The real dilemma they have is future reserve growth. Shell isn't up to the game compared with BP.

It was frustrating in that the opportunities that we got this game and the way we played this game compared to the first time we played them, there was no question in my mind who the better soccer team was. It just didn't show up on the scoreboard. Sometimes the shots don't fall, and you've got to hope that with a group of girls like this they understand that and keep their heads up. This is the best we've played, honestly.

Slower than expected sales growth over the course of the year led to a trimming of marketing spend compared to that originally budgeted for the year. Companies are clearly entering 2006 in a more cautious mood than in recent years.

There were times last year when we looked very, very good, ... There were times we went into a shell. Part of it is the maturing process a team has to go through.

It should be clear that modern fractional reserve banking is a shell game, a Ponzi scheme, a fraud in which fake warehouse receipts are issued and circulate as equivalent to the cash supposedly represented by those receipts.

The house wasn't for sale, but we wanted to sew it up for our future. We saw the growth at Eagle Ranch and neighboring communities and wanted to have some room for the youth.