Hope all goes well. Watched the sad footage, the hopeless flight of tiny creatures, chased by a monstrous wave, summoned by a capricious planet. Moments later I pierced the Zurich clouds, marveled at the heavenly Alps. Pictured the tiny creatures ascending those famous peaks, tempting fate, striving for higher ground. Said a quiet prayer for the low, the high, and everyone in between. ’Cause in life’s fleeting flight
Hope all goes well. Closed a big new investment for April. Booked a solid wk in Switz, fly out tonight, feels like the glaciers are melting and want to drink from that Alpine flow. Overall: Markets hate uncertainty; and that’s the only commodity not in short supply these days. With bulging deficits, oil at 29yr highs, recovering economies, and talk of easy-money exit strategies, investors are edgy. So leaders cut the
Hope all goes well. I’m off to NY for cold weather & warm friends. Was thinking about heading to the Middle-East but figured I’d wait till the boys change the names on their business cards. Mkts were a bit kinder this wk. China’s Renminbi finally rallied. So did Turkish Lira, Brazil and India. US short-rates softened. Overall: On a dark Mar ’09 morning, the world gazed intently into the rear-view mirror. Oh the H
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
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
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
Hope all goes well. Great trip to London/Paris. Packed planes, hopping cities and rising prices. London tabloids, radio and tube chatter are dominated by “unchecked” inflation. Seems that Mayfair hedge fund managers are the only altruistic citizens not hiking prices in London. Overall: In the market’s never-ending race, it’s fascinating to watch relay batons passed from one year to the next. This wk the 2010 fear tha
Hope all goes well. Interesting wk and a prelude to the coming year of push & pull between mkts and politicians. Not easy to trade that kinda action, but when the elected boys get involved, they waste all kinds of money. Hope to pick some of it up. I’m off to London and Paris. Overall: What a show! Leaders lined up with the kinda enthusiasm usually found at a Radio City Rockette audition. Germany’s Merkel, legs k
Hope all goes well. Great to flip the calendar. Too often, guys pile into their favorite trades in the first 2wks of Jan only to puke ‘em out by the 31st, so kept mostly to the sidelines, pricing structures and laying in wait. Keepin’ powder dry. Overall: Politicians, central bankers, strategists and portfolio mgrs announced New Year’s resolutions. Obama resolved to end his love affair with the left and snuggle
Had an unreal Christmas & New Years, hope you did too. Couldn’t help but keep a lazy eye on mkts. NY’s blizzard sealed the few surviving bears deep in their caves, not sure they even got news that China hiked rates, then again, with GDP close to 10% and negative real rates, what’s 25bps? The US economy looked perky, Chicago PMI hit 20yr highs and unemployment claims plunged. Merkel stated, “We must strengthen the