There are NO Cara 100 Ratings Changes to report at this time.

Here is a new Zacks Research Report on GRMN:

http://tinyurl.com/2nut54

Have a great day and a fun filled holiday weekend.

NOT.V- may catch a bid at the open...

would be careful adding to ultrashorts until monday's close->with only two days (or is it a day and a half) to end of quarter/year, what's to stop funds from pulling out the stops and running prices up...all that selling yesterday may even have been to raise the cash to place bids today...

Howard Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Associates on Bloomberg to discuss the outlook for the retailers and the U.S consumer:

http://www.paperdinero.com/BNN.aspx

Yaba,

One common problem I've been seeing with AV issues lately is related to some anti-spyware software called spybot. Spybot has a feature that let's you go in and "immunize" your computer against certain threats. This immunization can cause SEVERE problems with some AV software. Your machine will run at about 10% of it's normal speed if this problem surfaces. It will appear to be frozen or very nearly frozen. Is there any chance you've had Spybot installed before?

Here is the fix for this particular problem.
First, in order to get the machine to the point where you can even work on it, I would uninstall the AV software. Next, go into spybot and tell it to undo the immunization. If you had already removed spybot, simply re-install it, tell it to immunize your computer again, then un-immunize it. After this is done, restart the computer and re-install your AV software and it should behave normally. This little problem about drove me up the wall the first time one of my users ran into it. I have no idea if this is the problem affecting you, but if you've ever had spybot on that machine, I'd give it a try.

2nd

"would be careful adding to ultrashorts until monday's close"

Make sense...good thinking!

Zenob,
My gosh I think you are right. Spybot did come up in the process of fixing it. I got too frustrated and stopped listening at one point to the techie, but the word immunization came up. It runs like a bullet now. Deepfreeze is a little tedious, but I feel like I am in control. I got the 30day trial. I backed up all my files. If I get any major problems I will go back to the AV solution. Thanks, you are a genius. You picked up on the immunization issue... wow

Not really surprising news, but new home sales hit 12-year low in November:

http://tinyurl.com/36zbda

Does anyone believe anyone other than Bill Miller and nervous shorts were buying HB stocks recently?

Bill,

It sounds like your computer had a medical procedure, not a software upgrade..:^)

Almost need a PHD to figure out what you did...

Is anyone having issues with IB TWS?
My market data connections lost few minutes ago and I am not able to log in.

JogyP - IB looks ill today.

IB knows they have an issue and are working on it.

What I would recommend doing is either getting two hard drives or at least partitioning the hard drive so that you can have an OS partition and a data partition(or if you have two drives, and OS drive and a Data drive). Then do a clean install of your OS, get all the applications you need installed, do your updates, then use imaging software such as Ghost or Drive Image to create an image of of your OS partition and store it on your data partition. This way if your OS get's screwed up or if it simply begins acting up on you, you can simply re-image it off of the image file saved on your D drive and restore it to it's pristine state. Your total downtime in case of an OS crash would be less then 30 minutes. I used drive images extensively for the computers in a call center at work. Total downtime if they screwed up was usually about 15 minutes. If a hard drive blew up, make it 25 minutes. Personally I like having my system refreshed a couple times a year just to maintain speed/stability.

I would also do periodic backups of your data partition to either an external HD or a tape backup as well(external HD is easier). That way you can survive a HD crash as well. You would simply install the new HD, partition it, then re-image your OS partition to C and copy your data back to D. I wouldn't think this process would take much longer then 1-2 hours for most people depending on machine speed.

Also download Firefox and use it instead of Internet Explorer. This will drastically reduce the amount of spyware/malware you can get infected with via web browsing. I would also make certain my automatic updates were turned on AND keep up to date AV software installed. It's a good idea to use google as your main search engine too. They are starting to flag malicious websites in their results now. If they flag a site they will even warn you before allowing you to click through to it.

BIOS updates I wouldn't normally mess with. They are one of those things that fall firmly in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" camp. Unless you are having a bios related issue or need a new feature available in a newer release of the bios, you are perfectly safe leaving it alone.

Symantec is a good product. I presently have it on my machines at work. I also like Trend Micro(I know this one can be affected by the spybot immunization bug). I tend to avoid Mcaffee like it's got the plague. I was saddled with the corporate edition of Mcaffee for years and let's just say I don't have fond memories.

My TWS is also down but my other brokerage account is fine.

Maromatics:
I appreciate your sobering post from earlier this morning.
Also, belated respect for the views which you expressed about the S&P 500 the week before Christmas, starting with Monday, and then thursday early afternoon...

regards

joey

Has anyone commented on symmetrical triangles that are forming on both SP and Dow? Looks likely to resolve in next 1-3 weeks. Using calculations taught by professor go34 are:

SP500 (1576-1406) = +/- 170 = target 1,746 or 1,236

Dow: (14,198-12,724) = +/- 1,474 = target 15,672 or 11,250.

Comments and check of calculations are requested.

JIM:
thanks for posting the link to the Davidowitz interview.
For me, time well spent to watch it and a nice complement to Bill's commentary about 'retails'...

regards
joey

Short seller like Isaiah and 2nd ave may want to use the break down of the triangle formation as entry points into shorts. On the SP500 that break is around 1450'ish area. This is not a recommendation just a point for discussion on where one may look to enter such a trade.

As always confirmation of my analysis is always welcomed.

IB working again!

Went ahead and jumped into the Starbucks mix...

Sold three FEB 20.00 Strike for 1.00...

Let'm Put it to me...

Is Monday a full trading day in US ?

joey- where did macromatics post this morning? I enjoy reading his input but don't see it today.

SLW - Were I still long (I wish!), I'd exit now.

Tradergirl...

End of yesterdays commentary

Just in case you have not yet seen Donald Coxe's latest (December 19) investment recommendations, here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/34g7jc

geckojb at December 28, 2007 10:59 AM

fwiw
The dow now looks a lot like the aug/sep ihs it broke out of.Po is 14800ish

also fwiw,just my guessing per ta.
Hui 580ish per the flag
Gold 1020 per flag

http://tinyurl.com/23m6ry

VRSN - Anyone have an idea as to what's up with the massive 5-day resistance at exactly 38?

Craig

Are you in the house today?

***Or anyone else who has a Scottrade account and uses "stop limit" sell orders.

Yep, what's up?

If it's stop orders, I like % as $ stop loss has built in $0.10 bid spread I don't like that much. Esp. on low priced small caps we all trade.... Ten cents is a lot of cash on something like WGW!

Isaiah:
Re Scottrade - maybe I can help.

Craig...

I was practicing with "stop limit" sell orders in my Scottrade Account [Virtual Trading Mode], and I am having the following problem which after a call to the Scrottrade office, the manager had no idea why it was happening.

INTC was trading at 27.20

I set the Stop Price @ 27.05
Then set the Limit Price @ 27.00

Hit Sell......... and 3 seconds later it sold it at 27.18

It never came close to the Stop Price.

So as you would say...WTF ? ? ?

RobBoss

Jump in too with your 2cents if you want.

Stop orders just sit there until the stop price hits. Did INTC spike down to 27.05 w/o your knowing?

I'm not sure how you are setting it up.
If you want a 27.05 stop on intc you just use the stop loss order of 27.05. Are you mixing up limit and stop orders?

Prieur: nice capture of Donald Coxe's recs.

G034: are You RichardRussell? no kidding.

Gold juniors sure not moving for me. Not that I took big positions but turning into a buy and hope. Would have been more productive to use the more liquid vehicles such as etfs and gold majors.

$gld:$xau hit 5.0...I was expecting the miners to run on the basis that relative weakness had peaked. But, weakness trend is still intact.

Maromatics: i'm a fan, keep posting. Glad to see posts with the short to intermediate top down view. Bill's short term view has not yet materialized, and yesterday Bill was quite open about it. I may be shooting myself in the foot by saying this but a little disappointed that others in the community have not engaged him around this point.

India/INP keeps moving despite so Bill and Coxe's cautions...even saw a note that Crammer sees india's mkt as way overbought. Personally, sold on a tightened trailing stop loss and then went back. Stuck to relative strength signal. Sure enough, working so far, with "trade the prices."

Quite impressed with how others can trade short and still manage the rest of their portfolio. Or, if using only shorts I would never have enough confidence to make such a large bet. Until a downtrend is firmly in place seems to me that it takes constant vigilance. A multi task person, I am not, and temptations to be can get me in trouble. Like may old golf days, "swing easy, to swing hard and to stay within myself."

Craig,
Did it again..again..again...even with the manager we did it over the phone and the same thing happens.

Here are the numbers I used fro INTC.

Trading @ 27.14
Stop Price @ 27.01
Limit Price @ 27.00

Hit Sell......... and a 3 seconds later it sold it at 27.14

Craig

BTW....it never spiked...

Just use the stop order, not a stop limit.

If the price drops to the stop price it generates an open order.

If you want to hold onto more gains a trailing stop is in order.

Look up stop limit orders in the ST tutorials, you will see what you are doing.

Good afternoon Bill,

I am at the Westport library picking up a book, and I thought I'd post. Firstly, has anyone seen/heard from Mikenyc? I sent him a couple of emails and haven't heard back, and i haven't seen him post lately, and I'm starting to worry about him.

Secondly, Did you ever notice that our greatest animosities are reserved for those we once felt affinity for and who backstabbed us? The Pakistani's got rid of their opposition leader/trouble maker 2 days ago and I for one am glad. By the way, have you noticed a worldwide trend toward what I call "Evita Peron syndrome"? It's the tendency of females who were once married to political leaders making the mistake of thinking that they, too are or should be political leaders. Argentina. Pakistan. But what of our own opposition leader/trouble maker right here in the U.S.S.A?
i am of course speaking of the great cattle trader Hillary Clinton, who, in the late '70's with no previous experience and a mere $1000 stake returned a literally unprecedented (and quite unexplainable) ten thousand percent return over the course of ten months. Knowing nothing of the financial markets, and while holding down a full time job at the Rose law firm, Hillary began trading cattle futures from the SHORT SIDE and make 500 percent plus on her first trade. Ultimately, after going over 30 thousand bucks in the hole (and never receiving a margin call or being asked for more money) would up with 99 thousand dollars profit and then, inexplicably, QUIT TRADING! and never touched the financial markets again. Mind you, George Soros, Warren Buffett and Paul Tudor Jones never, in their entire lives put up such astounding percentage returns. Obviously, this doesn't pass the smell test from 50 miles away and should be a re-invigorated issue during the general campaign season upcoming. If anyone is interested in learning more, the National Review did an outstanding job of covering this issue and a quick search for "herd instincts Hillary Clinton cattle trading" (don't use the quotes) will bring up a wealth of fascinating info about what seems clearly to be a crime, plain and simple. What I guess happened is that both long and short positions were initiated, the winners placed in Hillary's account and the losers into the accounts of, well, losers. Or at least people who were not in a position to do the bidding of the chicken king of Arkansas. I do suggest to any hillary supporter that they re-acquaint themselves with not only this issue which got short shrift in the American media and on the Clinton news network (CNN) but also with the land scam/bank scam known as Whitewater, during which Billary seems to have leaned on an arkansas bank to make a loan that ultimately caused the bank to fail. This woman has no right to be running for president, and I want to know what we're going to do to defeat her?

Craig

I'm on hold for a Scottrade tech...... As an engineer this should work.....

Craig & Other Scottrade Account Users

You can't do Stop Limit or Trailing Stops
in Virtual Trading.

Can you "Roger That"?
What a 1st class operation..

Isaiah
Re Stop loss orders

You should also check out the order execution used by Scottrade for different exchanges.

With BMO the rules for execution are different by exchange, ie TSE & NYSE orders are tripped by a trade (board lot min) at my trigger price, but for Nasdaq it only has to match the front bid to launch, doesn't actually have to trade at that price.

Also there are some limitations by exchange on which conditions you can place on various types of orders, ie every order modifier won't work on every order. And there is often no warning that the combination won't work, order accepted and just sits in limbo, until you call them later and they tell you that won't work. You gotta do alot of reading in the fine print.

Anyway I only like to use stop loss (trip to market order) on highly liquid stocks, which get filled quickly. Now I agree on some I want a trip combined with a limit (lowest fill price), in which case I'm usually filled on the way back up.

Wow Sharkie, welcome to 1993. That was 14 years ago. Let's move on as what has transpired since makes all that tripe look incredibly petty.

BTW, NOT supporting HC, but am doubly sure I don't want any part of the 90's anymore, most especially old 90's right wing whacko political hate talk based on information from Rush Limbaugh. I don't care about Enron now either. Whitewater? You'll have to make something else up. You can always try to fall back on religion, abortion and guns.
That always seems to seperate the poor fools from their money and civil rights.

Quasi

"You should also check out the order execution used by Scottrade for different exchanges."

I'd like to... but the people at my Scottrade Office are "State Certified Borderline Idiots".

This weekend I will try to comb the Scottrade web site myself looking for the order execution used by them.

I like your guidlines for Stop & Stop Limit usages.

Thanks!

David...

I hope you are still holding your FXP from yesterday!

Joey,
Jasper,

Thanks for the kind words. They are welcome and apreciated.

FYI I am completely out of the market untill at least Jan 8 or 9 or so: the trading environment during this period is really not my type.

Cheers!

Good Day,
anyone still have take on HRB?
As mentioned before, about 95% stock was hold by institutions...is it still a good short in the near future?

Sharkie - Benazir Bhuto was not married to any political leaders. She was the daugther of a former prime minister who was hanged by the military.

http://www.wic.org/bio/bbhutto.htm

Your comments on someone's murder is objectionable.

Isaiah
Re Stop Loss and Stop Limit, yes there is lots of fine print. If you really want to get into it, get a copy of the exchange rules, now they will take more than a few weekends to read.

The following is from BMO, but may give you some background, I've tried to highlight the sections where the Naz has different exchange rules.

*Implications of Placing a Special Terms Order*
If you're placing a trade for a highly liquid and heavily traded stock, it may be to your disadvantage to place special terms or restrictions on your order. Orders with special terms are also known as restricted orders and are placed in the terms market. These orders are handled manually. Terms orders are given lower priority than unrestricted orders, and in some cases a stock may trade through your price without your terms order being filled. This may happen because Special Terms Orders have no standing on the exchange floor. Placing special terms or restrictions on your order may protect you against having only a small portion of your order filled, but on the other hand it dramatically reduces the probability of your order being filled quickly, or in some cases at all.

*About Sell on Stop Orders*
A Sell on Stop Order is an order to sell a stock if its price falls to a specified amount (Stop Price). This type of order is intended to lock in gains or to limit losses on a stock if the price begins to fall. It is a useful tool to potentially reduce your downside risk. Since these orders are placed below the current market price, you can use them in two ways: to help protect your profits if the price of a stock you purchased rises and then begins to fall; or to potentially reduce your losses if the price of a stock begins to fall after the purchase.

Sell on Stop Orders are very similar to Limit Orders, with one key difference: when the marketplace reaches your Stop Price, the Sell on Stop Order becomes a Market Order, which will be filled at the best available price. Limit Orders, on the other hand, set a specified price or better at which to sell.

*********
There are differences in how stock exchanges manage Sell on Stop Orders. One key difference is that your order will be triggered when a board lot trades at your Stop Price, except on Nasdaq, where a matching bid will trigger your sell order.
*********

When your Sell on Stop Order becomes a Market Order, it will be filled on a best-efforts basis, i.e., at the best available price. We cannot guarantee that your Sell on Stop Order will be executed at the Stop Price indicated once your order is triggered to become a Market Order. In volatile markets or with volatile stocks, the price you receive may be considerably lower than you expect. To reduce your downside risk, you have the option of selecting a Stop Limit in those markets that permit it. The Stop Limit is a restriction on your order that says that once your Sell on Stop Order is triggered, you won't accept a price less than the Stop Limit. If the market price of your stock falls below your Stop Limit before your order is executed, your order will be held through your specified Good Till expiry date. If the price climbs back up, your order will be triggered at your Stop Limit.

*******
Markets that permit Stop Limits include the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX Venture). This feature is not available for Nasdaq-listed stocks.
*******
When entering a Sell on Stop Order, you can set your order to have a maximum duration of 30 days by selecting your desired Good Till expiry date. If your order has not been triggered at that time, it will automatically expire. You'll have to re-enter your Sell on Stop Order if you wish to continue to have this downside protection.

SDS (long)/MGPI (short) - stops moved to break-even; targets unchanged.

Note: SDS = Proshares Ultrashort S&P 500

Hey Shark Attack...Travel around the world a little and get some exposure..

your lack of tact and description of women political leaders speak poorly of your upbringing and awareness of today's realities.

Get out of that library and buy a computer and pay for aninternet connection ..if you cant afford to travel ..at least read up on something around the world...

sorry you cant get a $100K commodity contract and have friends that are not positioned to help you get wealthy...what you been doing all your life..listening to rock and roll ? Comeents like yours are the reason the USA is thought of poorly ...

For those looking for sales, Sandvine lost 20% on "disappointing" outlook.

"Sandvine said that it expects revenue for fiscal 2008 to be between C$100 and C$110 million. This is off the C$123 million that had been anticipated on average, according to Reuters Estimates."

100M in revenue for a tech company that is only a few years old!

No position.

P/S Shark Attak..want to make sure Clinton gets elected? Post more of your silly comments for trhe world to see. How do you think Bush got his leg up...? by working his ass off? Good for him he has a silver spoon...sorry you have to work for a living...and didnt get into yale....maybe you can find your Skull and Bones invitation at that library of yours.

jasper, regarding juniors post at 12:00, I'm not an expert, but I know they have been underperforming. I can't say why exactly, but at some point it will change. I know Bill said a month or two ago that miners would underperform bullion and he's been quite right. But our turn will come. I'm looking to put together a buy list. At some point, these companies will become dear.

Craig, hear hear!

Well said, amigo.

Craig,

You were right about CVP. I should have waited for tax writeoff season to end before speculating.

What was I thinking?

I'm sorry to hear that BH.

i think tax write-off season ended yesterday, given a 3-day settlement period...

UNG- no comment, why jinx it...

BMD- ditto...

Do we have a tax expert in the house? I was under the impression that you can choose either trade date or settlement date, as long as you're consistent.

Quasi

Thanks for the info. I found the rules for Scottrade's Stop orders for Nasdaq NYSE & AMEX.

cyderman:

I'm no expert but this is from the Kiplinger tax tips site..

Last-minute sales
Since it takes several days to settle a trade — between the time you order the sale to the time you get your money — sales during the last few days of the year often straddle year-end. As far as the IRS is concerned, a gain or loss should be reported on the return for the year the trade occurs, regardless of when settlement takes place. That means profits and losses taken as late as the closing bell on New Year's Eve go on the current year's return.

Latour:

Re: HRB
Imho, HRB is a short candidate...I don't know about the near term.

Consider the Point and Figure Chart

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?c=HRB,P&listNum=2

sellers are in charge. a triple bottom breakdown is noteworthy!

I hold deep in the money Jan09 puts.

I think the US dollar was getting stronger when these money injections by the FED and ECB were viewed as temporary loans. Now that the FED says they'll hold these money auctions indefinitely traders are selling the dollar because of the dilution to our currency by this sharp increase in M3.

I'm starting to think the banks are in a lot more trouble than we know. As Bill has said before there's approximately $100 Trillion but there's over 700 Trillion in active derivative contracts. The CDO, SIV portion only makes up 15 Trillion of the total or 2% of the outstanding contracts.

What if the banks have just 10% of these contracts go bad? Could the FED or ECB print enough money to save the system then?

Bill, I think you're right on with Jan 10th being huge becaus eof the retailers. My prediction is that the market rallies until then and then starts the next downleg to reach a lower low. If so, I'll be backing up the short truck!!

Rob.

Sorry,
I meant "there's 100 Trillion invested in worldwide stocks and bonds"

Rob.

RonK,
thank you.

Rob...

Is that Short Truck the same as the short bus I used to take to school? :^)

Happy New year to all...Looking forward to all the great discourse here in the New Year...

Isaiah,

I got tricked by the small rebound rally in the market yesterday in mid-afternoon and sold all my FXP. However, two days ago I also open a short on FXI that was greater in magnitude than my FXP position (if I am all out of cash (which I am not right now, sometimes I am), then FXP has to be purchased on margin and interest has to be paid to my broker, while no interest has to be paid on an FXI short), and I am still holding it.

I have recently realized that shorting the market is a very useful method for "locking in" the profits on my long positions (all in miners and explorers) after a market's rally. That is, when I have a nice gain on my longs after a rally, and when I see the first sign of the rally running out of steam, the probability of a correction increases greatly in my opinion, and instead of doing nothing and risking encountering a downturn in the market and a loss of all my previous gains on my longs, I will short the market and will potentially limit my further upside, but at the same time I will eliminate the downside almost completely. Then, I would use my intuition (and very useful posts on this blog) to figure out when the correction has ran out of steam and will close my shorts into weakness. This has worked great for me since October 31 (when I saw a very grim future painted by the Fed’s statement and figured that it is time to start protecting my longs), and I have actually increased my total portfolio value despite a horrible performance by all my miners/explorers.

Peace all
As there is some discussion re. scottrade and IB today, does anyone have any tips or user comments re Interactive Brokers. I've just deposited and opened a new acct.. Any tips on the website or favorite charts would be very appreciated I have not opened any charts there yet. I am also not in any hurry to trade. I still hold stocks in my old acct, ECU,WGW,PHO,ARU. And am in the wait and see mode or in the wait and wait mode. The quote from J. Livermore yesterday about traders moving too quickly and trading away profits fits me too well.
peace to all and keep your powder dry.
Thanks Bill and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
Gray

latour,

I took my gains on my HRB puts. With tax season coming i think it will be a wild up and down ride.

occam_razor:

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has confirmed its previous recommendation for an early close at 2:00 p.m., EST, on Monday, December 31, 2007.

http://www.sifma.org/news/year-end-us.shtml

Basketguy,
You know it!! I just hope I can stuff enough ultra's and puts in there when the time is right.

Rob.

So with 8 days to go, is there any shot at Ron Paul winning?

To joey & NYUgrad,
thanks for the input.
Please keep us posted for any thoughts.

David

Looks like you put a lot of thought into your game plan, it sounds good.

One question...how are you shorting? Buying puts?

Anybody got an opinion on the outlook for Canadian energy trusts? I got savaged in PWE recently and haven't heard an update about what's going on there with the taxes and why investors are hating the stocks so much. Boy, for all the talk of manipulation in the markets, the Canadian gov't sure manipulated my stock right into the toilet. Do any of the investors care and aren't they yelling for a little fairness?

Bill et al....
fwiw re: Fidelity and access to international mkts

I just got off the phone with a fido rep at the international desk. Fidelity has a new head of FMR
(Fidelity Management Resources). In an open meeting he has expressed shock that Fidelity does not have online services for foreign tickers; something as simple as being able to see a price chart of a canadian stock and not have to go to yahoo for the same service that fido is not providing. The new head announced that "international" is his priority. He wants clients to be able to buy a stock on the London exchange at 3am and have, in general, have access to international exchanges.

jasper- that would be a welcome change...

Bill,
Please do. The rep I spoke is well acquainted with IB. He said,"We're just one step away from IB and closing the gap." Rep ("Mike") has been there for eight years and wants to see Fidelity make the change as much as any of us. My impression.

shark - re: HC, I was a pit trader at the time that came public. The rule that was in place at the time was that when orders came into the pit, they needed account numbers on them, most of the time they didn't. Then, the day that this HC stuff came out, there was a huge push to make sure that no orders were executed without the account numbers on them. I have no personal knowledge of what really happened, but I will tell you that 99% of the traders on the floor thought the trades went down exactly as you do. If I recall correctly, there was an investigation at the time that came up empty. I'm not trying to stir the pot, just reporting what happened as I recall it.

Also, IMO, they're all dirty. The Stelco crap that Bill spent hundreds if not thousands of hours on FAR exceeds the HC trading gains. Those guys should be hung.

Maybe if people voted on issues instead of polarized parties, the US would get a third party in place and straighten things out. Fat chance.

Since we're off subject, Go Illini in the Rose Bowl!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

g034,re third party, or at least an "independent" in the news....
Bloomberg is back to testing the waters...my info says he has remained motivated even if quiet, just waiting to make his move and will not commit unless the odds favor a run.

Since there are some comments here on the recent events in Pakistan, I'd just like to pay my respects regarding Benazir Bhuto's death. I'm sure many Pakistani's who want democracy are as saddened by her death as we were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. She was highly educated, very brave and felt she was touched by destiny to be that country's leader.

Also, being a female, I was touched by some of the nice comments by several of you on women in politics.

Woman, man, black, white, hispanic, asian, sexual orientation, who cares, as long as they are the right person for the job.

The Amazing Kreskin Casts His Ballot
Mentalist Says He Knows Who'll Be Next In The White House
NEW YORK, NY, Dec. 7, 2007

(AP) No votes have been cast for president yet. But the Kreskin primary is over.

George Kresge Jr., better known as The Amazing Kreskin, wrote the name of his choice to win next year's election, had a rabbi sign the paper and dropped it into a locked box on Thursday.

Kreskin says he didn't want to make a presidential prediction. But the name of the winner came to him three months ago and wouldn't leave him alone. So he came up with the scheme to write it down and lock it away.

"If I can remain impartial at least by putting it away, sealing it, having someone witness what I wrote, then I can at least get the credit. Because I really think I hit it," the 72-year-old mentalist said.

http://tinyurl.com/2sarpy

The Happiest Man in the World?

By Anthony Barnes
Source: The Independent UK

To scientists, he is the world's happiest man. His level of mind control is astonishing and the upbeat impulses in his brain are off the scale.

Now Matthieu Ricard, 60, a French academic-turned-Buddhist monk, is to share his secrets to make the world a happier place. The trick, he reckons, is to put some effort into it. In essence, happiness is a "skill" to be learned.

His advice could not be more timely as tomorrow Britain will reach what, according to a scientific formula, is the most miserable day of the year. Tattered new year resolutions, the faded buzz of Christmas, debt, a lack of motivation and the winter weather conspire to create a peak of misery and gloom.

But studies have shown that the mind can rise above it all to increase almost everyone's happiness.

Mr Ricard, who is the French interpreter for Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, took part in trials to show that brain training in the form of meditation can cause an overwhelming change in levels of happiness.

MRI scans showed that he and other long-term meditators - who had completed more than 10,000 hours each - experienced a huge level of "positive emotions" in the left pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which is associated with happiness. The right-hand side, which handles negative thoughts, is suppressed.

Further studies have shown that even novices who have done only a little meditation have increased levels of happiness. But Mr Ricard's abilities were head and shoulders above the others involved in the trials.

"The mind is malleable," Mr Ricard told The Independent on Sunday yesterday. "Our life can be greatly transformed by even a minimal change in how we manage our thoughts and perceive and interpret the world. Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time."

Mr Ricard was brought up among Paris's intellectual elite in the 1960s, but after working for a PhD in biochemsitry he abandoned his distinguished academic career to study Tibetan Buddhism in the Himalayas.

A book of philosophical conversations he conducted with his father Jean-François Revel, The Monk and the Philosopher, became an unlikely publishing phenomenon when it came out in France in the late 1990s.

http://tinyurl.com/3cnjl2

15 reasons for a larger than normal January effect:

http://tinyurl.com/ysaxh5

The above article suggests that the market (especially small caps) has a good chance of going up in January, and “jasper” said that USD also qualifies for the January effect. Can the short-term traders (2nd_ave and others) share their opinion about this issue? The financials were down this year just like the small caps – do you expect financials to benefit from the January effect as well?