Monthly Archives: April 2014

Sins of Commission and Omission Curb GDP Growth

Bulls on U.S. GDP growth have been wrong for five years, and they are still wrong.  Q1 GDP grew just 0.1%.  Sure, weather was a problem, but, as Mr. El Arian points out, in a robust economy bad weather in … Continue reading

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What’s the Catalyst? — Wrong Question for Long-term Investors

One advantage of being a geezer on Wall Street is that you’ve seen a lot of markets and the different ways people can think about stocks.  In the mid-1980s everyone was looking for “restructuring plays” that a junk-bond financed corporate … Continue reading

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Obama and Putin Talk Ukraine, Moldavia, Estonia – and Obmacare !

TOP SECRET Transcript: POTUS – Putin Phone Conference, April 14, 2014           Page 2 of 6 . . . repect the sovereignty of Ukraine.  Moldavia and Estonia must also remain free and independent, without interference from Russia.  It is for that … Continue reading

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Stocks: Where We Stand

They will rise this year, but not dramatically.  Early in 2013, when the Street was cautious, we expected “valuation levitation,” which happened.  Late last year we warned rising complacency would lead to higher volatility, but we stayed positive as investors … Continue reading

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Where Are Krugman’s Black Colleagues?—a Disturbing Diversity Dearth

Without regard for civility or accuracy, econo-gadfly Paul Krugman will accuse conservatives of racism at the drop of a hat.  In a recent NYT column he: Accused Paul Ryan of using a “racist dog-whistle” for making comments similar to Barack … Continue reading

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David Letterman to Be Replaced by Janet Yellen

She deserves the job (which is far more influential than running the Fed) because, during the financial crisis, she told her colleagues: “On Wall Street trading floors there is a joke going around: ‘The trouble with bank balance sheets is … Continue reading

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Hedge Fund Madness–Providing a Way to Diversify Out of Sound Investments

On Friday the S&P 500 dropped 1.25% and the NASDAQ fell 2.6%, driven by a sell-off in momentum names such as biotechs, FB, TWTR, AMZN, TSLA, etc.  There was forced selling as leveraged hedge funds and other speculators liquidated positions.  … Continue reading

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The New McCartheyism…or…Silicon Valley’s Black List

In the summer of 2008 a gay friend of mine, who was active in Democratic politics, told me she did not expect Barack Obama to come out in favor of gay marriage because it could blow his chances of winning … Continue reading

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