Mara asked me to give Charlie a bath. He’s our 4th and our last, so naturally I’ve gotten pretty good just in time for my hard won wisdom to go to waste; sadly life’s like that. So I threw lots of things into the tub that Charlie knows he shouldn’t play with; that’s the secret, ’cause he’s human. He zeroed in on a 50-yard roll of dental floss. And with all the talk these days about

Hope all goes well. Left the frozen Canadian tundra, returned to spring in Santa Barbara. Kissed Mara and the kiddies, zipped to the trading floor, hugged the boys. Stepped outside to check our Pension Patch. A Canadian Maple is sprouting, right next to a young English Oak. Somehow, a middle-eastern Royal Palm sprung up too. They each took a long time to germinate, but sink deep roots, grow big & strong. Brought

Men are driven by a primeval fight-or-flight impulse so naturally, when we feel unloved or unwanted, some fight, others take flight. And the world kinda loves Doves these days, so it ain’t easy being a Hawk. But US Fed’s Lacker fought, “The distinct improvement seen in the economic outlook since QE2 was initiated, suggests taking re-evaluation quite seriously.” Fed’s Fisher battled too, “I’ll be at the forefront of t

One of my mentors builds propulsion systems for stealthy Predators. He’s a 75 yr old entrepreneur, leads by example – never stops moving, or loses his intense curiosity. Last weekend he brought me a picture-book. The iconic 1937 Hindenburg photo dominated the cover. Swastika’s adorned the zeppelin’s tail. Took 30mins to read. Hydrogen didn’t destroy it. An intense electrical discharge ignited the silvery skin,

Met a professor, taught at Yale. He’s real smart and better yet, used that blessed gift to build serious wealth on Wall Street. We’re all born with gifts, clever guys figure out how to use ‘em well. Anyhow, he taught the History of Financial Crisis, telling stories to hungry youngsters, of the battle for power and money on the Street. And kids love listening to lyrics from guys who’ve walked the walk, got some scars,

Dizzying week, anything not bolted-down rotated – particularly attitudes. US/EU growth expectations surged, emerging mkt expectations sagged. Chicago PMI rocketed to 68.8 (highest since ’88), German PMI hit 60.5, but Brazil printed just 53.1, China 54.5, and Australia (China’s mine) fell to 46.7 (5th mthly drop). Citigroup’s Economic Surprise index measures how strong actual economic reports are relative to consensus

Hope all goes well. Crisscrossed our stormy nation this wk: Florida, Cali and Vermont. Dodged every storm but the one that hit Bloomberg screens. Made money on dollar shorts, equity & corn longs, but got buried under some interest-rate bets. Shoveled a few of those out of the portfolio, may revisit once the weather improves. Overall: Dizzying week, anything not bolted-down rotated – particularly attitudes. US/EU

The fun part of 2011 ended; earnest resolutions, trades of the yr, hopes and dreams for good things to come. World got back to business. US GDP was soft. Timmy G announced, “It’s not an expansion that’s going to offer a rapid decline in unemployment.” US budget deficit’s on track for $1.5trln, the $14.29trln debt ceiling approaches, Fed balance sheet’s $2.43trln (triple ’08 level), and S&P warned they’re eyeing o

American’s are simple creatures. We love underdogs, work hard & innovate, get easily whipped up into righteous frenzy, quickly start fights, frame our battles in good vs evil, and expect to always win. The Cold War was scary, but suited us perfectly. Naturally we won. Then after a decade of celebration, partly funded by the peace dividend, things got confusing. As global military/economic hyper-power, we lost our

Hope all goes well. What a week. Mara and the kiddies had the stomach bug, vomited night after night. Of course mkts caught it too and puked on Fri. Almost feels like late-Jan ’10, when a new-year rally got infected by that awful Greek virus. Now it’s Egypt, caught it from Tunisia. Something nasty and contagious is swirling around the Med. Overall: The fun part of 2011 ended; earnest resolutions, trades of the yr, ho