Friday, February 27, 2009

TGIF

It's the day after and the greater part of Obama's plans are now disclosed. The pundits are screeching or yahooing, depending on whether they are of the right or left species. Part of modern discourse seems to require that everything be a momentous event. Maybe this is a psychological need to think one lives every year in historical times. Yet most of these characterizations are just buncombe.

Observations on "Le Plan d'Obama"

1. The proposed tax rises on capital gains and dividends are less than feared - 20% is fair.
2. The change to the estate tax is fair: exemption for up to $7 million.
3. Ordinary income tax on hedge fund managers' pay is long overdue.
4. He is not gutting the military (yet).
5. The tax rises on the "quartaires" sound large, but AMT offsets mean those are less than one might think except for incomes around $1 million or more.
6. The health care plans are just a continuation of the long term trend of the past 50 years.
7. The discontinuation of the nuclear waste facility is troublesome and foolish.
8. The carbon cap & trade is stupid and likely to fail.
9. The alternative energy push will fail, just as it did in the 1970s.
10. The mortgage deduction limits are a continuation of the trend to consolidate the income tax system into a more muscular AMT.

So except for the greenie shift, I must yawn and say it's better than feared. It's certainly better than the lurch that we lived through from Bush I to Clinton. And it's better than Carter or Nixon or LBJ. Not as good as Reagan.

Markets

Lurching continues.

On Wednesday I bought some GOOG, CCJ and GE for Fido Fund. About the GOOG, is it not clear from the demise of daily newspapers that more and more advertising moves to the Internet, hence to GOOG ? More and more local ads move there, too. CCJ is uranium. Even if the US is foolish about adding to nuclear power, the rest of the world is not. GE is just too cheap - the nonfinancial parts of its business are being given away.

On Thursday I bought a wee bit of CX, EEFT and CETV for Obama Fund. The restaurant stocks I want are still too expensive to let me hit my profit target of 3x gains.

Word of the Day

"Captious" - adjective [$10] from the card file
Captious means given to finding fault or raising petty objections.
Sentence: One might say I am being captious by listing my observations on the Obama budget, but I think it's more of a course correction than a revolution so am urging calm, not more fear. Let's hope Congress makes it better, not worse.

Le Mot du Jour

"Marqué" - adjective; this word is the past participle of the verb, "marquer" which has a regular 'er' conjugation.
Marqué means marked, stamped, pronounced.
Marquer means (transitive) to mark, brand, label, stamp; to show; (intransitive) to stand out.
La Phrase: Le plan d'Obama est marqué par plus de modération que j'ai craint.
Sentence: The Obama plan is marked by more moderation than I feared.

65 comments:

Bud said...

official death of private american banks today

Bud said...

meredith whitney vindicated



PS....not that she needed any........but some in here claimed she was .....uhh.....just 'serving her beefer masters'

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman the Great American Sean Hannity says the Obama plan is a sure failure and that he will bankrupt the nation. He says the Dow is headed to 5000....What say you?

Bunkerman said...

uh ... Is not my blog today my answer ?

How does a nation become bankrupt when all its debts are in its own currency ? Explainez, s'il vous plait.

[that is pidgin French - 'explain' is not a French word]

Bunkerman said...

Meredith: an arsonist vindicated by the fire.

Bunkerman said...

The severe recession that BEGAN in September might never had occured except for the short sellers and arsonists like Molotov Meredith.

This banking crisis would have evolved more like the third world debt crisis of the ealry 1980s - a slow curing via profits to cover losses.

Bud said...

'arsonist'


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mfl59 said...

"The severe recession that BEGAN in September might never had occured except for the short sellers and arsonists like Molotov Meredith"


I have to assume that is a knuckleball in the dirt....that statement is tomfoolery ($10) indeed

Bud said...

ummmmmm.......the DEPRESSION began in september

Bunkerman said...

everyone seems to want a depression - maybe they can create one.

Bunkerman said...

I guess it's part of the pain & suffering school of economics.

Bunkerman said...

Let's all moan & groan together and feel sorry for ourselves for living in such awful times.

mfl59 said...

Obama said it could be worse than a depression...I will follow his lead...he is the messiah

mern said...

confused.

succo and harrison said this was gonna happen in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, (gave pause in 04 and 05) jumped back on all the fins were toast from 06 and still saying it.

toddo is a beefer and hangs with all the other beefers. they all knew.

u gotta be kidding me if u didnt see this coming. its not marys fault. its the american way of life that lead to this diseaster.

so what about my post last nite?

it was a gud (long) one.

ya ya i know......."thats what she said"

enjoy the ride

mern said...

he is the messiah

loooool

dude, he is a negro! and with those ears. come on give the NY post some snaps for the cartoon, and then saying it wasnt racist.

aroid still driving around with his cousin.

he must have some bush genes in him, somehow, someway or maybe even worse, some palin DNpoop

Bunkerman said...

Well, mern, your post last night described an "musical" event like a religious camp meeting (with no prayers).

I like music to sound good, sitting on a sheepskin on my leather sofa in my "Sword Room" and sipping a Bunktini, reading some book.

No rolling on the floor talking in tongues as G-D speaks to me. No X-er puking nearby or glassy-eyed from hitting the bong all evening.

Just great music for its own greatness.

;)

My theorem stands unchallenged.

Spin-em said...

lmaooooooooooooooooooo

Bud said...

gimme a break Bman !


i don't 'moan and groan'....or feel sorry for myself..........i call it like i see it.....depression recession whatever........i'm trading......uhhh......playing ping pong everyday


i'm not like those other ass-kissers here.......if you misrepresent my views.......i won't take it



tete de noeud indeed

mfl59 said...

slow your roll playa

Spin-em said...

And he's bad, bad leroy bud
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than old king kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Spin-em said...

"i'm not like those other ass-kissers here.......if you misrepresent my views.......i won't take it"

stomp your one foot..maybe that'll do the trick

looooooooooooooooooooooooool

LETS GO METS!!!!!!!!!!!

Bud said...

'let's go mets'



LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mfl59 said...

A man from President Obama's hometown of Chicago has been arrested for allegedly sending Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood, in the hopes of killing or harming them.

maverick said...

uhhh Bman you forgot
azzlickers... nono let them near the sheepskin

Spin-em said...

"nobody gets between Arod and his TRLG jeans"

Bunkerman said...

well, Bud, I'm happy you're counter-punching and scrappy, not whining in a hole somewhere.

That's the American spirit.

I'm also happy you're finally spelling "tete de noeud" correctly.

;)

Bunkerman said...

I wonder what "azzlicker" is in French ?

Bunkerman said...

I sort of like keeping the vulgarities in French, although Mrs. B does know a lot of French.

mfl59 said...

Bud hasn't been whining?

wawawawa transaction tax

wawawawawa capital gains tax

wawawawa obama isnt fair

did I miss any?

Bunkerman said...

Hmmm azzlicker is the same as ass-kisser in French.

"to lick" is the verb, lécher, which provided the root for "lèche-cul"

Lécher is a regular -er verb with an accent shift é to è before a mute e, like céder.

Bunkerman said...

I thought that was more like whimpering in fear of the future, not whining about how bad all is now.

Bunkerman said...

To be a bit less vulgar, one can use "lèche-botte" = bootlicker.

Spin-em said...

always... look on the bright....siddde....of life.......

Gen Pickett had an optimistic point of view at Gettysburg

Frosty said...

I agree bunky...bud is in pain and all alone...I feel sorry for him, as you do...that's why I called off the dogs.

hang in there Bud.

Bunkerman said...

as did Montgomery at El Alamein

Patton in the Bulge

etc.

Bunkerman said...

I think my analogies trump your, spin.

Gettysburg was high water mark of Confederacy - like being a bull at S&P 1500.

Montgomery, Patton were optimistic at the nadir (lowest of lows).

Bman base hit.

Bud said...

i have a better one



general westmoreland called the tet offensive....."the turning point in vietnam"


another good one


W....."military operations in Iraq have concluded........mission accomplished"

Bud said...

trivia ......who said


the object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his

Spin-em said...

bastard..Patton?

Spin-em said...

Patton well George C Scott...lmao...said he lived in another time....like Bunk yesterday..does Bunky's helmet have 4 stars on it?

Bud said...

yes george c scott


"i'd rather have a german divsion in front of me then a french one behind me"

Spin-em said...

loooooooool

mfl59 said...

"I dont give a damn about the color of your skin,
just kill as many sons of bitches wearing green as you can."

mfl59 said...

Bunkerman what do you think Wall St will look like in 3 years?

Bud said...

one of Bman's wishes are coming true


sounds like the uptick rule is comin back..............good..........i'm so sick of hearing the Bman.....uhhh....'moan and groan'


tet de noeud indeed

Bunkerman said...

I wonder if that GE dividend cut is accompanied by Immelt's resignation ?

When will the ruling classes accept responsibility for their failures ?

They love to preach to the common man to do that. Especially the R's.

Bunkerman said...

Wall Street was a fun place in the 1980s when I was there - even now it sucks: fences, security everywhere.

Bunkerman said...

For a severe recession, there sure were a lot of shoppers at the mall. I walked to the adjacent mall (moderate priced) while getting the oil changed in "Gold Mist".

Good many people for 1PM on a Fraidy afternoon.

I spent money - doing my share.

mfl59 said...

Of course people are at the mall....noone has a job....

I took that deep indeed...

Spin-em said...

loooooooooooooooooool

Bunkerman said...

hmmm I guess that one was down the pipe.

mern said...

Alton Benes: Which one's supposed to be the funny guy?
George Costanza: Oh, he's the comedian.
Jerry Seinfeld: I'm just a regular person.
George Costanza: No, no. He's just being modest.
Alton Benes: We had a funny guy with us in Korea. A tailgunner. They blew his brains out all over the Pacific. There's nothing funny about that!

anyone know y pappa benes was never brought back after that funny azz episode?

Spin-em said...

Maria just beanballed Immelt...MEDIC!!!!

mfl59 said...

Alton Benes...lmaoooooo...he was good...

mfl59 said...

What was s.o.w.? thanks

Bunkerman said...

missed it but Immelt should take a few Cooney's and resign.

A failure.

Bunkerman said...

he bought back a lot of stock at high prices and now the income shareholders get gutted.

Spin-em said...

Master of the house
Doling out the charm
Ready with a handshake
And an open palm
Tells a saucy tale
Makes a little stir
Customers appreciate a bon-viveur
Glad to do a friend a favor
Doesn't cost me to be nice
But nothing gets you nothing
Everything has got a little price!

Spin-em said...

not sure but think s o w XBI

mfl59 said...

XBI thanks "jim"

Bunkerman said...

If there's an acrostic there, it must be Polish.

Spin-em said...

Alton Benes bunk

Spin-em said...

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Enjoy guys...take care non-posters..you know I luc ya....attaboy Spike!! cya monday

mern said...

When he guest-starred on Seinfeld (1990) in "The Jacket" episode as Elaine's father, Alton Benes, he scared the cast so badly that they never had him back on. He stole a butcher knife from Jerry's TV kitchen and hid it under his jacket. When Seinfeld confronted him about it (much to the dismay of the entire cast), Tierney made a stabbing motion towards Jerry as in reference to the movie Psycho

lol

Bunkerman said...

having a Bunktini ... listening to 1920s Louis Armstrong .... dogs doing tricks ... ahh, such pleasures !