Goody Bag

What a busy week! Busy at work, busy tape watching, busy at home. Just busy. I need a break. Mixed goody bag tonight, too much stuff going on. Tomorrow is Friday night and thus requests are welcomed.

Extreme Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite has a post up today titled:
Kid Dynamite Slaughters a Cow
And no this does not involve my northern neighbor using alcohol to roll with some unsuspecting college ladies in his youth or taking some huge pot off a tourist in Las Vegas in Hold'Em, he actually helped butcher a cow! I kid (pun intended) you not! Check it out if you like but note MY WARNING, IT IS GRAPHIC! Way to go man.

Foreclosure-Gate
Today had a few wrinkles in the tale of foreclosure fraud saga. First off, a bill was sprinted through the Senate (it had already passed the house on many occasions) that would have made changes to notary laws in relation to interstate commerce. I am no lawyer and I hate this stuff because I don't have a grasp on it, but there is evidence this new law if signed by the president could be played to help skirt around the lack of proper documentation rampant in these matters.

In a move worthy of hefty praise, President Barrack Obama used the "pocket veto" by which he will not sign the bill into law by just letting it exist in limbo. While I think the original plan for this bill may have made sense, there is NO reason now to rush it through until a better grasp on the laws regarding foreclosures can be examined. I offer well deserved thanks and praise for President Obama on this one, it was the right thing to do and went against the house, senate, and banking lobby all at the same time which I love.

Calculated Risk has a guest post by Tom Lawler up that asks:
Foreclosure-Gate: Who Will, and Who Should Pay?
Lawler has been creepy spot on with his housing sales numbers so I read him close! He thinks mortgage servicers will have to pay. That would be nice, but the taxpayer is the easier option!

I will say two things about this. First, I still believe that some new law will be passed to make all the short cuts legal and absolve the banks. There is NO WAY the banks are going to have to open the books and really be checked on this, I am not sure it is even possible. So far I am the only writer that has predicted this and has since the beginning. It does not fit the narrative that banks get clocked.

On the other hand, and second (on purpose I did that!), this story made the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and it lead the whole show! That is serious coverage. People are pissed about this (why now, why not before you lunatics!). There is no way a law can be done before the elections. I can see a new CONgress after the election passing a law to save the banks and then hope that voters forget (they will) but that will take time. One can hope for something real change.

SLV Was Good to Me
Back on August 30, 2010 I entered into my biggest trade ever. By trade I mean something I was using in a very short term time frame, maybe a month give or take. I was attracted to a silver play due to macro factors and this coupled nicely with an attractive chart pattern that I favor. I decided to make a move, which I covered here, to go for the gold, I mean silver!
(NOTE: In the post I stated about 50% of my trading portfolio went into this trade, and the exact number was 58%)

I placed my sell order last night for the whole position. Why?:
-My first target (most confidence) was $22 which was already passed
-My upper target was $24 which was getting a bit tired looking
-$23 split the difference, and I wanted to give NOTHING back
So here is the breakdown:
Buy $18.70, sell $22.88 (where my orders where filled)
Short term gain of 22%!

In case you are wondering, I had no idea gold and silver would get moved lower today so much, I just made the move last night.

I am ahead of my own yearly target for 10% returns and I have enough extra to rock on out to the Bahamas on October 22-October 25th so there will not be a Friday night post that week! Here is where I will be:

I would buy you all a drink, but it is all inclusive!

I Submit as Evidence Exhibit A
Some call me a nut job. Some call me a "gloom and doomer". Some label me as a pessimist. Do what you want I say.

I have spilled pixels enough on the ruinous policy of asset bubbles, I don't want to go over all that again. Instead how about a headline and a chart?

From this morning over at Reuters there was this gem which I saved a screen shot of in case it changed (it had not at time of writing; if it does change or get lost I have the picture):
Fed is banking on phony wealth effect
A nice section:

So, there you have it: pump up asset prices and hope that people spend some of the ephemeral gains. The idea that people will spend more if their houses and other assets rise in value is called the wealth effect, but this policy creates only pretend wealth.

Nasty!

I know plenty out there think they will of course wind up with all the loot at the end. Some will, but not me and no one I know! You cannot invest in such an environment, only bet or trade if you want to call it that. When every few years some monster percentage of your "gains" in whatever vanish, what can you do?

Pragmatic Capitalist was kind enough to supply permission to repost this chart (last one in this post) that shows the extremes which we can expect to continue should the FED/Whole crew succeed in their goals:

The red line is the "plan" for recovery. How is that going to happen?

The title of the post was excellent as well:
DID THE CONSUMER EVER RECOVER FROM THE NASDAQ BUST?
I can only answer, No. But they thought they did.

My man Mark is a huge believer in long term trend lines, and I am as well. I think you can figure these out on your own.

Shout Out
For my man that has a reputation as being a bit testy on the trading desk, I offer my version of:
ANGRY G!

My man!

Have a good night.

Differences Make the World Go Round

It has been rain up here for 4 days straight with one more to go. That Bahamas trip is looking better and better for the 22nd-25th this month.

New England Patriots Make a Move
Today when I woke up I saw a small print scroll on the bottom news ticker that said "Patriots in talks with Vikings on Moss trade". I was shocked and then I could not think of one thing the Viking had to offer us so I thought it was a joke. The radio guys were saying it was a done deal on the ride into work, and still I was thinking it was a trick. It was not.

The New England Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2011 3rd round draft pick. You read that right.

I do not want to get all worked up, but I really love Randy Moss. Can he be a big mouth? You. Does he take plays off? Sure. Is he the single most dangerous down field receiver in the NFL? Yes. In NFL history? I think so.

I am done thinking about how the Patriots do things, they think they are right and for years they have been wrong. I have read over 8 articles saying how the Pats will be better off without Moss. I say wait until about the second quarter in the next game vs Baltimore when Welker is getting destroyed by a double coverage slam job and get back to me. I am disappointed.

Oh yeah, the Pats play the Vikings in a few weeks and I am sure Darius Butler can cover Randy Moss. (EXTREME SNARK enabled)

More of the Same
Just in case you were inundated with the whole fraudulent mortgage news, even though I said this will go away by legislation, then here is an oldy but goody back again:

No-interest loans offered to jobless homeowners
Unemployed homeowners in Massachusetts will be able to take out interest-free loans of up to $50,000 to help them make mortgage payments, under a $1 billion federal program unveiled today in Roxbury by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The program will provide about $61 million to struggling property owners in the state, according to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

"Countless people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own temporarily lack the steady income they need to pay their mortgage,'' Donovan said in prepared remarks. "That's why the Emergency Homeowner Loan Program will provide limited and targeted assistance to working families."

The effort, called the Emergency Homeowner Loan Program, is meant to supplement a $7.6 billion program launched by the US Treasury Department earlier this year to help jobless homeowners in 18 states and the District of Columbia, which were hardest hit by the recession. The Treasury program also targets homeowners who are "underwater," meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth.

Just keep adding to the personal debt pile. Unreal. Oh yeah, the banks get paid with this money first! Too funny.

Differences Make the World Go Round
I had thought about this post most of the day and I was just going to leave things alone. I changed my mind and will go on with this post.

Today over at The Big Picture Barry Ritholtz had a item up called:
Do You Wanns be Right, or Do You Wanna Make Money?
It seems TBP get hit with all kinds of emails or comments that savage him for being bullish (at times, Barry is no blind permabull) and for not "telling it like it is" which must mean "saying all is fake and fixed and all a dream". From TBP:

My inbox is deluged with rants and demands from people who are insisting that This. Rally. Must. End. NOW!
A composite of their emails would read something like this: “How can you sit there so blithely while the Fed debases the world’s reserve currency? Why haven’t you commented on POMO?!? The entire game is rigged, and your just another @%$# salesman for Wall Street!”

This brought back a post from while back where I did indeed leave such a comment.

In the post Dow Zero Insurgency Peak? TBP asked whether with all the stunning headlines that come out from Zero Hedge can a blog get too over the top and move to sensationalism. The question was phrased as "jumping the shark". I offered in the comments:

This thing may get ugly but I did want to add my 2 cents.
TBP had a post a while back about “Buying What You Hate” and while it proved profitable, jumping the shark can be writing a book about bailouts and corruption then playing on that very dynamic for profit. Took a huge step down in my eyes on that one.

I stand by that comment as it really bugged me very much. Barry responded:
BR: We manage assets for people who want returns, not my lectures. That is the asset management business for you.
I draw the line between owning stocks you do not like, and being a lying cheating thieving scumbag. Its a pretty bright line, so long as you don’t squint . . .

I gave this plenty of thought all day and so I just want to go over a few points.

Whether it is FED intervention, Treasury bailouts, CONgress passed handouts, or some other thing over the last two years, it has worked very well in getting the stock market up. A lot. This was an opportunity if you wanted to get on board and ride a liquidity wave higher. This is not a pipe dream, crazy talk, or a misunderstanding of the way "markets work".

There is no real way to put this easy, so I will just let it ride;
The very same levers that were pulled to cause the Tech boom and the Credit mania are the same levers being pulled to get money flowing back into stocks. It is an opportunity for gains, but at the cost of contributing to a failed policy.

That's it and that's all. As long as the behavior of those looking for short term gain can be counted on 100% nothing will ever change. It probably was never going to anyway.

Now I do agree with Barry that nothing is more annoying than listening to some guy say the same sort of crap I do (I am an amateur economic wonk after all) then whining that his bond short is getting dusted due to this stuff or that his AAPL short is killing him because the market is "wrong". If you are "fighting the tape" you are pretty dumb and have been a solid loser for some time.

Not everyone is complaining about losing money or not gaining on the move up in equities. I have not lost as all and made more than my yearly goal. I am going to complain about the massive support thrown under this market because it will not end well. I also will not allocate my funds towards being a part of it.

Now you may argue my metal positions are "taking advantage" of something and they are. Crazy spending and fiat games being played the world over.

All this said, I have nothing but respect for people that put money to work day in, and day out using their skills and doing well. It is a philosophical difference as to what some will be a part of and what they will not. The world takes all kinds and there is nothing "wrong" with that. Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box or a smile on a dog and all that.

Have a good night.

Who Knows What?

Well that was a shocking display of football last night! After an ugly first half, the Patriots returned the 3rd quarter kickoff for a score and Miami fell apart. Like completely. I would love to say the Pats are in good shape, but that was a serious meltdown by the Dolphins. Thanks anyways guys!

Who Knows What?
If you follow things finance today was a wild day across all markets. Things are a real mess and there are many currents at play. Instead of speaking to a small item or a a few points I thought it may serve better to step back and take a look at the whole picture.

I wrote last night that I had serious questions about the reason the FED and associated players felt it was needed to go out and make all kinds of statements about future policy accommodation. The answer perhaps was found this morning when I opened the computer:
Bank of Japan Reverts to Zero Rates in Surprise Move
The headline is dumb because Japan was at 0% anyway, but they did go further in their own QE quest:

The central bank also decided to set up, as a temporary measure, a 5 trillion yen ($60 billion) fund to buy assets ranging from government bonds and short-term government securities to commercial paper and corporate bonds, and will also accept another 30 trillion yen of those assets as collateral under a loan scheme.The BOJ said it would guide the overnight call rate at a range of zero to 0.1 percent, against the previous target of 0.1 percent. It also pledged to keep rates effectively at zero until prices were seen stabilizing.
"The BOJ is bringing its monetary policy closer to quantitative easing, allowing market rates to hover near zero and pledging to keep a near-zero interest rate policy in the longer term until prices stabilize," said Naomi Hasegawa, senior fixed-income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
"These steps are more aggressive than markets had expected. The BOJ's decision is a surprise and will have an impact on currencies due to the message it delivers."

If the move had any effect on Japan's currency, I could not find it!

So going back, the FED on Monday all but screams we are set for another Trillion or so in QE here, and overnight Japan pulls the trigger on their own QE move. Now this makes sense. The Golden Truth had this to say and I find it compelling:

So what is going on here? I believe the market is responding to what it believes will be the U.S. Fed's "counter-measures" to Japan's move last night. In fact, Japan's QE proposition is actually quite small (including the bank lending pool announced, it's not much more than $400 billion) compared to the first round of QE of roughly $1.7 trillion in total by the U.S. It is my view, in conjunction with the speech issued last week by the NY Fed's William Dudley (who is also a former Goldman Sachs partner, meaning he is plugged into the policy channels if not creating them outright), that the U.S. is getting ready to announce, in some form, an even larger stimulus program next month.

The precious metals market and the US dollar index are thus behaving in a manner which is consistent with the expectation by the market that the Fed/Obama Administration will respond to Japan's currency war shot with an even more powerful shot across the bow of its own.

I agree.

And for good measure another FED player, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, removes any doubt on what the new story is:

"In the last several months I've stared at our unemployment forecast and come to the conclusion that it's just not coming down nearly as quickly as it should," [Chicago Fed President Charles] Evans said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Monday. "This is a far grimmer forecast than we ought to have," he added. As result, he said, he favors "much more [monetary] accommodation than we've put in place."

One could wonder why the forecast by the FED on unemployment has not mattered one bit until Monday, but why bother. Clearly the FED have been scared by what they are seeing and reacting in a near panic about it.

After yesterday's stunning public policy moment of truth (that the FED targets asset prices with their policy) some were somewhat worried as to where this is headed. Pragmatic Capitalism has good coverage of a David Rosenberg piece that is well worth a look. Prag Cap summarizes

I am honestly still trying to grasp the fact that they have admitted to trying to run what is really nothing more than a ponzi scheme….That is our great American growth strategy. Unbelievable.

Prag Cap is level headed and while I often disagree with things over there, this snippet really got me concerned.

I offered in the comments section that I wonder what S&P 2000 will really mean to a regular person. Many own little or no stocks; others borrowed from their 401k to buy a home or get through being unemployed for 3 years; others have moved their money into bonds, the list goes on. I don't think a higher stock market will carry as much punch as believed. I could be wrong.

After being welcomed to the recovery by Tim Geithner, praise for saving the world up to our ears, constant news of the recovered stock market, and victory laps all around I cannot help but think more expanded accommodative policy should not be needed at this point. Unless all that other stuff is pure crap.

For the final evidence of how messed up things are in the world, this was making the rounds today:
Lend Mexico Money at 6% for 100 Years
There is no bubble in bonds and credit, none at all.

Have a good night.

The FED is Delusional

Short on time waiting to see the New England Patriots gets crushed in Miami tonight. Not anywhere near as much fun as waiting to go out and crush Miami, but it is what it is.

Jealous Much?
One of the main reasons I really hate stopping over at The Reformed Broker is that Josh Brown runs with a great idea for a post that leaves me thinking I need to stick with the day job. Today in maybe the best post of all time, Josh uses the medium of Transformers to annotate some major market robot players:
Decepticon Tradebots
One sample and then you should read them all:

StopDropper - Sniffs out all outstanding stop loss and stop limit orders, triggering them with short sales, covering once the stock has been drilled lower. Guaranteed profits await, also transforms into a dump truck.

Love it!

The FED is Delusional
Monday was a full court press by FED members and associated players screaming how QE 1.0 saved the economy and maybe stopped global warming. Just think of the possibilities for QE 2.0! We just might have peace in the Middle East yet if the 10 year would just drop another 14 basis points! We are all saved!

First up was Brian "The Potato" Sack who chimed in with such glowing praise for QE I felt a little warm and made sure I had not peed in my pants (via Calculated Risk):

It is true that certain aspects of the transmission mechanism are clogged because of the credit constraints facing some households and businesses, and it is true that monetary policy cannot directly target those parties that are the most constrained. Nevertheless, balance sheet policy can still lower longer-term borrowing costs for many households and businesses, and it adds to household wealth by keeping asset prices higher than they otherwise would be.

At least they have stopped pretending what their primary mission has always been. Refreshing honesty, though for a LONG time many refused to believe this. There is more in Sack's long speech but that was the main point.

Boom Boom Bernanke was stuck talking to college kids, most of which will not be able to find a job after graduation, but thanks to QE 2.0 maybe they will not need one if AAPL and BIDU go to $5000 a share and then split 5:1. Some notes from the low rate guru:

Bernanke says more Fed asset purchases could help
In a wide-ranging, hour-long forum with university students, Bernanke also defended the U.S. government's often-criticized program to support banks during the global financial crisis.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, has turned out to be a "pretty good investment" for taxpayers as the money loaned to banks is returned with interest, he said.

Many people don't understand that the financial bailout fund was designed to help the economy, not the banks, and that the country's economic downturn would have been much worse without it, Bernanke said.

The $700 billion program was approved by the U.S. Congress at the height of the financial crisis in October 2008. The program came to an end on Sunday as the Treasury Department's authority to make new investments expired.

The Obama administration said last week the ultimate cost of the program to taxpayers was likely to come in below $50 billion.

Bernanke, speaking to about 150 students from universities across the state, tried to allay their fears about facing huge student loans and a weak jobs market upon graduation.

"I'm sorry the economy is not stronger for you right now, but it will get stronger," he said.

That was some sickness Boom Boom. You have no shame, but you do have balls.

So TARP was for the economy, not the banks! QE 1.0-10.0 will be for the economy as well and not a shuffle game between the FED and Banks. No way. With unemployment at the same level for over a year, Bernanke still thinks a higher stock market will lead to a recovery in the real economy. Just put on a Greenspan suit already Ben!

So what can we expect from QE 2.0? I checked in with Econbrowser and there was an estimate:

In recent years, a 100-basis-point move in the fed funds rate has translated into about a 40-basis-point move in the 10-year yield (e.g., Table 2 of my 2008 study). Hence if we use the lower end of Dudley's range, we might come up with a number of (400/500)(1/2)(40) = 16 basis points as another ballpark estimate of the effect on the 10-year rate of another $400 B in long-term bond purchases.

But even if we agree that the Fed could depress long-term yields with these kinds of measures, it is a separate question as to whether it should. I discussed this issue a few weeks ago. I remain of the opinion that while the Fed is understandably reluctant to embrace QE2, it may have little other choice.

16 basis points for 400 Billion of purchases? I can imagine businesses all across the land chomping at the bit to grab this deal when it comes through!

So this all comes down to one thing and one thing only:
Does the FED think 16 basis points lower on the 10 year will result more economic activity?

There is only two ways to answer;
-They do and they are so clueless it is dangerous
-They know full well it is baloney, but hope the sheep will bid up assets all over due to the perception the FED is "on the case".

I have written before that even though I am rough on the guys over there, they are not stupid. I 100% believe they think most of us are though, and we usually deliver on that promise as well.

What jumped out at me today was the timing of these remarks. It is a full month before the actual QE 2.0 can be rolled out and I wonder if the FED was not looking to get the markets going on taking rates down ahead of that time. I try never to think like the FED because I get visions of destroying the middle class and firebombing people's savings stuck in my head and it is kind of creepy.

"Mr Bernanke, you WERE the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel Saving and Loan were you not?"


"Here's Easing!!"


Have a good night.

Brief Note

It was a LATE night out with the boys and I have been hurting all day. Add to that my Mom decided to stop in and it was not a fun Sunday. I am on pace for another terrible NFL pick week as well. At least I had some fun last night, hee hee.

A Glimpse of the Future?
The near future will be littered with confrontations between public employees and the taxpayers. Government on all levels is too huge and too many people owe their living to state/federal jobs. This will not go quietly.

In Tennessee, a home owner did not pay a $75 assessment for fire protection, and when his home caught on fire, the department showed up and watched it burn! I am not kidding:
Tennessee Firefighters Watch House Burn Down Owners Didn't Pay Subscription Fee

You can see a local NBC News 6 clip on this at Weird Universe but I cannot find it anywhere to embed here. Here is the link:
Can You Believe This?

A quick check of the regulations show that the Fire Department was in correct procedure for this instance. No pay is no protection I get that. They only had to make sure the fire did not spread.

But what if we don't pay enough, in their eyes? I think you can see where I am going. An interesting find for a Sunday.

Have a good night.

2010 NFL Week 4 Picks

Heading out with the boys in a bit, so just the picks.

NFL Week 4 2010 Picks
Last week another terrible 9-7. Yuck.

Falcons 28, 49ers 17
Jets 27, Bills 14
Steelers 16, Ravens 10
Saints 24, Panthers 21
Titans 17, Broncos 14
Bengals 23, Browns 13
Packers 31, Lions 20
Seahawks 16, Rams 14
Colts 28, Jaguars 17
Texans 28, Raiders 17
Chargers 31, Cardinals 20
Eagles 20, Redskins 16
Bears 23, Giants 17
Dolphins 31, Patriots 21

Have a good night.

Freaks Without Leashes Friday

The monster rain storm pretty much kept well west of here so we were spared any real hassle. Why people ride bicycles in the rain I will never know, but they were doing in Cambridge all day.

The New "Good"
I have mentioned the mortgage document issues facing the banks right now. I have to say the story is picking up steam, but I have already explained how it will end. What I wanted to talk about is how this is seen in the "new" economy.

On the local news I heard the "Breaking News" music and the announcer came on and noted that Bank of America is suspending foreclosures in Massachusetts. Ok, it is news but get the commentary (from memory, no transcript yet):
"Good news for Bay Staters facing foreclosure!"
Great news! BAC is in trouble and you get more time to live for free!

This is the new economy where handouts and lucky breaks make progress. Wow.

Questions
Well I had planned a post based on reader supplied questions, but I had almost none at all! I was surprised because I would have submitted quite a few if a blogger I read had this option open. Maybe you all have no questions you would want to ask me, or maybe you don't really want to hear my answers. Either way my post is shot. I have one set of questions from reader Watchtower that I will cover.

Question: What do you think is the US's 'Debt Chandrasekhar Limit' and when will we hit it? What has kept us from imploding so far?

Of course Watchtower is referencing one of my all time favorite posts:
Does the United States Have a Debt Chandrasekhar Limit?

So what do I think? I have to admit I have been as wrong as can be about this. I thought that all the games and all the QE would have caused serious stress in our system by now, yet the opposite is true! I thought 13 trillion was too high a deficit, but going by the (rigged) bond market I have no reason to believe that 26 Trillion would be harmful. How could it?

When I was younger I was more of a hyperinflationista. Over time I have come to accept that there may well be nothing anyone can do about the US making things go the way we want. I am shocked really, but that is what reality is telling me.

So my answer is, I have no idea. Let me say we will not hit 20 Trillion (yearly deficit) so we won't hit a limit. What has kept us from imploding? The reserve currency, the biggest military in the world, and the pickle the world is in financially that requires them to take whatever comes so US consumers can keep buying their crap. I have really changed my thinking on this over time. As I have written before, the monkey in the wrench is this will work as long as hard assets and real money (not notional book keeping money) are not needed, say in a large war, major famine, or multi country default. It would take something that big. I am shocked.

Good write up here by Econophile about why hyperinflation is not coming to the US.

I added this at 7:09 on a late entry from reader Scharfy.

Question: Why is boxing no longer a dominant sport in America? Dempsey used fight in front of 100k. Cultural reasons? Love ur take on that.

Very interesting question. I am a little late and I can expand on this plenty via email if you like but I think it comes down to two things:
-Lack of great fighters. In the 1980's people griped that ALL we had was Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard, and Arguello. WOW! After Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas and Douglas got fat and got killed by Holyfield boxing entered a terminal decline due to...
-No young person boxes and thus the fighters are terrible. Boxing is too hard, too painful, and too long a road for the get rich quick crowd of today. MMA is huge right now and I respect those guys, but it is not art.

These two factors killed boxing in my opinion. There is way more to it though, bad decisions, boring personalities, etc. Let me know and we can talk further, you know I love boxing.

Freaks Without Leashes Friday
Ok, I guess nothing left to do but get the show started.

Seeing Stuff is More Fun
Cue the visuals!

This sums up Friday night at EconomicDisconnect, no?:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Nice.

"You got like three feet of air that time" (obscure reference):

see more funny videos
FAIL or WIN? What do you say?

Potassium Chlorate (heated) + Gummy Bear = AWESOME!

Better than the crappy mentos in soda stuff.

Film Clips
Filmage, it's whats for dinner.

New twist tonight, the following are movies you SHOULD NOT see or if you have, I feel your pain.

If you have not seen "Killer Clowns from Outer Space" you are better off:

I have seen it. 5 times.

"Can't Buy Me Love" was a really wonderful film, right up to the big speech at the end that was so stupid with the clapping it ended the John Hughes like film era forever (skip to 2:20 mark):

Ugh.

James Spader could not save the film "Tuff Turf" though Kim Richards (call me dear!) having eye intercourse on a piano almost pulled it out:

Still a bad film. Ok, maybe I am lying, here is the trailer and now I am going to buy it.

Rock Blogging
"Is this what they paid for? This is what they want!"
-Jimmy Conners on the verge of winning the sickest 5 set comeback against Aaron Krickstein at the US Open.

Hey, at least this site if free and there are no ads which are driving me nuts! If Clusterstock (Business Insider) and The Big Picture don't shit can the monster pop up ads I am going to remove them from the blogroll. Quit it already. Anyways, away we go....

Lurker requested Al Stewart's "Time Passages" and when I checked it I was iffy, but after a couple of listens, I like it:

Different tune, but it works.

My longest term blog reader and valued contributor Watchtower wanted Triumph and "Magic Power". Any and all I can do my man, and live as well!:

I like it! Watchtower, I would love to know how you first found my blog years ago! Use the gmail at the left or if you don't mind, share it with the readers in the comments. I do so appreciate your kind words and input over the years!

More magic? A Big Steel Keg brother in arms suggested Steppenwolf and "Magic Carpet Ride" and so I dug up an old TV performance in black and white!:

Fun stuff!

Ok, lets get deep. To me the greatest bands have great tunes, but when they go live they become almost legend. Plenty of idiots would kill to see Beyonce in concert, but only to say they were there and tweet it or some other crap. I would kill to see a vintage Ozzy, Sabbath, or AC/DC live just to feel the thunder in my chest and know what pure inspiration can feel like. Huge difference and I fear the new generation do things more to be seen and talk about than experience for themselves only. There is a HUGE difference there that will rear an ugly head later.

Anyways, we want a robot themed tune? Hells yes! Here is a wicked live version of "Who Made Who" by AC/DC which was featured in the film "Maximum Overdrive", you know the one when machines kill us all?:

NASTY!

Only 6 tonight (running late!) so that means 2 to go!

Well after all that build up, I need "Crazy Train" from the Tribute album via my main man Randy Rhoads:

I know, I play that a ton, but have you really listened to it?

Last call!
"Twilight is upon me and soon, night must fall. It is the way of things. The way of the force." - Yoda in ROTJ

What to choose, what to choose.

Let's get all crazy with Metallica and a live version of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" featuring maybe the best bassist ever, Cliff Burton:

Wow.

Have a good night.