Hope all goes well… “Buy elections,” bellowed Biggie Too. “Sell inaugurations,” continued the chief global strategist for one of those too-big-to-fail affairs. “That was one pretty market meme, everyone was singing the same tune.” The Dow flashed 20,000. “But pretty ain’t money,” whispered Too, winking. “On my latest US tour, they kept asking, ‘Yo Biggie, when this damn thing gonna go pop?’” He pursed his lips. “When

“How do you tariff someone who has stolen your nation’s intellectual property?” asked the scientist, an entrepreneur. We were discussing the concept of fair trade, which is as foreign to America’s most elite engineers as it is to Indiana factory workers. “China has turned reverse engineering into an art form.” An American manufacturer delivers its state of the art semiconductor fabrication machine to its Chinese cust

Hope all goes well… Spent the weekend in NYC, and stumbled upon the biggest political march in its history. “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” rippled through the crowd, dotted in pink pussy hats. “No Trump, No KKK, No Racist USA,” they cried. A soundwave of outrage. “Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” echoed on and on. And swallowed by the scene – unlike anything I’ve e

Overall: “Protests Are Patriotic And Pussies Are Private,” read the placard. “Stop Tweeting Hate,” declared another. And here are a few of the remaining tens of thousands: “Progression Not Regression. You Can’t Take My Rights, I’m Using Them. This Pussy Grabs Back. My Wife is a Muslim, Not a Terrorist, But I’m Scared of Her Anyway. Strong Women: Know Them, Be Them, Raise Them. Silence Equals Violence. We Are The Majo

“No one makes money in the chop,” said the CIO. “People make money on big moves.” Trump held his press carnival, markets swung wildly. “The Yen was at 117 two days ago. Now it’s 114. Tomorrow it may trade 117. Will anyone make money?” A few will, most won’t. “Nearly 100% of trading returns last year were made between November 8th and December 15th.” The dollar rallied 13% versus the Yen in that time. Ten-year treasur

Overall: “The Central Intelligence Agency will absolutely not resume using banned interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, if ordered to do so by President Trump,” explained Mike Pompeo, The Donald’s already-insubordinate nominee for CIA chief. But it’s only insubordination if our new Commander-in-Chief were to send those bearded-boys to the water-board. To get elected he said “torture works,” America should

Hope all goes well… “Total fiasco, utter circus!” cried the CIO. “KGB videos, golden showers, kompromat, and his temper tantrum over that CNN reporter,” he continued, breathless. “Single worst press conference for a world leader in history. The $2bln Dubai deal. That random pile of manila folders. The dopey lawyer. Gimmicks, conspiracies, rambling bluster. We didn’t learn a single thing about policy. For the sake of

Teddy suspected something was up. And started probing, throwing stones in our house of mirrors. “Santa isn’t real,” he announced, unsure. Mara swept in for a rescue operation, pulling Teddy aside, telling him the truth, co-opting him in the grand conspiracy to maintain the magic for little Charlie, our youngest. But we see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, believe what we want to believe. That’s as true

Week-in-Review (expressed in YoY terms): Mon: New Year’s Day (observed), S&P closed; Tue: German CPI surges +1.0 to +1.7% (3yr high), German 6% unemployment steady at 30yr low, Ford scraps plans to build $1.6bln Mexican factory citing Trump, Congress withdraws bill to eviscerate Ethics Committee after Trump tweet, Trump tweet threatens GM with import duties on Mexican-made cars, US credit card write-offs hit reco

Hope all goes well… “Never short markets that are rising for reasons unknown,” said Yoda, high in the Rockies. “And don’t buy markets that are falling without explanation,” he continued, looking out across open landscape, snowfields shrouding the jagged terrain in mystery. “There is no more powerful force than the unknown.” Our seven-year equity rally has lacked a story to ignite imaginations, passions. Caution has p