Joshua Brown's "Backstage Wall Street" Book
I am sure you all know who Josh Brown, The Reformed Broker, is by now. I have the pleasure of writing the great Tumblr "Things Apple is Worth More Than" with Josh, and more than that he is also a good friend. It's hard to explain all the help I have received from my man over time. It is appreciated.
Josh has a new book out and I am excited to read it. Called "Backstage Wall Street" I can only imagine how raw and open the book will be about all the happenings behind the curtains of finance.
I bought three books and they arrived today:
Why would I buy three? One is for me and two are for public education of course. This means I am giving away two free copies. I need to figure out what the criteria will be (contest, random number pick, etc) but will try to have something figured out for either Sunday or early next week. You want a free book, check back in.
Market Observations
I am not discussing Apple (AAPL).
Like a broken record all I can say is I have continued to see individual stocks perform (screened for of course!) and as long as that is alive and well, I am constructive here. I have 5 open swing longs and that's about as full a boat as I carry in my trading account.
This week saw newer position WLK make a nice move. CTXS, WRI, and PETD have all been good performers. BANR had a big day today, up over 7%:
BANR was eviscerated and about destroyed during the financial crisis. The company was in the TARP program and the Treasury sold shares today it still held. Hardly a big money center bank, calling the shots, and being made whole with bonus money paid out like nothing happened. And I doubt the Fed calls BANR executives and discusses policy.
Further, regional banks, savings & loans, and credit unions are one way to get credit moving without all the crap from the big banks. Not really a fine line at all but I could understand some confusion.
Have a good night.
Just give me a book pretty please!!!
ReplyDeleteAs the first comment on this post ;)
and a fellow MAsshole I mean... Massachusetts'ian
People like you, Josh and Barry keep make me happy knowing there's some intelligent beings still left on earth.
Yeah, I read a blurb the other say that said Apple is now the biggest company in the history of the world. But that's a little factoid disinteresting only to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm a PC guy myself. I don't own anything Mac. A lot of people I know do though. Ipads, Iphones, notebooks, meh, that's a little too much gadgetry for me.
My laptop is an Alienware, which I bought about four years ago. It's nice, but I read somewhere they were bought out by Dell.
Anyway, for Friday Night Entertainment, I recommend some good old folksy blues. Neil Young, off of Harvest, one of my favorite albums, "Out on the Weekend."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_6QdOJ9qQ
I'm a total n00b to anything and everything Wall Street. I would love a copy of this book if I had any hope of even understanding what's being discussed within its pages. But alas, I fear the subject matter would be way over my head. A pity, as I'm sure it's a fantastic piece of work if you're endorsing it, GYSC.
ReplyDeleteFor Friday Night, I would recommend this awesome sword fight montage from our favorite show, called: "Highlander Sword School."
http://youtu.be/pJZzWi_2h1c
The only fault I have with this video is the inclusion of Richie's dojo scene from that terrible 5th season episode, "Haunted." Not only is this one of my least favorite HL episodes, but the "sword" work here doesn't belong with the rest of the awesome examples provided in this clip. Oh well.
Well, this totally sucks.
ReplyDeleteFannie Mae has a new rule which went into effect this month. Brokers are now required to drive by every listing once a week and take a time-date stamped photo.
I had to buy a new camera, because my Canon, which takes really good pictures, does not take time-date stamped photos.
Let's see. 43 listings spread out over a county that is larger than some states. About 15 are occupied by either a tenant or personal property, so there's not much I can do with those, except wait for the eviction attorney to do his job. Another 15 are pending sale. That leaves 13 active listings.
Now, the only way to do this bothersome assignment is to divide the county into quadrants and hit one each day. This took four days, two tanks of gas and a couple hundred miles of driving. And how much do I get paid for this endeavor? Nothing, not one red cent. I only get paid when the house sells and the deal closes and funds. Until then all expenses come out of my pocket, although mileage, gas, oil, and maintenance are tax deductible, thank God.
My mother thinks this is a good thing, because our listings usually sell quickly. We turn over around 120 houses a year, or 10 a month. But to my mind having to spend 4 days a week, every week, and two tanks of gas--that's at least $100, a week--driving all over hell and creation doing nothing but taking time-date stamped photos is ridiculous.
That leaves me 3 days a week to do research, find new listings, take pictures and notes, do more research, write price opinions, pick up signs, put up signs, answer inquiries, show houses, write contracts, you know, the real work of real estate. Not that these stupid people care.
I meet these realtors at mandatory continuing education every year. Wow, they say, you sell a lot of houses. How do I get into the repo business? Um, you really don't want to do that.
First, in order to become a Fannie Mae broker you need 10 years of experience as a broker and an impeccable reputation. This is why there are maybe 5 Fannie Mae brokers on a board with over 500 realtors. You'll also need at least $50,000 in capital up front. Yeah, we sell a lot of houses, we make a lot of money, but we have to spend a lot of money to do that. They sulk away depressed.
Next month I'm going to have to sit down and write a check to the IRS, probably for around $15,000. That's not going to leave me very much cash in the bank for driving around taking time-date stamped photos. But it is what it is.
I suppose this is the opportune time to start boycotting Jerry World. It's a two day drive from here to Dallas, there and back, and gas, hotel, game ticket, food and drinks would cost several thousand dollars.
Sorry, Jerry, but I no longer have the time or the money to indulge myself on your pathetic ego fest. Besides, your team sucks anyway.
This is my life.
Hey, GYC, check this out, via Zero Hedge.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-1-kilo-gold-bar-found-uk
Now that is a sohisticated scam. Get some gold bars, drill holes in them, insert tungsten rods, cover the holes, and voila, fake gold bars, with the original certificate of authenticity no less.
It seems to me that would be an enormous undertaking. I mean, you would need a lot of money, gold, tungsten, machinery, a fondery, and who knows what else. Still, it's easier than counterfeiting dollar bills.
One would think that modern technology would make counterfeiting simple. But did you know that no printer in the world, other than at the Fed, can print in green? The blues and yellows fade along the edges and smear. So no matter how precise the copy is, a trained observer can always spot a counterfeit.
Plus, there are intricate designs that are difficult to replicate. It's the same with driver's licenses. Here in Texas--I learned this when I was a bartender--if you want to spot a fake driver's license, just turn it over. There's a sentence on the back with an i that does not have a dot. Only the DMV has a printer that can make one of those, and that's how you know.
Anyway, I'm going to vent here for a while, because I'm bored. Know who I'm sick of hearing about? Tim Tebow. Hey, I like the guy and wish him all the best, but seriously all this hype is way overblown.
The Jets are hold a press conference for him at their field office, which is the size of a football field and 100 feet high, on Monday. They've never held a press conference at the field office before. Three television networks will cover the event live. They're already selling Tebow jerseys online, and putting up billboards at Times Square and the Lincoln Tunnel. And now my mother is a NY Jets fan.
How do you say "desperately hoping this scam works out." Or at least sells some tickets.
Fake gold, fake dollars, fake IDs, and now fake football teams. My God, what is this world coming to?
Another great post.
ReplyDelete