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Wed your spouse, not your trade

Miles Kendig's picture




 

Wed your spouse, not your trade is an old adage among traders and seems to go to the heart of dissatisfaction being voiced across broad society with itself.  Growing dissatisfaction within some segments of society being expressed through the demonstrations known broadly as Occupy - Wall Street, Chicago, Boston et al and commentary from within the world of economics and indeed across every segment of society that only grows louder by the day.  Over time these general sentiments have been expressed by a diverse group of folks including central bankers Richard Fisher and Juergen Stark, business media contributors Rick Santelli and Jonathan Weil, economists Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini, leaders of global finance Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein and the voices of broad society that combine to make Zero Hedge and other public venues what they are.

Some of the best of the recent front line observations come courtesy of the always fabulous Art Cashin of UBS on Wall Street and ag producers in California.  First is Art's recent note expressing the belief that the disaffected occupiers should “take a shower”.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/art-cashin-occupywallstreet-marlon-brando-...

While California ag producers channel their inner Erin Brockovich in reply and ask if Art would like them to bring some water in special for him and his compatriots trading on behalf of their parent organizations in NYC and elsewhere so they can finally take their much needed shower.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/10/02/125894/tainted-water-flows-from-ta...

[Note to Art, the Wall Street Frater's of Fermentation and my associates from various other chapters from across the nation from this monk of mutton and ale.  We all know that when the water and wine turn sour one must make do with ale or scotch, especially when an irrigation ditch isn't available]

Where folks ranging from the traders in Chicago's CME pit's to ag producers in small town California meet is in this fine example of the misallocation of capital implicit in a TBTF economy.  Misallocation where ANY means to support the free cheese from the reserve currency money tree MUST be allocated to keeping some sort of TBTF afloat within their collective epic failure.  Fostering failure rather than permitting and fostering actual financial alchemy and price discovery in markets made as clearly regulated and free as possible from the ravages of socialized loss.  I think Art, Rick and their associates whom I hold in high esteem would simply reply that the only truly TBTF enterprise going is reflected in the belief that society owes everyone everything.  While to the Occupiers the same scenario applies to aspects of what have become broadly appreciated within their circles as placing the financial TBTF's at the apex of the social safety net making them and by extension their employees essentially the biggest welfare queens in the land.  This perceived epic misallocation of capital unites these disparate groups against one another within broad society and directly undermines their belief in the “social contract”, however each individual perceives it.

Many folks seem clueless that the ongoing debates center on the competing orthodoxies of what is an "investment" v  "trade".  Lost in the hubbub is the idea that economics is simply a reflection of the intersection of finance and politics and not a monastery of high priests imbued with mathematically premised magical powers.  Powers that enable them to not only administer the sacraments of the money tree economy, but smooth it into some sort of great moderation premised utopia.  A utopia that is virtually guaranteed IF only folks would have confidence in the belief system and faithfully follow the economists prescriptions. 

This can be viewed in the current debate as to exactly where within the various interconnected structures does ones claim to accrued “wealth” and position within the “social contract” reside.  What has most folks pissed off is the realization that what many believe to be investments and contracts are really trades and with a trade comes the potential of loss.  This is why experienced traders know and what economists, politicians, hell, everyone else should appreciate is that everything to do with the circulation of capital within a society is a form of speculation with P&L built in, supposedly. 

The kicker is that all the 1%ers, be they at the CME, Wall Street, a motorcycle club, a union hall, political caucus, a demonstration or a neighborhood AARP meeting are all appreciating that their claims to what are perceived as their rightful returns on their investments and contracts cannot be made money good.  The Ponzi has simply grown far beyond that.  There is no longer treasure enough in the world absent super hyperinflation in nominal terms to make the claims whole.  And everyone knows that hyperinflation regardless of how one defines it is just another way of realizing the same failure. 

Along these lines flows the concept of a never ending “wealth effect” that underpins confidence that belief in the current orthodoxy will make one “richer” if they will simply adhere to the orthodoxy and its attendant requirements.  All one need do is take a closer look at the long anticipated [by some of us] implosion of the Belgium banking money center institution, Dexia, a major player in European municipal funding, wealth management, retail banking and more.  Folks are looking at the way Dexia has been allowed to grow, be maintained and now parceled with various protections and guarantees in collapse to garner a greater appreciation for these various dynamics at play.

On a micro level it doesn’t take a PhD in mathematics or a ThD in super macro econometrics to appreciate the arithmetic inherent in Any O. Citizen purchasing a home [trade labor, productive or otherwise for an abode] for $200.000 and to break even on an actual rather than a nominative basis over ten years.  Given a realized 2% inflation rate the home must sell for $243.000 and change to “break even”.  Of course fuel for the fire expressed in the outrage of the occupy wherever folks is the appreciation that a 30% decline over 5 years with a headline inflation rate far in excess of 2% has rendered their “investment” an epic tragedy that is incinerating their belief in the current orthodoxy.  Just as is the appreciation that whatever nominative “gains” that were appreciated during the bubble to provide fuel for the churn within the economy were also an epic tragedy especially for those that are now toting the note.  These dynamics especially translate to the churn that higher education has become as America is creating a lost generation of highly educated long term unemployed. What has so many economic, financial and political folks in a dither is that the various fragments of 1%ers that make up the 100% of society are all singing from the same hymnal, albeit different songs, but it's the same hymnal none the less. 

The current financial structure is founded upon the concept of the capital asset pricing model that stipulates sovereign credit to be risk free risk with the reserve currency and its credits at the very foundation of this structure.  This is the magic that tells the misguided mathematically premised social scientists that hold a ThD in economics in charge of this intersection of finance and politics that there are no limits to how much currency those that control the reserve currency can put into circulation.  Or, as Ben Bernanke said so well:

"Balance sheet considerations should not seriously constrain central bank operations"

http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2003/20030531/default.h...

What Ben and many others fail to appreciate is that there is a place for social sciences else we would not gain a better understanding of human behavior.  The problem comes with the hubris attendant in creating an orthodoxy centered upon the concept that social science can be empirically calculated and engineered over broad human society with any long term success.  Heck, physics is constantly being surprised with what greater intellectual illumination reveals.  This has been illustrated most recently through the discovery that there are particles that travel faster than the speed of light rendering E = MC2 to the same fate as steady state.  Given this it’s no wonder that anyone attempting to render human activity using these tools should also appreciate that the attendant "truths" of their belief system will one day be so relegated to the dust bin of history.  Or, as a trader would observe; “That trade is toast” while the Thd would say; "You need to adhere to the orthodoxy more closely to be successful'. 

This is the essence of the trader’s truism regarding spouses and trades as the only truth in a trade is P&L at execution and that cannot be engineered away.  One can hedge, but ultimately the trades will settle.  Well, hopefully, IF ones counterparties remain solvent AND the rules of the marketplace aren't changed post tense.  In the final analysis it’s all speculation and can only be made money good through the ceaseless application of contrarianism to one’s own view as currently appreciated.  It seems that the 1%ers in the pits and in broad society are coming to appreciate that their freedom to ceaselessly quest information and trade upon that information is premised upon the structures put into play by the very crossroads of finance and politics.  These are expressed by the rule of law, regulation, margin requirements, the ThD's of economics and more.  The pursuit of information and trades premised upon that are being fatally undermined in the name of maintaining stability of an ever more catastrophically unstable and unsustainable structure. 

Fact remains that the occupy wherever folks are coming to the same conclusion as the traders, just from another direction.  Or, to use micro examples from Muniland in the persons of Governor's Christie of New Jersey with pension funding and Brown of California with redevelopment issues.  These examples of simply manipulating the rule of law in the name of deference to the same essentially render the organizations with which they have been entrusted in default of its obligations.  These defaults however limited place them into the same boat as Rick Santelli's imprudent mortgagee or Occupy Wall Street's imprudent lender.  After all, no one can trade without access to capital else the good folks in the pits or anywhere else wouldn't say; "Bring your cash".  Since so many members of society look at these and so many other actions or lack of same by those that hold sway over the crossroads of societal interaction glaring them in the face that demonstrate they hold the rule of law in lawlessness then no wonder nearly everyone is so incredulous.  Especially when these actions are committed by those holding public trust having risen through the ranks of wielding prosecutorial power or other specialized professions with their attendant knowledge. 

So, the swirl in society v itself seems to surround where in the mezzanine structure ones claim to their “rightful” returns on their “investments” and “contracts” resides.  This process of discernment is made all the more challenging when those charged with enforcing said investments and contracts can no longer be trusted to faithfully discharge their duties in the eyes of broad and not simply fractured society.  Given these operative conditions ever greater portions of broad society are learning to appreciate that all of the claims have been made mezzanine and there are no longer any truly super seniors left. 

This reality is being made clear to ever more observers of all stripes as evidenced by the advanced state of deterioration within the microcosm that is the EMU as reflected by Dexia, other money center credit and CDS,  short term paper and the sovereign paper that weighs down the balance sheets of these banks and other host nations within the EU/EMU.  Reuters put up a really cheesy interactive that attempted to reflect the capital shortfalls given a set of haircuts to various sovereign credits and tier 1 capital adequacy standards within the EMU.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/interactive-diy-euro-bank-stress-test

What this bit of 411 failed miserably at is in quantifying or even addressing the huge impacts upon the shadow financing world by such events or their ripples across broad social systems.  The shadow financing world dwarfs sovereign credits to an even greater extent than the way credit dwarfs stocks.  In this the Bank Of England would need to QE at an effective rate of 100X the amount announced yesterday, 75bn pounds, to even have a hope of temporarily cauterizing this wound within their own society.  And anyone having the slightest clue of these dynamics knows that effort wouldn’t last long in our interconnected and globalized economy.  Traders are coming to appreciate quicker than most everyone else, but more folks are catching up to the facts of life.  These facts are there simply isn't enough treasure in existence to make this structure stable so folks are now fighting ever more for the remaining scraps.  As Abba Eban noted; Men and nations behave wisely once all other alternatives have been exhausted. 

What is bubbling to the surface now be it on the floor of the CME or on the streets outside is that precious energy is being wasted in an effort to keep the good ship lollypop afloat so more cheese can be extracted when that energy needs to be husbanded and directed to resolution of this tragedy and the fermentation of genuine societal and its attendant financial alchemy.

Meanwhile, in other news, Detroit sends New York packing.

Timely.

Cheers from off South Main Street

 

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Sat, 10/08/2011 - 23:54 | 1754003 John_Coltrane
John_Coltrane's picture

Nice post Miles (any relation to Miles Davis?).  To put a social vs phsical sciences slant to the central issue you raise:  In the physical sciences, thermodynamics requires without exception that to reduce entropy (i.e. induce more order, create wealth, organize life etc) one must always expend an equivalent amount of energy or work-there's no free lunch.  (Recall how much easier it is to knock a glass off a table, shattering it to pieces, but how difficult it is to glue/organize it all back together)  But economics and trading in general have no such constraints.  Thus, balance sheets are never truly in balance with the physical world.  Real resources such as oil, metals and food (which requires work and organization to have value) do not balance the magical binary digits in everyone's account.  Its a resource ponzi aggrevated by increases in population and reduction in resource availability.  All expontial growth processes in nature are eventually truncated at a critical point is reached.  We're likely reaching that critical point as ZH is typically the first to point out.

But in a more personal vein, I've been wondering if the "sucker/counterparty" who sold me my (WITM=way in the money) BAC, BCS C, DB, MS, SSCO, X etc. puts a couple of months ago will honor those contracts  (was that you Paulson?).  I want those phony digits added to my MM account (which might be frozen by the brokerage, of course), so I can buy puts more in the future.  Ah, speculation/gambling is sweet when you read ZH and are on the "right" side of the trade!  It is, of course, a zero sum game.

Sun, 10/09/2011 - 00:14 | 1754019 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Indeed it is zero sum where zero does not remain constant as the effects of labor and plunder of same are added to the mix. A contributing factor to my use of steady state and the implied correlation to economic equilibrium in my screed.  ;)

Let me introduce you to Miles Kendig

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopscotch_%28film%29

And cheers to some real cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHzs7Fknpw&feature=related

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 21:19 | 1753769 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

I am with the folks who are suspicious of OWS. I wish it felt as organic as they claim, but it seems slick and marketed. It may say more about me than them though.

Saw one, Occupy Sesame street:

http://www.inquisitr.com/148993/the-muppets-occupy-sesame-street/

Sun, 10/09/2011 - 00:02 | 1753982 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Yes, and I reason I am simply content to look for and accept beauty wherever I find it.  If others are there too, cool.

Thanks for stopping by

Peace

Oh ya, I heard the bikers showed up in force and posed, thank goodness ;)

http://twitpic.com/6s4jf1

No official word yet what kind of kind biker this was......

http://www.occupythenation.com/events/viewevent/24-drag-queen-invasion--...

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 14:18 | 1753142 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Nice effort Miles, especially in regard to the general angst and the fact that all investment can be slandered as "speculation."  "Miles" ahead of anything that ever came out of GW's sorry fiction, but when writing for a blog, please try to write tight.  Your brethren will appreciate it.

Grandad Glen liked to say "keep your wife, your kids, and the dog.  Eveything else you buy and sell."

Happy Trails.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:40 | 1753689 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

THANKS!

I'm a work in progress on keeping it tight.  In this please refer to my reply directly up thread.  regardless i am just trying to bring the real as best as I can in the moment and learn from my experiences.

peace

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 12:38 | 1752986 Cynical Sidney
Cynical Sidney's picture

good post. there is a lot of knowledge hidden between run on sentences. basically the current financial system is but a house of cards. its underlying foundations as to capital asset allocation, are neither efficient nor effective. instead of allowing it to fail, letting natural forces to restore equilibrium to the markets, those who benefit from the current system want to keep milking the sick cow, without any consideration for the majority of people who are harmed by the current financial system.

one point i'd like to make is that, many who worked to perpetuate the current financial system, know it for exactly what it is. these are some of the smartest, most conniving sons of bitchez who circumvent loopholes because they know where the bodies are buried, they fcuked their spouse and they fcucked their trade too. well, they can try to keep propping up the failing system and extract more blood money from it, just know that when the game's up, their heads will roll. this cruel charade will not last forever.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 12:46 | 1753005 Bananamerican
Bananamerican's picture

er, 

"This is why experienced traders know and what economists, politicians, hell, everyone else should appreciate is that everything to do with the circulation of capital within a society is a form of speculation with P&L built in, supposedly."

two words...

"writer's workshop"

....and golden showers for Art Cash-in for denigrating "Occupy WALL STREET".

What's in a name? Everything.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 15:22 | 1753184 Cynical Sidney
Cynical Sidney's picture

my interpretation: before you participate in any economic activity, prior to the completion of any economic transaction, banksters have had placed leveraged speculative bets on such economic activities, which steers the market to allocate a certain amount of capital to you. in other words there is no free market, banksters control and make the market.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:37 | 1753673 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Indeed.  The engineers know what they have built since they are the creators of the blue prints and spec sheets.

Thanks.  Seriously.  So you know I never had any formal language education prior to 3rd grade and left school after completing the 9th grade.  If that sounds like an excuse oh well, just my history.  Writing is the last thing I ever thought I would engage in and I am working at gaining a better appreciation of its conventions and application.  The advice from others to keep writing incessantly rings in my ears so I do.

I am also a 100% disabled war veteran who deals with serious chronic pain management issues.  Through the long history of this management I have avoided, then engaged with traditional pain management programs that included high intake of prescribed morphine and then abandoned that process.  Over time those that have read my screeds and ramblings in these spaces have for some reason decided that they're worth working through in an attempt to decipher my intent.  In this I am supremely thankful to many folks here including you.  I especially thank Tyler and the whole ZH team for their patience with me and my maturation process while entrusting a contributor spot to me.

If you are unfamiliar with my how my ups and downs have progressed with learning how to communicate with the written word through the fog that is chronic pain over time I provide you with these examples.  The first one goes directly to your observation.  Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-how-can-everyone-be-so-incom...

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-peace-our-time

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/disorderly-conduct

and from the comments section.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/%E2%80%A6-shores-tripoli?page=1

Note:  Incompetent has a broken link here is a replacement..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRTkCHE1sS4

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 22:53 | 1753896 Cynical Sidney
Cynical Sidney's picture

thank you for providing a great service to the ZH community, and i salute you for your service to our country.

your screed reads like a nexus of ideas that's rich in insights and dynamics, don't worry about composition or structure as long as you speak your mind; eloquent oratories and glib writings do not communicate facts and truth anymore than a plausible MSM deception. moreover you have acquired an extensive vocabulary, your writing imparts more wisdom than your education level would suggest, in fact i find it a bit hard to believe that you dropped out after 9th grade. anyways, look forward to reading more of your blog posts miles kendig

p.s. opioid derivatives do not help pain management, try blaze it toke it up if you must, but morphine is bad, it's hazardous to your health

Sun, 10/09/2011 - 00:31 | 1753979 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Thank you.  I have had the exceptional privilege of being a black sheep black swan surrounded by black swans of intelligence all my life.  A contributing factor no doubt.

Yes indeed on non-opiate remedies.  When I am in Cal I happily use under the care of my attending physician and prefer the effect edibles provide.  Wherever I am I try and incorporate things I've learned from reading books such as:

http://jackchallem.com/pages/inflammationsyndrome/inflammationsymdrome.h...

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 11:44 | 1752890 Bolweevil
Bolweevil's picture

"Balance sheet considerations should not seriously constrain central bank operations."

Quote of the century. Or, at least the first 11 years of this one? The man is a psychopath cloaked in the tweed of academia. Bravo Miles!

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:01 | 1753625 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

I have to give credit to Bruce Krasting on that one.  A tremendous gem.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 14:26 | 1753160 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

This is the same fool who said he could stop money supply driven inflation in 15 minutes. 

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 11:44 | 1752889 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

Dear -1,

I'm agnostic. Don't know if this OWS is legit or not. I would much rather have you provide some argument than simply -1.

I am sincerely looking for info.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 19:49 | 1753602 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

I have no idea if "OWS" is "legit" however you would define legit.  I would say that each and every citizen there, or on Wall Street or wherever one resides within society is, agreed with or not.  I, like a seeming ever greater portion of society have come to appreciate that our broad social systems most definitely are no longer legitimate.  OWS, like the tea party at inception and others are simply an expressed reflection of this realization by some members of society.

An essence of my screed is that boundless curiosity is at the very heart of individual and collective discovery, formulation of debate and ultimately, government policy.  Please let me know what your explorations and interpretations of them reveal.  I would be most interested and appreciative.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 12:48 | 1753010 Bananamerican
Sat, 10/08/2011 - 11:25 | 1752857 Sow-puncher
Sow-puncher's picture

OUUU, I feel that the shit storm in the world markets is coming. Why? Look at the media, the protests and these things. OMG, I think the shit will hit the fan soon, I just can feel it.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 10:25 | 1752731 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Good post. Couple of criticisms. First off what does inflation have to do with the price or value of a house? It was inflation that collapsed the housing market...the amazing thing is you only need to say inflation and everyone just wants to pour right back into something that might not even be considered an asset. (Asset being defined as something that you can borrow against--which is its only definition of course.) Second you don't need to tell "The Sphinxer" about hubris...and in fact you're being pretty god-damned arrogant yourself in acting like he doesn't understand the implications. He replaced the guy was and still is the very embodiment of it. Obviously we would be better served here if we had a discussion of just what (besides jumping off a cliff of course--which could be considered a monetary policy btw) Chairman Bernanke should be doing. He's already had an epic battle with Tom Hoenig...a battle which he won. Of course now he has three dissenters so it's hard to say if he "WON!" or "if he won" or "if he won?" or "i won." Anywho...the Fed's a complex system with personalities and battles...and not just over theories but over the reality about "what is finance" and "what is money." Limiting it to the Fed of course is ridiculous as well.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 19:33 | 1753585 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Inflation has everything to do with the underpinnings of the so called wealth effect and managing expectations.  The third rail of monetary policy.  The first rail is that if "money" inflates at an implied 2% per year then the cost of carry on all the debt our current monetary system is predicated can stumble on.  The essence of so called price stability.  The dire state of current affairs is most easily understood when one looks at the ZIRP within the host society of the reserve currency and its effects on the whole of world society that is getting zapped by ZIRP.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 18:14 | 1751310 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"Traders are coming to appreciate quicker than most everyone else, but more folks are catching up to the facts of life.  These facts are there simply isn't enough treasure in existence to make this structure stable so folks are now fighting ever more for the remaining scraps.  As Abba Eban noted; Men and nations behave wisely once all other alternatives have been exhausted."

We are not to Acceptance Stage in the five step process.

We've had the denial, followed by the anger and a little bargaining in fits & starts. Now I believe we're in between the depression and bargaining stage...right where we should be, this is where stuff gets done.

So things are lookin up ;-)

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 21:25 | 1751728 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

They are indeed which is why I'm taking a pause for the cause while the gettin's good for some mealtimes with good friends and associates.  Meanwhile, time to let events run their course for a bit as this extra long zipper starts to expose some really cool territory.  ;-)

So ya know, I nearly used this instead.....

Ignorance is curable, stupidity not so much - nmewn

peace brutha

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 09:47 | 1752654 nmewn
nmewn's picture

 

;-)

Its not copyrighted old friend...all permissions granted on everything I say...lol...including, you can only really lose when you stop fighting.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:12 | 1753573 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Taking no action is perhaps the biggest action of all.  The very essence of abdication.

Keep fashioning and flying your kites nmewn.  Hopefully I won't miss too many.

Cheers

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 11:51 | 1749827 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

"As chairman moa zedong once said while  building the cultural revolution infrastructure - it looks like halving the popoulation with a death sentence is worth the sacrifice,... it will double back in the next generation any hoo?? 

Your mind can't keep up with your thoughts as your screaming consciousness is prejudiced at the crossroads of,... "what's wrong with a marriage of convenience" when we all know,... the gaming system of life is rigged, as we get into the flow of survival, and not knowing til ones mind initiates a coherent innate thought - symbiotic of perception, mired in reality, registering high alert status of past fultitity made present?

Perhaps, marriage is a thing of the past, and should in all reality stay that way?

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 20:52 | 1751703 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

lemmie try this then...

People tend to wed their ideas much more closely than their spouses.  Who said anything about marriage, besides you?

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 11:19 | 1752840 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

wedding your spouse sure sounds like marrige to me, but?

you ramble on with incoherent gibberish circling the wagons before a cognitive rationale has been espoused with any  semblance of meaning,... i mean, what is your point sir lancelot,... your on a ego trip, a safari procrustean operation snipe-hunt where the only game is in your mind,...  

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:10 | 1753564 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

LOOOOOOL

Then submit your observations for publication so we can all read them.  My main thesis, that you were so kind as to enunciate, is that broad society and its social systems seem to be lacking in expressed cognitive rationale at present.

Thanks!

Perhaps if I were well versed in the intricacies of approved modes of communication your ego and its sensibilities may feel better stroked.  However, I have yet to master much more than Ebonics, though I am told my efforts are progressing.  Again, where are your contributions?

Back to this concept of marriage for a moment.  Personally I like to simply be with the beauty of the moment.  Be it...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoX9bUZBOQWgA28qJzbkF...

Under that tree surrounded by wild flowers reading a good book with some tasty snacks.  Or,

http://pixdaus.com/pics/1255482409jlVIHGL.jpg

Seeking some illumination with a beautiful ocean sunset.  Or simply conversing with you across the digital landscape.  If any of these activities fit with some definition of traditional or nontraditional marriage or if they do not I leave to your interpretation of what marriage is in any context.

Cheers

Mon, 10/10/2011 - 12:33 | 1757871 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

your not alone my friend?

"my frustrations,... if you would be so kind, are quite similar - a barrier for truth-be-told; unabated impulses as that of a tempest in a arid ink well with no quill to be sleighted by sight - the mind can't reset ones thoughts that is of times past - the ebb and flows in our very veins are but posits of allusions, parameters of what is, and what isn't, in the maelstrom moments awakening; creativity is a pendulum swaying too and fro, into the future and backed into the past where ones collective perpetual motion mysteriously pulsates a synchronization for that moment in time, if one be so fortunate - a serendipitous place of thought frozen,... ripe for picking - an orchid of knowledge that opens up a page or two to espouse for meaning meant only for this parcel of time, defined only as a crucible vessel of raw ephemeral empiricism for ones temporal journey into the aforementioned enlightenment of oneself, for it is but you that thought your way forward, encompassed by history for better or worse, focused only on morrow and ever thou shalt be morrow's"

yours truly, one of the same :-))

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 09:51 | 1749411 topcallingtroll
topcallingtroll's picture

I agree with you with a caveat.

Speculation is different from diversified investing with optimal risk adjusted returns right on the efficient frontier, at the highest volatility you can sleep at night with.

And most people divorce their investments at exactly the wrong time.

One needs to know the difference between speculation and investment in a diversified portfolio with known volatility parameters.

If you dont understand the difference between speculation and investment and dont understand the concept of efficient frontier, and portfolio volatility parameters, then you probably have no business managing your own portfolio until you educate yourself.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 10:05 | 1752695 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

"known volatility parameters". Love that! Thing is, IMHO, It seems that the otherside adores, and makes a killing off of violating our "known volatility parameters"? Which is why lately I've entered positions much smaller and with NO STOP. I might get killed, but I won't just take a sucker punch.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 11:38 | 1749781 Wakanda
Wakanda's picture

"known volatility parameters"?

The essence of revolution is to move from the known into the unknown.

Welcome to the Second American Revolution.

11 days until Black Monday II

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 09:40 | 1749379 chumbawamba
chumbawamba's picture

Miles!!!

Dude, been trying to get a hold of you for MONTHS!  We have GOT to do lunch, as in ASAP!

E-mail me back already!

-Chumblez.

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 20:49 | 1751692 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Gotchaz.

sent

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 09:11 | 1749223 anynonmous
anynonmous's picture

Art can kiss my ass (actually no he can't but maybe yours or you his) with his disparaging remarks about #OccupyWallStreet

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 05:30 | 1751676 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

We at Fight Club work all the professions, especially bartending. 

Art, like the rest of us, will either have his moment of clarity or he won't.  I wonder if you are one of those that goes around with a notebook with lists of what everyone said or did before they woke up then sits in judgment as some sort of righteous decider.....

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 14:47 | 1753195 St. Deluise
St. Deluise's picture

Yes, actually I do judge people by what they say and do.

If they change what they say and do in time, that is one thing. A very rare thing.

However this man, head floor trader at UBS, multi-decade market verteran, his moment of clarity has obviously been that he'll be much better off if no one rocks the boat. He knows the scam up and down and has chosen to be flippant towards the citizens the country over actually standing up to it.

Notetaking unncessary. In the end we all get what's coming to us and this clown will be no exception.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:49 | 1753713 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

If they change what they say and do in time, that is one thing. A very rare thing.

I agree to disagree.  With the rare exception of the supremely dogmatic everyone changes their opinion over time. 

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 12:18 | 1752959 ElvisDog
ElvisDog's picture

When I start reading about their demands (some of them anyway) for a $20 living wage regardless of whether they have a job and free college education for all I put 2 and 2 together and conclude "They want to be paid for going to college forever", then, yes, I'm a little skeptical of OWS as well. Plus, OWS seems to be even more infiltrated by establishment groups trying to co-opt the movement for their own purposes than the Tea Party was .

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 20:41 | 1753554 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Those may be the demands of a selected person at OWS, BUT one citizen does not represent the whole of society.  Well, except in places like Stalinist Russia and other absolute dictatorships where one tries and ultimately fails.

Remember, one can not escape the reality that society has in fact infiltrated itself.  The foundation for my teaser....

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 11:04 | 1749684 covert
covert's picture

faulty reasoning

http://covert3.wordpress.com

 

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 10:17 | 1749513 St. Deluise
St. Deluise's picture

i love how all these traders and professionals complain about bernanke and the TBTF's and manipulation and unfair markets all day yet.. continue to trade it.

THEN when some people actually get off their ass and raise their voices are they celebrated and supported? no, they're dumb hippies because of a few pictures and bad interviews on tv (you think the reporters aren't filtering out the smart/intelligent interviews?)

shameful. these types need to look long and hard in the mirror.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 10:07 | 1752701 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Oldest trick in the book: take the other side of the trade and claim "the guy in charge doesn't know what he's doing." Hmmm. How original!

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 21:10 | 1751763 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

WTF?

Who all do you think thought this whole ZH thing up, launched it and fostered it?

Changing this epic shit storm is gonna take everyone we can muster.  Detest the failed structure not those caught within it or your condemning nearly everyone on an altar of purity that simply isn't human.

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 10:26 | 1752732 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

First. I respect you.  I mean that sincerely and won't blather on boring you with the details as to why. I would like to submit that I have been and remain very leery of this OWS deal. The reason being is that I (and so many others) have been through so many bullshit promotions that I (we?) begin to feel like the clothes currently going through the spin cycle of my wash machine. I want to and am willing to put my feet on the ground, I am even willing to die for the right cause. I am also very suspicious regarding the legitimacy of this apparent movement. Call me gun shy, call me anything you like. I'm calling bullshit though (for now), not on you personally, but on this OWS. Even if the genesis is legit the power is so lopsided in favor of the current regime that for the good guys (99%) to prevail has about the same odds as hell to freeze over. What I am watching most closely is how does the MSM play this? Sympathy is a tell of illegitimacy and the MSM coverage appears more sympathetic by the day. Contrast that with the Tea Party which was attacked nuclear style and you can perhaps see my point?

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 18:57 | 1753536 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

Agreed on the spin cycle.  Much of American society looks to be sharing this boat as our collective quest for an answer within the two party system has taken us on an epic journey these past few decades.  As to your comment about hell freezing over I submit this bit that seems to reflect the sentiments of so many be they here, Greece, wherever....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHQceX8hGrI

I would observe from my vantage as a former landscaper at that abode that the decision to stay or depart is indeed a personal one.  To use an ad slogan; "Be an Army of one" and don't listen to what the night man says.

I have a great deal of respect for the tea party's genesis which is why I used Rick Santelli specifically in this screed.  The issue so many have with the tea party is not its genesis, but its co-opting by elite political operatives including Grover Nordquiist, the Koch brothers and others.  What many seem so oblivious to is that the OWS folks will most likely NEVER give voice to specific demands.  Rather OWS seems all about poking the hive continuously until it responds.  The hive being broad society and the social systems predicated upon broad societies continued support.  I would venture a guess that a good starting point would be abolition of the two party system, the introduction of genuine coalition governance and the vigorous reintroduction of the rule of law generally and the criminal code specifically to finance and governance itself.

Ultimately how the MSM responds is irrelevant with the exception that OWS can take a temperature check of elite opinion across its broad spectrum by how the MSM frames the subject on a continuing basis.  Regarding this dynamic Cognitive Dissonance's Avalanches article is made all the more relevant today regardless of where one sits or stands.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/avalanches-and-tipping-points

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 11:48 | 1752897 Bolweevil
Bolweevil's picture

Cue Jim Morrison: They've got the guns, we've got the numbers...

Sat, 10/08/2011 - 19:07 | 1753548 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

And as character portrayed by good prince John from the movie Robin Hood staring Errol Flynn and Olivia Dehavilland said; "Don't kill all the Saxons else there will be no one to till the land or pay the tax". 

Bolweevil, as a 100% disabled war vet I find solace in the comparison between the biggest contributors to the Obama and Romney campaigns are from Wall Street while the biggest contributors to the Ron Paul campaign are from within the ranks of the US military.

Cheers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ApzhHYIgU

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