Archive - Apr 23, 2012 - Blog entry

The implications of the rudderless ship that is the Netherlands are becoming clear as mud. Lex Hoogduin says we shouldn't be overly preoccuppied with our credibility. I am interested in this question and therefore throw the question back to the best performing investors we have on the site, if they have the time, how would you be investing at the moment? Have bonds lost all their appeal? Stocks?

California dreaming.

“We must hold the bailed out banks accountable for their harmful, unlawful fraud which has so deeply infected our county’s economy, security, and hope for the future”

"Even on the eve of war, however, there was still considerable optimism that the peace would hold. Europe had experienced several decades without a major war, and in the meantime, industrialization and relatively free international trade had produced rapidly rising standards of living. A war that would destroy the fruits of this progress seemed irrational.

 

In thy orfices, Banksta pimps!

This spells MAJOR trouble for Spain and the rest of the EU. Unlike Greece, (which has its own elections, which could go very wrong for the EU, on May 6^th by the way), Spain is too big to bail out.  Indeed, the Spanish banking system is a toxic sewer of bad mortgage debt: over half of all mortgages were generated and owned by the unregulated cajas. If you're unfamiliar with the caja banking system, let me give you a little background...

Who beleves the Euro-Depression will really just stop at Greece? Here's tons of supporting evidence that the biggest financial disruption & largest wealth accumulation opportunity of this lifetime is nigh upon us. Remember how the robber barons from the US depression era got started?

All you need to read and some more.

Has the case really gone cold? Or, are those who are in charge of the investigation, the "regulators" and the trustees, simply spraying teflon on every piece of sticky evidence that could lead to criminal prosecutions?

These are interesting times in the Netherlands. I'm glad things are shaking up personally. Things have been going nowhere fast, with no indications from the elites of any real solutions to the euro crisis. Dutch politicians generally say they'd still like to send a budget to Brussels by the end of the month, and hold elections.

Apple is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday April 24th.   Our analysis is simply to try and match the enthusiasm of the recent price movement and fundamental story of Apple in relation to what has happened in the options markets. 

Price action for Apple stock over the past few weeks has been noticeably poor.  Not only has it traded down 10% from its April 9th closing high of $636 to $572 today, but it has led the market several times with somewhat dramatic intraday reversals.  Even so, the options market has not yet expressed this same recent bearish opinion on the stock.