Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Another $10,000 word

Yesterday I gave you "demoktesis", which is an extreme form of a democracy where every person and all the rights of every person is owned by a corporation - a governmental body - and each person holds one share of stock entitled to one vote and one share of distributed profits. So that governmental body is a democratic tyranny where a majority can do anything to anyone at anytime. Ancient Athens was close to this.

Now suppose that some people in the territory of the demoktesis don't want to be part of it - for whatever reason ? Perhaps some Gen X-ers don't like its rules and procedures and want to withdrawal ? Can they form their own corporation and live on their own, perhaps in a community where Grateful Dead music is played all day long as the members toil on their jobs, growing weed ? "Can the [super] corporation ... allow another corporation to spring up in its midst. Can it tolerate the dangers of isolated nonstockheld individuals; in a word, ancorpy? ' "

"Ancorpy" is a $10,000 word not in the Oxford English Dictionary. If you google that word, you will simply find the source where I read it and where this quote was found, viz., the book, "Anarchy, State and Utopia" by Robert Nozick, page 290 top. From the context and likely entymology, it means "existence not of the body"

The aforementioned book is quite sophisticated and is a difficult read, but quite enlightening and valuable. Nozick shows how a minimal state can arise from anarchy using first principles and how utopiae can arise. I read this book and also read "Heavens on Earth", mentioned yesterday, which is a valuable book on actual uptopian experiments in 19th century America. Both really helped me understand how some aspects of socialism really can help increase the happiness of real people if applied with restaint and the freedom to withdraw or move away. They are not marxist theoretical propaganda.

By the way, the relationship of the American Indians to the government of the United States was, and still is, is an ancorpy to a great extent although some merging has occured, but other distinctions are still being created and explored.

Word of the Day #2 - "dwam" - [$1000 - a Scottish word absorbed into English]
"dwam" is a noun and verb, also being spelled dwalm, dwaam, and dwaum.
As a noun, it means a swoon or fainting fit.
As a verb it means to swoon or faint; to become unconscious; also to sicken or fail in health.
Sentence: Will diehard Hillary supporters dwam as Obama overtakes her delegate count ?
... or ... Will Hillary dwam before the next major primary to create sympathy as her crying spells lose effectiveness ?

56 comments:

mern said...

so mccain looks in.

hukabee took the south, what a shocker. people r just dumber down here.

hildog didnt get what she wanted yesterday but fared a bit better than i expected.

mccain vs hildog. mccain wins easily

mccain vs obama. obama wins that easily.

if the left wants the white house they better come to that reality.

i think mccain or obama, its all gud.

ps liking the education on the 10k words. ill drop a couple of em today at the BSC interview.

here is a laffer. the guy who wud higher me, is hesistant to hire me becuase im over qualified and he thinx i wud to leap frog him.

i really had to LOL at that. they seriously want to pay me 70k a yr to watch paint dry. they think that wud be too boring for me.

after the last 36 yrs, I WUD KILL FOR MUNDANE AND BORING. dont even know what to say to him today.

ya dude dont worry about me, ill come in every day, hung over, and pass out by noon. is that what he wants to hear?

geesh

Bunkerman said...

I think the early absentee vote gave Hillary the win in CA. Obama has been breaking well late, but teh early voters were locked in.

She just got the core D states and had nothing in the swing states.

I think that shows more evidence that McCain can beat her.

Bunkerman said...

Why not say you've experienced all the risk taking, starting businesses, etc. and want a steady job with some stability that you can do well.

Bunkerman said...

DVN crushes estimates on EPS, revs.

mern said...

ya that is the game plan. but since im off "the weed", i come off as rather hyper.

mccain does not get the support from the bible thumpers unless hildog gets the tix. they dont like mccain enuff to vote for him against obama. but they hate hildog enuff to vote for mccain.

obama is starting to gain traction in the middle and even the right.

hildog just gets the ethered out blue dogs, like bud.

obama shud either chose a latino or jew for VP. that way david duke is less likely to put the hit out on him.

SHAQ TO THE SUNS for marion and a guard. i hope that floats. i want to see the suns win 1.

die kobe die!

mern said...

feeling some beef lookin for an exit. futs on nicely on vapor

Bunkerman said...

out of RTP - part LT gain, part LT gain, but have some ST loosess to use up for 2008. Made about 100% on average ... hurrah for LT holdings !

Bunkerman said...

good things can happen if one is patient.

mern said...

nice!

bman sounds like axel rose.

"all we need is a little patience, yeah yeah!"

;-)

Frosty said...

Where is chum boy...not tossing a line in the water until I see the chum boy.

Bunkerman said...

I need to thanks mfl59 for about 1/3 of the nice gain in RTP - his timely post in August gave me a fine add point at 245.

Bunkerman said...

I don't understand why people haven't figured out these oil inventory numbers mean nothing. The big firms can import more or less depending on their needs & profit from storing oil or not.

mfl59 said...

Wow RTP rejects another offer....

Glad to be of some assistance bunkerman.....luckily i sold it for about a 10 point gain....lol...virtual indeed....

mern said...

chum boy

lol

Bunkerman said...

RTP management just wants to keep their jobs.

Frosty said...

Bunkerman...those productivity #'s sticking up the joint today...looks like Ben is not the only one behind the curve, CEOs need to take a k-bar to payrolls...my guess is that is what you would be advising to do so....is the Fed further behind the curve as a reuslt?

Bunkerman said...

CEOs are afraid to spend money on tech to improve their productivity - that is the problem, not payrolls which are tight.

They need their butts kicked.

Frosty said...

so no tech spending and no labor cuts equals choking of margins?

Bunkerman said...

margins are fine - good enough. A company can only make so much money on a product - trying to make more hurts quality or service and then hits revs.

Just keep payrolls, spend on tech to grow with same payroll.

Bunkerman said...

The best way to improve margins would be to cut CEO pay and stop issuing stock options.

Frosty said...

I hear the what they should do lound and clear, it is what that aren't doing and what the impact will be, is my question.

Bunkerman said...

IBM and ORCL had good nunmbers, guidance. Let's see that JohnBoy says tonight - he had said the fins were cutting back last Q.

So far I don't see major cutbacks [unless I missed it], but the order book will probably govern that and exports are still strong.

Bunkerman said...

I think that low QDP number for Q4 probably hurt productivity gains.

But a productivity gain of 1.8% on a GDP groth of 0.6% is pretty good - helps curb inflation.

Frosty said...

thanks, then I assume there is no change in you 25 bps and done thesis.

Bud said...

is this the London School of Economics blog?


sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh

Bunkerman said...

after the ISM, 50 bps is possible. But the next meeting is in March and the upcoming unemployment claims numbers will govern that, and March jobs, too.

Bunkerman said...

These fed governors speaking are really dumb - I'd think they would shut up and not let us all know they are dumb.

Frosty said...

chum boy...who' your daddy?

Frosty said...

DBA new darksider today...there should be no place to hide during a techincal test of recent lows.

Bud said...

yes Fed governors are dumb



they should listen to the janitor and the welder

Bud said...

is this a recession?

Bud said...

DBA darkside looks good to me


"people don't stop eating during a recession"


lmaoooooooooooooooooooooo

Bunkerman said...

Uh ... Bud ... did or did not Ben and the whole FOMC finally obey me ?

So Plosser, etc. all should learn from their past errors.

Maybe concern over Hillary's faltering campaign might be affecting your memory ? ;-)

Bunkerman said...

Bought my last chunk of AAPL around 125 - that's the 50% retracemetn level of the move from about 50 to about 200.

Bunkerman said...

AAPL incredibly cheap - 50%+ grower at 20x conservative 2009 earnings. It's the only hardware company with exciting new products. I figure they continue to take market share from Windows PCs.

Frosty said...

Mern...how are we playing CSCO and AKAM earnings?

Bud said...

AAPL products won't sell in this recession

all future earnings are in question

this will be the worst recession since 1930s depression

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman have you read Ben's essays on the Great Depression? AS a student of the Depression, I'd have to think Bud's statement is incorrect....I can't belive he'd ever allow that to happen again...

although this market action really does stink...

Bud said...

"he'd ever allow it to happen again"

lmaooooooooooooooooo


this trains in motion and it ain't stoppin til it crashes

we have billions and billions in loans that will never be paid back......financial system is on the verge of collapse..........the day of reckoning for US banks is coming soon


fear mongering........looooooool


PS......where were you educated? Rutgers?

mfl59 said...

Zeta? Is that you sir?

Bud said...

lololol


i know you miss him

Bunkerman said...

Bud, this is and will be blip compared to 1973-5 and 1979-1981.

But you were in short pants then, I guess, Bud ;-)

Heck one month of negative growth - maybe - one the depression mongers are at work. Sheesh.

Bunkerman said...

I haven't read Ben's work, jsut Milton Friedman + Anna Schwartz book and other classics. I lived through 1973-5 and 1979-81.

Bunkerman said...

Who is Zeta ? a frat boy ?

Bunkerman said...

Ben has caught up with bid bad recession risk and is shelling him heavily now. In the past messes, the Fed would still be raising rates, or just have stopped. So Battleship Ben is doing well above average now - he just needs to stick a sock in the mouths of the other Fed governors and say, "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead", like that great Union Navy admiral of the Civil War, David Farragut.

mfl59 said...

he's just a blowhard from a certain "room"

Bunkerman said...

if "they" knock CVX down much more, I'll have to buy some more.

Bunkerman said...

oh, that place of such great wisdom and perception ... hehe ... thanks, mfl.

Bunkerman said...

I think that CME smashing is scaring some people, too, besides that fool, Plosser giving the fearmongers ammo.

mern said...

well just got back.

u shud have seen. this recuirting company is doing BSC a favor in filling this spot. they r in the same building. the position has been open for 6 months, but everyone the recuirter suggest the manager gets scared if the resume shows ambition.

one women literally said to me. "geesh, your resume wreaks of ambition. do u mind if i dress it down, just so this guy will even see u?"

i was like u can put im retarded, if u think it helps.

then the more important recuiter left. so i spend 2 hours talking to the other lady. she is like 50. she was asking what i thought about the economy. i rolled my eyes and said dont even get me started.

she then divulged that recently she has been seeing resumes like never before coming in. remember this is an IT recuirter not financial. (think service sector) she asked if i believed the unemployment rate was 5% becuase she thinx it is much higher like 8%. in fact she showed the resume of the other person who they might suggest to BSC. he lives in wallingford ct, and is willing to move here for 70k. and u shud see his resume. he is more qualified for sure, but that scares the shit out the manager so he isnt gonna get the offer.

this guy wants a series 7 licensed, finance degreed, kiss ass, imo.

i am ready willing and able to brown nose, just get me in the door!

Bunkerman said...

CSCO #s ok, meets. 15% yoy growth.

I guess we have to see if JohnBoy says something bad.

So far, no cap ex drop off. One would have thought something might show up in he Dec sales.

mern said...

remember oct of 2000? futs up every morning, then we close red?

futs were up smartly this am.

imo, that is the beefers who throw a few bones at the futs to jam, and then spend all day blasting inventory.

i wonder what the call center at fidelity is sounding like right now?

i dont know much but i do, if u want mccain to be prez u shud pray hildog get the left ticket. obama will smoke mccain. mccain will smoke hildog.

watched the view with cindy today. apparently chelsea clinton called whoopi and everyone except for the hot right winger, yesterday. whoopi said something like she was undecided, and chelsea called her personally to close her on the hildog.

did mccain really suggest chelsea is the love child of janet reno and hildog? if so that is hilarious!

mern said...

holy shit obama is ahead of the hildog now in delegates?

remember my bold prediction yesterday?

"president barrack hussein obama"

rofl my grandparents and mom r rolling in thier graves!

mern said...

maybe bin laden can be vp!

lol

Spin-em said...

White House lawn never cut....Colt 45 40's all over the place...geez

mern said...

ummmmmmmmm spin, isnt that better than the dealio, now?

iluv NGA's