If you like philosophical discussions, here is a website that you may like. I found it first because of a blog on global warming: http://blog.deeperquestions.com/blog/?p=121
Then reading through some of the other posts found several more that I liked, especially this one, “The New Ugly American: From Being Hated to Being Despised”: http://blog.deeperquestions.com/blog/?p=101#more-101 This blog and the comments on it, compare the US to old westerns and demonstrate how Obama’s policies are taking the US from being hated for our virtues to being despised for our sins. I won’t try to cover all the details, but if you like this type of discussion, take a look.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Prior Private Sector Experience...
Interesting chart from a JPM newsletter. They undertook a study of key cabinet level appointees since Teddy Roosevelt. The goal was to understand the mix of public vs private sector experience. Each appointee’s background was rated for % private sector experience prior to his/her appointment. The results speak for themselves and they help to explain why the government is viewed as the solution rather than the problem by the current administration.
Friday, October 16, 2009
A few of my favorite quotes, in no particular order
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them. – Mark Twain
History does not repeat itself.
But it does rhyme. – Mark Twain
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It's the capacity for action, in spite of our fears." -- Senator John McCain
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence whatever their chosen field or endeavor." -- Vince Lombardi
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go." -- Dr. Seuss
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So....get on your way." -- Dr. Seuss
"In my younger days, I was a very avid, competitive softball player. When I was probably 25 or 26 years old I played a tournament against a team from a nearby town. On their team was a player who was about 45 years old. He played the game the way it was meant to be played. He slid headfirst into bases, crashed into the wall chasing fly balls and generally hustled more than any other player on any of the 26 teams in the tournament. I knew this guy in a casual way so I went up to him and said, 'Mitch, you really came to play today!' I’ll never forget his response – 'Everybody here came to play. I came to win!' -- Jeff Davey
This is what Nucor people are all about -- Not just showing up to play, but to WIN!Let’s do it TogetherDan
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them." With this the boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are." Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have. - Unknown
My strategy is: short bureaucracy, long guillotine blades – Yahoo Message Board
The longer we live, the more we realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to us is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice, every day, regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing that we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. We are convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how we react to it. And so it is with all of us… we are in charge of our attitudes.
"A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury."-- Alexander Tyler, Scottish historian
This is actually a combination of two quotes by Alexander Tyler:
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
· From bondage to spiritual faith;
· From spiritual faith to great courage;
· From courage to liberty;
· From liberty to abundance;
· From abundance to complacency;
· From complacency to apathy;
· From apathy to dependence;
· From dependence back into bondage.
History does not repeat itself.
But it does rhyme. – Mark Twain
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It's the capacity for action, in spite of our fears." -- Senator John McCain
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence whatever their chosen field or endeavor." -- Vince Lombardi
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go." -- Dr. Seuss
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So....get on your way." -- Dr. Seuss
"In my younger days, I was a very avid, competitive softball player. When I was probably 25 or 26 years old I played a tournament against a team from a nearby town. On their team was a player who was about 45 years old. He played the game the way it was meant to be played. He slid headfirst into bases, crashed into the wall chasing fly balls and generally hustled more than any other player on any of the 26 teams in the tournament. I knew this guy in a casual way so I went up to him and said, 'Mitch, you really came to play today!' I’ll never forget his response – 'Everybody here came to play. I came to win!' -- Jeff Davey
This is what Nucor people are all about -- Not just showing up to play, but to WIN!Let’s do it TogetherDan
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them." With this the boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are." Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have. - Unknown
My strategy is: short bureaucracy, long guillotine blades – Yahoo Message Board
The longer we live, the more we realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to us is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice, every day, regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing that we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. We are convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how we react to it. And so it is with all of us… we are in charge of our attitudes.
"A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury."-- Alexander Tyler, Scottish historian
This is actually a combination of two quotes by Alexander Tyler:
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
· From bondage to spiritual faith;
· From spiritual faith to great courage;
· From courage to liberty;
· From liberty to abundance;
· From abundance to complacency;
· From complacency to apathy;
· From apathy to dependence;
· From dependence back into bondage.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
FDIC Failed Banks
Every Friday night I find myself checking the FDIC Failed Bank List: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
Yea, I know. My Friday nights are not what they used to be. I like to think of it as maturity.
Anyway, I know that we tend to have short memories and become desensitized very easily these days, but do you remember how many banks were closed last November? Remember, it was a bad time for banks. Looking at the FDIC site and I guess I will have to trust the FDIC on this, in Nov 2008 the FDIC closed 5 banks! On November 21st, on just one day they closed 3! Three in one day! Remember how that affected the markets???
Well, if you are a bull, you may want to look at the FDIC Failed Bank List today. Last night the FDIC closed 5 banks in one night! This makes 89 YTD. During this time of supposed growth and green shoots (April-August) there have been 68 banks closed. Compare this to the 52 that closed between 2000 to 2008. That is right, during this record growing market we had more banks closed than during the previous 9 years. Shouldn’t this number be decreasing?
Below is a summary that I put together to help me put this into perspective.
Year # Banks Closed
2000 2
2001 4
2002 11
2003 3
2004 4
2005 0
2006 0
2007 4
2008 24
Through Sep 4, 2009 89 and it does not look to be slowing down.
Do we really have the worst behind us? I could be wrong and would like to see things improving, but based on what I see, I think the rest of 2009 will have more bank closings than what we have already seen this year. Why? Because unemployment is just starting to hit the double digits. Also, many of the people who have taken cuts in pay/hours are starting to work through their reserves and all of this will most probably lead to more defaults on credit cards, car and house payments leading to more trouble for the banks.
Sure it is great that the market has recovered so well since March, but for who exactly is it great for? The banks who have been able to raise equity to help offset their paper losses on the balance sheet, that’s who. Not long ago GS announced record bonuses and BoA has been justifying huge salary increases to offset the bonuses that their people won’t be getting any more. Well to me this sounds like the rats abandoning the ship. I may have the timing off, but sometime this year, I think we will see a plunge like never before.
I know that I can't go long in this market. Who knows, the markets may hold up and even advance through the start of 2010, but I will hold cash, SRS and be ready to short when the time comes. Right now I am strong short and looking at placing some stops, just in-case the market decides it wants to continue up for a while.
Do your own due diligence and GLTA!!!
Yea, I know. My Friday nights are not what they used to be. I like to think of it as maturity.
Anyway, I know that we tend to have short memories and become desensitized very easily these days, but do you remember how many banks were closed last November? Remember, it was a bad time for banks. Looking at the FDIC site and I guess I will have to trust the FDIC on this, in Nov 2008 the FDIC closed 5 banks! On November 21st, on just one day they closed 3! Three in one day! Remember how that affected the markets???
Well, if you are a bull, you may want to look at the FDIC Failed Bank List today. Last night the FDIC closed 5 banks in one night! This makes 89 YTD. During this time of supposed growth and green shoots (April-August) there have been 68 banks closed. Compare this to the 52 that closed between 2000 to 2008. That is right, during this record growing market we had more banks closed than during the previous 9 years. Shouldn’t this number be decreasing?
Below is a summary that I put together to help me put this into perspective.
Year # Banks Closed
2000 2
2001 4
2002 11
2003 3
2004 4
2005 0
2006 0
2007 4
2008 24
Through Sep 4, 2009 89 and it does not look to be slowing down.
Do we really have the worst behind us? I could be wrong and would like to see things improving, but based on what I see, I think the rest of 2009 will have more bank closings than what we have already seen this year. Why? Because unemployment is just starting to hit the double digits. Also, many of the people who have taken cuts in pay/hours are starting to work through their reserves and all of this will most probably lead to more defaults on credit cards, car and house payments leading to more trouble for the banks.
Sure it is great that the market has recovered so well since March, but for who exactly is it great for? The banks who have been able to raise equity to help offset their paper losses on the balance sheet, that’s who. Not long ago GS announced record bonuses and BoA has been justifying huge salary increases to offset the bonuses that their people won’t be getting any more. Well to me this sounds like the rats abandoning the ship. I may have the timing off, but sometime this year, I think we will see a plunge like never before.
I know that I can't go long in this market. Who knows, the markets may hold up and even advance through the start of 2010, but I will hold cash, SRS and be ready to short when the time comes. Right now I am strong short and looking at placing some stops, just in-case the market decides it wants to continue up for a while.
Do your own due diligence and GLTA!!!
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