weekend notes

Hope all goes well. Can you blame him? Me neither. I mean, any good trader thinks about it. Every. Single. Day. Particularly when you got a really bad portfolio (or a great one). So if Mitt wants to be CIO he’d better shake it up. Grab all 72,536 pages of our tax code. Remind America it was 400 pages 100yrs ago. Wipe that slate clean. Shake up our infinitely complex electoral district map. Our tan

Hope all goes well. Dear NY Times, got a confession. To be great at this sport, you gotta love making money – in the short, medium, and long term. I do. And been at this for 23yrs. Played by the rules. There aren’t many. Every day we fight to take as much money as possible from mkts, counterparties, competitors. That’s the game. Our only true teammates are investors, we’re their fiduciaries.

Hope all goes well. She pulled her knees in real close. Tight. Hugging herself. And stared out the windshield. Sobbing. “Will Iris go to heaven Daddy,” Olivia, my 8yr old, asked. Now, I got no idea. Never been there. And gun to my head, I’d say no, that landlord doesn’t allow kittens – just Lions. But truth is, even in a great year, I get it right maybe 65% of the time. And I know a cheap op

Hope all goes well. Love big families. Kids. Cats. Dogs. Frogs. Chaos is comfort. But I’ve drawn the line. Stopped the madness. Unlike the ECB boys. Yeah, they’re really rolling the dice now. Playing with fire. Unprotected. Prolific. Yeah, imagine their crowded Christmas cards this yr. Just look at all those baby Euro’s. So many noisy, naughty zeros. Overall: Rome’s smartest mathematicians scanned

Hope all goes well. China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines. Inhale… India, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Hong Kong. Yeah, bizarre. I thought the same as you. No one in Asia talks about Greece? Or Portugal? Not even Spain? Don’t they care that French banks are broke? Iran threatens Hormuz? Assad’s flattening Homs? Nope, they don’t. So I just shut up. Listened. And dedicated w/e notes

Hope all goes well. President’s Day. And I’m off and away. To Singapore. China too. They got lots of people there. Ida has me meeting nearly every one. You see she knows me too well. I’ve never liked taking orders. Rules give me rashes. So she’s saved me from myself. From piercing the Great Firewall. Freeing Tibet. Taking Tiananmen. Left me with no time for meddling. Mischief. Misconduct. But gues

Hope all goes well. Glued to the tube. In celebration. Go NY Giants! Naturally, I’m a fair weather fan. Love my Yankees too, yeah, just so long as they win the World Series. Spend a career buying/selling, longing/shorting, loving/hating the same mkts, over and over, in equal measure, and well, you lose the taste for loyalty. Anyhow, what a game! The Patriots never stood a chance. Of course, patrio

Hope all goes well.I call him Osama bin-Charlie. A term of endearment. Got a soft spot for the little terrorist. ’Cause he’s my 4th. My last. And while bin-Charlie’s just mid-way through the terrible two’s, I know his reign of terror’s nearly over. Stockholm Syndrome’s setting in. He infiltrated our bed, 5am, whispering, “Charlie’s a superstar.” Over and over. And over. And over. Yeah, he talks in

Hope all goes well. Got the news. In-flight to Miami. Made me shiver. Just another reminder I’ve accomplished so little. And it’s got nothing to do with the fact the guy built a $200mm fortune. Paid less than 14% tax (I paid 35%). Has 5 kids (I stalled at 4). Saved the Olympics (I coached 6yr old girls soccer). Or published a best-seller (ughhh). Nope. What really got me was this: $21mm in investm