“I’ve made peace with it,” he said, without emotion. Yet I knew how the admission ate at him. As the Occupy movement emerged from the 2008 crisis, he described with eager optimism his hope for greater justice, equality. He grew up poor, made his way to our finest engineering university, and earned a position atop Wall Street’s proprietary trading elite; standing as testimony to the productive power unleashed by hard

Hope all goes well… “You want to be mentally concerned now, awake, alert,” said the CIO. “But you don’t want to express that concern yet in your portfolio,” he continued, his own portfolio performance well ahead of any index you could compare it to, for years running. “These things are supposed to go way past Red,” he continued. Before real bull markets finally turn, they first ignore all the obvious warning signals.

Hope all goes well… Powerful waves rolled in, lifted by a distant beast. Hurricane Marie, one of those rare Pacific tempests. The day prior had been smooth as glass. Whitewash raced up the beach, exploding on my shins. Stranding vast heaps of kelp and stunned creatures, that, accustomed to summer’s perpetual calm, lacked strong anchors. I looked out as far as I could. Turning a grain of sand over and over, in my head

Week-in-Review: Mon: UAE & Egypt airstrikes on Libyan Islamists, Israel surprise 25bp rate cut, Hollande purges cabinet over left wing revolt, German IFO business climate -1.7pts to 106.3, Spain PPI -0.4% yoy, US July new home sales -2.4%, Dallas Fed -5.6 pts to 7.1%, S&P +0.5%; Tue: Aussie Q2 construction -1.2% (3rd consecutive decline), South Africa Q2 GDP +0.6% (Q1 -0.6%), Ukraine captures Russian paratroo

Week-in-Review: Mon: China FDI -17% yoy (property prices fall -1.1% in 64/70 cities; 3rd mthly decline), Moody’s downgrades 4 South African banks, Kurds retake Mosul dam, Ukraine rebels receiving Russian heavy weaponry & armored vehicles, Russia widens Ruble trading band, UK Carney “economy more than halfway to full blown expansion – rate hikes could occur before wage inflation emerges,” Spain Jun exports -1.2% y

Hope all goes well… “I call grande puffy chair!” shrieked Olivia, in a faux French accent, staking her claim. You see, she’s still small enough to curl up like a cat. Her brothers piled in behind. Scanning the hotel room for sleeping space. And with one petite queen reserved for Mara and me, our boys assessed the remaining options, none of which looked good. “I call 2nd bed,” grumbled Jackson. Knowing he’d be spoonin

Hope all goes well… “You can sense it, you’re wrong, you look around, realize you’re not alone – and you can’t wait a second, you just run for your life,” snarled Bulldog, out of breath. Guys who sold vol and bought carry, picked up a few pennies this yr. Breakout traders chased their tails. “Got myself back to flat five times this year,” panted one of the industry’s greatest traders. “Then sink my teeth into some br

Week-in-Review: Mon: China CPI accelerates to 2.3% yoy (still well below 3.5% target), China PPI -0.9% yoy, Israel/Hamas 72hr ceasefire, Iraq nominates new Prime Minister (Maliki defiant), S&P +0.3%; Tue: Japan IP -3.3%, Aussie NAB 11 (prev 8), NATO “Russian invasion of Ukraine likely,” German ZEW Aug investor confidence 2012 lows with current situation index 44.3 (prev 61.8) and expectations index 8.6 (prev 27.1

“Market was looking for an excuse to show some cracks,” said Roadrunner, having somehow sensed this would happen, without knowing why. WHO declared Ebola an international health emergency, Chinese imports shrank 1.6%, Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s border as Putin banned US & EU food imports, Israel and Hamas resumed fighting. And of course, Obama rejoined Islam’s civil war. “But this is a garden variety sel

Hope all goes well… “Market was looking for an excuse to show some cracks,” said Roadrunner, having somehow sensed this would happen, without knowing why. WHO declared Ebola an international health emergency, Chinese imports shrank 1.6%, Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s border as Putin banned US & EU food imports, Israel and Hamas resumed fighting. And of course, Obama rejoined Islam’s civil war. “But this is