Archive for May, 2009

• Creativity vs. the Quants
  Joshua M Brown, May 31st, 2009 at 9:19 am, Comments: 0

  It was only a matter of time...
  From the New York Times:
  (Advertising firms) are bringing some Wall Street-like analysis to Madison Avenue, exploiting the huge amounts of data produced by the Internet to adjust strategy almost instantly.
  So now instead of someone coming up with the next great tagline or catchy ad slogan, the ad biz will [...]

• John Mauldin: An Unpayable Deficit?
  Joshua M Brown, May 30th, 2009 at 6:23 pm, Comments: 0

  John Mauldin's latest newsletter, entitled This Way Be Dragons (Thoughts from the Frontline), tackles the big problem that the bulls don't want to think about yet: How will the $1.2 trillion deficit we've got in the oven ever be paid off?
  While Obama gives lip service to cutting the deficit in half, his actual budget increases [...]

• Hot Links: Bling, the 90's, Wharton and American CEO's
  Joshua M Brown, May 30th, 2009 at 7:39 am, Comments: 0

  Hot Links for Weekend Reading...
  What was the best post of the year in each of Knowledge@Wharton's first ten years?
  Here's what David Merkel of the Aleph Blog thinks are the thirteen most important aspects to our current economy.
  The Wall Street Journal needs to look itself in the mirror after this one: The Bling Culture Falls to Earth. [...]

• Market Recap: Of Silver and Centipedes
  Joshua M Brown, May 29th, 2009 at 9:55 am, Comments: 0

  [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.830915&w=425&h=350&fv=]
  The Reformed Broker, AKA Goldie Hawn here with today's Market Recap...
  When they write the book on May of 2009, they won't be talking about General Motors' (GM) long-overdue bankruptcy, they'll be talking about the raging, historic rally in commodities.
  Here's a quick glimpse at this month's Silver run (the biggest monthly percentage gain for the white metal [...]

• Droppin' Knowledge: Doug Kass Takes on the Perma-Bears
  Joshua M Brown, May 29th, 2009 at 8:38 am, Comments: 0

  "I have often written that both perma-bears and perma-bulls are attention-getters, not money-makers."
  Doug Kass, May 2009
  On May 27th, TRB fave commentator Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners and TheStreet.com took on the Cult of the Perma-Bears. 
   As someone who is often characterized as a bear, he sought to establish the difference between people who have made profitable bearish [...]

• Hot Links: Too Lazy To Post Edition
  Joshua M Brown, May 29th, 2009 at 7:18 am, Comments: 0

  Hot Links for Friday Reading
  Hey kids, here's what I'm reading this morning...
  What's the most thankless job you can think of?  Try being Irving Picard, the Decider of the Madoff affair.
  Trustee in Madoff Case (NYT)
  More from the "commercial real estate is the next shoe to drop" camp.
  New Debt Fears in Commercial Property (FT)
  An Australian tycoon seeks [...]

• This Just In: Ackman Gets Smoked by Target's Board
  Joshua M Brown, May 28th, 2009 at 1:53 pm, Comments: 0

  From Reuters:
  14:47 TARGET CORPORATION SHAREHOLDERS ELECT COMPANY'S DIRECTOR NOMINEES
  Supposedly the margin was over 70% voting for the Target (TGT) board, against Ackman and Pershing Square.  We'll see if the rest of my prediction comes true.
  Better luck next time, Bill.
  Read Also: Why Ackman Can't Back Down
   
  No Market Recap Tonight...Thanks for reading today!

• Yes, Melissa…OPEC is, in fact, a Cartel
  Joshua M Brown, May 28th, 2009 at 10:23 am, Comments: 0

   

   

  CNBC's Melissa Francis inadvertently ticked off one of the lovely OPEC ministers she was pointlessly attempting to interview by referring to the organization as a "Cartel".
  Melissa shouldn't apologize, she was right on the money...
  From Wikipedia:
  A cartel is a counterfeit agreement among industries. It is an informal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and [...]

• Quick Shakespeare Lesson for the Troglodytes
  Joshua M Brown, May 28th, 2009 at 7:38 am, Comments: 0

  I've heard more than five market commentators, talking heads, politicians and reporters misuse the phrase "Now is the winter of our discontent," over the last few weeks and I thought I'd take a quick moment to lend a hand to my less literate contemporaries.
  The only thing I hate more than someone randomly or pretensiously quoting Shakespeare is [...]

• Who's Ready to Start Picking Stocks Again?
  Joshua M Brown, May 27th, 2009 at 9:21 pm, Comments: 0

  Over the long holiday weekend, I was asked the same question in different settings by friends, neighbors and family members again and again. "Is the market going to go up or back down from here?"
  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice change of pace from the big question from January and February, "Why would anyone [...]