Archive for August 2007
Closing Bell YouTubing
Well, not really much market commentary today. Since my good day on Tuesday I've stayed out of the market, save for longer time-frame positions that are doing fine with time premium melting away towards September options expiration on the 21st. For the short term swing plays that can last anywhere from minutes to a few days, I've gotten to where if I have any reasonable hesitation, I just wait for a better "feeling." Monday afternoon,…Read More
Arrivée
Arnold, CA. Just minutes ago. The cabin. Maybe I'll stir some shit over the weekend right here.Read More
Two Funny Things
1. Funny: This post on the completely undefined or distinguished "Conservative Revolution." 2. Funnier: The seven comments (so far). If Paul accomplishes nothing but expose the republicans for the slithery and unprincipled reptiles they've become, then it'll be something, I guess. At minimum, it should be interesting. I'm pretty confident that Paul will soon command "top tier" status simply because the media is being embarrassed right and left and the coverage volume is increasing pretty…Read More
Euphemisms and Distinctions
At least I was able to laugh Driving home from breakfast, I mustered the nerve to switch over to NPR and listen to a "debate" (euphemism for phony opposition) over California's health care "crisis" (euphemism for manufactured hysteria). I learned that what we need is a "plan" (euphemism for scam) for a "system" (euphemism for absolute control by the state and select privileged companies) in order save us from the "random hodge podge" (euphemism for…Read More
Rats or Cockroaches; No Matter; When the Light Gets Flipped On, It’s All the Same Scene
That was my line out loud, just a few minutes ago in the locker room over at the gym in response to this on the Teevee, which earned a round of laughs and nods from the guys. It's fair to say we were all very surprised by this. That's the typically lying hag bag of shit, Hillary!; who else? You know, it's difficult for me to recall -- going back to 1991 here -- a…Read More
The “Poverty” Swindle
Warren Meyer does his usual superb job in cataloging the mass of lies that always go into this sort of thing -- always. But be my guest; you're always welcome to keep being the leftists' fools. It's the only way they can possibly survive and operate. Without fools, both parties would cease to exist of course; by my bet is the democrats would collapse first. To state it another way: that "99%" of politicians lie…Read More
“Rebublican Renaissance”
I've just spent a rather enthralling 45 minutes watching the video, Ron Paul: A Man For All Seasons. It's very, very tight in terms of coherence to a simple set of principles; it's comprehensive in terms of the message it seeks to deliver and the impressive volume of sources it uses; and it's put together by one David McClain, an apparent "nobody," like you or I. I like the substantial, all-caps tag line to his…Read More
All Your Lies
Yea, I could maybe pick at a thing or two, but the essential message is, to me, quite powerful and moving. I just can't imagine supporters for any of the other candidates being able to come up with anything even close. Anyway, that's apparently the favorite video of this democrat homeschooling mom. I'm a big sucker when it comes to seeing people awaken to freedom, liberty, and honesty for the first time right before my…Read More
Almost as if?
It's almost as if politicians don't really care what lenders are doing, they just want to find an excuse to get a few sound-bites on the local news back in their district and issue some legislation to expand federal power in the banking industry. Ya think? I think I know how how friar William of Ockham would call it. When people politicians find themselves in a heads-I-win, tails-I-win situation, it's had to imagine them not…Read More
Note to Beck
Billy: It's a load of fun, really. When I was on 7th Fleet staff over in WestPac, we staff officers used to get together in various ports and make lots of fun of it. I've "hashed" in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia (Penang, not Kuala Lumpur, it's place of origin), Hong Kong, and numerous times in Japan -- including once a course with the terminal point (and beer kegs and BBQ) at my house in Hayama.…Read More
Closing Bell: Beautiful Carnage
I should probably refrain from comment, believing the ancient wisdom that pride cometh before a fall, but this was one hell of a day; one that I happened to guess exactly right. Even though my guess is that we'll be making new highs later this year (Santa Rally), and that could get started anywhere from after Labor Day to a month from now (if...if...), I don't think this correction is over yet, even though we…Read More
Ego “Justice” Update
A bitch of a deal When Linares asked the city to repair the white three-railed fence behind his house, he was told it was on his property and his responsibility. So he replaced the termite-infested planks. Then the city reversed itself and said Linares had illegally built the fence on city property. Now he's going to jail for six months with no possibility of probation or house arrest. I'm sure that will sit well with…Read More
Common Denominator?
...Internationally. Worldwide. That's the essential question, and given the nature of the subject matter, it seems pretty clear to me that it's got nothing to do with which group of unfortunate unprivileged gets to bear the expense of majority public policy machinations. However weird, quirky, misguided, foolish, naive, likable or unlikeable, it seems to me there can be only one idea -- one ideal -- that could possibly unite all of these people, worldwide. How…Read More
“Honesty and Competence”
Alberto Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday — ending a nasty, monthslong standoff over his honesty and competence at the helm of the Justice Department. Talk about dropping context. The quite simple fact of the matter is that the first of those concepts forecloses the possibility of the latter in anything having to do with the concept and context of Justice. If one is honestly seeking justice, then competence has…Read More
“Land of the Free” Updates
Both from Radley Balko, as usual. First up; Highway Robbery. Should people who carry large sums of cash just assume that there's a small chance the government will simply steal it from them at gunpoint? I rather think there's a small chance that anyone besides the government will steal it from them at gunpoint. The real "funny" part -- and I was just telling someone about this the other day, to their total astonishment --…Read More
Closing Bell YouTubing
In an email to a trading group I sponsor, I wrote early Monday that I guessed the market would be up pretty big this week. Indeed, the S&P posted a 34pt gain for nearly 2.5%, the largest up-week that it has been able to hold onto since mid-March. Unfortunately, I only caught half of it. Wednesday's price action looked like it could stall, so I took modest profits and am now in wait to catch…Read More
Sell Us Your Strocks Cheap, Please
One of, if not my favorite trader blogger, Carl Futia, is right on the money, I think. Oh, sure, he could be wrong -- we all can always be wrong -- but what's important is that the price for being wrong can be minimal (you'll know soon enough), but the price for being wrong in the other direction could be very costly indeed, in terms of missed opportunity. So, yep, when you see the doom…Read More
moneymoneymoney…MONEY!
Some people...got t' have it I'll start off blunt: I've always thought (well, since I started thinking) the idea of a "gold standard" -- or any commodity-based backing for currency -- is wrongheaded; not primitive, per se, but certainly not advanced beyond the industrialization of the 19th century. It's for concrete-bound, barely conceptual (in a financial sense) people who lack imagination, and, really, a fundamental notion of human potential and that most human of attributes:…Read More
Optimism Indulgence
Go Ahead. You know you want to.Read More
Noteworthy
Those who know and understand the enormous costs involved in general aviation ought to take note of this. 50 MPG; 170 MPH; $70k brand new. If it pans out, that's a smokin' deal, let me tell you. Update. Here's an inflight view from the cockpit. Yes, please.Read More