As of today, we've made nearly ten buckson the one share of BP we bought as a gift for the lucky person who will have guessed its value on this coming Christmas Eve. We bought at $29.67 on June 23-and it's trading at $38.18 this morning. We're not the only ones making out like bandits: "anti-big-government" Wisconsin Senate candidate Ron Johnson plans to sell his BP holdings to finance his campaign! Nifty. BP reported major losses in the second quarter of 2010, unsurprisingly; in the 2009 second quarter, they reported a profit of $4.4 billion. Yes, that's right! $4.4 billion in three months.

In January, BP's stock price was hovering above $60 a share. This is when all of America was focused on rebuilding Haiti. (That went well.) Even BP got into the charitable spirit. At the time, the oil behemoth was getting set to drill a new well at its Deepwater Horizon site, even though at the time BP knew the well to be dangerously high-pressured. While Anderson Cooper leaped into action to single-handedly save Haitian children, BP announced the conclusion to a successful cleanup of its Alaska pipeline leak. BP's market value surpassed rival Royal Dutch Shell. BP was about to be named an [...]

You guys! It's finally happening! I know I have been beating this drum since April, but, but, but, Citigroup stock (your own personal stake in the finance world, sadly and suspiciously removed from the DOW this summer) is going to magically break free from the under-$5 club, thanks in part to Goldman Sachs buy-buy-buy-ism. Here's my stock tip: get in while the gettin' is good, just like the rich people!