Finely Festooned Friday

Messy snow here but commute in and out was no problem. Going to rain all day tomorrow. Dark and grey, dark and grey.

Market Observations and Activity
What's left to say really? Things are stalled out and today there was some beatings handed out. While one of my positions, CACI, was not really near my stop out I cut it today for a -2% loss. I may have been early on this one breaking over $60, or late in a market cycle. Just looked weak and I wanted to lighten up. BANR was in a fist fight at the $20.50 level on high volume. WRI hung around. WFM was the only bright spot, closing strong over the $82 level.

Next week is pivotal if a higher run is in the cards. Market looks tired. Many solid looks that have been performing are at best stalling or at worst going in full reverse. There are some things working, but most I see are earnings or news based run ups. This does not mean a huge bear market is upon us, and I do not believe one is. This sideways snooze fest could go on but it's not worth me chasing names during that kind of market. More on Sunday and will look at more things.

Friday Night Entertainment
Let me see what I can find.

Choose Your Own Adventure Books!
Came across a great post over at Weird Universe that discussed the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books! I so loved them all when I was a kid. Seems the inventor, Edward Packard, now has them on Apple products (of course!) like the iPhone and iPad. Here are some pictures:

Cool! Best ever were the "Lone Wolf" series of books by Joe Dever.

NEVER!
Loved this Abstruse Goose comic from today. In all the realms if disbelief the USA will not adopt the metric system! "Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum" (click for larger view):

Too funny.

Optical Illusions
Just like the arrow in the FedEx logo is all I see now, after this the "&" character will never be the same:

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Film Clips
Check these out!

One of the best films I have ever seen was the handling of the King Arthur legend in "Excalibur". This clip is when Arthur is saved by the Holy Grail and then leads his knights back out to fight with some epic music on tap:

Ozzy will often start his shows with this very song. For extra credit, what song is this?

The only saving grace for "The Phantom Menace" was Darth Maul. Total bad ass Sith. I can spool the scene at the start of this clip when the doors open and the music plays for hours:

NICE!

Rock Blogging
Music for the masses.

Leading off tonight is a classic as picked by Sal Arnuk of Themis Trading. Open the show with Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison doing the blues!:

I love this performance so much, thanks! Follow Sal on Twitter @ThemisSal

MY friend and fellow 12631 trader Arctic Gambino has really turned me on to the Black Keys. Catch this live show of "Howlin' for You":

Very nice selection. Check Arctic out on Twitter @a_bh_a

Ok, a little something different. Please give this one a shot and listen to the end, it's really too funny! Bryan Bowers and "The Scotsman":

Awesome, yes?

Via Twitter here is my man @CapCube with a request for Weezer's "Troublemaker":

Not bad at all.

Ok, one more chance at the song from "Excalibur" and like I said, Ozzy loves to open with it. Here is "I Don't Know" with Randy Rhoads:

Unreal good. I get chills on this one.

Two left.

I don't know why Hole ended up dying, ok I do Courtney! Plenty of wonderful songs left behind though. How about "Violet":

Love that one!

Last call, grab a drink, a girl, or a stapler!

Turn the speakers WAY Up for Jimi Hendrix and "All Along the Watchtower":


Have a good night.

Friday Always Closes "At the Highs"

Another week in the books! Had a great Friday and it's weekend time. Daytona 500 is on Sunday, maybe Kevin Harvick can pull off another one?

Market Observations
I don't like that oil is over $100 a barrel. There is a lag until it hits gas prices. I think oil is higher for poor reasons (Mid East tensions, pick any other) so maybe it will not last. That's about the only bad thing I see right now. Next week should be indicative of market direction for the next few weeks so I will be ready with a new watch list for Monday. I have only one open long (BANR, looks ugly after today!) so I have plenty of cash to put to work.

I don't mention my long term account much for a variety of reasons, but it's hard not to share that Sony (SNE) is up about 20% since I highlighted the double bottom around $18 in early January. It has run very hard and very high and I will have to decide next week if that's all it has left.

Friday Night Entertainment
The financial blogosphere's best (and only) Friday night party line. Multiple chat lines are allowed.

MUST SEE!!!!
My good friend David Batista found a real gem and had it up yesterday. I cannot believe I had never seen this clip, as huge a fan of the Conan film that I am. Here is "Conan the Barbarian: The Musical":

Instant classic! Thanks David.

Hard to top that one, but here I will try to keep up.

Pictures; It's Just Easier
No pop up books, but images.

I am a HUGE wildlife supporter but this is just too funny (The WWF used to be a Professional Wrestling league but lost out to the World Wildlife Fund):

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PUG PHOTOBOMB!!!:

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@TA_Trader will like that one.

Film Clips
A couple ideas for your weekend rentals or streams.

"The Wrestler" is a tough movie and one that I think all should see. Not only does Mickey Rourke give a performance of a life time, the story is so painful and real that it can hurt. A lighter clip finally made it's way to YouTube, but of course I can not embed it. As the lead characters rock out to Ratt and "Round and Round" both explain the crap 90's grunge music in perfect clarity:
Click for Video
"Like there's something wrong with wanting to have a good time!"

The great Dustin Hoffman may never have been better than in "Kramer vs. Kramer" and paired with timeless Meryl Streep it's a classic. Here is the French Toast scene:

This scene makes me laugh and want to cry.

Rock Blogging
Some tunes for the people, they are still free as of now.

My friend Andrew Nyquist just had his birthday! Besides founding See It Market and being a great market operator, he likes good music! Here is a sick as all get out version of Bush playing "Machine Head":

@andrewnyquist on Twitter

Via Twitter @gtlackey was looking for some Jane's Addiction with "Mountain Song" and that works:

Nice!

How about some Kenny Wayne Shepherd? Try out "Never Lookin' Back" and check that baseline:

Just heard that for first time today!

Via Twitter @Andi_Hammer was looking for some Mishka and "Above the Bones" and this tune is pretty good:


Last two!

Market anti-theme? Iron Maiden does it with "Be Quick or Be Dead":


Last call!

Close the show with (I know have had it on before!) Big Wreck and "That Song":

Wundafewl!

Have a good night.

Options Expired Today, but Friday is an Easy Roll

It's Friday! It's NFL Championship Sunday! It's overwhelming to say the least.

Market Observations
I stayed long into the weekend, probably not the best idea ever. I recapped my stocks on Twitter so if you are not on there, you missed it.

One I want to point out has two MAJOR drawbacks so lets start there with CRESY:
-It's a smaller name at $650 million market cap and average daily volume runs at 150k shares a day.
-It's Argentinian, and I hate buying non-US stocks.
With those in mind it was strong look on an iBC screen I use and it has been bought very heavy in the later parts of the day. Volume was heavy today and a while back 3 million shares were bought up. Interesting:

Enough work!

Friday Night Entertainment
Another weekend is upon us.

Cowboy Record
I came across this great post over at Ptak Science Books which showed a record of an old era Cowboy and his experiences. It was a nice read, but a picture included just jumped out at me. I am assuming this is in New York and a Texas Cowboy is shown the huge city way long ago:

I was shocked how huge NYC was when I went and I am well aware of such things. How did this cowboy feel?

Fun with Images
The eyes see all. No kidding!

"Let me take you on a scenic cruise":

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AWWW!:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
Love the kitties!

Sports Clips
In honor of the huge football weekend I am running sports clips instead of film clips.

My man Robert Sinn (See his great blog here) was looking for an early Mike Tyson fight. The one that sprang to mind was Tyson vs Jesse Ferguson. In Troy, New York 1986 a young Tyson got a real test and answered big time in the 5th round, shattering Ferguson's nose and ending the fight (Ferguson would be DQ'd in 6th for holding). Skip to the 5:35 mark of this clip for the huge punches that finished it:

Body shot then uppercut with the right!

From last year, Kevin Harvick wins California and beat Johnson to do it. We were way short of title, but this was sweet:

NICE!

I love my Saints, but the 49ers, via Vernon Davis, were amazing in last weeks game. Catch all the angles in this video:

Hate it, but I do respect it.

Rock Blogging
Pump up the volume.

My good friend Jennifer Hillier has just moved in to a new place and is getting settled. After a huge move, its great to be in your own space. Let's go with Staind and "It's Been a While":


A great information source is on Twitter, @Arctic Gambino and he was looking for some White Stripes "7 Nation Army":

Like it.

Fellow 12631 member and twitter follow, @azulgrana_ wants Iron Maiden's classic "Run to the Hills" but I say only live:


Excellent request by Mr. Hebron (The Basis Point) and mad props for getting a StockTwits job! Ted Nugent and "Stranglehold":

Yes, thats sweet.

Two left.

HoobaStank and "The Reason":

For you.

Last call!

This song, if you give it a chance, can mean trading or writing or anything that you work hard for. Kenny Rogers with "She Believes in Me":


Have a good night.

Thursday May Have Disappeared, but Friday Never Does

Had a great day off and took care of a ton of things around the house. Got to watch a bit of market actions as well. Pro Tip: take a mental health day every now and then.

Missing Day in Markets
On Wednesday going into the two days of Euro news cycle the market was poised and ready to roll higher. Then Thursday happened, and things looked like a return to the bottom end of the trading channel. Today that's all over and gone, Thursday may well turn out to be a "just kidding!" kind of signal. I got stopped out of two small longs on Thursday. Looking over the markets today I entered into two small short positions because I think that things were a bit overdone. Full homework night Sunday night and I think a bunch of things look good to buy. Hence the small short for a bit of surprise protection. This market keeps one guessing.

Thursday May Have Disappeared, but Friday Never Does
A whole day may have gone missing, but the Friday Show never does.

Voyager 1 to Enter Interstellar Space
As if the space news could get any better, Voyager 1 is about to get free of the local environment where our Sun affects space, and into the open interstellar space. Some visual cues for what that means:

The space probe will be able to send limited data back until the year 2020.

Picture Pages
Some funnies for laughs.

I don't think this will end well in the snow:

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About right:

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Film Clips
My friend Josh Brown, The Reformed broker, has been sick this week and it was a bit scary as he dropped off the map for a bit. Luckily Josh is doing ok, you can leave him a message on this post. One of the comments mentioned they were going to start a "save Ferris" movement and of course it put me in mind of that great film.

My favorite scene (of many) in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is the Abe Froman scene:

So classic.

I really like the new version of the film "Get Carter" and a great exchange happens at the 0:45 mark of this clip between Stallone and Rourke:


Rock Blogging
Melodies on free flow.

Reader Gawains was looking for some U2 and "Vertigo" from a Live 8 show in 2005 and this one is hot!:

Thanks!

I was in the mood for a little Bruce Springsteen and "Radio Nowhere" will do just fine:


How about "Rhythm of Love" from the Scorpions:

Who is that model in the video?

Arsenio Hall had some great shows when he was on. How about Anthrax doing "Only"?:


Ok two to go.

My Dad would always play this song last at night before going to bed. Kenny Rogers with "She Believes in Me":


Close the show with Robert Tepper's "No Easy Way Out" as it sums up the trading range:


Have a good night.