Archive - Feb 2012 - Blog entry

Don't you think you're just rearranging deck chairs on the head of the Chairsatan?--William Vickrey

The financial world is awash with theories as to how significant the Second Greek Bailout is. I’m far less concerned with this (the Bailout accomplishes nothing of import and only puts off the coming Greek default by a short period). Instead, I think it much more important to ascertain the true exposure to Greek sovereign debt. And what better place to start than the banking system of the one country that is playing hardball with Greece during this latest round of negotiations: Germany.

The war parties in Israel and Iran are in full ascendancy.

An explicit contagion path chart, since you probably won't get info like this anywhere else... 

It's gettin' ugly out there...[NO BEVERAGE WARNING APPLIES]

Why Is Social Media Censoring Criticism of the Government?

Benefitting from two diametrically opposed systems.

Chuckles, no laughs.

Would You Support a War Against Iran If You Knew the True Facts?

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enema.

While prices did go higher in several cases, investors need to understand that we are nearer the end of the rally. Or at best, there might be a short term pullback in the works that lasts beyond 30 minutes.  

Fire when ready...

Here is a good chart showing data from the weekly mutual fund flow of funds report.   This series is using the domestic equity only data.   In the first chart, we have plotted the flow of funds in it’s raw form.    Though there has been a small recent uptick in funds coming in, note the strong consistent negative flow over the last couple of years.  

Crude oil spiked to nine-month high primarily on investors fear of potential conflict over the escalating tensions between the US, Europe, Israel, and Iran.  Right now, it seems Iran could be the one blinks first (war or peace).

Everyone is on the same side of this boat. I want to be on the other side.