So What ?

That seems to be the jizz* of yesterday's strong upward move in stocks from my reading of the news and a bit of painful listening to Blabberg. [aside: Why are the faces on financial news mostly imbeciles who ask stupid questions and make silly comments?]

*see Word of the Day

The move has two sparks: Timmy's plan was well-received by potential private investors and existing homes sales jumped. Regarding the former, I wonder why it took him so long to get the plan out ? The general outline was written in this blog months ago and was rather obvious. Regarding the latter, even though much of the sales were from foreclosures, clearly the bloated home inventories are being cleared slowly now. It's not getting worse. Buyers are stepping up for bargains.

More Readers ...

Now I learn that George Soros is a secret reader of this blog. Check out his op-ed in the WSJ today. Here's a quote: "it's clear that AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and others were destroyed by bear raids in which the shorting of stocks and buying CDS mutually amplified and reinforced each other. The unlimited shorting of stocks was made possible by the abolition of the uptick rule, which would have hindered bear raids by allowing short selling only when prices were rising. The unlimited shorting of bonds was facilitated by the CDS market. The two made a lethal combination."

And more: "Many argue now that CDS ought to be traded on regulated exchanges. I believe that they are toxic and should only be allowed to be used by those who own the bonds, not by others who want to speculate against countries or companies. "

Good ideas, George. Sigh ... imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery ;)

By the way, above for the first time in an actual post, I borrowed from the text message dialect of written English to use its sign ;) to mean I am joking about something. It's a wink. I think this is appropriate now as this blog is becoming more multilingual with my French phrases, so adding the text message dialect fits, too.

PS: If you are voting proxies on stock you own, I urge you to vote against executive compensation plans, against any directors of companies which have cut dividends, and in favor of shareholder proposals that seem to help shareholders get more power. I just voted against all GE directors and in favor of all five shareholder proposals.

Word of the Day

"Jizz" - noun [$10]; a reprise selection
Jizz means the characteristic (immediate) impression given by an animal or plant.
Sentence: Yesterday's huge rally had the jizz of a yawn for the public. Perhaps that signals that it's real this time ?

Le Mot du Jour

"Pouvoir" - noun, masculine [this is a common verb, too]
Le pouvior means power, ability, capacity.
La Phrase: Les pouvoirs de l'État sont grandes pour relancer l'économie.
Sentence: The powers of the State are great for reviving the economy.