"Well now lemme see... I bought Simon Property Group (SPG) on 11/14/01
at $28.68 a share. I had a stop loss order in place and sold at
$51.10 on 4/12/04. A slightly bad move but I worry about preservation
of capital. When it was clear that I had found the bottom, I bought
it back on 4/16/04 for $51.32. It closed today at $82.95. "

And what does any of that have to do with considering which of several
home improvements
one is considering would add the most value to a home? BTW, the
statement
"when it was clear that I had found the bottom...", is a dead give away
as to your expertise
in investment matters. Anyone but a rank amateur knows that it's
never clear that a stock
has hit bottom, which is only clear from hindsight. Plenty of
investors in Enron and Worldcom
thought those stocks had bottomed at dozens of points, all the way to
zero. And getting stopped
out at one price, only to buy it back later at a higher price doesn't
look to smart either, does it?


"Now I don't know how my house has appreciated in the same time period,

but it doesn't match that but what does it matter? "

Then you must be pretty ignorant of what is going on around you. I
have a pretty good idea of what
homes are selling for in my area. Just because you happen to like to
live in blissful ignorance doesn't
mean we all should.