inclined. Let's see if I'm smarter than the market, or, more importantly to me, those "financial advisors".

--Chris

Jim Cramer got another one right on his show Mad Money. Several weeks ago, Cramer made the case for Six Flags (NYSE: SIX), basically as a real estate play. Well, Six Flags is selling 7 parks and there stock is up a quick 9% this morning. As I recall, his thesis was basically this: The company stinks, but they are sitting on a gold mine of real estate worth more than the company itself is valued, therefore the stock is cheap.

--Chris

I submitted my last January application last night: Yale Shcool of Management. SOM's application is by far the easiest. There was also a lot of overlap in essay topics with some of the other schools to which I submitted applications, making things a bit easier. Given SOM's small class size and the fact that around 40 admits from last year deferred to this year, I believe my chance of getting accepted to Yale are more slim than any other school that I'm applying to.

Either way, it is a relief to have all of my applications submitted. Now it is a waiting game, but, with the expectation that I will be admitted somewhere, I am going to start making preparations for a major life change immediately.

--Chris