Station Break

T-minus 13 hours.......

Silver Article Linkage
I was really liking my post from last night, it finally all came together. When you write a post you really like it is a good feeling. I had an extra bonus treat in store this morning though!

My man Josh Brown who runs the great The Reformed Broker site had a rundown on why targets for the top of the "silver bubble" are silly on face as these things run a course on their own. So what was so cool? Here is the article:
Traders and True Believers Share their Metals Anti-Targets
Economic Disconnect filled in the role for "True Believer"! This made my whole week! Thanks so much Josh! Very exciting. Farmer Brown adds to my write up:

He ain't selling no matter what. It's more of a structural thing than a thematic investment for him. Sell gold at 1550? 1650? 1738? Not his concern.

Nice! I would add if anyone wants to buy all my silver at $500 an ounce I am taking offers, HA!

Great way to go on vacation.

Station Break
I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning. Please don't be too sad, it's just one week and absence makes the heart grow fonder or some stuff.

When I go on vacation I am 100% unplugged. No TV, no web, no phones, and no newspapers. I get totally disconnected (get it, a play on my name:)). It is actually fun after the first day and after day 5 or so I don't even remember all that stuff. A solid break can polish the brain and allow your best ideas and pure thoughts about things to get up to the surface. In the hustle and flow of today's crazy world this kind of time is very important.

I am really looking forward to the boat I have chartered to go fishing on the flats for Tarpon, Barracuda, and maybe even Grouper.

Here is the resort in Antigua:

It's funny but we like to hang out near the pools but I really only like going in the ocean water. Makes no sense but it is what it is.

Enjoy the week everyone!

Friday Night with Some Entertainment
You did not think I would leave you hanging did you? Some fun to remember me by. Please come back when I return!

The Robots are Advancing While we Fail to Understand the Implications
Yes, more robots! Laugh now but everyone is going to owe Economic Disconnect a huge apology when what's left of humanity is fighting for survival.

I submit, the Sarcos Robot, here dancing via link to a human, but you just KNOW that robot wants to do the running man dance move on his own:

I know, it's cute. Like a mogwai before being fed at freaking midnight cute.

Not as Clumsy or Random as a Blaster; an Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age
I collect swords and I do have a couple hand forged samurai blades from Windlass Steelcrafts, but if I ever really have disposable income, I want a real Japanese Samurai Sword from the old days. Someday....

Until then, enjoy this great video about the blades:

Droooool! Superior craftsmanship.

Rock Blogging
A few tunes for the big send off.

I know everyone has a Netflix account (NFLX, talk about missed traded Kid Dynamite, I blew that one!) so there is no reason to have not seen "Streets of Fire". None. Your homework for the week I am gone is see this film and there may be quiz when I get back, you know how I am with movie lines! Here is Diane Lane performing (lip syncing) "Tonight is What it Means to be Young":

Plenty more in the film.

Joaquin Phoenix And Reese Witherspoon do their own singing and perform "It Ain't Me Babe" from the film "Walk the Line":

Love that one!

We are going for the best clips/tunes here for the long week away so I am loading the headcutting duel from "Crossroads" so you can spool it up next Friday if you are bored:

Classic. Paint the fence Ralph!

Screw that band "The Divinyls" or whatever and their weak tune "I Touch Myself"; Joan Jett rocked the house with "Do You Wanna Touch Me" long before and with some sick, heavy guitar work (see the 1:05 minute mark with the overlapping guitar work):

Nasty good.

Ok, I am going with two more.

Loyal reader Watchtower liked the last time I played this, so let's go again with the Del Shannon tune "Runaway":

Timeless.

Last one.

Nothing wrong with a little AC/DC and "Who Made Who" which fits nicely with the robot discussion:


Have a good night and a great week. See you on the flip side.

When to Sell Gold and Silver

Almost time to head out for Antigua. I may have a little something up tomorrow night if I have some time. I think the following post is not the post I would want to write before I go on vacation but I am going to let it rip anyway. You know how it goes when I let it rip, right?

When to Sell Gold and Silver
For weeks now I have seen consternation like I have hardly ever seen about the metals gold and silver. While most of the discussion has been about silver, for the purpose of this post I will just say "The Metals" and you should know what I mean. In places where I mean more one than the other I will make note.

Ok, everyone wants to know when to sell the metals. Let's just cut to the prices and then I will get into my main theme.

Are you ready? Here you are:
-Sell Silver at $50
-Sell Gold at $1550
Got it? And dump all those laggard miners, I stopped that crap back in 2005 on any scale, they suck. Write it down if you have to. Feel better? Oh, you want to know why? Well that gets interesting.

If you are so worried about the metals being in a bubble then it is time to let loose. I have no idea where you bought yours, but a hefty profit should come around the $50,$1550 mark. Take it. Move on.

If you are watching the prices daily waiting for that epic moment when "the top" is in you should know how that goes. Take the money and run. If you are leveraged, overextended, or losing sleep then it is time to move on. May I suggest some other equity candidates that Kid Dynamite highlighted in a great post (which triggered this one) to try out:
-LULU
-OPEN
-SINA (on sale today!!!)

If you are making money for clients and are way up, take my targets and tell them Economic Disconnect told you to do it. If metals go crazy from here you still booked a huge win (blame me), if it collapses you will be a hero. What is not to like?

So, I am selling all mine at that point, right?

Wrong.

The time for debate is over, I am not trying to sell you anything (but I would LOVE pageviews! lol) or convince you of anything. I quit that a while ago. I am not selling because I believe my reasons for owning the metals are a long term structural issue that is not going to resolve either soon or without changes to the wonderful system we all know and love.

I am not selling because, to use a conversation from a favorite film "No Country for Old Men":


The series of dialogue is especially fitting:

Wells
We don't have to do this. I'm a daytrader. I could just go home.
Chigurh
Why would I let you do that?
Wells
I know where the money is.
Chigurh
If you knew, you would have it with you.
Wells
I need dark. To get it. I know where it is.
Chigurh
I know something better.
Wells
What's that.
Chigurh
I know where it's going to be.

Sometimes you have to put the charts away, ignore the candles, and forget the latest analyst calls. If you want to know where the metals will be this week, next month or even by years end, take the above prices and walk. I only care where they are going to be. I think they will be higher. Much higher.

Time frame? Long term. I know it's a hard concept. Long term I see things that firm my belief that silver and gold will be higher. I could get into it, but I have spilled virtual ink here for years explaining why. I would summarize that the notional value of money took a hard jab to the nose in the Dot Com bubble and suffered a Micky Ward body shot during the banking crisis and ongoing debt issues the world over.

I was buying the metals aggressive from 2002-2006. I never really looked at them until the 2009 panic (wow those metals really were a hedge against the end of the world huh? NOT!) and then I added more. I play some trading positions from time to time and those I watch, but that's a different game.

It was not until this week that I had an idea why many stock players hate the metals but go all starry eyed over a name like LULU. I think it is because the metals are an outside idea that Wall Street (I am using this loosely; I think you know the type) has no control over. When you buy (long after they do) and when you sell (right after they do) many stocks will be largely influenced by what major players tell you. Not so with the metals. Crazies do what they want.

The metals don't need anyone to do their IPO for big bucks (I am leaving out the newer paper ETF's and such; demand created them not a desire to sell them. Subtle but a difference). The metals don't give a shit, just like our beloved Honey Badger. Wall Street brought you the Nasdaq bubble and wonderful Mortgage Backed Securities and spread them the world over. The metals just showed up without an invite. I think this is a key point.

I think maybe Wall Street thinks people may know something they don't and that bugs them. No worries guys, it is just an idea. Maybe my type will go bust on this call. Then I buy AAPL.

Have a good night.

Wednesday Filler

I am getting a bit stressed out with all the finishing up at work I have to do. Always more than you think. It will be there when I get back I am sure. Two days to go.

Sad News
When I was in college it was a tough time. The last two years were very long. After my father died we had some family issues and my mother (my parents were long divorced) decided a long trip on the road was in order for her. Sounded good. With limited time to work at night (a biotech degree has tons of lab courses) I had no money. I mean none. I would stop over at my cousins when she got her food stamps and child support from the state and play all nice and grab something to eat. That was good for twice a week. I was at my old boxing weight (136 lbs) without trying to do that.

One night I was out and met up with two brothers who grew up not even 2 miles from me but just over the town line so we never went to the same schools. We hit it off big time. I started hanging out with them all the time and we would go out Thursday night through Sunday night and rip it up at the college bars and clubs. They both worked full time and had plenty of cash. They also never asked me about my situation. We all went out and things got taken care of no questions asked. I might never have seen a bar in college if not for them. It was not about the help though, they became MY brothers. We became very close and still are to this day. When we go out now (and for the last 7 years) I insist on paying for everything we do (they hate it!). Karma, you know.

One of the brothers called me last week and told me how sick his father was. I offered what help I could and all my support. My friend's father died last night. No matter what kind of distance one has from their parent, this is a terrible time and I only wish I could say more than cliches and a mess of "I'm sorry's". I know my adopted brothers can believe I am here for them. Just like they have always been for me.

Wednesday Filler
Assorted stuff for a distraction.

Earnings News
Besides a few names that missed, most firms are ripping the cover off the ball. The Apple (AAPL) train keeps on rolling. Pragmatic Capitalist (and some others) poke fun at the AAPL earnings game:

Only a Wall Street analyst could be shocked by the fact that Apple beat estimates and guided lower. I don’t mean to downplay the enormous quarter by Apple (it’s an outrageously good quarter), but how in the world is anyone still fooled by this guidance game they play? I know, I know…this is every analyst’s pet rock, but when your estimate is a full 20% off the mark you have to seriously consider another line of employment. You can’t be this wrong every single quarter and claim to be “analyzing” anything. The value added here by the analyst community is worse than negative.

Too funny.

Long time readers know I hate the cult of Apple but they continue to be a monster profits machine.

20 Questions by Macro Man
You need to swing by Macro Man and read the 20 questions with multiple choice selections, it's epic. Two samples:

3. Is it true that the Chinese reserves of 3 trillion dollars would:
(a) Stretch 3 times around the planet.
(b) Take 48 years to withdraw from a ATM in $500 tranches.
(c) Weigh the same in $1 bills as the total number of potatoes processed last year in Belgium?

18. Is it true that the date 19th April 2011 (yesterday) was:
(a) 13/4/7DB in hexadecimal.
(b) The day that the Machines in Terminator became aware as Skynet went active, in preparation for its attack against humanity tomorrow.
(c) Together with (b), why the algos trashed USDs and sent Tech Equities higher this morning.

Go check out the rest.

Robots - American Made
Readers know I am so way out in front of the bubble to be that is robots. Not one single leading writer has even come close to calling this trend, but I have. Reader Anon sends this video post of robots going into the Fukushima Nuclear plants to look around and test. Here is the video:
Robots Search Plant
At the 1:56 mark we learn that Japan got these robots from......The United States! Anon comments:

Are you kidding me? The UNITED FRIGGIN STATES??? COME ON JAPAN - you guys are obsessed with robots, and yet you dont have anything domestic to deal with Fukushima???
What do you think Get? Dont you think the japanese people would be up in arms about foreign robots taking "our robots jobs"? I cant believe they would stand for this :)

Indeud. This could start a globalization robot war, which is what Skynet wants!

Magazine Covers
My man David Batista had a post up about magazines and I think the point was to see if people still subscribed to magazines but I got sort of lost at the cover shot of the new issue of Rolling Stone:

For the record, I only subscribe to In-Fisherman Magazine (best in the wold); the rest I read online.

Of course any magazine that has Lil Kim, my favorite, is a sure fire buy. Here is a Maxim Magazine picture:

Now that the restraining order has expired (just a misunderstanding really) maybe Kimmy dear will call me? What do you all think? Call me Kim!

Have a good night.

"That's Interesting" Tuesday

"No time for long posts, Dr. Jones!"

With vacation at hand I have all kinds of stuff to get settled up and packed. No real time to write anything deep and thought provoking (keep your snark jokes to yourself!) so going with a collection of interesting tidbits.

Short Story Favorite
My favorite short story is "The Cask of Amontillado":

THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. AT LENGTH I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled -- but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

Poe at his best. Poe may have been the first Gold Bug as well, HA!

Pulled Pork Enchilasagna
I am so making one of these this season:
It was Inevitable

What the Heck is Yoda?
Even with the size of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the species that Yoda belongs to is still unnamed.

Deepest Hole in the World
No it is not the US debt!:
Kola Superdeep Borehole

Blue Amber?
I would like to see some of this in real life:

When natural light strikes Blue Amber on a white surface, the light particles pass right through, and then are refracted off the white surface. The result is the slight blue hue of Blue Amber. When the same natural light particles strike the Amber on a black surface, the light particles don't refract off the black surface, thus refracting off the actual Amber. Hydrocarbons in the Blue Amber turn the sun's ultraviolet light into blue light particles, resulting in the glow of Blue Amber.

We should start an Amber bubble!

Secret Weapon
My secret weapon for difficult PCR reactions? T4 Gene 32 Protein.

Old Muscle
The 1970 Plymouth GTX 426 Hemi. Pure nasty.

Slot Cars
Remember the electric slot cars! They barely worked, you had to have an eraser and alcohol ready, and they broke after about 10 minutes. Still, every kids dream!:


Have a good night.

Monday Mixer

One week to go until vacation! Boston Marathon was today and the traffic was super light which makes for a nice ride in and out of work. The guy that won ran 26 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes!!?? That is just amazing.

Ratings Agency S&P Downgrades US Debt Outlook to Negative
Rating agency S&P decided last week to downgrade the US debt outlook to "negative". This is NOT the same as downgrading the US debt which is still rated AAA (and will always be so, right until the end). What this amounts to is S&P saying they have doubts the US will do anything constructive about the deficit issues anytime soon. I know, shocking news.

To be fair, S&P does not have what I would call a stellar record in their rating calls. I am pretty sure all those toxic subprime notes were all Triple A rated well into their crash, so there is that disclaimer. Moody's reaffirmed their positive outlook on US debt by the way.

As Zero Hedge reported, the US major players were alerted to this move last week and I am sure no word of it leaked out to the big banks. That would be both criminal and craven so there is NO WAY that happened.

So what does this all mean? A couple of things. First off I tend to take note when once in a lifetime things happen, they are usually important though it may not be clear if you are looking at it too close. From the question and answer session today:

2. Has the US ever had a negative outlook? Answer: no.

This sort of thing may be the outside influence that starts reining in the free money policies used by the US money system.

The second point, and this is far more important in the near term is how this will affect the "story" going forward. Long time readers know that I usually formulate a story that I believe HAS TO happen and then tweak various events into fitting that story. Today's downgrade serves to make a large change to how my story will have to play out.

Short version is that I believe very strongly that the US FED will have to do QE 3. I just do not see it any other way. With the pressure from Congress about debt limits and other crap I figured a stock market drop of 5-8% was going to be needed to give the FED cover for another round of QE. That just got ratcheted up, a lot.

For the FED to initiate QE 3 I now think the stock market will have to drop 10-20% to get enough fear out there that "saving the system" gets back in vogue. I will split the difference and go with 15%. This is not a technical call; there are no charts or Fibonacci lines; there is no math behind this. It is how my story will have to play out if I am correct. I may not be.

Silver Thread and Golden Needles
That is a country song BTW.

I have been impressed how fast all the consternation over "Is Gold a Bubble?" quickly moved to "Silver Is a Bubble" discussions. I am a admitted moronic, tin foil hat (here is how to make one), metal bug who refuses to see the error of my ways. I am long physical gold and silver so you know that up front. I did not get on this train in the last year.

I have a bunch of random thoughts on the bubble angle, some favor it, others are against is. Here they are in no particular order:

-The financial sphere thinks EVERYONE is in on the metals trade. They could not be, not in any size. And still not one person I know in real life has any exposure to metals, but I know regular people while you may only know MOMO traders.

-If the metals are an inflation hedge, it is either going to have to happen very soon or that is just a wrong line of thinking. Same for deflation hedging.

-In the battle between the "crazies" (metal bugs) and the "tradies" (short term trend holders) the crazies have metals in size at FAR lower prices. This is important as big drops will be met with accumulation by the crazies and taking it away from the tradies.

-As a metals lover, I really wanted to have seen a big pullback back in late January for the metals; Silver at $22.50 and Gold at $1250 which would have calmed things down a bit.

-If the metals are a balance for insane monetary policy, what could be a top? Really?

-If metals are a holding against the idea of notional money than how is talk of sovereign debt restructuring (hair cuts), expanding bailouts to no end (Euro crap), QE 3 going to hurt metals? Only a return to burn it up economic growth, and I mean like this week, can fix the serious debt issues facing the developed world.

-If metals become just 3% of an average person's investment portfolio, geez I cannot even do the math.

-If the stock market craters again (remember I think it must for QE 3 to happen and I feel it must) the metals are going to get seriously messed up to the downside.

-10 years is a LONG bull market, but we have had 10 years of serious bullshit from the power players so sometimes things keep going.

-You can't eat gold or silver. You can't eat a NFLX share. Last I heard you could exchange either one for cash and get some chicken nuggets so stop using that ridiculous line. Get some fries too.

-When everyone goes for the exits in metals not everyone can get out, just like any asset you may own.

-The metals cannot be priced by normal metrics so they are only worth what the next guy will pay. Just like every other asset you own.

-In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse you may be able to brain a few zombies with your silver bars, while electronic stock certificates will not help you. Added bonus, some coins have ladies on them!:


For two opposed but well written essays on all of this, allow me a couple of links.

Market Anthropology is a newer blog getting all kinds of reads, for good reason:
Y2K = QE2

As always, Jesse offers the kind of write up I wish I could do:
How Far Can the Fed Go in Manipulating Markets Before It Becomes a Private Banking Fraud?

Have a good night.

Sports Sunday

Curb Jumping
I survived Latin dance lessons without injury. It was actually a good time and I am glad I went. Of course there had to be some excitement though. I was outside the club cooling down and a car came really fast around the corner. Guy must have been drunk or something because he plowed right into the curb where I was standing and jumped it. Only the forewarning of The Force and my ninja-like reflexes allowed me to jump out of the way and escape any injury. The driver just kept going down the street but I could hear the left CV joint on the car clicking like it was broken. What an asshole.

Sports Sunday
A few great moments from various sports for a Sunday.

Jimmy Connors vs. Aaron Krickstein, US Open 4th Round 1991
Have I stated how much I love YouTube? In 1991 an aging Jimmy Connors goes deep into the well against Aaron Krickstein and wins an unforgettable 5 set match in the final set tiebreak. The below clip starts the ties break (Connors says "Is this what they pay for? This is what they want!". Scan ahead to the 8:50 mark for the end and the crowd goes crazy (cannot embed, sorry):
Connors Wins
I remember that Connors was so jacked up after this match he had to walk around for 3 hours to calm down. Epic.

Marvin Hagler KO 6 Tony Sibson
Marvin Hagler brings the world middleweight title back to Massachusetts and stops Tony Sibson in 6 rounds at the Worcester Centrum:

That guy was amazing.

Tracy Porter and The Saints Win The Superbowl
My beloved Saints win the big one on a killer interception late. AWESOME find on YouTube:

Classic.

Dale Earnhardt Wins at Bristol, Wrecks Terry Labonte
From 1999, this was nasty but that's Bristol:

The Man in Black.

Ending to "Searching for Bobby Fisher Film"
Ok, not sports but I do love this ending of a chess tournament:

Great film.

Mike Tyson KO 7 Tyrell Biggs
In 1987 this was actually a huge fight and many thought Biggs would win. Not so much:

Good night.

Added:
I am doing screening homework, but so close to vacation I probably will not buy anything. I like NCT here and I love RPM once again.

Have a good night.

Friday Night Plethora of Pinatas

One week of work left until vacation (Antigua here I come!) and I have so much to do. I also need to get the car's oil changed and do some yard work. Something tells me that is not going to happen. Going out tomorrow night for a birthday party that will be featuring lessons for Latin style dancing and I promised my wife I would try it just for her. I really wish my side was too painful right now. Maybe I can have a huge coughing fit tonight and re-injure it? Nobody puts GYSC in a corner, right?

From the Department of "Now They Tell Everyone"
First FED clown Hoenig admitted big banks are too big to fail and are fully backed by the government. Now the Bank of America CEO, a one Mr. Moynihan, tells people that all the home trading and home equity extraction maybe was not a great idea (Hat Tip The Golden Truth):

BofA CEO: Owners shouldn't look at home as an asset
Housing rebound may take so long that homeowners should seek other long-term investments

This is an instant classic.

Sometimes I want everything to be ok and get better and other times I want the whole system to crash and burn. I would even break out the weenies and marshmallows.

Online Poker Dust Up
I used to play a lot of poker at Party Poker back a few years. I liked the competition and I was pretty good at it. I preferred 6 man sit and go tournaments. Way back when the Port Security bill was passed, there was a clause attached that made online poker gambling "illegal". I put it in quotes because the US government never seemed interested in doing anything about it. I did not care and I was playing too much (my wife said so) so I closed my account and walked away from poker. Sometimes I play the play money games if I am bored and up late.

Today it seems the government is getting serious about getting their cut of gambling revenue, I mean enforcing the law. Kid Dynamite (Mr. Bajunga Tilt Inducer himself) lays it all out for you:
Online Poker D-Day
I have no real horse in this race. I would love to play real money poker again, but I will not really be able to play that much. In the end the government should just take their cut and allow it, stop telling people what to do. Scratch tickets, Keno, and a million other gambling things are fine as long as the state gets their cut, but online poker is "evil" and "hurts families". Whatever.

Friday Night Entertainment
Lifting spirits since 2007.

E-Trade: Sorry, You Can't Take it Back
This is going viral I promise you 100%:

Epic.

Old Ads Were Over the Top
I almost think this one is fake (click for full version):

see more Historic LOL YUCK!

Waldo Photobomb:

see more This is Photobomb
Do you see him?

Film Clips
Selected scenes from neither here nor there.

HBO's big gamble on "Game of Thrones" opens Sunday night. This of course makes me think of the best HBO series ever, Rome. So many great things about the series. Here is my second favorite clip where Titus Pullo, sentenced to die in the gladiator arena, draws power from his pride of the 13th Roman Legion. His dear friend, Lucius Vorenus is moved to help his brother once again (WARNING: Very nasty and gory):

My favorite Rome clip is here.

You know this is the coolest clip ever, Darth Vader is saved from death and given a new body. Jack the sound up at 1:55 mark:

Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!!

Rock Blogging
It's funny; sometimes I get no requests (most often), a few, and this week I have a whole bunch! I cannot figure out how not one request was from the Ozzy/Rhoads Tribute album and no Iron Maiden. What's wrong with you people anyway? Let's roll with some reader picks.

Fellow Big Steel Keg user Smoking in Peosta celebrated the Confirmation of his daughter M by cooking a killer Prime Rib. For such an occasion I offered the proud father lead off song choice. Congratulations Smoking and M, here is U2 with "If God Will Send His Angels":

I never heard that U2 song, weird.

Loyal reader Gawains knows Black Sabbath like no other. His selection, "Swinging the Chain" is a really good one:

I like that one!

Reader C-T, who has not stopped by in a while (kidding!), was looking for Gin Blossoms and "Found Out About You" and it's a good one:

Nice.

The greatest reader a writer could have, Watchtower, was interested in a song from the film "Sharkey's Machine" sung by Sarah Vaughan. Pretty catchy:

I like the tune, but that did not sound like a female singer for a while!

Author JH, who has her very own book coming out, was craving Duran Duran's classic "Hungry Like the Wolf". Here is a cool live version to remember the 80's by, oh the best of times:

The HAIR!

Ok, last two and then it's all over. Try not to be upset.

I need a Chili Peppers fix (man I miss Jake from EconomPic!). Maybe my favorite Peppers tune, "Otherside":

That one or "Under the Bridge". Tough call.

Last tune, raise a glass.

What time is it? Why it is "3 AM Eternal"! Run with a little KLF:

WOWZA! Did you see that mobile phone at the 1:12 mark?!! This video wakes up in the morning and pisses excellence.

Have a good night.

All Your Mines Belong to Us

The dentist took some x-rays and looked at my tooth. He could find nothing wrong. The x-ray maybe showed a slight infection above the root on the tooth that hurts, but it was clearing up and hard to make out. I got a script for an antibiotic and he said unless the pain got worse to let it ride for a bit. I guess that is good, nothing big going on there. It still does not hurt anymore so I should be good to go.

Joe Battipaglia Passed Away
I used to love to watch the Fox Business block on Sunday's a long time ago. One of the more fun guests on the shows was Joe Battipaglia. CNBC reported it earlier and now there is confirmation that Battapaglia has died at age 55. I send all my best wishes for the Batapaglia family and for his friends. Very sad.

All Your Mines Belong to Us
I was still holding some Pan American Silver (PAAS) and everything seemed fine this morning before I left for the dentist around 11am. Of course I get home and get this headline:
Bolivia may scrap Glencore, Pan American contracts
In a nutshell, Bolivia is going all communist and will probably seek to take over mines that are contracted to private companies and use them for the state's wants and desires. PAAS got hit big on the news and I sold out at a 2 cent gain. Yup, TWO CENTS! Figures. It could have been worse.

This reminds me once again why I stopped trading miners a long time ago. They suck. From 2002-2007 with gold and silver rising steadily and happily the miners were always lagging and looking like dogshit. They always burn a 20% move up in the stock by doing a monster secondary stock offering for like 75% of the company, buying some other miner, or just missing earnings even though it was almost impossible to do so.

As of late the miners are now so extremely volatile you cannot even trade them. Stop losses? Forget it, don't bother. EXK moves up and down in increments of 10%, try placing a stop on that screwball, you are gonna get executed.

I know plenty of folks navigate the miners well and clean up doing it. There is a donation button on the site at the left, use it. I am going to stay away from these things from now on.

Zipcar and What it Means Bigger Picture
The Cambridge based company Zipcar had their IPO today and it went bananas. These cars are all over the Boston metro area. This section is not to discuss Zipcar in a buy/sell sense, but a post over at Leigh Drogen's place really jumped out at me as to what this kind of thing means going forward. From Mr. Drogen:

Zipcar is the perfect representation of the fact that our economy is shifting, drastically, from people wanting to own things, to people wanting to use things, but have no desire to own them. This shift is made possible by recent technological advances in peer to peer networks. These services are sprouting up in every industry, even baby toys. Instead of buying baby toys which you will throw out in a year when your kid outgrows them, why not rent them when it makes sense, with a subscription service, and send it back when your kid is done playing with it, like a video game rental.

Zipcar is playing on the same theme, why own a car when you only drive it once in a while?

Good stuff.
This sort of big change will allow many more people access to various things, cars in this case, that they would not be able or interested in using otherwise. This has broad effects on the economy both deflationary and inflationary in some ways. Worth thinking about.

Extortion
This Red Meat comic had me laughing until I figured the banking system is doing the same thing to all of us. Then I wanted to get a chainsaw for the tree, hee hee (click for larger view or hit the link to the site):

Yuppers.

Have a good night.

Mid Week Snack

I have a dentist visit tomorrow because a back top tooth had been killing me since last Friday so I have the appointment tomorrow and took a vacation day in case they have to do anything to it. Of course it has been pain free for two days! Unreal. I have plenty to do around the house before vacation so it will not be a total waste of a vacation day.

Crack is Whack
All you wanted to know about how some are playing crack spreads.

Tom Brady Emotional
Quarterback for the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, was featured in a piece that covered how he was overlooked until the 6th round of the draft. I get it sucked, I get he was very emotional thinking about how his Dad and family helped him, but at the 1:20 mark Brady starts really getting upset:

Look, I get it. It was a tough time and he may have thought all the hard work he had done in his life was wasted getting drafted so late. HOW ABOUT SOME TEARS FOR WASTING A 14-2 2010 SEASON TOM!!! Where are those freaking tears? Still a sick joke the Patriots lost to the Jets, only it's not a funny joke but some sort of vomit inducing 'jokes on me' sort of thing.

Peak Home Buying Season
We are in the season where home sales are at higher levels because most people want to close on a home while their children are out of school (other various reasons; who likes to move in winter?, etc). Calculated Risk notes (via DataQuick):
South California Home Sales Still Low; New Home Sales at Record Low
California leads housing trends across the country, in case you are wondering. Another stellar success of government intervention.

You Don't Know The Power of The Darkside
The power of The Darkside of the Force is strong! Even little children can be brought over to The Darkside in a hurry (via Geekologie):

Sariah Gallego wants to join Darth Vader, not fight him! HA!

Let us all recite the Code of the Sith:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

Too bad. There are only two; a Master and an Apprentice.

Have a good night.

Linkfest for Tuesday

Starting a bit late after dinner clean up and lunch preparation took longer than usual. Don't ask. As such it will be a link fest!

Market Operations
I am going on vacation the last week this month so I was going to go to all cash before I left. As I took a few hits the past few days it seems like a good time as well! I am out of everything except my stop was missed in PAAS so I still have it and I am holding a position in WNR as well.

Links
Where else are you going to get tales of Maple Syrup production, Cigarette Arbitrage, the low down on ETF', Silver coverage, and Toilet Replacement drama? Only one place friends:
Kid Dynamite - Content is King

The Downtown Man himself, Farmer Brown angles a question in an interesting way today. It would be worth your time to think how you would answer and what that may mean for the long term, big picture:
The False Hope of Higher Prices

Like we did not know:
Big banks are government-backed: Fed's Hoenig

Fans of alternate history type thinking may find this one really fun:
Would a Soviet Moon landing have forced the US to go to Mars?

Have a good night.

Ya Suspect!

Super nice here today, 75 degrees! Of course now the cold rain moves in for two days just to ruin a good weather mood. Such is life in New England.

Writing Samples
Loyal reader Watchtower, who must have a perfect memory, recalls another item I wrote a while back after attending a lights out great Depeche Mode concert. If you are interested in that writing sample, you can find it in this post. Thanks to all for the kind words.

Ya Suspect!

Catch it at the 0:46 second mark on.

There was some weird action today in two stocks I have been involved in. Now it just may be a random sort of thing, but it is this kind of funny business that will make one want to pack it up and head out from playing this market at all.

First up, Western Refining (WNR) posted a premarket sale this morning at a price of $12.00. What's the big deal? The previous close was $17.50 or so! The stock opened up normally but that early sale generated plenty of confusion and questions. Another "fat finger" trade? Who knows. Very strange though, but it was just the beginning.

Transcend Services (TRCR) had it's very own mini flash crash today. Wonderful. After closing Friday at $23.50 TRCR opened down as much as 15% to $19.64! The stock recovered a bit and I exited the stock at $22.30 for a nasty 5% loss. Here is a 10 minute chart:

That long tail on the monster down move is on huge volume.

Now this could have been one large block sale priced to sell, but it just seems way out of line here. TRCR is a low volume traded stock to be sure, but this is still on the wild side.

When the overall "Flash Crash" happened a while back, stocks seemed magnetically attracted to the very bottom of the crash lows. I think the same may be true for these two stocks. I am not waiting to find out.

Silver and gold miners (I am long PAAS, AUY, SA, and CEF) took brutal beatings today and some even broke down from where their previous break out occurred. Ugly stuff all over for me. With just two weeks to go until vacation I am looking for exits before I leave.

This market is getting harder to trade as overnight gaps, mini crashes, fat finger trades, and other games make entry and exit points almost impossible to put in place unless you are in front of a computer logged into your trading account. Some of us mere mortals have to actually work a day job which precludes doing that. I am no fool, I know what I am into here, but right now the market is full of monkeys and clowns so unless you like bananas and red, squeaky noses, it's probably best to sit this out.

I say to this market, Ya Suspect!!:


Have a good night.

The Week Ahead

It did not get up to 80 degrees here today, but it was a solid 70 degree plus. It was like the entire area came alive as kids were all out playing, people were walking around, and yard work was going on big time. I am still a bit too sore for yard work, at least that is my excuse, so maybe next weekend. Really got the fishing bug today as well.

Old Find
Way back in 1997 when Economic Disconnect was still young, I wrote a long item of prose that I always was pretty fond of. I always loved English classes and luckily I had a bunch of good teachers through High School and College that pointed out cool writings. I loved the Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" series and Edward Arlington Robinson's works like "Miniver Cheevy". Throw in a real liking for Old English type epic poems (think Beowulf) and I had an idea as to what I wanted to create.

I ran across the old notebook I wrote it in recently (no computer for me back then) and it brought back the memory of the work. I am placing it here more for me, but if you get a kick out of it that's cool too. Reading it again I think I may have been a little too drama heavy with it, but what can you do. It is long so if you are not into this kind of thing, skip on down for for regular type content:

When I Spoke With Death
It wasn’t long ago I was upon that towering hill;
The clouds were thick, the winds were strong, then all came very still.
A flash of lightning seemed me very strange accompanied by no thunder;
And then I saw a figure in black that could have been no other.

He walked towards me in sullen grace, but made no sound at all;
Cloaked in black with a wide rimmed hat, He seemed me very tall.
He stopped but just before me and fixed His gaze on me;
That’s when I saw those wicked eyes, black like night time seas.

And when He spoke His words were light, and in a whispers tone;
He said “My friend you’ll come with me and I will take you home.”
And then I knew that it was Death that came to take my hand;
But so lost was my soul, I cared not to make a stand.

I said to Him “I’ll come with you, for there’s nothing for me here”;
“I’ve lost my strength, my hope, my dreams and so I have no fear.”
The dark God seemed to ponder this, and after some time he said;
“Explain to me why you are so calm to walk among the dead.”

And now it was I who paused, not sure how to begin;
Then I chose to tell Him of my only true love’s end.
I said to Him how all was lost to lies and to betrayal;
I had tried so hard and gave so much, and all to no avail.

I told Him the pain and grief of my fathers shameful death;
And how all those dear to me turned their backs, and now I’ve nothing left.
And all through this He seemed to know, to even understand;
All the pain and loss I felt piled like the beaches sand.

Another pause, and then His whisper came into my ear;
“I have never come for someone who did not show me fear”;
“Proud warriors have fallen on their knees and begged me just to leave”;
“High priests and Kings have more than often taken time to grieve.”

And after I simply said, and in a gracious way;
“But all those men had hopes and dreams for which they’d want to stay”;
‘To leave this world for what’s unknown is not a terrible grave”
“To stay with nothing or go to something, the decision has been made.”

Again a pause as He considered the words that I had said;
And after a while His quiet whisper came to me again;
“Hell is hot, it burns with flames of naked hate and anger”;
“All the spirits there mourn their lives taken by this Stranger.”

“If I were to take you back with me, through the gates of old”;
“Hell could change thereafter, chilled by your freezing soul.”
“And what would come of Hell, if all there knew to let go?”
“There’d be no heat, no cries of grief, those things that mean the most.”

“I will leave you here, tired man, and hope you can restore”;
“Some light unto your life, your soul, so you’d want to stay some more.”
And after that I heard thunder clap, and the figure was no more;
And there was no lightning this time, of that I am sure.

That was the night I spoke with Death and even He reject me;
And so no relief is given up, and I go through life sadly.
But what a trick I’ve given myself, because if I am ever happy;
Death may come yet once again, and just to take it from me.
I still like it.

Icy Balls
Looking for a new stock to go way long on? This one may well be a good idea, Ice Ball Mold! It is exactly what you would think, perfect ice spheres! Every bar in the US will have to have this because it is way too cool. Get it, cool, ice, nevermind. Here is a video of the machine in action:

I want a drink with an ice ball!

1338 is the New 867-5308
The excellent gtotoy notes that the S&P level of 1338 has become a recurring theme which we should see once again this week. Being a smart ass, I quipped that 1338 is the new 867-5309:

NICE! If I was on Twitter I would tweet that line for hours.

Market Operations
When is the next trading week ever not going to be termed "interesting"?

Current Long Positions
SA
CEF
PAAS
AUY
BECN
TRCR
WNR
At this point the gold/silver miner names are breaking out. Monday may well be a bit ugly for PAAS. After a huge 8% plus move I expect it to come off a bit. It has plenty of room to move and still qualify the breakout pattern. TRCR is weak right now and I may be looking to exit that one if it does not pick up. I am down quite a bit on WNR (4%) so I am using that as an example of how moving out of what I am comfortable with can bite me. The chart does not look good at all, but I figured the fundamental look on it was solid. The market does not seem to agree and how long one wants to fight that is for everyone to decide. For me, I may be out tomorrow, too many other good looking names to stick with a position that is not working.

I have to do homework tonight and will update any new ideas or setups I am looking at. Any that are my own that is.

Have a good night.

Saturday Random Stuff

Just some random stuff on a slow Saturday evening.

The Most Powerful Handgun in the World
This guy is fun to watch! FPS Russia has an entire library of gun related posts on YouTube and he cracks me up. Here he uses the 500 Smith and Wesson handgun??!:

"My hand hurts like hell".
They keep getting bigger. I am not into guns but thought this was crazy wild.

The Fisherman Story
This tale always made sense in a way that was both funny and sad:
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. "You aren't going to catch many fish that way," said the businessman to the fisherman. "You should be working rather than lying on the beach!"

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?" "Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the businessman's answer. "And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, "You will make money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!" "And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman again. The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman's questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said.

"And then what will my reward be?" repeated the fisherman. The businessman was getting angry. "Don't you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!" Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?" The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don't you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the world!"

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I'm doing right now?"
Yup.

Hugh Fitzcairn
In the TV series "Highlander" many stars made guest appearances. Names like Roland Gift, Vanity, Joan Jett, and Roddy Piper are just a few. On of my favorites was the recurring character Hugh Fitzcairn, played by The Who frontman Roger Daltrey. Sadly this character was killed off in an episode by Duncan Macleod's nemesis, Kalas:

Sorry for the bad quality, but this clip had just this scene. This was the best show on TV.

Berserker
On another thread I got all nostalgic for the film "Clerks". Here is the awesome Berserker scene:

Classic.

New Avatar
My new avatar makes an appearance in this cutscene from the second Knights of the Old Republic game at the 1:35 mark of "The Fall of Darth Traya":

Sick as all get out.

Have a good night.

Recovery Friday

Second day where my side is feeling much better. I was getting a little worried there for a minute. It is going to be almost 80 degrees here on Sunday and Monday! Awesome.

Market Operations
I was sort of all over the place this week. I was busy with regular work and paperwork at home so my trading was not as sharp as it could have been. The weeks moves:
Monday
Bought SA, CEF, NCT
Tuesday
Bought PAAS, CAB and TRCR
Wednesday
Sold NCT for a small loss (-0.6%) and replaced with AUY. Bought WNR.
Thursday
Sold CAB at a even move (0%).
Friday
Watched WNR take a beating and then all the gold/silver miner stocks broke out on heavy volume. PAAS went crazy today:

WOW! I will try and be more on top of things next week. Many of the above buys were stolen from the man himself, ChessNwine. What a guy, thanks!

Friday Night Entertainment
All week long I have been low on time, tonight is no different. Off to the fun stuff to set up the weekend.

Copper: It's Not Just Hot in China
We have all seen the stories of Chinese farmers hoarding copper. Let's expand our view a little. Check out Armenia:

Armenia cut off from internet by old woman digging for copper
A 75-year-old Georgian woman has managed to cut off the entire country of Armenia from the internet for several hours by cutting a single cable while she was scavenging for copper.

I blame Bernanke.

Mesmerizing Picture with Story
In my travels over the internet this week I came across a stunning work of art that has captured my attention. This picture has just grabbed me:

A little searching and I found this on Wikipedia (yes I know I have a Wiki problem!):

The Ghost of Oyuki
The Ghost of Oyuki is a painting of a female yūrei, (a traditional Japanese ghost), by Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), founder of the Maruyama-Shijô school of painting.
According to an inscription on the painting, Okyo had a mistress in the Tominaga Geisha house. She died young and Okyo mourned her passing. One night her spirit came to him in a dream, and unable to get her image out of his head he painted this portrait. This is one of the earliest paintings of a yūrei (ghost) with the basic late-Edo period ghost characteristics: disheveled hair, white or pale blue robe, limp hands, nearly transparent, lack of lower body.

Wonderful find.

Picture Fun
It's better with the lights ona and taking pictures.

Now I know why James Altucher loves yoga so much:

see more Very Demotivational
Indeud.

Swim trunks do have some disadvantages:

see more This is Photobomb
Oops!

Film Stuff
My man David is all over the new HBO series "Game of Thrones" which comes out soon. I think I will be watching, take a look:

I should have a blood feud with HBO after the end of The Sopranos and most of all, my beloved Rome series. Maybe this will ease the pain. Maybe.

Still the scariest movie of all time, "The Exorcist" original trailer:

Still freaks me out.

Rock Blogging
Getting in the groove in case you gotta prove!

Nothing but lines from the songs tonight.

"Your like a candle, your flame is slowly fading, burning out and burning me":


"If I could move I'd get my gun and put her in the ground":


"On my deathbed, I will pray to the gods and the angels; like a pagan, to anyone who will take me to heaven":


"But though your still with me, I've been alone alone all along":


"As he spreads his wings and shouts to the crowd, In the name of God my father, I fly!":


"When all the work is done, by the light of the setting sun, we see what we've become; two of the lucky ones":


Added:
"I know his name..."

Have a good night.

Mind at Work

Great news! This morning as I dreaded waking up and getting moving, that is when my pulled/torn side muscle is the WORST, I actually only felt a dull way off pain! I can now actually raise my right arm and move pretty freely! Amazing. I can put the duct tape away if this keeps up. I am actually excited about this, what a relief.

Getting plenty of web traffic from the Honey Badger content! I'll take it anyway I can get it. Tomorrow is Friday night so get those requests in. I have a outline for a longish "is silver in a bubble" post but I don't have time to get to it. Maybe this weekend.

Chicken Parm FAIL!
Last evening my wife had a function to attend so I was on my own. This means I swing by the liquor store and buy beer. I was sort of hungry and in the small strip mall there is the beer store and a pizza place. I went over to the pizza place to grab a sub. I had never had food from this particular place before, so I went with a chicken parm sub. This choice is a good way to test a new joint's food I think. Here's how it went.

It sucked. This place uses grilled chicken for the sub! I mean, who does that? If I want healthy grilled chicken I will cook it on the Big Steel Keg. I wanted deep fried crunchy goodness. Instead of a great crunchy, cheesy, saucy treat I had a soggy, mushy mess of a Italian dinner plate on bread. FAIL.

There should have been a heads up here. The menu listing should have said "We don't fry food like all other sub shops since time began, we grill it instead. Buyer beware." What a bunch of clowns. I ate about a quarter of it and then pitched it. This is just not right.

Mind at Work
Before I trot out some charts and a direct line as to how I think (scary indeed) I want to say a couple things:
-Technical analysis/charting varies among users. There are rules, definitions and accepted criteria for various parts of it. That's great. I do what I can but I am not perfect.
-Terms and lingo are not things I ever really mastered.
With that said, don't email me or comment with "you drew that line 10 cents off!" or "that is NOT a so and so pattern". I am a hack, if I am doing it wrong then I try to improve. The point of this section is to show a couple trades and what I was thinking, more for me as a record, but I thought readers may like to see it. If you think it was all bullshit because my charts are all wrong, it may well have been. I do my best. I am fine with that because I am the honey badger and honey badger don't give a shit!

With that out of the way......

RPM Trade
After talking to my wife she had a couple ideas about stock sectors to try out. One idea was re-painting and fixing up things in the springtime. I found RPM International (RPM) which is the maker of "Rustoleum" and many other products. They sell to big industry too. I was not looking at it fundamentally, but I wanted to see if I could find a technical signal to try the stock out.

Last caution; I am going to mention some additional indicators that I use for supporting evidence for stock positions. These are even more amorphous than candlestick charts. I have seen stocks with the worst stochastic's moon shot and stocks with the best get firebombed like Dresden. If you think I am using them wrong, honey badger don't give a shit.

Here is the first daily chart for RPM (click for bigger view):

Here is how I work:
-Place long term support/resistance lines for the stock. This will need longer term charts to see where that is. For RPM I drew white lines for:
$22.80 - long term support
$23.60 - first resistance
$24.00 - long term resistance
When I was working on this stock on Sunday March 21st RPM was just coming back to the old support at the $22.80 line. Old support can be new resistance so what made me interested?

The green arrows on the stochastic (bottom pane of chart) show a double touch pattern. The last time this happened (far left) the stock had a nice run up. The second pane down shows volume and the buying interest was good as well. Both added to the idea that RPM would regain $22.80. I bought at market open on March 22 at $22.79. I mentioned I liked it here on Monday the 21st.

RPM moved well after breaking above $22.80 and it soon crossed first resistance of $23.60 easily. Buy volume was great so I let it ride. On Friday April 1st RPM was breaking long term resistance of $24, so I sold the stock at $24.05 for a nice 5.5% gain. I saw nothing wrong with the chart, but I just wanted to take a win. RPM earnings were today and they did very well. The stock is at $25 and change so I missed a bit of profit there. That's the way it goes. Here are my entry and exit points marked in red arrows:

I will revisit this stock in the near future should it base well here.

At the same time I looked at Sherwin Williams (SHW), the paint company, in the springtime thesis provided by my lovely, sexy, brilliant wife. This one was a bit different but I did get interested. Here is the first daily chart (click to get a bigger one):

Again you see my white lines:
$83.25 - long term support
$86.00 - long term resistance

So why the heck was I buying in on March 22 at the open at $82.08, a ways off from old support? Do you see the rectangles I have made in the picture on the candlestick chart?:
-Buy volume was coming on big (not 20/20 hindsight, 3 great accumulation days into the 22nd)
-Candlestick pattern of "bullish squeeze" with a big red candle and then two subsequent inside days (within the last candle both times). Usually a good sign. Both the MACD and stochastic gave weight to the move up (green arrows).

I waited for a little upside confirmation and went long on March 22nd at the open at $82.08.

Long story short SHW moved well right up to old highs at $86 on April 1st and I exited at $86.00 that day. Red arrows show entry and exit:

As of now SHW is still looking at that level and may be interesting later on should it break out over $86 and hold.

So that is how my mind works. In a post a while back I went over what it takes to do your own trading. Homework was a huge factor, you have to work up ideas with real effort. Why did I do this post? I wanted a blog record of these two trades as I feel I executed very well. I also thought maybe some of the readers that have an interest in this stuff might like it. Trust me, I have had false signals, failed patterns, and just bad trades too. Maybe I will cover one of those if anyone is interested.

Have a good night.

Honey Badger Makes Yahoo Front Page

I have a ton of paperwork to do tonight, so a quick note and maybe something later on.

Honey Badger Makes Yahoo
Today on Yahoo my old friend the Honey Badger was on the front page:

Hat tip to Anon commenter!

While I do not think they were thinking of this old post of mine, here is that video once again so I can grab search hits, lol:

Love it!

Have a good night.

Humor Break

I am having a mental block on things to write about! I know, me lost for words? Bizarre. Anyways, some market operation news and some humor for Tuesday.

Market Operations
I think I have been preoccupied with staking out positions to think of other stuff. Nothing is ever easy. Plenty of good looking setups out there.

I have 8 open positions right now, but two are direct takes from the red hot chessNwine over at iBankCoin. Those spots are his ideas so I will not post them here. I like both, and there are plenty of others in the 12631 section of the PPT.

Anyways, here is where I am:
Monday Buys
SA
NCT
CEF
I am looking at NCT for a quick bounce, but it is really lagging here and I may exit tomorrow. Too many other things are moving to wait on this one.

Tuesday Buys
CAB
PAAS
TRCR
So far things look ok. I still have a couple spots open so who knows, I may deploy the whole lot.

iPhone Auto-Correct
This cracked me up today, via Daily Cognition:





There are a few more at the link above.

Have a good night.

Rainy, Gray Monday

It was pretty gloomy here in Massachusetts today. Dark clouds and light rain all day. The ride home was extra fun as there were a bunch of accidents which caused huge delays. Sitting in the car is not fun with my current injury. As such, I am a bit tired after all the effort I put out yesterday and I cannot think of anything to blog about.

Use the comments to drop any ideas or something interesting that I may have missed.

Have a good night.

Steak Tips and Harvick Wins Again

My pulled/tore muscle is getting old! It only hurts when I breathe or move, so no real problem. In any case, I wanted some real food tonight, so it was Big Steel Keg time! I just taped up my side tight to minimize the pain. A few beers will also help.

Steak Tips
I went with some steak tips for today's dinner. One set I marinaded for a few hours in Stubb's Beef marinade. This stuff adds some serious kick, so be careful is you use it! Here are the ingredients all ready:

The darker steak tips are the marinaded ones. I also cut up some peppers and onions and also had some whole mushrooms. I oven baked some small potatoes as well. I went all out.

Using skewers can make handling a bunch of small things easier on the grill. Here are the assembled sticks:


Letting the Steel Keg heat up:


I cooked them around 600 degrees for 10 minutes total. Almost done:


Dinner is served!:

It was really good.

Kevin Harvick Wins at Martinsville
I almost hurt myself even more watching #29 Kevin Harvick run down the leaders at the end of the race at Martinsville:

And he did not even wait until the last lap, he took the final lead with 3 laps to go! Sorry Dale Earnhardt Jr fans, Kevin was going for the kill! This is fun stuff.

If you win at Martinsville, you get a monster Grandfather Clock along with the trophy! This is so cool:


Homework
I need to run some screens tonight and see what I may do next week market wise. I am 100% in cash after the great past couple of weeks of trading. I will update later if I see anything good.

Added:
Final review in NCT, SA, CEF, KBX. Have to work some charts.

Have a good night.

Closing Laps with Kevin Harvick

What is it about the final laps of a race that gets Kevin Harvick going? This guy is exciting to say the least.

From 2001, in his 3rd race after Dale Earnhardt's death landed Harvick in the Earnhardt car, Kevin wins at Atlanta and I can tell you honestly I cried like a little baby:

Still gets me going.

The 2007 Daytona 500? Yup, last lap drama:

I kind of wish Mark Martin had won that race, he deserves a 500 win.

Last lap pass to win at Talladega in 2010, at 200 mph, this is not easy:

OMFG!

And of course, last weeks last lap pass to win at Fontana:

Nasty!

I do not watch NASCAR like I used to, but I have plenty or memories.

Have a good night.

Cashing in on Friday

It snowed here today. We got about 4 inches, but the heavy and wet snow made a mess of plenty of trees. A bunch fell over around here. That has to be the last storm, it has to be!

FED Discount Window News
I am in a terrific mood but I did want to point out some news on the FED discount window borrowing disclosure. It is pretty much what I knew in my heart all along, the FED took anything and everything. This includes defaulted bonds and common stock. This would be a big deal on any other planet, luckily we are on this one. Further reading:
Market Ticker
First Look: Fed Lending Release
Zero Hedge
How The Fed Gave Goldman Millions In Exchange For Defaulted Bond Collateral

Some readers noted that my blogroll leans bearish, and that is true. It is stories like these, which are very important, that represent the best work of these guys.

More Than Disgusting
For the 5th time in 8 months, some disgusting individuals have toppled a number of gravestones at a cemetery here in Eastern Massachusetts. I have no idea if this is just a Massachusetts thing or what. It makes me sick, but then it makes me really angry. It's probably stupid kids doing stupid things but I don't accept any excuse for this. Maybe I will make it a point this Spring and Summer to drive past a few cemeteries late night on weekends this year and see if I can catch any people doing this. If I do I am going to do something about it. If anything happens at the cemetery where my Father and my Brother are resting, I will post a monster cash bounty for turning the people in. It will be big enough that even your blood-brother best friend since kindergarten will turn you right the f#ck over. Believe it.

Market Operations
OK, now that all that is out of the way!

I mentioned last night I wanted to exit my open positions today. Many had quite a run and I wanted to work on things over the weekend with plenty of open cash to use. Economic Disconnect had quite a day today! It was almost crazy seeing my positions bust out, it was fun. I listed where I was last night, check out where I closed out my stocks (around lunch time after the ramp up I thought would happen, happened), what a 10 day span!:
TAN +6.4%
SHW +4.8%
RPM +5.5%
KCG +5.0%
I sold YGE yesterday for +7.6%.

Not too shabby for a doom and gloomer, huh? It's not often I get a run like this, good stuff. The PPT tool is dangerous.

Friday Night Entertainment
I feel like celebrating! Let's do it.

Fun Site
Instead of a "Did You Know" section, why not swing on by the site Little Bits of History and look around? I check it out every day. It is like a detailed DYK section. Today's entry:
Spring Forward - Fall Back
Awesome!

Fun with Pictures
Indeud.

I love the Historic LOL Caption site:

see more Historic LOL

I kid you not, I bought BIMBO bread at the grocery store last weekend:

Epic.

The irony:

see more funny videos, and check out our Yo Dawg lols!

Film Clips
Some movie ideas. And if David Batista has seen "Streets of Fire" it would not shock me, we seem to like all the same stuff!

Seems a friend of mine has yet to see the Kevin Bacon classic "Quicksilver". I say it's a classic 80's flick, and it has a stock market angle to boot:

I will have a great tune from the film below.

Back when Eddie Murphy was both talented and picked good movie roles, he and Nick Nolte made a classic film "48 Hours". The trailer makes the film seem more of a comedy, but it was a gritty and well made film:

There is a fight scene between Nolte and Murphy in the film that is a stand out.

Rock Blogging
Time for the tunes!

Any blogger would love to have a reader like Watchtower. Always constructive, always supportive, always fun. We have been gabbing back and forth for 3 years! Amazing really. It is Watchtower and Mrs Watchtower's 23rd Wedding Anniversary this month! Congratulations! For the happy couple:


Leading off with The Cure's great tune "High":

Wonderful song idea. Best Wishes man.

From the soundtrack of the film "Quicksilver", try out Roger Daltrey (Hugh Fitzcairn for those in the know!) performing "Quicksilver Lightning":

I really love that tune.

Maybe a little Springsteen? I have always liked "Radio Nowhere":

Wow.

Let's get romantic! How about Steel Panther with "My Heart Belongs to You; but my Dong is Community Property" (you read that right! DON'T play if you are easily offended):

That is just too funny.

Ok, two to go.

Forget Facebook, screw Twitter. YouTube is the big dog. Besides every boxing match you ever want to see, where else are going to find the timeless Crystal Gayle singing "Rocky Top Tennessee" live???:

Dig it. Yeah, I like bluegrass, so what?

Ok, last call! How to close a kick butt week even though I can barely move? Good question.

The last time I played Lita Ford and Ozzy's duet "Close My Eyes Forever" I had 63 comments! Too bad 43 of them were SPAM. Lighters up folks:


Have a good night.