“I’m the man,” said O, adjusting his cool blue tie, admiring himself, winking. “I’m the man,” his lip curled up into a presidential smile.  “I’m the man.” And blowing a goodbye kiss into the mirror, spun on his heel, headed onstage. To a standing ovation. Global president’s tuned in, eager to hear Obama’s well-telegraphed pronouncement. Yanukovych slouched in his ornate Ukrainian throne, turning the wide-screen’s vol

Hope all goes well… The great bull elephant charged into new-year, leading the herd. Beneath his feet the earth trembled. The dust lifted, swirling high, concealing the multitude in his wake. America’s GDP had hit new all-time highs of $16.2trln. The mkt capitalization of its publicly traded companies rose to new heights, touching a January 22nd record of $19.8trln. “Squeak!” shrieked an Argentinian mouse, terrified,

Hope all goes well… “Sorry mate, but I got a good excuse,” texted the CIO, having just abruptly hung up on me. “That was an unfortunate case of (1) delivery man ringing the bell, (2) wife in the shower, (3) maid bathing my 2yr old, (4) my 5yr old, 7yr old, and his 7yr old mate being trained to not answer the door alone, and consequently (5) wife, maid, 2yr old, 5yr old, 7yr old, and 7yr old’s mate all yelling at me a

Baby Bai cried. Incessantly. Uncontrollably. You see, hungry Baby Bai’s bowl was missing one itsy bitsy soybean. And why? Well, Daddy Dang saw the PMI data print below 50 for the first time in 6mths. And concerned that his factory job was in jeopardy as Beijing bureaucrat’s re-engineer growth from low-quality over-production to low-quality services, Dang raced to the bank. And requested the return of his renminbi’s f

“I believe we have a duty to care for those who came before us, for those who come after,” he said. And he has. He does. A decade ago, his father-in-law was slain as he lay in bed with his wife. A random act of violence, committed by impoverished young burglars. In South Africa. “Afterwards, my mother-in-law moved in, became the second mother to our children,” he continued, describing the profound depth of her impact

“You’re too early mate, don’t come yet, markets are ahead of themselves,” said the speculator. And I knew he must believe it. Because he’s tried for years to fly me down to his polo estate, and I’d called to announce I’m coming, to explore an investment theme. “Kirchner’s finished, in Oct 2015 we’ll have new leadership, maybe Socialists, even Radicals, though they’ll look more like Lula or Chile than Chavez,” he expl

“Nothing but accomplishing my duty,” answered Hiroo Onoda, standing tall. And his countrymen celebrated their hero. Awed. Inspired. He was asked what he’d been thinking. You see, he’d hidden in the Philippines jungle for 30yrs after WWII, refusing to submit. Anyhow, this week, at 91yrs, he finally surrendered. Reminding the world what our Japanese friends are capable of, for better or worse, once they commit. Their N

Hope all goes well… “Why don’t we declare victory?” asked the esteemed fella from the Fed. “We’re not convinced we’re done with the job we’ve been given by Congress,” he continued, answering his own question. And look, being a pragmatic Libra, I have a soft spot for balance, the Fed’s dual mandate. “Without inflation, there’s a conservative bent to the Fed, we’ll withdraw stimulus slowly.” I checked my watch. And ind

Now we know. It’s going to be that kinda year. ’Cause as goes week-one, so goes the next 51. And, well, the first week was, like, not exactly a week. It was two lonely, weird days. Followed by a full week. Which depending on your count, was either three days or five. Metabolism slows as you approach absolute zero. And January’s been colder than a Wicked Witch’s A-cup. So maybe the first week hasn’t even ended. All be

Hope all goes well… “It’s like the girl you fell in love with when you were fifteen,” said Yoda, the S&P 500’s biggest local, high in the Rockies. “She comes to school every day to torture you,” he continued. “She runs away on the upside and you chase her, fearing she’ll never return.” Then, on a whim, she changes direction. Breaking lower. “And you’re petrified that it’s over, finally, forever.” Yoda paused, rel