players

Just days after Obama’s debt-reduction commission unveiled our new age of austerity, Bernanke announced on “60 Minutes” he’s prepared to print more money if the latest $600bln doesn’t do the trick. Then Barry made a DC compromise (aka every politician/lobbyist gets what they want), cutting taxes and raising deficits. Ben/Barry are tag-teaming the US’s lumbering giant of an economy, force-feeding it Red Bull using eve

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

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 despite an enormous E85bln Irish bailout. But we know how the story goes, the Ghost of Christmas Past arrived on Wed and showed those neurotic bears how soulless they’d become. The ghost whisked ‘em to China where PMI sur

Spent Thanksgiving with family & friends on a farm, real crowded and real American. My buddy Mike gladly slept on the floor, and it made me love him more cause most guys in his spot take themselves so seriously. You see Mike’s one of Stanford’s youngest tenured professors, the Saudi King gave him a $25mm research grant, VC’s seek his blessing, start-ups want his guidance, and govt’s fly him all over the world to

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

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

I read my kids Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales and found myself reading equally frightening stories at work this wk. A few new missives about Chinese rate hikes ending the world made the rounds (of course they’re written by white guys imprisoned in NY/London towers), so I called some folks on the ground in Asia who’ve made their fortunes getting it more right than wrong – they just laughed at how we continually underestim

Hope all goes well. Taking off this weekend and next from w/e notes to spend time with Mara and the kiddies and recharge batteries over Thanksgiving. I read my kids Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales and found myself reading equally frightening stories at work this wk. A few new missives about Chinese rate hikes ending the world made the rounds (of course they’re written by white guys imprisoned in NY/London towers), so I ca