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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

Hope all goes well. Most things went up in a year-end shortage trade. Stocks, corn & oil hit 2yr highs, copper hit an all-time high. CDS jumped everywhere, though naturally, the real squeeze was in swine flu protection (Greek CDS surged 93bps to 10.63% – so much for that bailout). But there were ample supplies of Dollars, Euro’s and Pounds (they fell versus everything); worries over printing presses, mounta

Hope all goes well. Taking a break during Christmas/New Year to recharge. Hope you do the same. Been a helluva year. I wish you great success, happiness, and health in 2011. Eric Overall: US acted decisively, EU dithered, deficits rose and canaries sang away. Obama signed tax legislation increasing deficits by $858bln, “In some ways this was easier than the tougher choices we’re going to have to make next yr.” No dou

Hope all goes well. Found myself shivering on the flight home from NYC, not sure if it was the 28 degree weather or the growing complacency that I encountered in 20 investor/trader/strategist meetings. Earlier this yr, most folks questioned whether policy makers had the will and/or tools to make mkts go up. No longer. Overall: Just days after Obama’s debt-reduction commission unveiled our new age of austerity, Bernan

Hope all goes well. Looks like bears are suddenly nervous about getting coal in their stockings. We got some early gifts, hit $500mm aum this mth. So I’m off to NY, thanking investors and interviewing recruits. Overall: The boys, all dressed up like Ebenezer Scrooge, started Christmas season by cruelly punishing the impoverished Irish and their poor Southern cousins. Oh how they screamed “Bah Humbug!” selling bonds d

Had a couple quiet days up in Northern CA with Mara, the kiddies and some good friends and family. Sadly, the rest of the planet didn’t hit their pause buttons too. Tensions in Korea added to the panic in peripheral Europe and traders continued to liquidate risk assets and flock to the US Dollar. Weekly Close: S&P 500 -.9% and VIX +4.2 to 22.2. Nikkei +.2%, Shanghai -.6%, Euro Stoxx -1.1%, and Bovespa -3.8%. USD