Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Cluster FUBAR

That's my favorite term nowadays for a colossal mess, or as the British might say, a big bloody cock-up. I coined it by conjoining that fine WW II slang term, "FUBAR", with part of a very colorful expletive said by Clint Eastwood as "Gunny Highway" in the fine movie, "Heartbreak Ridge".

Today, I am using it to describe the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this past weekend under the orders of Speaker Pelosi, that paragon of the liberal pearls, wine and brie set. The bill in normal printed form is nearly 2,000 pagers. Like a malignant tumor, it's growing rapidly as it was a mere 1,000 pages just a few months ago. Of course, no one in that august body of "leaders", the House of Representatives, knows truly what is in it. Pelosi twisted arms and / or paid off 220 of those sheep (or is "hogs" more appropriate as they no doubt got plenty of payoffs for those votes) to get it passed.

The action moves to the Senate now. They will debate it - at least nominally. I suspect most of the bloviation will be sloganeering and pontification and ad hominem attacks on the opposition.

On October 21, I published my thinking on this major issue in a post titled, "A Solution to the Health Care Dilemma". Having put my views out for all to see, hence proving I am no mere naysayer, I now feel perfectly justified in slamming the Pelosi bill as the cluster FUBAR that it is.

Can anyone imagine the administrative costs that will occur with that bill ? I suppose one way to see it is as a transfer of the entire insurance company administrative mess to the Federal government. Anyone thinking will lead to cost savings or simplicity must be smoking what Barney Frank's "friend" was growing when arrested in August 2007 (Barney was present, claiming ignorance ... sure). [btw, the press covered this sleaze up for over two years.]

ObamaCare is a cluster FUBAR. Obama and Pelosi want to drop it on the American people without anyone finding out what it will truly do or not do. They will say anything to get it through. All the slogans are propaganda to hide its provisions until to late. There is no integrity there, no reason, no concern for people or freedom. Just sheer power and the push for more of it by the DC ruling classes.

Actions

I sold the HBC calls as the stock popped on its quarterly update. The call options strategy worked well. I still have calls on MT and BA (January expiration dates).

Otherwise, I am looking around for the next "Screaming Buy" or "Screaming Sell" to deploy speculative capital. I am also monitoring Krypto Fund for possible asset allocations. I'll post whatever I do, just after I do it.

Word of the Day

"Vomiturient" - adjective [$1000]
Vomiturient means characterized by a desire to vomit.
Sentence: Anyone seriously considering what the state of America's health care system will become under the Pelosi bill should be having strong vomiturient sensations.

34 comments:

Spin-em said...

(Sgt Maj Gunny Pelosi to Dems)

"This is the AK-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy. It makes a distinctive sound when fired at you. So remember it."...now vote..lol

Bunkerman said...

lolol

Bud said...

good morning Bman !!!!!!!!


excellent trading................beefer style.........i played along with you on the SPY calls ( or to be exact in my case......ES Z9 )

of course i asked you what 'ladder' meant and you never fully explained..........so i suspect i made a couple nickels..........while you cleaned up



you miss the beefer trading don't you?? that's ok.........you don't need to answer........i know the truth



Je ne suis pas un goinfre my ass

Bud said...

Bman...........you are an educated man...........you are a wise man.........you have been thru many economic cycles..........can you help me out


all my life i have been told that it is very important to be frugal..........save .........spend wisely.........a rainy day can come at any time.........when i was in short pants........my grandmama wud lecture me on saving money



then why is dr bernanke punishing savers ??? ace is 100% right............Ben shud stand on the street corner and hand out $20bills.......to junkies........so we can get our next fix


what a f'ng joke

Bud said...

Bman are you worried that dr bernanke is creating the next assett bubble?? i mean has he not been paying attention the last 10 years...........nazz bubble.....credit bubble..........i guess all good things do come in 3s



oh wait.........i think all bad things come in 3s

Bud said...

the US dollar has become a joke.............laughing stock among the world's central bankers


lemme get this right...... dollar tankaroo............and my purchasin power ain't goin down ???? huh ????

Bud said...

i'm a ping-pong player Bman..........it don't affect me...........S and p go to 1300.....i buy'em..........S and p go to 800..........i short'em


why doesn't it affect me ?? cuz the Bman says my purchasin power ain't goin down


what a bunch of thumpin tosh

Bunkerman said...

ladder is buying several stikes of the same expiration date, to one gets a lot more leverage for same $ on a decent sized move, while making it likely to make 'some' money on a smaller move.

Example: buying in the money, on the money and out of the money strikes; analougous to a win-place-show ticket in horse racing.

I guess I should have explained it.

Bud said...

monkey bars ??? that's so kindergarden..........you know what i spent time on.........knife skills................i'll f'ng behead your motherf'ng head



PS..............still wanna be friends ????

Bunkerman said...

yes, I made a fine profit on a good sized "speculation"

Bunkerman said...

punishing savers ?

Not at all. Why should savers get a large profit for taking no risk except minimal time value ? They get a benefit by not risking their money at all, hence no fear of losing it. And they get to use that money in the future to perhaps buy something cheaper that is not available now, or that they don't need now.

If they want a return, they can buy a short term bond fund - I think they pay 2%.

They can get 5% or more in a bond fund; or 4%+ aftertax in muni bonds.

By the way, for historical perspective from B-school days, I remember a study showing that the real return for T-bills has always be averaging 0% real rate.

And it's zero now. No punishment there - just the average.

Bunkerman said...

uh ... do you have bubble-itis, Bud ?

Instead of seeing spots, seeing bubbles ?

Bunkerman said...

the US dollar is still in its recent multi-year trading range.

And its value is really a problem for all those nations wanting to grow via exports to the US.

Bunkerman said...

I learned some good knife moves & short sword moves in my several knife fighting classes.

OSS stuff & Civil war hand to hand combat moves with swords. Marine K-bar moves.

Gotta practice, though, Bud. Fill a big contractor bag with rags & hang it from a joist; then practice thrusts into it. Develops the wrist ...

(repare holes with duct tape)

Spin-em said...

Develops the wrist ...

dont worry about his wrist Bunk...Im sure it gets plenty of work.......

ROFLLLLLLLLLLLLL

CHOPSUIII HR!!!!!!!

Bunkerman said...

So Bud, ... did you get as skilled assembling your AK as Forest Gump got on his M1 ?

maybe blindfolded, to simulate being in a cave ?

;)

Bunkerman said...

S&P 1100 hit.

Frosty said...

"SPY calls ( or to be exact in my case......ES Z9 )"...what are you talking about...I don't understand...u retro mf...you make me sick.

Bunkerman said...

From memory, ES Z9 are emini Dec 2009. I suppose there are options on those.

there are lots of ways to play options on S&P 500.

Frosty said...

Bunky...I don't get your luv affair BA wetdreamliner

Bunkerman said...

it's a simple, "return to normalcy" play once they get it to fly, with oddles of overseas demand to be a big kicker.

Frosty said...

BA attempted to get you your 45 doubledownhandle, 47 best I could do...back on the case.

Frosty said...

Bunky...your "normal" includes a standard deviation...so we are talking the new normal.

maverick said...

Which guns did we use at the range yesterday Bman?

Bunkerman said...

M1 Thompson SMG and S&W 76 SMG; they use .45 and 9mm ammo, respectively.

maverick said...

do you have a .50 BMG Bman?

Frosty said...

"I believe deeply that it's very important to the United States, to the economic health of the United States, that we maintain a strong dollar," Geithner said in a meeting with Japanese reporters at the U.S. embassy.

Sal fails to understand our strong dollar policies...USA USA USA

Bud said...

no options Bman..............i just buy or sell the emini contract

Bud said...

'return to normalcy'


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


and wait............there's more


'overseas demand'


LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO





Bman on a roll today

Bud said...

i don't get the cave references...........are they supposed to be funny ?? am i missin somethin????



you know what is funny.................watchin you douchebags cry and piss when i bust a cap in your punk asses

Frosty said...

"bust a cap in your punk asses"...oh man LOL...like your flazzholebro...is that where you have been, you dating Cindy.

Bunkerman said...

yup, mav... Ma Deuce.

Frosty said...

over or under 500K bunk...you have the hot hand jobs market.

Bunkerman said...

it's due to drop under 500K this week or next.