[7:45am ET] There is a lot of discussion here about gold, and rightly so. Gold is the only real money. As fiat money has been systematically destroyed by reckless bankers and overspending governments, financial returns on capital have plunged and interest rates have sunk to near zero in an effort by the monetary authorities to cause private capital owners to take risk.
[8:50am ET] [From the Week In Review} …it came to me by the end of this week that President Obama’s honeymoon is over. It would be easy to make that statement following the results of the vote on the economic stimulus bill that were 100% divided in Congress along Party lines. But, it’s more serious than that.
[8:50am ET] [From the Week In Review} …it came to me by the end of this week that President Obama’s honeymoon is over. It would be easy to make that statement following the results of the vote on the economic stimulus bill that were 100% divided in Congress along Party lines. But, it’s more serious than that.
[5:25am ET] I believe that Humungous Bank and Broker (HB&B) is purposefully and systematically destroying the stock-broking, insurance-broking and mortgage-broking industries and that nothing good will come of this process. Because the principle of independent research, objective analysis and free choice is being increasingly denied us, the public is becoming a bank chattel. At some point, there will be a massive rebellion. I believe this event will occur on President Obama’s watch.
[9:40am ET] Given that I will be reviewing Disney (DIS) in the Week In Review on Sunday, Pierre Brodeur posted his evaluation on the blog today. Please click on the top menu bar link for “Quant”. Pierre will do this on every Cara 100 I subsequently review in the WIR, which I think will help your trading.
[7:20am ET] Yesterday morning, following the conference call with our traders and publishing the Daily Report and Community Chat blogs, I departed for a day of meetings only to return to see that Geithner had painted the market red. But, I discovered that two of the statements I had made earlier in those blogs turned out to be prescient.
[7:43am ET] Interesting word, leadership. I have talked about it in the market; it’s been mentioned here a lot with respect to corporate CEO’s and politicians. Without leadership, all the work at planning, organizing, controlling and directing, go to waste. Wealth is lost. Spending serves one master, inflation.
But, insert a quality leader, and the army is able to march forward. Goals and objectives are accomplished. Wealth is built. Economic conditions stabilize.
[6:00am ET] Who would have taken the International Monetary Fund for being an early adopter of the ‘D’ word? Following a speech in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, IMF CEO Dominique Strauss-Kahn is reported in the Wall St. Journal as telling reporters that the US, Western Europe and Japan are “already in depression,” and that the IMF could slash its global growth forecasts further. The “worst cannot be ruled out,” he said. These comments were far more pessimistic than forecasts released by the IMF as recently Jan. 28, said the WSJ.
[7:27am ET] The Bernard Madoff scandal, not the current state of macro-economics, has brought America and the world to a crossroads. The question is simple: do we take the ethical high road or do we stay the present course? I ask you to read this document from beginning to end and ask yourself if we really have any option:
http://www.deepcapture.com/bernard-madoff-the-mafia-and-the-friends-of-m…
[7:17am ET] The Bernard Madoff scandal will focus the eyes of the world on the reality of Wall Street, the same one I have been writing about here for almost five years.
The performance audit of the Madoff Fund was done only by Madoff’s brother,
[7:27am ET] I have finally run out of patience with Microsoft, the company and its policies. Enough is enough. I am as you know an addicted user of computers. Mine was manufactured by one of the world
[8:00am ET] I have been so busy, I just picked up this blog entry from kaimu from Monday morning:
ALOHA!!
I am now freezing my ass off in Dallas, headed to San Diego then back to Hawaii about mid Feb …
Even though I was under the weather, with a bad cold, almost the whole time I was in the Bahamas I had a great time there and was able to do some business, even marketing orchids!
My thanks to Bill & Co … for an insiders look at the BAHAMAS … Very enlightening! I enjoyed the “mates” and the “piss up” at the CRICKET CLUB!! No “cricket” !!
[8:00am ET] I have been so busy, I just picked up this blog entry from kaimu from Monday morning:
ALOHA!!
I am now freezing my ass off in Dallas, headed to San Diego then back to Hawaii about mid Feb …
Even though I was under the weather, with a bad cold, almost the whole time I was in the Bahamas I had a great time there and was able to do some business, even marketing orchids!
My thanks to Bill & Co … for an insiders look at the BAHAMAS … Very enlightening! I enjoyed the “mates” and the “piss up” at the CRICKET CLUB!! No “cricket” !!
[8:28am ET] I think maybe the guys in yellow won. I know that most of the people at the party were not watching one of the TVs, including the giant screen we were standing beside in the courtyard where I live. Most of the talk was of Liverpool and Arsenal and Man U. But, then, as I remarked to my friends, we were rather an eclectic group, from Ireland, Scotland, England, India, Germany, Spain, Holland, Colombia, somewhere in Africa, the US and of course Canada. I am sure I missed two or three countries in that small group of about a dozen of us.
[8:05am ET] Humungous Bank & Broker (HB&B) has paid out a total of $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008, the sixth largest payout ever, in a year where they took clients to the largest financial losses in modern history, and also shortly after the ex-Treasury Secretary
[8:05am ET] Humungous Bank & Broker (HB&B) has paid out a total of $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008, the sixth largest payout ever, in a year where they took clients to the largest financial losses in modern history, and also shortly after the ex-Treasury Secretary
[7:30am ET] The story of the Fairfield Greenwich Group (see link) points to the truth of what I have been saying from the start of my blogging: the financial services industry has for years misrepresented their respective roles in serving the client.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Managers-luxe-life-on-the-apf-14190784.html
[6:56am ET] This week
[7:29am ET] Reading the Discourse this morning, I noted a couple interesting comments. One dealt with the Silver Wheaton’s (SLW) $250 million financing and the issue of dilution, and the other with global equity market correlations.
[8:00am ET] The noise level is building from the ‘experts’ on TV. By the end of the week, I expect that most of the S&P 500 earnings will be in and probably 20% of these companies are likely to disappoint. Then there will be a new round of stories, mostly negative. But, as long as the Banks can manage their capital issues, which is likely, and we see more instances of insider buying from bank officers and directors, like JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon for instance, the market will also likely be net buyers, and prices should generally lift.
[8:20am ET] Hear no Bull; speak no Bull; see no Bull. Isn
[7:45am ET] Last Friday, the Cara Decision Desk projected an Obama Rally. So that the facts are not distorted, I will repeat what I wrote:
[7:15am ET] The Obama Inauguration Rally starts this morning. Carnival American-style. Banks and Retailers, Energy and Basic Materials, Technology
[8:32am ET] The public continues to receive solicitations from stock-tipping newsletter writers professing to be expert in some subject matter or other. I received one yesterday that was headlined,
[6:35am ET] Today, the world will be watching African-Americans take their final steps to freedom. In celebration, I