Monday, October 27, 2008

Fried Eggs and Spam

This weekend I made what is probably the finest breakfast: fried eggs and spam.

The eggs were, of course, from happy cage-free, organically fed chickens who have sunlit porches. I fried them with a bit of pepper in olive oil to the over-medium phase, which required 35 seconds on the flip side. To eat them, I mash them with my fork and eat each bite with a bit of spam.

The spam is fried in olive oil until each side is a bit crusty.

I also have 1/2 of a bagel toasted a bit with pumpkin butter, and some fruit.

This food is soooooooo good - I had it both days this weekend. The only improvement I'm pondering is adding a slice of Valveeta cheese on top of the eggs. Thinking ...

Markets

More Euro-beefer liquidation and some Asia selling. And some more US-beefer selling. And the public is selling its mutual funds. And we even hear of some public pensions fund being forced to sell a bit ... to fund commitments to "alternative investments".

Perhaps a bit of recapitulation of what we know now is in order.

1. Big, evil funds - aka beefers - exist and were grossly oversized and very dangerous to the world financial markets and we now know they are dangerous to the common man and the real economy, too.

2. A bit of inflation is good. It helps people have some confidence in their asset values and businesses. Trying to grind out 2%-3% core inflation is nuts.

3. Core inflation measures are correct. Trying to cut nominal inflation caused buy oil prices is stupid and destructive.

4. The monetary base should grow at 2-3% per year. The Fed was too tight until September.

5. Hedge funds are not an another asset class; most are not even "investments", but are just speculations or trading operations.

6. Commodity futures are not another asset class, either. Money in those contracts are just speculations, too.

It's rather obvious now to all, and to this writer for years, that excess money that flowed into hedge funds and commodity futures or related derivatives was a speculative bubble fueled by the rich and some pension funds.

That's enough for now.

The Federal money finally begins flowing today. I'll watch. This cure will work, but will take some time.

I suspect the continued weakness in oil is due to endless liquidation of beefers adn pension fund positions, plus the liquidation of inventories that some such speculators held to masquerade as "commercials". Traffic was heavy this weekend here as I drove to sheep herding classes for Sky.

Actions

I circled the wagons a la the Hussites on Friday to defend CVX, DVN, RIG, BHP and FCX. I was a bit long and concerned about being away from my screen during that museum trip. So I sold JPM, AAPL, GOOG and EDU and used just a portion of the cash to buy a bit more CVX, DVN, RIG and BHP. I am also holding EXM, DRYS, GNK, JOYG and MBI. I'm not expecting a lot, but figure my upside on these are rather good compared to those I sold.

My Krypto Fund spreadsheet wants me to buy emerging markets. But I'll wait a few days to let this settle more.

Politics

Big John McCain drew 4,000 people to an enthusiastic rally in Zanesville, Ohio, which is not far from my home town in Ohio. That's a lot for this sparely populated area. Comments about his reception was quite positive. So I wonder if he has more strength among the common man than the media credits for him.

Word of the Day

"Cosmogony" - noun [$10]
Cosmogony means 1. the origin of the universe; 2. a theory about this.
Sentence: What will Bunkerman use for building blocks for a cosmogony of understanding the behavior of future financial markets if beefers become extinct?

42 comments:

Bud said...

spam ?? veleveeta ??

are you serious......sounds like a prison brekafast

Bud said...

Bman what are the chances of the great depression II ??

i keep hearin some in the mainstream media sayin it.......but i think they say it cuz of the election....the media is in the tank for obama so right now they will say anythin that hurts the GOP

Bunkerman said...

re depression, zero, unless trade wars or real wars begin.

Risk of real war is lower now as trouble makers like Iran and Russia are now weak.

I agree re election. If Obama wins, they will suddenly discover lots of hope and good things.

Bunkerman said...

re breakfast, of course I'm serious. Very tasty !

Bunkerman said...

btw, Spam is a great survival food, too. The cans keep a long time and really the spam need not be cooked at all - it's packed cooked.

Proven, too, in WW II devastation, to be a good survival food.

Spin-em said...

US helicopters flying from Iraq landed inside Syria yesterday and dropped special forces who killed eight people, including four children, the Damascus government said today as Washington admitted it had targeted "foreign fighters".

oil tanking...dictators under pressure at home,what a better way to get oil up..rally your people behind the flag,than to go against the evil US.... heeeey start a lil WWWIII..that'll be fun watchin from the ranch....
Georgie had to say yes....what a tool

Bunkerman said...

my, my spin - are you more cynical than me ?

;-)

Spin-em said...

loool..sorry bout that bunk....I try to be quite bubbly...

Spin-em said...

gmac waived ...pfftttt

Bunkerman said...

I checked the yields in the Treasury Infaltion Protected bonds in Barron's - they were about 3.2% real return - very good value.

mfl59 said...

tennessee...ohio state...kansas....LSU...oh man....

opposite indeed costanza...

"thanks jim"

Spin-em said...

jopa karma beatdown

Spin-em said...

mern got in

at 2 with a 10

but woke up

at 10 with a 2.....

looooooooooooooooooooooool

Frosty said...

circle the wagons around turnips, pairodis and blue moon...endless skim tree fruit not an option...will work for spam.

Bunkerman said...

isn't it a bit early to be drinking, frsoty ?

Bud said...

Bman what type of financial paper is the ft??? they f'ng endorsed obama

'spread the wealth'

Bud said...

you sure are chatty today

i guess it's preemptive strike before gettin demolished at chestnut hill

Spin-em said...

Cant believe you can vote a month ahead now....what a crock of shit(Lt Col Frank Slade ret)...every lazy bum and kid who cant get to the booth on election day....not good for the good guys..Ill tell ya that.....

Spin-em said...

its called "election day" for a reason isnt it???....

Spin-em said...

real buyers coming in..btw

Bunkerman said...

What do expect from FT, Bud - they are British. Even most conservatives there are practically socialists.

Bunkerman said...

I never read the opinions anyway. I have plenty of my own

;-)

Spin-em said...

hope ya didnt hurt patricks feelings....he may never come back...oh wait

mfl59 said...

Bud please post your NBA over/unders for season wins...thanks...

Spin-em said...

....and your "double up to get even" Monday night pick...lol

Frosty said...

long of sheep skin seat covers...full disclosure from friday.

Spin-em said...

highly rec new Kenny Chesney CD for our new Volt rides men...all about boats....

Spin-em said...

Willie,Dave Matthews on it....

Spin-em said...

no dark meat I wanna azzlick your daughter ruination of society lyrics...

Bunkerman said...

spin, I think you need some wholesome 1940s lyrics - or Julie Andrews songs.

Spin-em said...

dont know if I can Julie Andrews it but a lil Sinatra???..nothing wrong with that indeed

bunk a lil Chesney at bunktini time and youre set pal...Mrs B all over ya...loooool

Bunkerman said...

Sinatra with the Tommy Dorsey Band is the best of his, invmo. Great stuff. I've got the entire set.

Bud said...

sinatra's a punk

i prefer tony bennett

Bud said...

who sang the original moon river ?? he's good

gene autry pretty good too

Frosty said...

the ghost of Liberace huants to this very day.

Spin-em said...

lmaoooooooooooooooooooooo

Spin-em said...

Bud you can say Sinatra's a punk then come out and play the Gene Autry moon river card

Spin-em said...

Putin gas up the tanks yet?

Bunkerman said...

looks like mutual fund redemptions hit the close - they use sell on close orders.

mfl59 said...

is that homemade pumpkin butter or stor bought bunkerman? I admit to enjoying all things pumpkin...I have yet to have pumpkin butter...

Spin-em said...

Pumpkin recipes
How to prepare cooked pumpkin from a fresh pumpkin (for use in all the recipes)
Illustrated instructions to make a pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin - the best pumpkin pie you'll ever taste!
How to home-can pumpkin (in a cooked, cubed form) and why you shouldn't home-can the pureed forms.
Traditional Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Butter!
Pumpkin cheesecake - INCREDIBLE!!! You have to try this one!
Pumpkin Cookies
Pumpkin soup - even if you normally aren't a soup lover; you'll love this one.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
No Sugar Pumpkin Pie
Apple Cider Doughnut Recipe (with maple glaze or sugar glaze)

Spin-em said...

Liz.......nah actually id like to see a token cracker to balance things out

Spin.....Re: cracker??..is that supposed to hurt my feelings?..looool

Liz sooner or later gmac will understand his future as a BKC junior manager

Spin BKC junior manager...loool....well we all cant work for "jim"

Liz I don't "work" for anybody

Spin I know..but I knew that would piss u off.lool....pretty good wasn't it?..looool

Liz piss me off? nah

yeahhhh right lizzzz.loooooooooool