So Car Seat Headrest is making new music and it's pretty sweet
Showing posts with label what goes down must eventually stop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label what goes down must eventually stop. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Friday, December 13, 2013
Urban skiing...And Crow tubing.
All that space in Detroit is useful for urban ski bums.
Of course, in Russia, the crows do the same thing. What about scarecrows, you ask?
A Russian reversal: In Soviet Russia, crow scares YOU!
Nod to MK
Of course, in Russia, the crows do the same thing. What about scarecrows, you ask?
A Russian reversal: In Soviet Russia, crow scares YOU!
Nod to MK
Monday, May 21, 2012
Came, Saw, Bailed
Okay, so I clearly waited three weeks too long.
But I liquidated all the stock in my retirement accounts today. It was only 25%. But now it is 0%.
I sincerely hope that I did this at the bottom, and that things get very much better, quickly. You can all laugh at me.
But I doubt it. Because Spain cannot survive another month. And banks and financial institutions in England have truly massive exposure. This is the end. Boom. Not like economic boom. Like really loud heavy object hitting a floor boom.
UPDATE: LeBron describes capital flight from the wreckage of the EuroZone. The comments are quite funny.
UPDATE 2: Mr. Overwater asks, "Why?" Not the volatility thing, volumes have not been that high lately. In fact, holy shinola, volumes have fallen through the floor:
We are at 1999 levels of volume, even allowing for the Facebook IPO and etc. Yikes! I hadn't even seen that. Damn.
No, the problem I see (before I scared myself with this volume picture) is the bets that so many banks have made on Euro bailouts. It's not just JP Morgan and MF that did it, they just got caught first. Many banks, worst in England, but bad elsewhere also, took huge net long positions in sovereign debt from Eurozone nations, betting that the bailout woud happen. To the extent that the bonds were selling at a discount, and you end up getting par, that's a good bet.
The problem is that these banks are taking long positions with customers' money. There were not hedges, they were net bets, big ones.
Banks should be bookies, not bettors. Bookies lay off bets and use the line (whether it's points, or odds, or whatever) to adjust the market so they get equal amounts of exposure on either side. A bookie who himself takes a net position on a game, a horse race, or Greece is called (technically) an "idiot." Bookies take bets on both sides, and make money on the vig, and cash in on volume of trades.
Well, it turns out nearly every bank you can think of is an "idiot." They do NOT have equal positions betting for and against a Euro-zone sovereign debt bailout. They all bet the bailout would happen. As Louis XV said, "Apres (JP) MOIrgan, le deluge."
But I liquidated all the stock in my retirement accounts today. It was only 25%. But now it is 0%.
I sincerely hope that I did this at the bottom, and that things get very much better, quickly. You can all laugh at me.
But I doubt it. Because Spain cannot survive another month. And banks and financial institutions in England have truly massive exposure. This is the end. Boom. Not like economic boom. Like really loud heavy object hitting a floor boom.
UPDATE: LeBron describes capital flight from the wreckage of the EuroZone. The comments are quite funny.
UPDATE 2: Mr. Overwater asks, "Why?" Not the volatility thing, volumes have not been that high lately. In fact, holy shinola, volumes have fallen through the floor:
We are at 1999 levels of volume, even allowing for the Facebook IPO and etc. Yikes! I hadn't even seen that. Damn.
No, the problem I see (before I scared myself with this volume picture) is the bets that so many banks have made on Euro bailouts. It's not just JP Morgan and MF that did it, they just got caught first. Many banks, worst in England, but bad elsewhere also, took huge net long positions in sovereign debt from Eurozone nations, betting that the bailout woud happen. To the extent that the bonds were selling at a discount, and you end up getting par, that's a good bet.
The problem is that these banks are taking long positions with customers' money. There were not hedges, they were net bets, big ones.
Banks should be bookies, not bettors. Bookies lay off bets and use the line (whether it's points, or odds, or whatever) to adjust the market so they get equal amounts of exposure on either side. A bookie who himself takes a net position on a game, a horse race, or Greece is called (technically) an "idiot." Bookies take bets on both sides, and make money on the vig, and cash in on volume of trades.
Well, it turns out nearly every bank you can think of is an "idiot." They do NOT have equal positions betting for and against a Euro-zone sovereign debt bailout. They all bet the bailout would happen. As Louis XV said, "Apres (JP) MOIrgan, le deluge."
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Coming Back Like a Bad Penny
Actually, maybe ALL pennies are bad.
Canada has decided to get rid of them.
US is considering same. What do you think, folks?
Canada has decided to get rid of them.
US is considering same. What do you think, folks?
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
It's all over now, baby blue?
Adjusting for inflation, real house prices are back to where they were in 2000. If we are not at the bottom, we have got to be pretty close, no? Could it possibly be a good time to buy?
(clic the pic for an even more vertiginous image)
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