Friday, May 2, 2008

TGIF and TGIH

TGIH = Thank God I'm Home. Traveling is stressful ... ugh !

Yesterday was a delayed reaction to the Fed announcement - I think the late Wednesday reversal was beefers playing ping-pong, but Thurdays showed the real buyers had been active on the dip.

The dollar is rallying and commodities are falling ... they were quite overbid by large investment pools chasing the asset class, a bit late, as usual.

Alpah Fund is long about 150%. I will be doing some money management soon as some stocks like GOOG are getting too large. I really want to keep any single stock to less than 15% of the equity in my Alpha Fund, or less than 10% of the total assets. So when a stock has a big move, I need to sell a bit. Usually these are LT profits as time diversification usually gives favorable tax treatment for these partial sales. Sometimes I accelerate a sale if I had bought a lot more shares lower, so the sale can be a ST loss on early, higher priced sales. This will be the case for some of my big bank holdings. The point I am making is the time diversification has this secondary tax benefit in addition to its primary, risk reduction benefit.

Economic numbers are OK. The "touch & go" trajectory is still working.

PS: the times posted here are Pacific Coast time, as this is a Google-sponsored site probably situated on the west coast somewhere. I am writing this post just after 5AM ET.

Word of the Day

"Piquant" - adjective [$10]
Piquant means 1. agreeably pungent, sharp or appetizing; 2. pleasantly stimulating or disquieting, to the mind.
Sentence: The piquant writings of Ryszard Kapuscinki about his travels in the Third World as a Polish press corresondence contain wonderful first hand accounts of the period of revolution and turmoils there from the mid-1950s to more recent times.

"Picaresqe" - adjective [$10]
Picaresqe means (of a style of fiction) dealing with the episodic adventures of rogues.
Sentence: The 2008 Democratic presidential nomination battle might be described as a picaresqe confrontation between a knave and a knavette in seeking votes while trying to hide their true beliefs.

I saw both these words in the fine book, "Travels with Herodotus" written by Ryszard Kapuscinki, the famous Polish writer and overseas correspondent for decades. He's written many fine books - I've read two now. I heartily recommend them all.

67 comments:

Bunkerman said...

uh ... you reader long distnace runners might consider investing in knee & hip replacement stocks to diversify ;-)

Bunkerman said...

darn ... looks like I missed a good add point for my TLT short. I should just put a GTC order in where I want to short more.

Bud said...

were there alot of blackberries on the plane??


'no recession'

Bud said...

my friend ia a waitress at a real good italian restaurant in town .....she told me that they have stopped serving bread unless the customer specificlly asks for it......and this is no cheap place (20-30bux an entree)


'no inflation'

Bunkerman said...

actually, yes, Bud, many blackberries & laptops.

Bunkerman said...

hmmm where I was no $20 entree existing in the entire town. And they served tasty bread.

You guys sure pay for that sun & surf ;-)

Bunkerman said...

I suppose the recession-mongers will be re-defining it using per capita GDP. Arghh ... revisionists.

No recession.
No armageddon.
Inflation is tame.
Touch & Go economy.

The four truths of 2007-8 ;-)

uh ... provided Ben obeys me .. he was failing the midterms in January but recovered and got a solid B in the final in March.

Bunkerman said...

jobs -20,000; 5.0% unemployment.

Uh ... that question enters my mind again.

Bunkerman said...

hmmm does mern have a cousin named Santelli in Chicago ? re stagflation and not rusting the BLS. ;-))

mfl59 said...

lmaoooooo no inflation no employment problem.....utopia indeed!!!

Bunkerman said...

hmmm ... that simple declarative sentence comes to mind, too ;-))

Bud said...

does Bman have a cousin named boroujian in chicago?


'exactly what we wanted'

'buying power to be unleashed'

Bunkerman said...

LMAOOOO

Hmmm ... no Armenians in my ancestry. [-ian iending in a surnema is an Armenian name].


Jack must be an independent thinker :-)

mfl59 said...

Bud the Olive Garden stopped serving bread in Florida? what a pity sir...

Bud said...

lmaoooo olive garden

i am 97% sure i have never even walked into one in my life

Bunkerman said...

CVX beats EPS ... good.

Bunkerman said...

sold a bit of GOOG and JPM as my offers got hit ... just the money managemetn that I wrote about. Still quite long both names.

Frosty said...

atta boy bunk...you lil' beefer you.

Bunkerman said...

March factory orders up ... hmmm

Bunkerman said...

uh ... frosty ... your lack of faith Wednesday afternoon when the beefers hit the ramp was ... well, a bit wimpy ;-)

Bud said...

how do you feel now frosty?

your strokin of the Bman just got bitch-slapped

well........frosty probably enjoys gettin spanked

wide stance indeed

Bud said...

man.......that was like richie sexson's bomb last nite


"touch'em all bud!!!!!"

Bud said...

i love ping pong!!

especially on huge emp# gap ups

Frosty said...

LMAOOO...yes sir, pussy indeed...added some $vix 25 calls to prove the fact this morning.

Bud said...

ian kennedy sure throws hard.....i like him alot



die yankees die !!!!!!

Frosty said...

$VIX july...VIX GE...I know Bud get's his panties in a bunch when I fail to fully disclose.

Frosty said...

were is that other florida anus ring...I need some work against a minor leauge hitter.

Bunkerman said...

sold a bit of CVX for 33% LT gain. Still quite long that name.

mfl59 said...

"oil is finished"

lmaooo....idiot babblevision

Frosty said...

Bud...what is on your friday night grocery list?...comfort foods for another lonely weekend? please post it monday, in keeping with the rules of full disclosure.

Bunkerman said...

that one Babblevision clown, Beutel, has been calling oil finished on and off since $60/barrel.

Spin-em said...

Bud ,Bunk...gimme a triple Ill play $1 box for ya....


Post Horse Opening Odds Jockey Trainer
1 Cool Coal Man 20-1 Julien Leparoux Nick Zito
2 Tale of Ekati 15-1 Eibar Coa Barclay Tagg
3 Anak Nakal 30-1 Rafael Bejarano Nick Zito
4 Court Vision 20-1 Garrett Gomez Bill Mott
5 Eight Belles (f) 15-1 Gabriel Saez Larry Jones
6 Z Fortune 15-1 Robby Albarado Steve Asmussen
7 Big Truck 50-1 Javier Castellano Barclay Tagg
8 Visionaire 20-1 Jose Lezcano Michael Matz
9 Pyro 6-1 Shaun Bridgmohan Steve Asmussen
10 Colonel John 4-1 Corey Nakatani Eoin Harty
11 Z Humor 30-1 Rene Douglas Bill Mott
12 Smooth Air 20-1 Manny Cruz Bennie Stutts, Jr.
13 Bob Black Jack 20-1 Richard Migliore Jim Kasparoff
14 Monba 15-1 Ramon Dominguez Todd Pletcher
15 Adriano 30-1 Edgar Prado Graham Motion
16 Denis of Cork 20-1 Calvin Borel David Carroll
17 Cowboy Cal 20-1 John Velazquez Todd Pletcher
18 Recapturetheglory 20-1 E.T. Baird Louie Roussel
19 Gayego 15-1 Mike Smith Paulo Lobo
20 Big Brown 3-1 Kent Desormeaux Rick Dutrow, Jr

Bunkerman said...

ok spin ... by the names: Big Truck, Z Fortune, Recapturetheglory

going for the fences.

Spin-em said...

6,7,18...attaboy bunk...we dont want no stinkin $100 winner
Let it Ride(great movie btw)

mfl59 said...

When is the running of the 1st annual Bunkerman 5 miler? Mern lists himself as the favorite....Bud currently at Bally's working with his trainer on the elliptical machine....spinny hardcore Seal training on the hills...

mern said...

RICHMOND, Va. -- The large sign outside Richmond International Raceway off Laburnum Avenue on Friday said it all.


"Tickets Available Now!"

This has been a common sight at tracks that host Sprint Cup events this season, but it is alarming when it occurs at RIR.

The track has sold out every Cup race, 32 in all, over the past 16 years. Most of the sellouts are announced a week before the event, the Thursday before at the latest.

That tickets remain 24 hours before Saturday's race reinforces what track presidents and NASCAR officials have said and feared for the past few months: rising gas prices and tough economic times are keeping fans away.

"It's not the sport. It's not the competition. It's the economy," team owner Richard Childress said. "It's like that in every business right now."

Points leader Jeff Burton agreed.

"There's no question that our economy is tough right now," he said. "Fuel prices are way up. There are a lot of things going on that make it hard for the heart and soul of our sport, which is the average, everyday, middle class.

"That is what our sport has always been supported by. When they're feeling it and struggling with finances, then we're feeling it, too."

REDNECKS CANT AFFORD THIER NASCAR?

is that stagflation?

the average guy is doing fantastic.

certainly more rednecks that fall into the "avg american" category than your typical ivy league grad.

Bunkerman said...

Guess I'll have to hit the bourbon tomorrow - I prefer it straight, on the rocks, no water. Like a man drinks :-)

Hmmm the bunker bar has Blanton's single barrel, Knob Creek 9 yr old 100 proof, Maker's Mark and Old Forester bottled in bond ... excluding the Tennessee whiskies as the Derby is run in Kentucky.

Hmmm ... so many good choices ... what to drink ?

Bunkerman said...

Anyone catch my neologism today ?

Spin-em said...

mern gimme a triple

Spin-em said...

TGIH?

Frosty said...

Bunkerman toasting the sport of kings..reach for the top shelf bar keep...save the swill in the gun for the common man...use the 24k, ruby and diamond cup snoop, those silver cups are piker mugs.

Bunkerman said...

"knavette" is a neologism, a newly coined usage as applied to Hillary ;-)

Spin-em said...

aaahhhh..I thought TGIH from TGIF

mfl59 said...

S&P downgraded CFC debt to junk...

no sh$%t!!!

Bunkerman said...

I'm conflicted frosty ... yes, it's the sport of kings yet I am one with the common man in the grandstand.

Maybe one Blantons, then one Old Forester, alternating ?

No diamond cup but I do drink from fine crystal tumblers.

mfl59 said...

Ummm, the common man drinks Budweiser out of a can sir....

Bunkerman said...

oh, plenty of common men drink whiskey ...

Bunkerman said...

sheesh, I was avante garde in the early 1980s drinking straight whiskey at the bar while the yuppies were drinking Coors light or, god forbid, wine coolers arghhh.

Bunkerman said...

What cowboy ever ordered a beer in a western ? Sheesh !

Gimme a whiskey ... and leave the bottle !

mfl59 said...

avant garde ($10) indeed....

ok bunkerman, I'll concede based on your Westerns argument....who doesnt love the Westerns channel?

Bud said...

'common man in the grandstand'

gimme a f'ng break!!

Bman.......you are not a f'ng cowboy......you are not a working man.......you have nuthin in common with the 'common man'

you are a harvard educated massachussetts elite

and a phony

Bud said...

TGIH

in my circle that means

"thank god i'm high"

Spin-em said...

.....not that there's anything wrong with that.lol

Frosty said...

one pill makes you large
and one pill makes you small
go ask Bud
when he's ten feet tall


when logic and propotion
have fallen sloppy dead
and the white knight is talking backwards
remember what the dormouse said

feed you head.

Bunkerman said...

Massachusetts NOT! A transplanted small town Ohio boy.

Uh ... I've been to the Belmont park grandstand ... that was a fine track !

Bunkerman said...

Hmmm ... how many here have sat in a race track grandstand, drank beer and made bets in cash ?

Bunkerman said...

uh ... bets on lives races

Bunkerman said...

hmmm i remember eating hot dogs there, too.

Bud said...

looooooool

Bman you are really 'out of touch'.....also showin what an elitist he is

"has anyone here sat.......

all of us have sat in the bleachers and drank beer........that's what we do

it's the norm for us


uh.....well.....actually not me

i haven't sat in the bleachers since the early 80s

i only go to a game now if invited to a luxury box......cucumber sandwiches and chablis for me

Bud said...

outta here


i luv you Hillary!! i'll do anything for you

don't quit....don't ever stop fighting

i got your back


die obama die!!!!!



and ...well......they suck... but what the heck


die yankees die !!!!!!

Bunkerman said...

hmmm ... I never heard a horse race called a game before ?!

Is that new X/Y/Z-er speak ?

Hmmm ... I don't remember ballparks having "grandstands".

Maybe I'm from Mars or ...

Bunkerman said...

have a good weekend ... gonna hit the bourbon tonight, too.

Spin-em said...

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!


take care guys..enjoy

Frosty said...

enjoy the weekeed...cork the whiskey before for fire up the tank bunk...or mount the machine guns.

Frosty said...

Bunkerman...proshares new etf double juice dark the Leh 20+ yr....TBT, might fing if useful vs the TLT.

Spin-em said...

and DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!!!

Bunk.....6,7,18
Frost....2,9,10
Mav......3,9,10
Mfl......1,10,20
Spin.....4,13,20
flaholes..(pfffttt)

all for one,one for all....any winnings we'll split 5 ways(and bust Bud/merns shaved balls til they fall aafff..LMAAOOO).Coupla Hundo..we'll "Let it Ride" on the Preakness!! Good Luck

If Bunk wins..were going need the halftrack with gun mount..lol

Spin-em said...

$1 triple boxes...they can come in any combo and you win half the payout......