Huff

I always tune in for Hussman’s weekly commentary. From...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:03:00 -0600

I always tune in for Hussman’s weekly commentary. From “Risk Management and Convex Return Profiles.”

More (Too Much?) Free from Google: Turn-By-Turn

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:23:27 -0500

Yesterday, Google announced something stunning: free turn-by-turn directions for Android 2.0 to be first available shortly on the Droid phones. It is stunning because the previously cheapest software only alternatives were apps such as Navigon ($89.99) and TomTom ($99.99) for the iPhone (as an aside, stand alone GPS devices with turn-by-turn directions can now be found on Amazon for as little as $139 for a Garmin nuvi 260 and that’s after 2 seconds of looking). So here we have a case of Google taking something that previously cost nearly $100 per instance and making it free. Obviously, this is awesome news for the Android platform.

…

This brings up the basic issue: should it be legal for Google to give away a product below cost as part of a strategy of attracting users (and developers) to other services on which it does make money?

Tudor Investment Third-Quarter Letter

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:03:47 -0500

Tudor Investment Third-Quarter Letter

via fred-wilson: Let Me Ride - Dr Dre - The Chronic

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:17:50 -0500

via fred-wilson:

Let Me Ride - Dr Dre - The Chronic

via Altos Research

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:34:57 -0500

via Altos Research

I love tracking my performance via this chart. The last 12...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:37:29 -0500

I love tracking my performance via this chart. The last 12 months are especially telling of my style and perspective. Keeping a margin of safety is absolutely key. Having the lead is a great feeling, but keeping it is another story.

I haven’t posted a chart or any heavy market commentary it...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:28:18 -0500

I haven’t posted a chart or any heavy market commentary it what feels like forever. That’s mainly because it has been a one way reflationary trade for the last 7 months making my longer term macro view incorrect. Out of pure stubbornness and greed, I’ve kept most of the equity positions I took on over Winter 2009 therefore allowing me to keep up the broad market while staying 40% cash (ok, if you figure the USD has lost 10-15% this year, then I’ve taken a severe beating. No European or Australian vacations planned anytime soon, however.).

Anyway, I’m posting this chart because we’re at another inflection point in the equity market: S&P 1100. The noise has been intolerable for anyone not day-trading, so, as I’ve done all summer, I’ve elected to sit on my hands. The most important lesson I can take from this year has been to keep moving deliberately, prudent entries/exits, and most importantly, not to fight the trend too much.

DC made the NYT. KaChing!

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:47:59 -0500

DC made the NYT. KaChing!

Asset Allocation in a Peak Oil World

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:12:13 -0500

Asset Allocation in a Peak Oil World:

Something to chew on via Gregor MacDonald

To paraphrase someone’s tweet yesterday: peak oil is more concerned with the size of the spigot (demand) than with the supply of the resource. Our society is heavily reliant on oil. What happens when you hook in Brazil, India and China to the equation? I really like the “overhead crush” theory that Gregor has proposed.

The FT interviews a City banker

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:58:00 -0500

The FT interviews a City banker:

“It’s very nice to know however stupid and incompetent I am, it’s not going to make a difference.”

Wall Street Smarts - NYTimes.com

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:34:09 -0500

Wall Street Smarts - NYTimes.com:

“The financial system nearly collapsed,” he said, “because smart guys had started working on Wall Street.”

A brief look at the Asset-Based Economy at economic turns - Credit Writedowns

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:31:57 -0500

A brief look at the Asset-Based Economy at economic turns - Credit Writedowns:

The historical debt data is freely available, but this provides some good context to what is happening now and the relative debt levels across different sectors.

Fall sunset over north bay

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:39:39 -0500

Fall sunset over north bay

Had not seen this charted out lately. via themacrotrader.com

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:53:39 -0500

Had not seen this charted out lately.

via themacrotrader.com

Yowza (via Calculated Risk)

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:53:00 -0500

Yowza (via Calculated Risk)

Satyajit Das's Blog - Fear & Loathing in Financial Products: Still The Masters of the Universe

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:25:56 -0500

Satyajit Das's Blog - Fear & Loathing in Financial Products: Still The Masters of the Universe:

“everything must change so that everything can stay the same.”

fred-wilson: Om Nashi Me - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic...

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:30:17 -0500

fred-wilson:

Om Nashi Me - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

It would’ve been a wild experience to have the Olympics...

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:23:44 -0500

It would’ve been a wild experience to have the Olympics here and it’s been unpopular to be anything less than a supporter of the bid. But there are many underlying problems we need to deal with that an Olympic stimulus would’ve helped to gloss over for another decade. Time to get back to work, Chicago.

New Flaming Lips — awesome! fred-wilson: Watching The...

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:19:07 -0500

New Flaming Lips — awesome!

fred-wilson:

Watching The Planets - Flaming Lips w/ Karen O - Embryonic

Tracking home prices through August. While I don’t doubt...

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:04:04 -0500

Tracking home prices through August. While I don’t doubt government stimulus and a decent change in housing affordability has helped things, seasonality is a fairly large contributor to the Case-Schiller indices. We’ll see if the recent uptick in prices changes the attitude of sellers. If so, liquidity has the potential to become an issue again increasing the chances of another leg down in RMBS. The Fed also announced last week that they would extend their buy program through the early part of next year. Will removing this crutch significantly effect mortgage rates?