Hope all goes well. Yeah, camping was great. Thanks for asking. Below freezing at night, food/fuel shortages, over-populated shanties, no running water, crying children with filthy faces. Old-school family bonding. We may head to Pyongyang for Christmas vacation. I refuse to have soft kids. Overall: Damn bro. What a ride, a white knuckler. Things almost changed. We narrowly avoided a paradigm shift. Gang of Six tax/f
Geneva’s old-city labyrinth. Buzz. Click. And my son Jackson pushed open the heavy door. Crossed the cobblestone courtyard. Buzz. Click. Pushed the 2nd heavy door. Stepped back in time, into an entry room of solid stone. And there it was. An ancient ivory crossbow, displayed with razor-tipped bolts. He gasped. The menacing weapon projecting power, strength, stopped us dead. We were escorted deeper into the fortress.
Week in Review: Mon: EU contagion hits Italy – 2y +70bps (2008 levels), Norwegian Jun CPI -0.4%, S&P -1.8%; Tue: BoJ unch since Dec08, India IP softer, UK Core CPI lowest of the year, Moody’s dngrds Ireland to Junk, Fed Mins as expected, S&P -0.4%; Wed: Mkt interprets Ben as dovish, China IP highest since Jun ‘10, EU IP lowest since Jan ‘10, S&P +0.3%; Thur: Moody’s warns USA dngrd if debt ceiling n
Hope all goes well. I’m off camping. Mara, 4 kids, a dog and a tent. Be back next week with full weekend notes. Week in Review: Mon: EU contagion hits Italy – 2y +70bps (2008 levels), Norwegian Jun CPI -0.4%, S&P -1.8%; Tue: BoJ unch since Dec08, India IP softer, UK Core CPI lowest of the year, Moody’s dngrds Ireland to Junk, Fed Mins as expected, S&P -0.4%; Wed: Mkt interprets Ben as dovish, Chin
Hope all goes well. I made a big mistake. Asked the funniest guy I know (old college buddy) to write this week’s w/e notes in my absence. He didn’t give me quite what I’d hoped. Tore me to pieces. Just brutal. Should have known better. But I live life by lots of rules. And one is, never take anything too seriously (particularly yourself). Another is, if something’s really funny (albeit at my e
Week-in-Review: Mon: 4th of July, Aussie May retail sales -.6%, Turkey CPI 6.24%, S&P – closed; Tue: Moody’s dngrades Portugal 4 notches to Junk, RBA kept rates unch, C. Anthony acquitted, global serv PMIs soft, EU May Retail Sales -1.1%, S&P +.1%; Wed: PBOC hike rates (5th since oct; 3rd this yr), ISDA’s Gen counsel says Greek rollover won’t trigger CDS, US non-mfg ISM 53.3, solid German factory orders
I was rocket-sledding down Annapurna the other day. Sunglasses on, tie flapping in the wind, stereo blasting Richard Wagner‘s Flight of the Valkyries on a Maxell XLII90 noise-reducing cassette tape. Got my heart racing and reminded me of earlier days when I would jet-pack through shark tanks. Suddenly a Himalayan mountain coyote jumped directly into my path. It’s hard to tell how you will react to a situation until i
What a relief. 155 Greek lawmakers approved the E78bln Trojan Horse (a mere 136 voted against, 9 took the day off). Of course not one of Greece’s 300 leaders believes they’ll ever repay debts, but this vote wasn’t about that. It was about giving German politicians what they need so they can pretend the 2nd bailout won’t disappear as fast as the 1st. The few Greeks with jobs left work, took to the streets in celebrati
Summertime. Sun. Surf. Friends. Family. Bonfires and books. Glorious books. Got an email Sunday morning. Asked for my list. He wasn’t looking for comics (I love those too), “Which books influenced how effective you are in mkts, business, human psychology, fund mgmt, life generally?” There are lots of ways to answer a question. And ya know, if you want to get to know someone, you gotta first give something of yourself
Hope all goes well. Summertime. Off to Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Chamonix. Bringing Mara, Jackson, Olivia. The Karamazov brothers are tagging along too, we go way back. In Mont Blanc’s shadow my old climbing partner and I will watch our kiddies hop from boulder to boulder. We’ll recall our adventures, near misses – hoping they’ll someday share that kind of bond, explore the edge, survive, Live. You won’t hear from me ag