Thursday, August 20, 2009

Nothing

"Rien" is the French word "nothing"; it's an indefinite pronoun, a masculine noun and an adverb. Reading the news this morning (FT, WSJ, BBC, Briefing online, listening to Bloomberg TV) produced nothing to spark my febrile grey matter.

Nothing happened last night. Nothing is happening now. I am doing nothing.

Il ne s'est rien passé la nuit dernière. Il ne se passe rien maintenant. Je ne fais rien.

I miscalculated the volume of my gear for the canoe trip to the wilderness, so today must go to Dick's Sporting Good to buy a larger pack. In simple, the volume of my spare clothes got larger when I looked at a long range weather forecast and saw likely 45F overnights and some rain. Warmer clothes are bulkier. hence the needs for a larger pack. My old West German Army pack won't hold the gear.

I'll write more about my philosophy reading and the lectures I've heard recently, but I learned that my operating philosophy of everyday life is a true "Epicurean". An Epicurean life style is mostly ascetic, but includes a few items and activities of high culture and refinement. For example, I mostly eat simple food and even thought the MREs yesterday were rather good, but I also enjoy a fine meal of sushi and wine twice a week.

Actions

The market rallied to a gain yesterday and futures are up this morning. Europe is up. I'm wary and await better prices for my re-buys. On more good news (which I think will evenually come), though, I think the market will rise significantly to the S&P 1200 area by year end. Krypto Fund has its usual allocations, so will participate even if my smaller intermediate accounts do not.

Word of the Day

"Halcyon" - noun & adjective [$10]
Halcyon means (noun) 1. a mythical bird having the power to calm winds and waves; (adjective)2. calm, peaceful; 3. rich, wealthy, prosperous; 4. happy, joyful, carefree.
Sentence: A bloviating, bow-tied pundit lately is saying that America's halcyon days are over. What he means is vague. Were the Bush II years those halcyon days ? Or the Clinton tech boom & bust ? Or the Reagan years ? I presume he doesn't mean the 1970s or 1960s. Maybe he means the 1950s. Well, that's the thing about pundits. They just blab on and on with no one ever checking the facts or getting a clear definition of their "clever" phrases.

32 comments:

Bud said...

MRE's ??

come on Bman............do it the old cowboy style.......all they carried on them was coffee beans and whiskey...........the only 'real' meals they had were what they hunted down ..........or when they rode thru a town

Bud said...

Bman how much is this canoe trip costing ?? 4k ??


common man indeed

Bud said...

Bman were you abob novak reader........i started reading his column when it was a class assignmnet at iowa state..............and never stopped


i also met him once at the mirage in las vegas....met him at the sportsbook........he was there for some conference

Bud said...

Bman will your S and p prediction of 1200 come true .............even if ( as i expect ) the white house doesn't reappoint Bernanke ?


his term ends jan31.....and the president is expected to announce his decision in december

Bud said...

Bman......are sovereign wealth funds beefers ???

Bud said...

Bman is prince alwaleed a beefer or real buyer ???

Bud said...

Bman......didn't you use to rant and rail against this Fed get-together in jackson hole ??

i can't remember your reasoning.......it's august.....summer vacation time......what's wrong with a our central bankers enjoying a couple days in one of the most beautiful parts of our country

Bud said...

Bman is barney frank your congressman ???

Bunkerman said...

the old ways I'm partly replicating is the pemmican - that's what the mountain men, explorers & trappers used for rations (when no game was around).

This is long before the "cowboy" era, circa 1600-1800.

The hardtack & coffee replicates the Civil war era.

the MREs - those are modern.

Bunkerman said...

this canoe trip is practically free - will cost about $200 for the week, plus gas.

(excl. re-usable gear)

Bunkerman said...

I liked & read Novak a lot during the 1980s (maybe late 1970s, too)

Bunkerman said...

my prediction gets riskier - a lot riskier - if no Ben for 2010 and beyond.

Bunkerman said...

no re sovereign wealth, they are real buyers.

Alaweed - who knows ? No one knows for sure what he does, except what he wants us to know.

Bunkerman said...

Yes, I ranted about Jackson Hole - I still don't like it.

Elistist place.

Esp. when they were talking about raising rates, etc. there - grinding down the common man.

Bunkerman said...

No re Barney; my congressman is John Tierney, a thieving, widow robbing, lecherous scheister.

Frosty said...

GOOG GS conviction buy list Bunky...back up the half track...the super beefer commands you.

Frosty said...

GOOG today...FCX yesterday...what do they have in common...both had rising short interest and GS is stuck long...know some with short fuse near 450 GOOG puts that are not ammused...that GS trading desk is on fire Bunky, of course there is a firewall between the groups, not to imply anything.

Frosty said...

Philly Fed...wow...mike vick already turning that town around.

mfl59 said...

FRZ oh my God...what a call Bob....I am the greatest for buying it and making money....I cant believe how great I am for pressing a button...it is unreal....I am at the top of the world....ohhh what a feeling...I am making money in FRZ....ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Bunkerman said...

Already have enough GOOG in Fido Fund.

was same with FCX ...

Is GS reading this blog for ideas ?

Bunkerman said...

firewall ...........


LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

a sheer negligee, if that.

Frosty said...

Bunky...do you allow the servants that swarm the bunker grounds to carry a side arm while you are on vacation...when your not around to realease hell fire upon invaders.

Frosty said...

poucho I dropped one at the front gate...uh jesus, that was the paperboy.

Bud said...

'widdow robbing'


lmaooooooooooooooooooooo

Bud said...

jackson hole wyoming is elitist ?? huh ???

it is one of the few places in america where the 'old west' is alive...........the mountain men of the 1800s wud still recognize it

Bud said...

central bankers makin 200k are elites ??? huh ???


Bman you went to Beefer university......enough said


epicurean my ass

Bunkerman said...

sure Bud ... I wonder what the room rates are for that elitist area.

a good show for the tourists.

Bunkerman said...

central bankers are part of the intellectual wing of the ruling class - sometimes rich, but always powerful

I wonder if they are paying their own way ?

Or is teh common man paying for this outing

Why isn't it held in a place like Cleveland ... Columbus ... Nashville ... etc.

Bunkerman said...

or Jackson Mississippi ?

Please explain, IF it's for business and not a form of eleist recreation ?

Frosty said...

uh Bunky...keep the answers simple please...you know Sal is "not that bright"...no need to taunt him into psychotic turrets filled rage.

Bunkerman said...

better still, I could type the words with the correct spelling.

mfl59 said...

oh Buddy boy....looks like I'll be teeing it up tomorrow at TPC Jasna Polana in Princeton.....should be good preparation for our match in 6 months....

"5 a side indeed"