August 2008

I interrupt this vacation for a special public announcement.   One of the most important Flip Its any American can do is to ignore the advice from financial planners and the oft-under-educated and ill-equipped advisors at your company that always try to convince you to invest in the stock of the same company you work for. From idiotically foolish 401(k) and IRA plans that will match your ... read more

Here’s what I was dreaming of redeeming in my own head today: 1. Olympic Glory, Not Money 2. You’re the Socialist, Not Me! 3. Support Operation Backpack 1. I remember when it was wildly controversial that we’d allow professional athletes to compete in the Olympics. Remember when it was about the spirit of competition and not the money? (and don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ... read more

1. You guys have heard me talk about how semiconductor inventories are up and how when they’re moving up that’s not a time you want to own the stocks. You can see the spike in this chart here from The Telecom Connection Newsletter-- Don’t fight it – stay away from the semi’s. 2. Real headline today: Nobel Laureates Scholes, Stiglitz Predict Slowdown; Goldman Sees Recession. ... read more

Today's sign that the investment banking and hedge fund worlds are in full secular decline -- you think they'd be blasting people like me with emails like this a week before the event if biz were fine? I don't: Currently we have three remaining options on a first come/first served basis available until August 29th: 1. Cocktail Reception Sponsor ($20,000): Your organization is presented as ... read more

1. “Bizarre” Ain’t Good 2. Temporarily Vicious 3. Sentimental Rally Ahead 1.  Condo Rice dismissively says the Russian reaction to our signed missile deal with Poland was “bizarre”.   Uh, isn’t “bizarre” the worst case scenario when it comes to geopolitical actions? 2.  There’s a new less-global economy and society that we’ve entered into as we enter this ... read more

1. Trade-able Rally Cometh 2. Obama Energy Hypocrisy 3. McCain Energy Hypocrisy 1. I’ve been saying for weeks that the way to trade this market is…er, had been to short the rallies. Sentiment is awfully negative out there right now and that means shorting rallies isn’t such a good idea right now…watch for a big countertrend rally of 5-10% in the next few weeks. 2. Energy ... read more

Here is the first of my Four No Brainer Trades for the end of the first decade of the 21st century. 1.  Bet on higher rates. We've gone from a glut of capital and liquidity to a shortage.  What happens when supply dries up and demand continues?  Prices rise. The supply of capital has clearly dried up in this country, but people and companies still very much need short-term and long-term ... read more

First they sold out to Motorola.  Then to Gap.  Now to the evil empire of Wal-Mart? And don't get me started on Jimmy Page's playing for the opening of the NYSE at the top of WMG's market cap, when it came back public after its owners fleeced its value. I love rock n roll.  I love AC/DC.  ... read more

I had an interesting back and forth with a Congressman's Press Secretary...how great is it that we can have discussions like this in this country? I'd imagine the tone from say a Chinese representative might be a little different than this. Great country. Let's keep on keeping it that way. Cody, Big fan of the show; my boss, Congressman Garrett (R-NJ) has been on with y'all a couple of ... read more

1.  Greenspan’s “BSC Bailout” 2.  Jonas Brothers Who? 3.  Simply Put:  Fear Putin! 1.  Anybody else notice that Greenspan (okay, okay, agreed he’s salt-grain worthy, but still), anybody notice that he didn’t mince words in the WSJ today in calling not just the FNM and FRE bail outs actually “bail outs”, but he called the Bear Stearns bail out exactly what it was – a bail ... read more