Anal_yst's blog

Earlier today a friend hit me up on bbm from the bar at JFK Airport to tell me the bartender was giving him stock tips. If the guy's working the bar, the airport bar, surely he's an expert stock jockey, no?

With the release of the FCIC report we're seeing a new wave of reasons (excuses) for the Financial Crisis. Somehow, no one seems to place any blame on the rating agencies and the lazy institutional investors who outsourced their due diligence to them. Enough of that BS. What the report should have said is "Here's a simple rule: If you can't analyze a security yourself DON'T FREAKING BUY IT!"

Too many investors want a magic elixir that guarantees outrageous profit with no risk, either to their pocket or their brain cells. But it does NOT have to be this way...

Ever heard the joke "How many European Economists does it take to come to the wrong conclusion about the cause(s) of the American housing crisis?" No? Really? Well, anyway, the answer, it seems, is three:

How the heck is the SEC supposed to identify and prosecute financial wrongdoing when they don't even have the staff in-place to analyze all of that data?!?

Is it really all just about (the dream of) "Models & Bottles" or is it something more?

Of the roughly 1,200+ (numbers change frequently with additions and closures) ETF and ETNs that can be traded, maybe 75 are truly understood and should be traded.

The rest are an exercise in futility, pandering to the masses desire for an investing elixir.

From the WSJ's article about record flows into equity funds "Here Comes the Dumb Money!" (I totally dig the title btw!):

Not even Christmas is safe from cost cutting, or so it seems when comparing this year's New York Stock Exchange Christmas dress-up to last year...

Fellow Zerohedge contributor George Washington parrots the lovely Janet Tavakoli and states his (her?) ire that the "Evil Vampire Squids" at Goldman SHOULD NOT have been paid at Par for their CDS trades with AIG.

I, for one, don't necessarily agree.

With the exception of a few, many retail/apparel stocks are back to - or in some cases even higher - than their pre-bubble valuations. Someone remind me, unemployment is where, again?

It seems almost each week, if not each day we learn of yet another FAIL from our alleged watchdogs at the Securities & Exchange Commission, but there is only so much facepalm a pseudonymous blogger can take before he is compelled to do something about it.

Because nothing bad could ever possibly come of this...

Information Arbitrage had a good summary of the Wall Street compensation argument over the weekend, and given the tension surrounding Phibro's Andrew Hall of-late, I think its high time to bring some logic and reason to the debate.

Dear Sirs/Madams:

I get it, I really do: You enjoy your secure, mostly laid-back, relatively well-paying job. Insofar as you possess the capacity, experience, and inclination to comprehend the following though, please, enlighten me: Given this fact, don’t you think its in your best interest to get rid of nonsensical, self-defeating policies like the following (from CalPERS)?

"Counterparty creditworthiness, for non-exchange traded Derivatives (Anal_yst: substitute any asset/asset class here), shall be at a minimum of “A3” as defined by Moody’s, “A-” by S&P and “A-“ by Fitch...?"