weekend notes

Hope all goes well. Raised in NYC, live in CA, I’m a libertarian swimming in a deep sea of electoral Blue. Toured Texas this wk, met lots of fine folks in that Red state. Figured the Cowboys woulda been game for blasting Gaddafi from a Dark Age to the Stone Age. Wrong. No one’s got a clue why we’re there, or what the endgame is. All want out fast. Overall: Just took a little pinprick, and now we’r

Hope all goes well. Spent some time focused on my kiddies this wk. Wasn’t alone. Prime Minister Kan led his children through an almost comically crowded pool of angry black swans. The G7 punished childish currency traders for front-running the flow of money back to Japan. The Libyan madman showered his errant children with tough love, then sent a touching note to his son in the White House. The Ge

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 li

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

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-v

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 &a

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 – particular

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,

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