Undermining their sense of masculinity...

I am off from work today as I am getting ready for my annual snowboarding trip out west with my friends from high school. It is just going to be four of us this year. The husband is not allowed as there is a strictly enforced no wives or civil union partners allowed, just the guys. I tried the line "But he can pee standing up!" but they said nope, those are the rules.

I fly out tomorrow morning, we all arrive within 2 hours of each other. Drive to the mountain, picking up copious amounts of beer, booze and tobacco products on the way, take care of our rentals, dinner and then poker. Last year I was the big winner at poker and it crushed them they lost money to me. Two days of boarding and then back here Monday evening.

I got a lot done actually. I made up my training from yesterday by riding the bike for forty minutes- I think it was around 13 1/2 miles. I renewed the kids licenses and found out our older one will need a rabies booster shot to get it renewed next year. I also renewed my parking permit for Hoboken. I tried to do the husband's also but you have to do it in person. That is not a bad thing as the first person in the residence only pays $25 and the second has to pay $50.

So JPM cut their dividend by 87% but said they did it out of a sense that business may not be so good and were not told by the government to do it. Do tell. Yesterday morning the Fed released a memo saying they have directed all TARP recipients to cut their dividends- so there Mr. Dimon! LIAR!

AIG- the former insurance giant I and you own 80% of has said that their plan for asset sales isn't going so well. To me that means the only option they have is to file. We wasted a shitload of money trying to save it because it posed systemic risk and it is going to end up filing anyways. It also brings into question this little thing a lot of analysts on the Street call liquidation value. If AIG's asset sales did not go as planned that must mean every ones base case assumptions for deciding on liquidation value are probably too high. As Scooby would say: Ruh-roh Shaggy.

I have been having a discussion about that giant hedge fund that also makes light bulbs- you probably know it as GE. I am wondering if GE Capital- which converted into a S&L holding company and tapped the FDIC for beau coup bucks- could be forced to split from the parent by the government and then nationalized. A PM I work with says never, makes no sense. But he can't explain to me why the GE 5 year CDS is blowing out so big. The rub is everyone and their mother owns GE. GE Capital has been the driver for it for twenty odd years. If the growth engine is gone what happens to a company that just makes light bulbs? He said it was worth at least $100 billion but I again have to question what his bas assumptions are and how does he get to that.

The NAvy is trying to sell a top secret ship it had built called the Sea Shadow. No idea what it was built for but it looks really fucking cool. As one article said it is a cross between a stealth bomber and the Batmobile (the one with hot Christian Bale behind the wheel not any of the other actors who have played the Dark Knight).

I did not watch the State of the Union as I have had enough of our President saying we have a plan to make a plan. I did hear though that Nasty Pelosi was in charge of the applause button and cued everyone when to. Vice-President Biden apparently was a smarmy as ever. Speaking of him, his family seems to be caught up in the latest Ponzi scheme run by Stanford. They apparently took money from him to then place into hedge funds. No big deal, not illegal, lotta firms do it. What I found stunning is they admitted they never met the guy, had a call with him or any contact. WTF! Haven't you heard of due diligence? Know your customer? That alone should shut them down.

Had drinks last night with a friend in the biz. I took her to a gay bar where all the beautiful people hang out. She was in love with our waiter as he was pretty damn cute. She said she wanted to abuse her T & E as her boss (who I know) is a miserable, little prick (which he is) so we ordered a bottle of champagne. It was fun but she was bombed by the end of it and asked if I was sure there was no chance for her with any of the guys at he bar.

Tuesday night we had dinner with PF and DR and it was a very good time. The only thing is I was sore from my training I did before. Again I was behind so had to make up. I swam for 20 minutes, hopped on the bike for 24 and then right onto the treadmill for a short 12 minute run. By the time dinner was served my quads were aching. Thank god there was wine.

I still have to do my regularly scheduled training tonight which is a 20 minute run. Will head off to the gym to ogle the hotties whilst I run. Then dinner solo as the husband has a business dinner. Pack up and watch some t.v.

Just catching up

Last Wednesday we had a commodities analyst in from GS which I thought was a nice corollary to my reading e are in. It was a really interesting meeting. It reinforced my belief that physical commodities are not a bad idea even if it means you just stock up on rice, dried beans and cured meats. Also small firearms and ammunition. Two interesting things I learned were that roughly 25% of the corn crop here goes to biofuel production and that 0% goes to soylent green production. It made me wonder what soylent green is made of???

On the back of that meeting China did two really interesting and bold moves. They loaned Russia and Brazil billions in exchange for locking in their oil supplies for 25 years. That can't be good for the Treasury market as that money now can't be spent to buy more of our debt.

So I have a good friend who is of a certain age- as in he served our country in Vietnam, helicopter pilot I believe. Oddly, he is still friends with most of the men he served with- I guess living through that would make those kinds of bonds. Several of his friends work for governmental agencies that are all initials. Apparently while I worry about places like North Korea and Iran they are all concerned about Mexico. It seems there is a serious possibility of outright war breaking out between the government and the drug cartels but that is no the scary part. What is scary is those in the know say it is too close to call which side would actually win the conflict if it broke out.

The Riverton is an apartment complex in Harlem. WFC is suing to force it into foreclosure for a measly $29 million. Could this be the butterfly who flaps its wings and sets off another storm in the credit markets if WFC wins? It would do something that all the banks don't want: set a price. That would force all of them to have to mark their books anew.

I noticed continuing jobless claims are approaching the 5 million mark. That is not a good thing.

I love validation from the White House. I have always said Rick Santelli is the only person to listen to if you feel the need to watch Childrens News Broadcasting Corp. He had a rant last week about how the stimulus plan is not new and rewards bad behavior. It's on youtube, I loved it. Saturday in the NY Daily News there was an article about how the WH press secretary singled him out as just a talking head who doesn't know what he is talking about. That is a very juvenile way to argue and makes me think he must be right if you can't come back with anything better than "Am not."

Some "expert" on t.v. this morning said the banks won't be nationalized but possibly put into passive receivership. WTF is that? It is nationalization. I really think at this point the government has no choice but to do it to C and BAC. At least the BAC people won't have to change their business cards.


I thought scanners went away? A friend from high school posted a bunch of pictures from the late '80s. I was in them and made the mistake of showing them to the husband. They were embarrassing but they did bring back good memories.

We had the boys this weekend. They had fun and more importantly it was the last weekend I had to make an extra trip between Hoboken and central Jersey as they have no more Saturday activities. Mr. Barrett was in town for Blow Up and he made his way over to Jersey for lunch Saturday and watched the BSG episode he missed that we had dvred. It was good to see him and he enjoyed his time in the city.

Sunday we had ST and PJ up for dinner. I had made dessert that morning while the husband went into the city to have brunch with his secret crush. When I pulled it out of the oven my oldest stated it smelled great and looked good how soon could he have a piece. I laughed and told him no, this is not for you. He was a bit dejected but I told him I'd make it for the next time he is in Hoboken. The funny thing is while I was taking the boys back to their mother's house the husband called and said the same thing. I told him no tasting it, it is for dinner tonight.

The husband made meatloaf but as is always the case with him it was not your mom's meatloaf. It was stuffed with baby spinach, carrots, prosciutto and provolone. It was freakin' amazing.

Last night on the spur of the moment we had MP over for dinner as she was in Jersey City for business. It was a nice relaxing dinner. It did however mean I missed my training for the race so today I have to make up yesterday and my regularly scheduled work out for today. We are having dinner with PF and DR so that will be easy.

It was kind of like that show Tool Time

So Friday morning while I was waiting for the bus the cute guy with the hand injury was standing next to me. I was reading my BBRGs on my crackberry when he said hi. I said hi back to him.

Friday night we had dinner at MP's apartment in the city with her mom and her best friend. I had made dessert which was a caramel- walnut pie with tart cherries. I had never made it before but it came out great and was a huge hit. MP said we had to take the rest home with us or she'd end up eating it all.

Thursday night while we were watching t.v we heard a loud noise. I thought shit, one of the photos I hung fell- he's gonna kill me. I checked all of them and nope, not one of the photos. Just for the hell of it I checked our closet- yep. Apparently one of the fixed wire rack shelves was not installed properly. Ripped the dry wall anchors right out. So, Saturday morning while I took our younger dog to the vet (she's a dirty girl who has a habit of eating other dogs' shit and now has roundworm) the husband went to Homo Depot and got a new shelf, dry wall anchors, braces and S-hooks for the rod. I had to drill new holes, install the dry wall hooks, re-hang the shelf and then put all the clothes back up.

The husband got the brilliant idea of adding another shelf to the coat closet since we have the space. So I did that as well.

Since it was Mr. Barrett's favorite holiday I made dinner for the husband Saturday evening. We then went into the city and caught The International with TK. It was an ok movie- made me think of the whole BCCI scandal which I believe was the intent. I would say wait for it to come out on dvd instead of going to see it in the theater. Afterwards we grabbed a drink and realized it was almost 1 AM so we called it an evening.

Sunday we were pretty lazy and Monday as well. I did go to the gym Monday at a much earlier time than the norm and I have to say that all the hotties definitely go there between 6-8:30 PM. The husband did not go as he has started his triathlon training program already. He decided on a 20 week program which I think is overkill for a sprint. He bought one of those bike stand training aids. Monday morning he set it up in the boys room in front of their t.v. and rode it while watching Doom. He suggested I use it as well but it seems way to much work to change the axle on a bike and then set it up on the stand- I'll stick with stationary bikes for now until the weather gets warmer and then hit the road.

Yesterday morning I swam and felt good about it. The tape was kind of scary and I have to say I think we will see the NOV lows this week and possibly make new ones. There still is no real plan and today the cram down provision became official. The thing that annoys me is that people who already have a LEGAL obligation to pay off a loan they took will now get rewarded by the government if they continue doing what they are already obligated to do by law. Hell, I think everyone who doesn't break the law should get a $1000 bonus from the government for five years.

So Austrian banks are quite possibly on the verge of collapse. The weird and eerie thing is that the last time they collapsed was 1930. You figure it out. I am starting to think that once the government stops telling the press to call it the Great Regression and what it is- a depression- it will be too late and we will be close to scraping along the multi-year bottom.

Last night we did our second tour of duty at the FI Share-A-Thon. IT did not start out well as I got there at the same time as our last one but the place was full and I secured us a crappy table. The other thing that scared me was they were playing show tunes. I believe it was Ethel Merman belting out There's No Business Like Show Business. The bartender was really cute this time though and I needed a drink as I almost had a large error at work involving derivatives. I did wear the outfit the husband told me would help sell shares- tight tee shirt and tight, low-riding jeans. We'll see if it was successful.

I had drinks with a friend from college who works in the city tonight. We reconnected through facebook. She works for a cuisine magazine. I said I have a friend who has his own olive oil company I casually told her. She knows him and had dinner with him last week. She is also most likely going to get divorced. I have found that once old friends I reconnect with find out I am divorced I instantly become their go to guy for all questions about the process. It is at the point were I dread hearing from a friend they are going down that path as it sucks for all involved and I get questioned too much when I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on t.v.

We're going to probably have her out to our home for dinner in the next few months.

A cram down by any other name...

Some sad news on the home front as Ragnar's father passed away Tuesday night. He flew out west to be with his family.

The tape today was all over the place. The SPX had a 53 handle intraday swing. The retail sales number was "surprisingly" positive. Hello??? How about every retailer was de-stocking. They marked down most of their inventory to get rid of it because they are scared they'll be stuck with it. That is not good for margins; just because sales are up doesn't mean you are actually profitable. Let's see if next months sales are positive as well.

If you don't think the government manipulates the markets look at the timing of the release by the White House on the mortgage modification program. It caused the markets to rip in the last hour. But let's take a look at what the plan really is: "The U.S. will subsidize monthly mortgage payments after a new home value is set..." We can stop right there. They are going to revalue the house and then most likely adjust the mortgage down. That means someone has to make up that difference or eat the loss. If I read it correctly the government will let the resident pay what they can and then make up the difference. The bank gets what they have the debt priced at so they have no loss. That means the tax payer is getting crammed down on. If they don't make up the difference then the bank takes the loss. Nothing has changed.

I had drinks with a broker who also happens to be a friend. It was not the usual business drinks. A friend launched his fall fashion line. So we went down to the West Village and got to watch a fashion show, have some drinks and catch up on business.

I am going to swim tomorrow morning as we have a three day weekend and will be able to hit the gym. We are having dinner with MP tomorrow night at her place. No big plans for Mr. Clifford's favorite holiday, probably a movie with TK.

Is that chick staring at me?

I saw Full Lower Lip on the bus this morning. I swear he smiled at me and mouthed "Call me." At least that is what I texted the husband, lol. There was also a guy who looked a lot like Red Hoodie. He was in a suit and pretty hot.

I really don't feel like writing anything about the markets today as it is still the same- until someone eats the losses there will be no resolution. I will say however that Maxine Waters should not be allowed to talk on television at all. The woman seriously has no clue what she is talking about.

For lunch the boss and I and a portfolio manager walked out to grab a bite and ended up sitting at the place we ordered sandwiches form and had a beer. The best part was the boss treated. There are not many things that compare to a cheese steak with sharp provolone and a cold draft beer while the sun was out and it was beautiful weather.

I had drinks tonight after the close with a girlfriend I have known since first grade. She lives on the UWS with her husband and kids. Her husband founded and sold a fairly well known website. She is a journalist. I reconnected with her about a year and a half ago. She and I have been getting together every few months since to have some cocktails and just shoot the breeze. The best was tonight she told me I was a really attractive man. I laughed and thanked her and she said she felt comfortable saying that as there is no sexual tension of any sort and knows all we will be is friends. She is a great girl and I am glad we reconnected.

When I got home the husband and I went to the bar/restaurant around the corner for a quick bite. I like to be aware of my surroundings and usually take notice even superficially. When we got home a friend from Milwaukee texted me. HE said a girlfriend of his who I had met about a year ago when out with him was sitting next to us at the bar but chickened out on saying hi. I quickly said, oh the black Irish girl in a green sweater with a green skin on her Blackberry. He was impressed.

I am having drinks with my broker girlfriend tomorrow. We are going to go to a friend's fashion show downtown and drink for free- woo hoo. I can't drink too much though as I have to make dessert for Friday evening at MP's house.

We have a plan to form a plan to implement our plan

I was going to swim this morning but it was nice to sleep in next to the husband and I blew it off. I don't need to seriously start training until the last week of this month anyways.

JW is a friend who I have basically goaded into starting a blog over the past year. I am fairly certain he had one before but let it fall into disuse. I admit I have intentionally over the past year sent him emails that might grate on his nerves with a decidedly conservative/right wing nut slant. It finally worked, lol. This morning he said if one of the narrow minded people I sent him a link to can do it so can he. He mentioned it would at least help him form a coherent view of things. My response to that was basically hello, McFly? JW is one of the people I know who most assuredly has one of the most coherent views on things already and I told him once he actually starts putting it down in words he would realize it. He has some of the best critical thinking skills I know of in any of my friends; he is up there with my best friend who I have known since I was four. I definitely don't agree with all of his views and I know he does not agree with all of mine as well but what I believe we do have in common is a willingness to hear the other side and a desire to find the truth if that is possible. He is also really funny and we had a blast at the Pavilion at FI one summer impersonating our favorite Molly Shannon character from SNL.

So this is how desperate things are in the broker community: One broker who has been harassing the boss for two years offered to do business net for one whole month. Net is free, i.e. no commissions what so ever. To me that is a sign of trouble. I told the boss there is no such thing as free in this business but I was preaching to the choir.

Turbo Tax Timmy- the new name for our Treasury Secretary given to him by the kid next to me- is so not ready for prime time. He seriously fumbled in his first official outing. I looked up as I was listening to his remarks and the boss said did he just say we have a plan to form a plan to handle the situation? Yes he did. Our government is flying blind and still wants to rush this whole thing through. I feel bad for them as they have no game plan to follow whatsoever and everyone- myself included- is armchair quarterbacking.

I had dinner with JP tonight. It was good to catch up to him and he has been busy since we last had some face time. He did a half marathon, worked up in my hometown and has had 4 dates with a guy. He also has taken up boxing classes.

One step closer to teleportation- cool

I am sorry but there is no government program put forth or every instituted by our government or any government that has every put three to four million people immediately and in a timely fashion. Sorry, that is a pipe dream.

I have no problem with the government forcing GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy if that is what it takes for me to get my money back from them. I find it hard to believe that all the banks that have the balls to say they are ahead of us happen to also be the ones that took TARP. Force them to reorganize and do it with DIP financing.

I am starting to think we are getting closer to the big finale and a bottom as Nouriel Roubini is making way too many appearances on television and getting quoted too many times in too many different places. Nassim Taleb is a real close second. I am also getting real tired of the whole black swan analogy.

Marc Faber had a great piece last week discussing how we are becoming Zimbabwe or a banana republic, pick your poison. It is what happens when the government crowds out private investment. Speaking of which I have no clue how the hell the Treasury is going to get private investors involved in buying toxic assets. They are now saying they won't do a bad bank but will do an asset wrap of some sort. That is the government will eat any losses the private investors take up to a point. Ok, cool, no problem. But here is where the rub is- and it has been the rub the entire crisis- what price can be agreed upon by the seller (the insolvent bank) and the buyer (the "private investor")? If the banks are carrying said toxic assets at say eighty cents on the dollar but the private investors say they are only worth fifteen cents on the dollar then no sale will be made. Unless of course the government eats the difference which is my tax dollars at work again.

For most of the history of free markets bonds have been king. It is only in the last 30 years or so that equities have been ascendant. I read a BBRG article about how maybe we are reverting to the norm. That is bonds will assume their rightful place as the king of Wall Street. The thing is though is that all the mutual fund companies have done an amazing marketing job of trainer investors to think they have to own equities. Hell, you should at a certain age in my unlicensed opinion. Yet I can see the unending appeal of owning bonds.

On MSN there was an article about how scientists have taken the first step towards teleportation. It involved a concept in quantum physics called entanglement. They were able to use said principle to not quite teleport anything but the duplicated information on one photon from another.

The husband has been sick since Friday. He is so not a good patient. He was in that mood where he didn't want to be spoken. We discussed it this morning and he said I had my hands full to which I replied I can take care of the boys and a sick spouse, have been there, done that before. This was of course all after I had vented to PF. Then he vented to me. I have to say, drama in someone elses life puts thing into perspective.

Saw Yellow Shorts at the gym again tonight. The best was though the guy I shared the incline with a month ago who has teddy bear brown eyes now has a name. He is now called Masaquan. He is totally hot. Lehigh was there too.

Having dinner with JP tomorrow night as the husband has his book club but my guess and hope is he will bag it and come home to go to bed early.

I think next year we'll shoot for two days.

Ok, first things first. The way the whole housing issue has a high probability of ending is as follows: The government converts their preferred stakes into common equity effectively nationalizing Shitigroup and BOFA by my calculations they would own ~70% of Shiti and ~50% of BOFA). The cram down law gets enacted giving an algo run by the Treasury the right to modify mortgages. This takes away from the still private banks any incentive to write mortgages every again. So the government's banks write all mortgages and sell them to the other two government owned enterprises- FNM and FRE. The real estate market become socialized. The idea of private property rights, the belief in the rule of law in general and contract law specifically are destroyed and the market's job of setting prices for real estate is taken away and given to bureaucrats.

Yesterday after work I did the first brick I've done in quite some time. I rode 9 miles on the bike and then ran 2 miles immediately following. I then went to meet Ragnar and Umberto for dinner. We had a nice Italian meal. The husband is sick so he stayed home. Then Ragnar and Umberto and I went and saw Push. It was an ok movie but you should wait to see it on dvd. The pacing needed to be tightened up and Chris Evans need to be shirtless at least once. Dakota Fawning was actually pretty good in her role.

I picked the boys up this morning as my youngest had a Valentine's Fun Night last night until 9:30. I dropped him off at February Fun (Saturday activities provided by the school such as paper making, cartooning, etc.)and then my oldest and I had breakfast before I dropped him off at tennis. Watched him for most of it then ran back and picked up my youngest then back to get my oldest. We grabbed lunch at a drive-thru and back to Hoboken.

I surprised them today by taking them to the NY Comic Con. We took the bus into the city and then hoofed it to the Javits Center. On the walk over my oldest was fretting it was going to be a geekfest and they probably had a pocket protector vendor.

It was really cool and my oldest changed his tune when he saw the video game playing area. He played a game called The Conduit. My youngest played Sonic the Black Knight and had the second fastest time for the entire day. We had fun there and as we were leaving my oldest said ok that was pretty cool. I said next year I think we should try and do Saturday and Sunday. I also added next year they may be with their mom that weekend to which they both said no, you'll have to switch weekends with mom if that happens.

We got on the bus home and my oldest sat down towards the front. I whispered not there let's move to the back. He asked why and I said because that old guy is crazy. We got off and the crazy guy got off at the same stop as us so we took the long way back to the apartment. My oldest was actually nervous and looked back a few times to make sure the crazy guy was not following us.

Tomorrow I am taking the boys to see Coraline. They asked to and I think it looks good plus Tim Burton is always interesting. The husband made plans for tomorrow night for dinner. His rationale is it will be the three year anniversary of our first date as the night of the Super Bowl we met was really not a date- more like a night of hot, semi-drunk, sweaty, steamy man sex.

Not a big fan of the air kiss to the cheek

So I swam this morning. First it was fracking freezing walking from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the pool. The water temperature was 82 degrees though so that helped a bit. The other thing that helped was the two other hot swimmers. One was in the pool the same time I was and the other was going in as I was leaving. In between I actually swam fifteen hundred yards which I was psyched about.

So the boss had an early morning with a broker. I did not know who it was he had in. After the meeting he walked them out and they stopped by the desk. O woman walked up and I held out my hand to shake hers when she went and gave me an air kiss on the cheek and kept going around the desk. I looked at the kid next to me and asked who the fuck was that? He told me and I started laughing as I had never met her before then. I told the boss and he burst out laughing.

I think the CEO of GE is smoking crack. He was quoted as saying he is prepared to run the company as a AA rated company and will still run it "philosophically" as if it were an AAA rated company. He claims he has a lot of cash to run the company. So he is saying he aint cutting the dividend. I have to imagine the government may think otherwise especially since GE Capital is now a bank holding company. They also took TARP funds. You figure it out.

Speaking of TARP if you still think the government didn't "encourage" certain banks take so as to make it all seem kosher and not panic everyone that only the ones in trouble needed it then read the CEO of COF's comments where he admitted the company did not need it but were encouraged to take it. Which leads me to the story about GS and MS both wanting to pay it back ASAP. The rules were if you took it the only way to pay it back in the first three years was to go to the public markets and raise an equivalent amount. Now it seems like GS and MS will get that pesky little rule waived. You have to ask, if you took the money, don't need it then you must not have used it, right? Then where is it? Sorry I don't believe that. If GS and MS get a waiver you can bet JPM will scream bloody hell.

I am becoming discouraged about the government again. Our President said he was going to be post partisan and yet it seems D.C. infects all idealists as we watch the whole stimulus plan fall prey to politics as usual. President Obama said the critics are touting old, failed ideas. So is the idea of a huge infrastructure build out paid for by our tax dollars a new, untested idea? Hasn't anyone heard of the New Deal which was implemented roughly seventy years ago? Is that not old enough?

Treasury Secretary Geithner got trashed on BBRG today, echoing many of my and a lot of other peoples thoughts- LOVED it!

I made dinner for the husband tonight to celebrate three years together. We then watched Supernatural. Tomorrow night we are going to the movies with Ragnar to see Push. I don't care if the movie sucks as long as Chris Evans is shirtless in one scene it will be great.

That was a bit brutal

So Mr. Markopolos was nothing less than brutally honest when he spoke to the House Committee about the MadeOff scandal. He told them they should fire the entire SEC staff and hire new people who had gray or no hair as they would be best at catching and detecting fraud. The guy was brilliant but definitely did not make any friends in the current bureaucracy that is the SEC. I think the two most important things he said were: 1) There are still twelve feeder funds who have not yet confessed to being involved in the MadeOff scandal and b)HE is going to turn in what he termed a mini-MadeOff who is possibly running a $1 billion scam. That person has got to be shitting himself or herself.

I think he should be the new SEC head but he declined when asked if he wanted to do with the qualifier that in two years he could. I'd work for him. Speaking of the new SEC head, our President's nominee is part of the whole crowd that enabled MadeOff and hob-nobbed with him. She also tried to say it was not her job to catch him as the head of the NASD/FINRA. Talk about shirking ones duty.

The action in the tape today was so not encouraging. There is definitely something coming down the pipe in the only two remaining "money center" banks. The scary thing is BAC is under $5 so it cannot be used for margin anymore. Anyone who is or was using it for margin or as part of some synthetic trade is screwed. I may be wrong in my earlier assertion that Shitigroup should just be turned into the "bad bank."


The husband went swimming today after work as we signed up for our June triathlon today. He needs to get a base of some sorts in before we start training in earnest at the end of the month. I went to the gym after work and there were a lot of the usual hotties again. Then I met the husband at our favorite local dining establishment for dinner.

The oldest son has the whole teenage drama thing down to a T. he got his report card and had a C in math. He asked if he could still get picture messaging for his cell. I said no, the deal was all grades had to be Bs or higher. He proceeds to give me "This sucks." "My life sucks, it is so unfair." Every line except for "I hate you." I told him I loved him and good night, go to bed we'll talk tomorrow. He called me when we got home from dinner and apologized for his tirade. I was impressed because maybe- just maybe- it is a sign he is growing up.

Tomorrow is the actual date of our three year anniversary. Our plans are to hit the gym, make dinner at home and watch those fabulous Winchester brothers.

Here we go again...

Apparently I sleep walk- well according to the husband. I don't believe it but I do know that from time to time my oldest when he is with us does it. I guess it is possible that if my son does it maybe he gets it from me. I do remember my younger brother doctor did it from time to time.

There was a cute guy on the bus this morning that I had seen before from time to time, I think he may take karate with me but I noticed he had a hand injury.

This morning I saw on my crackberry that the BOJ is back to its old ways- as in buying stocks directly to support their economy. I think it is to be noted because it is only a matter of time before the Fed starts doing it out in the open in a legal manner. If you don't think they have done it since '87 on occasion then you are smoking crack.

GM and Chrysler are offering to buy out all union employees. That is a bit audacious and kind of ironic that they got government funds from the Democrats and will use it to put one of their most stalwart voting bases out of jobs. I wonder if the union workers take the buyouts will the government not count them in the unemployment figures since they have chosen to no longer work.

MOT is a dead company I think. They have not had any kind of product anyone wants sine they came out with the RAZR. That will add to the unemployment numbers. So will ERTS cutting 1,100 jobs.

I believe if California were on it's own it would rank as the sixth largest economy in the world. It has a huge impact on our national economy so when I see it's debt rating is cut to the lowest of all fifty states that gets me worried. Plus they are not paying their citizens any refunds due them. The weather may be great out there but I'll take the east coast any time. I am also rushing to get my taxes done in case Governor Corizine decides the Governator had a good idea.

Speaking of taxes it is not a good sign our President had to expend so much political capital on Tom Daschle. I am glad the guy withdrew his nomination today, especially after I read a Salon article written by one of the lefts own describing how much of a sleaze bag he is even by Beltway standards. The line I loved was about how Daschle would "suck a corpse for a cheeseburger." It kind of makes me laugh at how three of the President's nominees like the idea of tax and spend but not the idea of paying taxes themselves. At least two of them had the decency to withdraw.

CDOs were such a great hit and success that Wall Street is now going to do it all over again. Apparently thirty-six regional banks are going to issue FDIC backed debt. All of that debt is then going to get pooled and resold as a "pass-thru" note. The underlying is FDIC insured but the pass-thru note is not. I've seen this play before, know how it ends and hope this deal is a failure. I am also not thrilled with the lack of transparency. The thirty-six banks involved aren't being named.

I have gotten harassed by the husband and most of his friends (TK in particular) about my Rockports. I love them and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn but I have worn them out. Saturday the husband made me buy new shoes. I am not a big fan of lace up so we finally found a pair of loafers I liked. They were kind of expensive and he advised me not to wear them in inclement weather. I wore them today in the nor'easter. The last time I lived in Hoboken there was a nor'easter. I lived in a garden apartment. My roommate the day before unknowingly unplugged the pump for our apartment. IT flooded. It was not fun. Glad we live on a higher floor now.

What's wrong with saving more?

This weekend was actually pretty nice and relaxing. Friday night we caught up on Supernatural which was great in and of itself because we got to see Dean dressed up as a gym teacher. Then we watched BSG and I have to say it was a really good episode.

It would seem both the bad bank idea and the stimulus plan are hitting some speed bumps- but that is too be expected as it is all political in nature regardless of what either side says.

I think the whole Tom Daschel incident just proves my point that both parties are corrupt and just different sides of the same coin. Funny how the party in power is always willing to make excuses and play down the severity of infractions. I bet if I "forgot" to pay taxes and claimed I sort of, kind of remembered it and thought it might be a problem I would most likely incur a large penalty and legal bill and probably have the IRS up my ass. You can also bet I would not have my fellow former co-workers say it was just an honest mistake. I also read that Mr. Daschle got an exemption from President Obama's new, strict anti-lobbying code. SO nice to know the new regime is a lot like the old and the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Everyone seems to be worried about deflation and yet the prices paid component of the ISM today was way higher than expected. That to me with my lowly B.A. in Economics is an inflationary sign. Sooner or later it will show up when gold rips to the upside possibly getting through $1000/oz. I have to guess.

The other thing that had my attention was personal consumption lower than expected. That would mean saving is up. Saving is a good thing that the government has been busting our balls about for the past 10 years I'd have to say. Now however it is not a good thing apparently. I guess consumption accounting for close to 70% of national income means we have to stay in hock? Please. In the recession of the '90s and after the dot com bursting, corporations repaired their balance sheets and everyone was happy about it. Now that we the people are trying to repair ours it is a bad thing? It is called the business cycle people and you'd have thought we knew enough by now to know it is fairly immutable. The Fed has seriously flooded the system with liquidity but if people are of the mindset they need to save then the Fed is pretty much pushing on a string. It has to call into to question how all these companies will earn money but that is a horse of a different color.

Asia gets me a bit nervous still. North Korea seems to be intent on testing President Obama. I hope he is up to the challenge. I read about how China is starting to face some serious labor unrest. That called to mind the Mandate of Heaven I learned about in both my freshman year of high school and sophomore year of college. Just got o wikipedia and type it in and you'll see China has a long history regarding the topic and what it could imply for the government there.

Sayville was at the gym tonight- he is so freakin' hot. Lehigh was there too with his lifting buddy who the husband says is his secret lover. I am not sold on that but it makes for very fun, dirty thoughts. There was a new hottie- Yellow Shorts. There were various other sundry examples of hot men as usual but they stuck out. I also did what Mr. Barrett had told me is social suicide in his neck of the woods. I recognized a guy from a social networking site at the gym. Actually I had one set left and he tried to take the bench. I politely said I have one left, recognized him and introduced myself. Did not chat with him as I am not big on socializing at the gym. I was not quick enough taking out my headphones and mangled his name which I laughed about way after the fact but he was nice in correcting me on it. He did point out his bf and I pointed out the husband. It would be nice to find another couple in our church in town to socialize with so I shot him an email.