October 2008

1. Playbook Says Sell Stocks 2. Cody Trump, Jr 3. Food Bank Bailout 1. The playbook that I’ve been laying our for you guys says that we’re likely rangebound between 7k and 9500 and that you should sell/short all extreme rallies and buy/cover on all extreme selloffs. That means you should be shorting this rally right now if you’re a trader. 2. Oil’s down 35% in October. And ... read more

You wired me awake and hit me with a hand of broken nails You tied my lead and pulled my chain to watch my blood begin to boil But I'm gonna break, I'm gonna break my, I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run - Soundgarden (which is the greatest name for a band ever) * Remember the trading playbook here. I've been saying that we're likely range-bound ... read more

It's a random kind of thing Came upon a delicate flower I can't believe a machine gun sings Driveby, driveby  -- Neil Young I'll do my usual Weekend Vittles piece tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a random collection of random thoughts - * We definitely need to bail her out, asap. Maid-Turned-Realtor Masterminded Las Vegas Mortgage Scam, Prosecutors ... read more

1. We Already Bailed Out Hedge Funds 2. Counting the Candidate Googles 3. Billions, Trillions - Whatev 1. Actual headline of the day: “SAC's Cohen, Einhorn Raise Money From Investors as Most Hedge Funds Shrink”. Don’t we need to bail out the hedge funds now too? Oh, wait, we already did that for Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Morgan and Goldman – they were nothing but hedge funds ... read more

Here’s how I was trying to spur growth in my own head today (hey now, no ego jokes!) 1. Cutting Rates Hurts the Banks! 2. Interventionists - Slow Down Please 3. Hula Hooping at Hulu.com 1. If the Fed’s now paying interest to the banks for the junk they use as collateral these days, and if the Fed bases the rate it’s willing to pay those banks based up its own Fed Funds Rate that ... read more

1. Bearish Volatility 2. Political Encouragement 3. Welcome to 2002, MTV! 1. The stock market didn’t drop 10% from its highs from 2003 through early 2007. I’m not talking about a 10% drop in a single day, but for four years, it never dropped 10% from its highs at all. Nowadays stocks put on a 10% move in a single day. Stocks doubled from 2003 and 2007. Stocks are still down 30% ... read more

Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied Tell me that you'll want the kind of things that money just can't buy I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love -   As if you can't name this band If you risked money on real estate in the last few years and now you own couple houses and a lot in town - The government's gonna take from someone else and help you ... read more

1. The Beatings Will Continue… 2. The Next Peak Earnings? 3. I’m Hurt by Big Company Favoritism Here’s what I was carving up in my own pumpkin today: 1. Real headlines today: “U.S. Property-Casualty Insurers Won't Seek Government Capital”. “Trichet Says ECB Cut `Possible' Next Week as Market Crisis Damps Inflation”. “Capital One, KeyCorp Among 18 Banks Receiving $35 ... read more

I keep hearing people justify the New Socialism of our entire financial system by saying that it "took systemic failure off the table".   Wall Street brokerage firms don't exist anymore.  Our entire big banking system is backstopped by taxpayers.  Big corporations with too much debt for the market to support anymore get to borrow from taxpayers at below market rates, horribly skewing the ... read more

1. Bill Gross’ Gross Bill 2. 6000 Points Down… 3. Not Hank’s Kinda Big Brother 1. I heard Bill Gross say today, ““World not prepared for secular delivering, either financial markets or global economy.”  I thought this guy said that if you’d said him and his richest banker friends trillions of taxdollars that we’d all be okay.  Guess they just wanted the money after ... read more