Yahoo (YHOO) releases earnings after the market close today. I am on pins and needles. CEO Yang should have some good news, and if not, he should consider a temporary sabbatical.
Yahoo isn't the only belle of this week's ball--tomorrow's the big event:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081021/the_day_ahead.html
All those major companies are reporting earnings. If the market doesn't drop more than one percent, I will be very, very happy. I am betting, perhaps foolishly, that most company-specific bad news is already priced in. Although I've reduced many positions, my retirement accounts are still around 80% in stocks and mutual funds.
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Recession?
Apparently, a majority of U.S. states are now officially in a recession:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=6075580&page=1
I'm not sure what to make of this--usually, when the mainstream press starts calling a recession, we're in its middle or late stages, not the beginning.
Anyway, the above chart isn't sad or tragic--we've become somewhat desensitized to recession calls. If you want to see something really sad, read up on Mattie Stepanek. Keep the Kleenex nearby before you make the jump:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6069915&page=1
Monday, October 20, 2008
Scott Burns on Financial Nitwits
Scott Burns raises an interesting and terrifying issue--what happens when all those ARMs adjust upwards? I see an "uh oh" in the future...
http://assetbuilder.com/blogs/scott_burns/archive/2007/08/10/the-nitwit-sector.aspx
Also, if financial services is 20% of all market value, what is going to replace it as its percentage shrinks? I don't see any killer apps on the horizon--do you?
http://assetbuilder.com/blogs/scott_burns/archive/2007/08/10/the-nitwit-sector.aspx
Also, if financial services is 20% of all market value, what is going to replace it as its percentage shrinks? I don't see any killer apps on the horizon--do you?
Peggy Noonan on Sarah Palin
Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite columnists, has broken party lines and questioned the Republican Party's VP choice:
http://www.peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=438
Talk about a true maverick.
http://www.peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=438
Talk about a true maverick.
The Two-Headed Monster
Denis MacShane, in this quarter's WQ (Autumn 2008, p. 51), reminds us that we desperately need a third party:
I'm reminded of President Julius Nyerere's joking retort decades ago to American visitors who criticized his one-party state in Tanzania. The United States is a one-party state, too, he would say, but since America is so big, it takes two parties to do the job.
Touché.
I'm reminded of President Julius Nyerere's joking retort decades ago to American visitors who criticized his one-party state in Tanzania. The United States is a one-party state, too, he would say, but since America is so big, it takes two parties to do the job.
Touché.
The Three Ideals?
Joshua Kucera had a good line about Greenlandic culture in the Autumn 2008 WQ edition:
Both Danish and Greenlandic cultures "value communitarianism, egalitarianism, and emotional restraint."
It's not as poetic, but to me, it sounds substantively better than France's "Liberté, égalité, fraternité."
Both Danish and Greenlandic cultures "value communitarianism, egalitarianism, and emotional restraint."
It's not as poetic, but to me, it sounds substantively better than France's "Liberté, égalité, fraternité."
Bruce Schneier on Terrorism
I don't usually like Jeffrey Goldberg's articles, but this one is hilarious and tragic at the same time:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security
I couldn’t believe that what Schneier was saying was true—in the national debate over the no-fly list, it is seldom, if ever, mentioned that the no-fly list doesn’t work.
Gotta love Bruce Schneier's honesty and intelligence. Here is his blog:
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