Friday, January 30, 2009

They would have been better in a larger venue

Last night we went and saw the Kings Of Leon at MSG. The band was very good but I don't think they are quite experienced at this point in their career for such a large venue. They would have been amazing at the Beacon or the Paramount in MSG- which is called the Nokia Theater these days. The other thing that I was thinking is they better follow up this album with something as strong. If they don't I think they will end up this generation's Black Crowes at best or got he way of the Spin Doctors/Blues Traveller/Creed- all of which were not nearly as talented as the Kings Of Leon. I made that comment tot he husband and he disagreed. He said if they win the Grammy they are nominated for they won't and there was a huge amount of really young people at the concert.

Speaking of young people there were tons of drunk, large boned girls there. The one standing next to me told me I looked like the lead singer to which I told her thank you. One of the PMs I work with and trade for occasionally was there and I texted that to him which he found very funny.

Which brings me to a story about another PM I work for- this one directly on a daily basis and he is a big swinger. I ran into him as I was leaving the office in my jeans, Merrills and baseball hat. He asked where I was off to, told him the Kings Of Leon concert. He said he loves them and thanks for the look. I responded sorry but this is not a broker event but I am going personally. So I bought the guy a concert tee. When he got into the office this morning he called me to thank me and then told me that his personal trainer's brother-in-law is the manager of the band and that is how he was exposed to their music and came to love the group.

I am a bit taken aback by a comment I read yesterday from President Obama. Apparently he told the GOP Congressional leadership: "I won. I am going to trump you on that." That is the post-partisan politics I am so psyched about for the next four years. Oh joy.

A few things that happened yesterday. I was glad to see that lawmakers have decided to finally regulate the CDS market- which I believe is the cause of the whole economic debacle in. As much as I believe in free markets, there need to be some guidelines. Requiring CDS traders to have the underlying bonds is a pretty smart move I think. The CDS market dwarfed the entire dollar amount of the bonds they were based on which just did not make sense to me intuitively.

GS yesterday sold $2 billion of ten year paper. Not a big deal until yo hear they did it without any type of government backing. The deal went well which bodes well for a hoped for thaw in the credit freeze. There were a bunch of other companies who sold paper as well and there were no blow ups.

Today I read where bond traders- who are smarter than I and my compatriots in equity trading- are throwing a hissy fit because they are going to lose their much coveted early closes. Bah- stop being a bunch of pussies and just because they have been around for eons doesn't mean you can't lose them.

Yesterday on MSN there was an pictorial about man cave. There were some nice ones and it made me think back to the one I had in the marital residence- the first marriage that is. It was awesome. I had an oak bar with brass foot rail, Chicago loop on top of the bar, dart board, seven foot, drop-pocket, slate pool table, refrigerator, faux slate floor and a poker table that could seat six. It had a hunter green and crimson walls and a chair rail around the entire room with a ledge attached that was wide enough for a pint glass to sit on it. I don't miss it but it was a great man cave.

Occasionally I can go out hard on a Thursday night- like getting home around 3 AM and close to stumbling drunk. On those nights I sleep in the boys room. I read on wiki about barashnum which is a ritual where a defiled person must spend 9 consecutive days and nights in one small corner of the home. I really hope the husband does not read wiki every day like I do...

No boys this weekend and no big plans which is nice. We do have JW's 40th birthday/house warming party being hosted by JD his boyfriend. Other than that nada, zip, zilch.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Let's review Bagehot

We woke up to snow this morning. It was granular and not the kind of snow we had last week. The dogs loved it.

So it seems like everyone now thinks a bad bank deal is all but done. I would not be so sure but they could maybe make Shitigroup the bad bank since it seems to be the one that has all the bad debts and is still not bankrupt in name. I did see after the close that Shitigroup has begun operating under a regulatory agreement with the federal government. One step closer to nationalization is the way I see it.

Walter Bagehot was someone who wrote extensively on how to successfully run a reserve banking system. To prevent panics he said the reserve bank has to provide tons of liquidity but at a high cost and with good collateral. Many may think the Fed has ignored this as they have cut rates to a range of 0-0.25%. But if you look at what the Fed is doing in the corporate paper market with their support facility you will see the are actually following Bagehot's advice.

Speaking of the Fed I miss the days that everyone waited with bated breath for their decision. What they do in the FOMC meetings now doesn't really matter since they took rates to zero. What does matter though is if and when they are going to start buying Treasuries. They will they basically said as much but apparently everyone wanted them to start today.

Fouad Ajami had an interesting editorial in the WSJ today. I think what I took away from it was that in order for hostilities to end and people to be friends both sides have to want it. It is possible that some of the people who don't like us don't want to be friends and end hostilities.

Holy shit the gym was teeming with hot guys tonight. Sayville was there with a shirt that was torn so you could see his nipple. Lacrosse boy is new- not new at the gym but new in his scruffy hotness. There were quite a few others too who don't have names yet but they will in time.

Tomorrow night we are going to see the Kings Of Leon in concert. We are going to happy hour before hand with a former co-worker of mine who did us a favor so we are buying her drinks.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Does anyone else see the irony in that?

So the big things I saw yesterday were DOW walking away from ROH, ROH suing to try and force them to complete the deal, PFE finally doing what everyone expected them to and bidding for WYE and SSCC filing.

DOW walking does not bode well for the M&A market specifically, the credit market in general or the overall tape. If you don't think I am right then why is ROH suing to try and force them to complete the deal?

PFE has nothing in the pipeline so they had to buy one, hence why they are taking a run at WYE. Not sure it will generate a bunch of M&A in the pharma space but the thing I noticed was PFE geting their credit rating downgraded and guess what- a part of the deal is dependant on PFE keeping the credit rating they had prior to announcing the deal.

So BARC said yesterday they don't need any more capital- right. Last time they said that they paid 14% for paper from the Mideast, which was roughly 2$ more than they would have had to pay to their government. Something tells me I am not going to believe them this time.

So the President thinks the second part of TARP should go directly to families/consumers. Let's think this through: The second part of TARP goes right to families. There is nothing to say they will spend it. MY guess is they would use it to pay off debt or save it. Kind of defeats the issue of boosting the C part of Y= C+I+G+(X-M), doesn't it? If they don't spend it it does nothing on the margin for the economy. Oh, well, it looks good to the polity.

The above comment is a good segue into a couple of editorials in yesterday's WSJ discussing the theory of the Keynesian multiplier effect.

I am bummed that it appears someone is trying to make John Thain the sacrificial lamb to crucify for our economic sins. He got subpoenaed today. The NY AG may be pissed he did not get to replace HRC. In the big picture, him spending $1.2 million on the CEO's suite of offices in the global headquarters of the company are small potatoes compared to the ~$15 billion lost due to his predecessor's actions and choices. He was man enough though to apologize and say he'd pay for it out of his own pocket. If Main Street wants a head on a pike Thain is not deserving. He prevented MER from going the way of LEH and BSC. Someone should defend the guy and there are much more appropriate people to have their heads on a pike- two that come to mind are Angelo Mozilla and/or Franklin Raines.

Some of you may not believe but our government lies to us. Yesterday S cut 8k jobs, CAT cut 20k and HD cut 7k. There is no way the unemployment rate can be less than 10%. The qualifier is the government keeps changing the denominator, i.e changing the rules. Of course I wanted to write this last night but we had dinner guest and today the WSJ had an article stating that many states the rate is at or above 10%.

I had dinner with the Hanson Brothers tonight. They are not old time hockey but they are old time Wall Street. I have known the older one for 17 years. I was glad to see them to make sure they are holding up in the current environment. I am a bit distraught though. We somehow got onto the topic of the ex and the older one made a comment "But you left her." Funny how now people I thought were my friends and would not judge me really do. Sobering actually but I was a bit bummed that he waited this long to- albeit unintentionally is my guess- to tell me that is how he really feels.

So yesterday I spotted a headline about Zeus. Since the boys and I were discussing Greek mythology over the weekend I of course had to read it. Two things: I did not know there was such a thing as petrified lightning (it's called fulgurite fyi) and one of the main representations of Zeus was the labrys which the Romans called a bipennis. Well apparently the labrys is also a symbol of the lesbian movement and/or female/matriarchical power. I guess it is some women trying to reassert what many theorists think about how millenia ago the sky was though to be a goddess and the earth a god. At some point those two were reversed and it became the sky god and the earth goddess/mother. So now by appropriating a bipennis I guess some could infer think they are twice as envious.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The mind is the only weapon that doesn't need a holster

Last night we watched Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. I have to say it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The husband saw it over the summer with TK and said it was very disappointing. Yes it did not have quite the same magic as the first and third ones- since everyone knows the second one sucked ass- but I enjoyed it, even the X-Files overtones to it.

The husband had dinner with Ragnar, Umberto, JW and JD. funny thing is we will be seeing JW and JD a lot this week. We are hosting them and our friends who's wedding we went to back in the autumn. Then we'll be attending JW's 40th birthday part this Saturday evening over in Jersey City.

The boss sent me an email this evening about two op-ed pieces in the weekend WSJ. One was discussing Secretary Geithner's bashing of China which I found amusing as it is irresponsible to try and blame China's economic policies for our over-eating at the all you can eat buffet of debt for the past 20 years. The other was how all those green activists living near Cape Cod are all fine for alternative energy sources as long as it is not in their eyesight. Sounds like a classic example of NIMBY.

The boys and I did not go see Inkheart today. They really weren't feeling the love for my movie selection. Instead we went to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I figured I'd be bored and annoyed the entire time. I have to say I was dead wrong. It was a really funny- several laugh out loud moments- movie. I have no idea who any of he stars are but there are two really cute villains. The soundtrack was pure '80s cheese and genius. I was expecting to hear Sister Christian but it was not part of it. Regardless I actually enjoyed the movie. My favorite part was when the line "So you do men?" was said and my oldest burst out laughing. That he is getting that type of humor now makes me a bit nervous but also gives him something to laugh about with me.

So my youngest is a voracious reader- unlike his older brother. Yesterday while we were getting his older brother's Quickfire he asked if we could go to the book store. I said sure as I like reading as well and am always happy to encourage him. He got a series that is loosely based on Greek mythology. I wowed them with my knowledge and the correct pronunciation of several names. They asked how I knew all this stuff and I told them I loved Greek mythology when I was their ages and read as much as I could. They were most impressed when I called it right that Percy is short for Perseus.

Busy week for the husband and I on the social calendar and finally get to start going back to the gym- woo hoo.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Sometimes you have to bribe them

Underworld 3 was actually not bad and even though it is the third installment it is really more a prequel. The best part was we saw this two transexuals. Both looked great in their jeans but their wrists gave them away- that and one of them was taller than me.

Today I got up and drove down to central Jersey to pick up the boys. I got them at their mom's house and took them to the tennis center for my oldest son's group lesson. His mom is in the process of signing him up for the spring session and trying to make it so he has no lessons on Saturdays which is considerate of her but also makes me nervous. Any time she does something that could help me sets of alarms as I am still very gun shy about accepting anything nice she does because it seems to always have an ulterior motive.

The thing is all the classes for advanced beginners are full so I had to speak to the pro about getting him evaluated to move up to intermediate. He was evaluated after the lesson. The pro said he is definitely too strong for advanced beginner but needs to work on a few things to get to intermediate. I explained the situation and he said he would see what he could do to work him into the strong advanced beginner class. I told him no problem, you can discuss it with his mom next weekend.

While I was watching his lesson this woman was loudly arguing on her cell with her mom. It was very annoying. No one cares if the bedroom set is in your mom's crawlspace or if you think she is enabling your brother to continue to act as an irresponsible adult.

Some background on the next part. The ex and I have been trying to get the oldest to play a team sport in the school. He did not do cross country in the fall. So, I bribed him. I told him he could get what he thinks is a better cell phone if he did a fall team sport and one this spring while keeping his grades up. SO he will be doing track this spring and will join the soccer team in the fall as a 7th grader.

After tennis we went to the AT&T store to get my oldest his new Quickfire. We pull up and walk in and the sales guy says sorry, both our network servers are down for the entire east coast. I replied why are you even open then? Seriously, a tech company that can't even keep their server and back up server running for the entire east coast is a joke. So we started to drive home and I told my oldest to keep his eyes open for another AT&T store. We found one, walked in and I asked if their servers were back up. The guy laughed that I knew about that, checked and they were. So we switched out his Shine for a Quickfire. He is happier than a pig in shit.

Tonight we're going to watch Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. The husband is off into the city to have dinner with Ragnar.

Friday, January 23, 2009

I have no clue what a DeMark is

The bus this morning was freakin' hottie central! The funny thing is though as I was standing at the bus I had one of those irrational moments of panic- I couldn't remember if I had pulled my zipper up when I got dressed. I was not going to look and my coat was covering it so I could wait; besides there was a really cute dark-haired guy standing next to me. I got on the bus, went to the back (it's the best place to check out the guys on the bus discreetly), sat down and checked- yep, my zipper was up. Of course the cute dark-haired guy sat down next to me.

So, if you are a CEO who abuses the crap out of your company's balance sheet with leverage and other sundry things and then get forced out- I mean retire- what do you do? Well that is a no brainer; you get made the new CEO of Shitigroup! I can't believe what a circle jerk the corporate boards are in the U.S.

I read about the Portland mayor, who is openly gay, having lied about having sex with an 18 year old. I of course googled his picture; he is a pretty handsome guy but I really want to see pics of his trick...

MSN had an article about the most fit stars around. Mario Lopez was on the front of it so of course I hit the link. Ryan Reynolds was the first one and he is on my list. I think Mario is pretty damn hot too. I asked Mr. Barrett and PF is they were a buyer or seller of Mario. Both said sold. PF because he thinks Mario is too pretty and Mr. Barrett because he likes his mens with fur. Hugh Jackman made it on too. I wonder if his wife knows?

There is a technical guy who has a pretty damn good feel/read on the tape. He's comments today got me nervous for what's coming down the pike next week. I have no clue what demarks are all about but the whole thing did not sound good. If you subscribe to the Dow Theory then you should be concerned the Transports broke their NOV low.

The husband and I are going to see Underworld 3 tonight. The husband is coming down with a cold so it looks like I'll get to return the favor and nurse him back to health this weekend.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

If we exclude the cost of doing business we are making tons of money.

Still no gym but I am taking to heart the old wives tale of "Feed a cold, starve a fever." I figure one week off is okay.

So last night as I was leaving the boss asks me if I have the new Killers album. Duh! Apparently- actually more like thank God- he does not read my posts. I told him yep, why do you ask? He got the wife tickets to see them in concert as a Christmas gift. Said concert just happens to be this Sunday night. Told him I'd bring it in for him. This morning as I was rushing to get out of the apartment I almost forgot it. I also grabbed the Kings Of Leon and the newest Beck albums for him. The one I forgot and think he'd get a kick out of is Weezer's Red Album.

A few things I saw today while sitting at the desk. Treasury Secretary Geithner actually had the balls to accuse China of manipulating the yuan. First off, why doe she want to piss off the country that holds the largest amount of our debt and could wreak even more havoc on our economy. Second- this is the guy whose character is somewhat questionable. I mean, he used freakin' Turbo Tax to do his own taxes while he worked for the IMF making some serious dough. Add to that that he tried to nickle and dime his own government. He only paid them back when he got caught. He says it was a mistake. Do we really want a Treasury Secretary who can't even use Turbo Tax to correctly figure out if let alone how much taxes he may owe? Moot point as he was confirmed 18-5. I think he will do fine but the character issue sort of sticks in my craw.

While I was reading the WSJ on-line this morning I noticed and ad for the CIA- and I aint talking Culinary Institute of America. I was curious and clicked on it and sure enough took me right to their website. I am sure that they saw everything I looked at and all my work emails, IMs and any trades I was doing as I don't think the NYT Building has a proper Faraday cage.

I am a bit puzzled why Bernake, who is purportedly one of the greatest historians of the Depression, would allow Congress to put into the upcoming stimulus bill a Buy American clause. He should know that one of the prime cause of the Depression was huge protectionist policies everyone put in place at the beginning which only made it worse, deeper and longer.

The cute blond meathead sales guy from corporate was in the office today. I debated winking at him as I walked by to go to the men's room but thought better of it.

Speaking of hot guys. The boxer; ran into him last night after I got home. I walk the kids first thing. Got off the elevator and he was standing there all sweaty and breathing heavy in nice red shorts. Said hi, how's it going. He said hi back, good. Not sure why he was in the building gym that early so tonight walked by the window that looks into to it on my way into the building and there he was stretching out in kind of tight blue shorts. Mr. Barrett would have said WOOF. As I pondered the timing I realized the firm he works for is going through a merger/joint venture deal. He may be a casualty.

After the close GOOG reported. the number the gave was "ex-TAC." I had never heard the term so asked a trader at a major house WTF that means. TAC is traffic acquisition costs. GOOG pays others to send them traffic. SO let me gets this right; you pay other companies to send you traffic but it is not considered when you announce earnings? No company reports plain old earnings anymore. They all have ex something in it. It's an excuse for not making money. Well if we didn't have to pay this we would have made money so you should look at it that way. Doesn't really fir with the new era of responsibility and putting aside childish ways does it?

We have the boys this weekend. Normally I would hurry out of work after the close and drive down to central Jersey to get them and then back up to Hoboken. Well, my oldest has a school dance. He wants to go and his mom is chaperoning it. I spoke with her and it won't get done 'til arond 9:30. We agreed it's kind of dumb to get down there that late and then not get home until 11:30 roughly. I am going to pick them up Saturday morning.

This change of plans means the husband and I are going to see Underworld 3: Rise of The Lycans. Pysched for that and so is the husband even though his movie husband is not in this installment. Scott Speedman was hot and the husband used to belong to the same gym as him; saw him naked in the locker room many times, has a hot ass I am told.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

An addenda to my random list

So a friend from high school wrote a list of 25 random things about herself and tagged me on it. I decided to reciprocate and posted my own. As it was a list of random things I tagged random people on my list. Of course after the fact I see I could set it up so all my friends on facebook could read the thing.

As is usually the case there were a few things I forgot to add:

If I had super powers I would probably- no assuredly- use them for my own gain.
I always carry a pocket knife and have lost more to the TSA since 9/11 than I can count.
I have a penlight on my key chain.
As I am Irish you cannot possibly finish a sentence quick enough before I have to speak.
I believe the bathroom is the best place in the home to read undisturbed.
I like to read the "On This Day..." section of Wikipedia every day.

Some of the reactions were pretty funny. My last random thing was I have this blog. My brother the doctor immediately said give me the link. I told him no. This morning I gave it to him as a birthday gift since it is his birthday.

It would appear to me that most of the banks that have taken TARP funds have or will cut their dividends to $0.01/share. If you think the government did not tell them to do that then you may be on drugs. Which leads me to GE. Ge has been described as a hedge fund that just happens to make light bulbs. An apt description seeing as their finance division has become a bank holding company so it could receive TARP funds. So, if the government is making the recipients cut their dividends maybe what the options are telling you is right?

I am not a fan of Childrens News Broadcasting Network at all except for Rick Santelli. He is the only one on there worth listening to- of course he is a bond guy. However today there was one brief other reason to watch. That was a guest commentator by the name of Steve Ellis. He works for some taxpayer advocate group but who cares- he was cute.

Mark up another one in the SEC's "Better Late Than Never" column. They found another Ponzi scheme. This time in Texas run by a former bail bondsman. First off if you gave money to a bail bondsman running a hedge fund I think you are a bit naive to begin with. But the part that really killed me was how BBERG ended the story by telling you what a Ponzi scheme is. WTF if you don't know by now what it is after the whole MadeOff ordeal then maybe you need to pick up a paper or watch the news.

In case it was not clear that no one is safe in this environment I read about a hedge fund that last year made its investors 109% and it was NOT a Ponzi scheme- go figure. In return for such an amazing and stunning job the funds investors pulled half of the assets out in the last two months of '08. But what I really took note of was the guys running the fund were not pussies about it. They did not do what many of the largest hedge funds did and impose restrictions on redemption's. They have serious balls and spine. I am sure they could have but they did the right thing but letting their investors leave.

So I read on Wiki today that ants- yes those pesky things that live on almost all land masses on this planet- account for 15-20% of all terrestrial biomass on this planet. Which leads me to the last random thing about me:

I am fairly certain I could make it on to Jeopardy but I am also as fairly certain I would pull a Cliff Clavern.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Ok, I can get on board with the program

So there will be no updates on any of the hot guys at the gym this week as I will not be going, I need to recuperate from my sinus infection. The husband was very explicit about that and I was not in the mood to argue with him; sometimes the path of least resistance is the best path.

It is Girl Scout cookie season. I know this because there are several guys in the office hawking their daughters wares. I found out though that even the Girl Scouts practice a common and sensible economic policy called price discrimination. They charge what they think their markets can bear for the cookies. I came to this realization when one dad who lives in CT was selling cookies for $4 a box. Another dad who lives in NJ was selling them for $3.50 a box. Price discrimination is legal and makes sense. Doctors do it all the time and a host of businesses do it. The thing is when most businesses do it no one complains. Yet when large financial institutions do it a lot of people cry foul and say it is wrong and illegal. I don't get it because if you think the price is too high in this day and age you can go and find it somewhere else or from another source who is willing to sell their goods or services for less. I of course did not shop around and bought my cookies from the dad who got to me first- the one who lives in CT. I am ok with that because in the grand scheme of things it is not a big deal.

I did watch President Obama's inauguration and listen to his speech. I admit it was a really good speech. He really is a living testament to the great ideals this country was founded on, has not always lived up to and is greatest because we keep striving to live up to those ideals.

If you have read any previous posts you know I did not vote for our President. I do however support the President. I am not a sore loser. I am a patriot and think that we as a country get the person we need at the right moments in time. I have bought into the idea of hope; I hope President Obama proves me wrong in voting for his opponent. I also liked the idea that he flat out told everyone there will be hard choices to make, this will not be easy and we have to start acting responsible. He basically said everyone has to stop whining and blaming everyone else and start acting like adults. I can unequivocally support that idea.

We had dinner with JB tonight. We have not seen him since our house warming party. He seems to be doing well and my mom and ad love the guy and when I told mom today about our dinner plans she asked a bunch of questions to which I did not have answers. I'll be able to fill her in tomorrow.

Monday, January 19, 2009

No snowboarding for you!

So we cancelled our trip to Tremblant Friday due to the fact that I had a serious sinus issue and felt like dog shit. The pressure was so intense that my teeth hurt. I asked the husband if we could change our plans and even though he did it I knew he was a bit peeved.

I was so uncomfortable I asked the husband if he had any vicodin or percoset in the house. So I mad a doctor appointment but the soonest the doctor could see me was Monday in the afternoon.

I left work early and taking the elevators up and down 47 floors really messed with my sinus issues. I had to go look at rugs for the foyer of our apartment with TK. It was painful. When I got home I took a steam shower, did some serious dosing of Nyquil and took a nap.

Saturday was not much better as I kept the Nyquil, Tylenol Sinus and Tylenol PM in my body for most of the day. There are some upsides to being sick though. I did not have to walk the dogs at all, I did not have to do any cooking and it was completely acceptable for me to not shower up until 3 in the afternoon.

We went and saw The Unborn Saturday night. We ran into my boss and his wife. She told me I should use a neti pot. The boss said it is like an enema for your nose. They were going to see The Wrestler which I hear is really good. The only redeeming quality of The Unborn was there were a couple of scream out loud scenes and the boyfriend of the heroine is smoking hot. He was the antagonist from Never Back Down.

Yesterday I bought a neti pot at the CVS around the corner and used it. It was a really different experience but it was as my boss said- an enema for my nose. Everything blew right out and the pressure was released immediately. I kept up the drugs and slept pretty well.

The husband has been sleeping in the boys room because he is a delicate flower and does not want to get sick with whatever I have. My guess is it is some kind of sinus infection. I'll find out later this afternoon.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

We have great views from our office

So this cold I think is almost beaten as last night I was blowing snot all over my pillow. I did not swim as I felt like sleeping in late.

The day was kind of scary and a bit schizophrenic with tons of rumors flying around. The one that worries me the most is the one that says Shitigroup is going the route of AIG. Supposedly over the weekend the government will put it into conservatorship taking an 80% stake while GS takes the remaining 20% stake. The AIG situation is working our so well that sure, WTF, let's try it again with Shitigroup.

So after the close it is reported that BAC may need more TARP funds and the futures get spanked. That is what gets us down for most of the morning until the same exact thing is reported by a different source and the order of the words are rearranged and it gets the tape ripping to the up side. After the close I see President-Elect got what he wanted- the release of the rest of the TARP funds. BAC also said they were going to report ahead of schedule.

The excitement of the day was seeing the Hudson used as a landing pad by the USAir flight. IT was pretty amazing. There is a broker who's dad is a retired pilot and he said water landings are usually crashes. Apparently keeping both wing tips out of the water is nearly impossible. Usually one hits and causes the wing to get ripped off and destroys the fuselage. I think the pilot deserves the highest award possible for saving every ones lives. One thing different and this could have been a massive catastrophe. Imagine if it landed on either side of the Hudson in some of the most densely populated areas in the country. All because of a flock of Canadian geese. I am fairly certain in NY it is illegal to kill Canadian geese but I bet they let this one time slide.

Speaking of Canada, tomorrow night the husband and I are flying up to Montreal and then driving another 70 miles to Mt. Tremblant for the long weekend to get some more snowboarding in. JP is dog-sitting for us. Maybe this time he'll meet one of our hot neighbors. It is supposed to be freezing so we'll have to make sure we have enough warm clothes. Friends of ours go every year and say it is a great time. Oddly they are not going up there this year.

The husband has something from the U.K. called Night Nurse. He said it is a souped up version of Nyquil. I bet I'll sleep well tonight.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

How long before that gets tried as a legal defense?

I went to the gym next to the office again this morning and again I ignored the CEO of my company as he was using the elliptical next to me. It was packed again and I reiterate I cannot wait for every ones resolutions to be broken.

Funny, yesterday I was discussing what is going on in the economy with my boss and the kid next to me and I said I think we are in for another lost decade like Japan had in the '90s and we had in the '20s. This morning my boss forwards me a story from FT quoting a well known talking head using that exact phrase.

The thing I think that will be an upside to the coming lost decade is that we will probably find and see some great new voices in the arts. I also noticed the the useless biz channel- that'd be CNBC- is having a special about America's pot economy. It got me thinking about Prohibition which was also in full force in the '20s- our other lost decade. Who's to say that when we exit this one that marijuana isn't legalized and taxed much like alcohol was at the end of the Great Depression. I imagine it will be called the 420 Amendment. As an aside a newsletter I read daily wrote about Humboldt County in California and how it is basically the pot capital of the state.

Granted the '20s preceded the Great Depression but history doesn't necessarily repeat itself so much as it echos. I think it was either Twain or Einstein who said that, can't remember.

One of the most read stories on BBERG today was about a study that shows a possible link between having seven cups of a coffee in a day and being more susceptible to delusions and/or hallucinations. You know at some point some shylock is going to end up using that as a defense for murder or some other heinous crime.

Ok, it took me a bit of turning the wheels but I finally recalled a formula from my microeconomics classes way back when. Y=C+I+G+(X-M). Y is GDP or GNP depending on your age; C is consumption; I is investment; G is government expenditures; X is exports and M is imports. C accounts for roughly 70% of Y. If the paradox of thrift takes hold that is going to be bad. The government is trying to increase G a lot but it will never account for 70% of Y. The dollar is strong and gaining because it is the least offensive smelling piece of crap currency around. That means X-M won't help any. So Y is pretty much going to down until people believe they have saved enough and are willing to start consuming again.

The thing with G going up is that you always have unintended consequences. If you don't believe that will happen Macquarie Island is a perfect example. The Australian government decided feral cats on the island were a huge risk to the endangered seabirds there so undertook a plan to eradicate them. They succeeded but the rabbits and rodents the cats were keeping in control ran rampant and ate all the vegetation doing even more harm to the seabirds. Mr. Barrett will most likely point out the cats, rabbits and rodents were all invasive species- which they were. But, they had been there for over 100 years so at what point does an invasive species end up part of the ecosystem? Regardless, let's just hope what the government is doing now doesn't let the rabbits and rodents run rampant.

My youngest got a iPod chrome for Christmas from his maternal grandfather who happens to be richer than Croesus. I loaded it up for him with some music I thought he'd enjoy. I find out he loves Queen especially Fat Bottomed Girls and sings along to it.

Went to the gym again tonight here at home and did a quick half hour of cardio while the husband lifted. We had dinner and are packing tonight for our three day weekend get away. He had plans for tomorrow night but they changed so now we are going to go see The Unborn- woo hoo. The other movie I can't wait to see is Push mainly because Chris Evans is in it. Ever since he played Johnny Storm and was just standing there in a towel I have had him on my list of people that don't count if you hook up with as adultery.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine + wine= Little internal dialogue

I didn't write last night because we did the FI Share-A-Thon and got home somewhat late. I was also pretty beat as I have been fighting a cold for about 4 days now. So now I have approximately two days of writing to try and get done.

So I wikied Ben Fold Five yesterday only to find out they were actually a trio- WTF is that all about? Also someone graciously commented that they broke up in 2000 only to reunite for a one-off concert in 2008. Thank you anonymous.

Yesterday's bus ride in was a pleasant viewing experience. Today's was also nice viewing but I lost one of my gloves which has caused me much consternation.

The Share-A-Thon was...interesting to say the least. I got there first with our photo packets and as I walked in of course they had Cher playing. I thought I was in hell and then saw that there was a bar. I had myself a glass (really a plastic cup) of wine, sat down at the table the husband picked which just happened to be in front of the bar. You should also know I took Alka Seltzer Plus Cold medicine after lunch because I swear that is the best thing to kill a cold. So when I saw someone with their sweater tucked in I commented somewhat loudly to the husband. He turned beet red and told me to quiet down.

I think the Share-A-Thon went well because we ran out of fact sheets and almost ran out of photo packets. I sent out emails to everyone who expressed an interest thanking them and asking if they had any questions.

We are slated to do it again in FEB and the husband said for that one I will have to wear a tight tee shirt, tight jeans, my work boots and a baseball hat and ditch the glasses.

So about the current goings on in the tape. Let me reiterate I think Shitigroup is a big negative. The government dumped $45 BILLION into them, took a look at what they bought and decided it was worth more dead than alive. They called MS and said we have an offer you can't refuse since we just let you become a bank holding company to save your own skin. Now you are going to take over SBSH, Shitigroup will end up selling the consumer banking part to some other firm that was allowed to become a bank to save itself (possibly GS). That will leave the i-bank part and the government won't give a shit if that disappears. This is not good for sentiment, the jobless rate or the credit markets.

This morning if you missed it the government said TARP funds will be made available for S-corps. In conjunction with that you had Bernake say that the Fed will aid any financial firm whose failure would increase systemic risk. I think that since most hedge funds are S-corps and the Fed saying the will aid any financial that poses systemic risk means there is a LARGE hedge fund out there who is in serious trouble and would not be surprised to hear about one getting TARP funds. Possibly one that has a b/d operation and sold bonds to the public.

Speaking of TARP funds I think we also saw the first backlash against the whole thing yesterday when California United Bank said thanks but no thanks. The bank got approved for TARP but decided the cost were not worth he limited benefits of the program. they stated they have enough capital and don't need the onerous restrictions TARP would place on them. The implications are that any bank that took the funds had to because they were in serious trouble and did not have the capital. Makes one wonder...

The idea of a bad bank//good bank is being bandied about a lot. If the Fed had just gone this route a year ago my guess is some who aren't with us today would still be around and we could have avoided some of the pain we are no going through but hindsight is always 20/20.

I saw S&P affirmed the AAA credit rating of the United States. HA! Their recent track record has been great so we should all take comfort in that and ignore the huge problems brewing in the Federal Home Loan Bank system. If we ignore it it could go away- NOT.

A lot of economics is expectations and discounting them. There is also that lovely theory called the paradox of thrift. If all consumers start to clamp down because they expect things to get worse guess what happens? It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and things get worse. Also if everyone decides they have to start saving, guess what happens- things get worse. Sadly it is what is needed after our huge credit party for the last 20 years or so. If all the news everyone reads and hears is about how bad things are and how worse they are going to get, you know what happens? People adjust their expectations and their habits to prepare for worse times and guess what? Worse times appear.

The thing President Elect Obama should be doing is what Reagan did and that is become the biggest cheerleader for the country and the most confident person about the country. It would not be a big leap as his life is a huge testament to the potential and all that is good about our country. If people keep hearing the leader extol how great the potential is and we can do this, guess what? It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Did not swim this morning but did hit the elliptical in the building gym tonight. The cold is almost gone so I should be fine for the rest of the week at the gym.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

When did Ben Folds Five become just Ben Folds?

This weekend with the boys was fun. The big snowstorm that was supposed to be coming was a flop in my book. It did not impede any of the driving I had to do at all.

I picked the boys up Friday and we got home without any issue. The husband went and met an artist he was considering buying some work form then had dinner and saw a movie with TK, WP and another person. Apparently WP took a dig at me about getting my sons to play manly sports not some wimpy one like tennis. They saw Gran Torino. The husband said I'd like it but it was just ok in his opinion.

Saturday I was back down in central Jersey for tennis, we then had lunch and came home. The husband went into the city to see Vampire Weekend get interviewed by a NYT reporter and they played 3 tracks. MM and the husband had a great time and I am very jealous. Thy then went downtown for JW's birthday dinner.

Today we were kind of lazy. We didn't get up until around 10:30. The husband was going into the city to see Ragnar and give him a late Christmas gift. I took the boys to TGT to get some cleaning supplies for our house Nazi. Then I dropped them off at their mother's house.

On the drive back I noticed one song that they have been playing on AltNation lately You Don't Know Me by Ben Folds and I realized it used to be Ben Folds Five. Apparently there are no longer five I don't know but will wiki it tomorrow.

We are already getting ready for beach season. We have the same house but this year we are not doing it the entire summer. About three quarters of the way through last summer the boys said they did not want to go out to the beach anymore. I said fine. So we are going to do the Fire Island Share-A-Thon tomorrow night. When I got home we figured out the calendar, the economics, created a not to scale floor plan and will use the office color printer tomorrow to print out all the pictures. I will also check with JP and PF to see if they have any interest in joining us for part of the season.

Am I the only one who, when going through friend finder on facebook , finds it tempting to friend someone solely based on looks?

Friday, January 9, 2009

I don't go to the gym to socialize or chit chat

So this morning I went to the gym next to my office because I would not have time after work to hit it. We have the boys this weekend and I had to leave the office right after the close and drive to central Jersey to pick them up.

There was this hot guy wearing a ski hat, all I could see was his mug but it started the day right. He was walking to the bus stop with his overcoat open which, according to the husband's theory, means he is straight.

There were some cute guys in the gym next door but definitely not as many in the one in Hoboken. I did my lifting and then my cardio- just the way I like to do my workouts. I got on the elliptical when some older guy got on next to me. I looked out of the corner of my eye as he looked familiar- it was the new CEO of our company. I had my iPod on and was not about to suck up to him so kept on with my cardio. The funny thing is the day before we were discussing his comments about working out and I said he is definitely the recumbent bike type. Sure enough after about five minutes he got off the elliptical next to me, took his NYT and went to the recumbent bike- lol. I of course told everyone on the desk.

We are supposed to get hit with five to nine inches of snow tomorrow. That will make for an interesting drive down to central Jersey for my oldest son's tennis lesson.

When your company is a tenant of the NYT Building you get access to a lot of the events they host- and discounts! This weekend they are hosting an Arts & Leisure event and one of the things going is an interview with Vampire Weekend. I bought two tickets and told the husband to take MM- she is a woman and friend who works with him. After he is going out to celebrate JW's 40th with JW, JD, Ragnar and Humberto I believe. I am probably going to take the boys to see The Day The Earth Stood Still.

The news/rumors/speculation into the close about Shitigroup I view as a negative. If they are really splitting themselves up into their investment bank and merging that with MS the corollary is they will merge their commercial/consumer bank into GS most likely- also probably why Rubin resigned from Shitigroup today as he was the former managing partner at GS and that would have been an indelicate situation. If it gets announced on Sunday I think we are in for a down Monday and possibly an ugly week.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

They are coming out of the woodworks now

So I got back in the pool this morning. I swam for 20 minutes, if I counted correctly I did 62 laps which translates to roughly six tenths of a mile. As I go out of course there was a really cute guy walking in and he had on SU shorts. I did a double take but don't think he noticed me, lol.

The action in the tape today I'd have to say was constructive. I think the last week or so of DEC and the first two days of the new year were too much, too fast. This year will be range bound and go to the fleet of foot in terms of being able to decide levels to trade is my guess.

I noticed after the close it appears the cramdowns are about to start. A cramdown is when someone defaults on their mortgage and the bank forecloses. To foreclose they have to go to court. In court there is a judge. Normally this would follow the rule of law and observe property rights. However, because of all the securitizing that took place in many cases no one knows who really holds/owns the mortgage. Add in the possibility of fraud on either party's part and some judges have decided it is within their rights to change the terms of a legally binding contract entered into by the two parties. Shitigroup is leading the charge most likely because they are screwed the most and they figure if they get out in front it might garner them some goodwill is my guess. As my boss put it "Ok, you can't afford the payments so I am going to lower the rate and add on ten years to the mortgage." Yeah, that makes lots of sense- sort of like serfdom...

I was busy at work today but I still had time to read a lot and I have to say I want to come back as a Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew. Those animals basically live on a diet of beer and only beer. Actually they consume fermented nectar and only fermented nectar. IT has approximately 3.8% alcohol by volume.

I always thought Dolph Lundgren was HOT and I see he is going to be in a new movie with Sly Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke titled The Expendables.

So, a bunch of scientists- astro-physicist I think- sent up a huge radio wave detector attached to a balloon to try and find evidence of the earliest stars but instead found what could be called radiowave thunder. It is six times louder than anything predicted AND (as is the case in many scientific discoveries) not what they were even looking for, i.e. a mystery and mistake.

I don't know what could have caused it but it seems the SEC has a bug up its ass about trying to ferret out Ponzi schemes. They announced finding three more I believe. Granted, they are small and have not been going on for possibly 40 years but hey- better late than never I guess.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Separated at birth

The bus this morning was full of some serious hotties. I caught an earlier than usual one for a day I was not working out. The weather sucked though and it was leaking on the seat across the aisle from me.

JW sent me a rather depressing blog today but he was just returning the favor for one I had sent him earlier. Both were very distressing especially when I read the words "civil unrest" in regards to the United States. JW's was definitely written by an American hating, leftist European and the barbs irritated me but that does not discount the brilliance of the writing and the points made. JW said he is glad he is a gardener and is seriously considering ways to turn the game room in his building into a safe room.

Back to the MadeOff scandal. I seriously think the scumbag should go to jail. He has already tried to hide assets. I was chatting with a broker about it and we agreed it would make a great book/movie/HBO series. When we got to the point of deciding who would play Mr. MadeOff and I said Ian Macdermaid,, aka Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine as they look like they were separated at birth.

I saw the SEC is trying to salvage a modicum of competency by reopening an 8 year old case against Peacoat which is run by Mr. Sandbag. Seriously, what the fuck would you be going after them for because of a supposed $2.1 million dollar gain when you let possibly the largest Ponzi scheme ever occur for supposedly forty years??? My guess is you can put a fork in the SEC as it- in its current incarnation- is done.

After work I went to TIF and sent our new friends/hosts in Utah a gift for allowing us to stay. We decided on baby gifts as they are expecting twin girls in APR. I then hit the grocery store for dinner making as the husband had a meeting with a broker.

When he got home we hit the gym and found ourselves a new hottie- red hoodie. He is stunning and I have no idea why but the hottie quotient has gone up lately- alot.

Noticed there a lot of movies coming out that I and the husband are jonesing to see: Underworld 3: Risse of the Lycans, Unborn, My Bloody Valentine 3D, The Uninvited and Ninja Assassin to name a few.

I hate when Mr. Clifford is right

There is an old saying in my business that when the tide goes out you find out who has been swimming naked. SAY is a perfect example. Apparently they have been "overstating" cash and liabilities for several years now. That is also known as fraud in lay terms, it will be a complete shit show as more people come to Jesus.

The current markets remind me of Johnny Storm's catch phrase "Flame on!" but it should read "Risk on!" Everyone seems to be thinking the worst is over and risk appetite is back in vogue. I personally think it is too soon to be going Risk on! in size.

I really don't care about Steve Jobs health enough to have to read about it all over the WSJ, YHOO and hear about it on CNBC. Yes, I have generic compassion for my fellow man but seriously- the fact he has a hormone imbalance (and some would say a chemical imbalance to boot) is not newsworthy.

The whole nat gas issue between Russia and Ukraine and it's ramifications for Europe makes the back of my head tingle as we are again seeing commodity scarcity creating and feeding into geopolitical risk. I believe part of what caused WWII in the Pacific was Japan attempting to secure oil supplies.

I have no problems with Israel cleaning house in Gaza. If that is what it takes to stop rocket attacks perpetrated by terrorists so be it. I do have a problem however with the whole idea of a Palestinian cause. I took a baccalaureate course in undergrad on the whole issue. The idea of Palestine is pretty much a KGB creation. They trained Arafat (who was Egyptian and an avowed Marxist) to create problems in the Mid East in an attempt to counter our sway there during the Cold War. It was a brilliant intelligence plan and worked wonderfully but they forgot the law of unintended consequences. Yes, it sucks that a school was hit but that happens in wars- there are casualties.

Early on in our friendship, Mr. Clifford told me about google-stalking. I swore I'd never do it- well I did it.

The boxer is this smoking hot guy in our building. He works in my field. He is the boxer because he did this charity boxing event a few months back. I know that because I ran into him in the lobby one afternoon and he was talking about it with the doorman and we ended up taking the elevator together and discussing training. Last night the husband and I went to the gym in the building and he was there. He kept pulling his sweaty tee shirt up to wipe his face and show off his furry abs. He did it like four times and always made sure he was facing us, lol. So I google stalked him and found out his name, the firm he works for, where he went to college (in my hometown no less), what sports he played in college and that he is 6' and 190 when he boxed. The husband and I got into a debate about why he kept showing us his abs- he says he is straight and I had to question that premise.

I hate when Mr. Clifford is right...

Monday, January 5, 2009

Are we human or are we dancer? WTF does that mean?

Today was kind of slow in the markets. Read a lot of research and am really starting to think the place to be for this year and possibly even next is in investment grade or near investment grade corporate bonds- again, solely my lowly opinion.

Got a weird IM from a broker today at work. Out of the blue he hits me with "Is the steam room crowded?" and right away he said wrong person. I told him that is a loaded question for me and it is a huge red flag for him, lol. He is a great guy and I am nearly certain he does not go to my church let alone kneel in the pews.

The husband and I got the new Killers album. I know as a good homo I was supposed to boycott it as a protest against the role the Mormons played in passing Prop 8 but the Killers are awesome. The album is really even though AltNation has been playing the song that has the title of this post as a lyric to the point of serious overkill. Spaceman is a really good tune too and I listened to it tonight at the gym.

Speaking of the gym, PF and I were IMing today discussing lunch. He always eats like a bird and I told him I had a salad and thought of him. He asked why the salad and I said it doesn't hurt to try and start the new year off on a healthy note. He agreed and said that means the gym will be packed for the next 3 or 4 weeks as every ones hopes and dreams, um I mean New Year resolutions are shattered and destroyed.

The gym was full of hot guys tonight. There is a new one I hadn't seen before. Definitely a dark Irish boy.

Tomorrow the CEO is going to meet with the trading desk. I am debating wearing a suit just to mess with everyone.

Already the desk is talking trash about the triathlon in June. The boss said we will raise money for a charity this year. Apparently there is a charity to help wounded Navy SEALs. We all read the book Lone Survivor and that is where he got the idea. He and I also suckered a PM into doing it this year by challenging his manliness. He fell for it too- haha.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Stop yelling at me

So on the bus ride home Friday my oldest sent me a text asking if he could have a sleep over with his two friends. I have to give him credit that he asked earlier than he used too. Normally he'd call me after I had made it halfway down to his mom's house. I told him no, I enjoy spending time with him. He pulled a guilt trip on me and the husband and I were hosting MP and her new boyfriend for dinner so I said check if your mom has plans because she may not be able to change them. He didn't answer right away so I called her and said I'd pick them up in the morning and take them to tennis and then home. The ex said fine. Then she called me back about 10 minutes later and said the friend who's house the sleep over was supposed to be at, well his dad said no. We decided to stick to the plan anyways. I called my oldest back and said in the future, before you get everyone to change plans, make sure you can have the sleep over.

The husband and I had MP and her boyfriend over for dinner. The boyfriend get a big thumbs up from both of us. They stayed late and we had a blast. I woke up the next morning about twenty minutes later than I should have and tore out of the house to get down there in time. I made it, took the boys to tennis and then we had BKC for lunch and came home. The husband was really hurting from the wine at dinner. He cleaned the kitchen, showered and went back to bed while I was down in central Jersey.

So he and my oldest sat in front of the couch and watched several B-movies on SciFi until dinner time, sharing Chex mix. My youngest and I played Super Smash Brawl on the Wii. I ordered dinner and then we watched Hellboy 2 on dvd. About halfway thru it I took a nap. When it was over the boys went to bed and the husband was all awake- the wonders of sleeping on the couch all day watching SciFi...

Today we were somewhat lazy again. My youngest and I again played Wii. He asked why I liked playing with him and I said it was because his older brother is very critical of people on his team. He laughed and said he totally agreed.

I dropped them off at their mom's house and then came home. The husband had me re-hang certain pieces of art as we had received a new photo from ST and PJ fro Christmas. After that we caught up on Sanctuary and then played Resident Evil 4 on the Wii. It was not easy at all and I kept telling the husband to use the gun and stop using the knife. He told me I was yelling at him. We definitely need to work on Resident Evil 4.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Merry New Year...

Merry New Year to anyone reading! The husband and I got home from our trip to Utah late last night. We landed at 10:45ish, got our luggage, got to the truck and by the time we got home it was about 11:45. I parked the truck and it took me a while as the garage was nearly full and I had to go all the way up to the roof top. By then it was midnight so I called the boys as I knew they were staying up to watch the ball drop. I got home to find tons of our neighbors drunk, no make that shitfaced. The elevators were busy and it took some time to get back to my floor. Our hot neighbor was having a huge bash and he has some damn cute friends too. I told the husband I can't believe we did not get invited, lol.

We flew into Salt Lake City in a huge blizzard; we landed about two hours late, got lucky to upgrade our rental to a Chrysler Aspen. It took us about a hour and a half to get to Park City to our host's house. We went straight to bed. The next morning we got up and went to rent me a board. Then the husband, I and TK hit the slopes at the Canyons for the rest of the day with one of our hosts.

The next day the three of us and both of our hosts hit Park City. I had a blast there as it was my first time riding on powder. Riding on powder is a blast because you have to take your time traversing and that is how I actually like to ride; I am not one of those people who thinks every ride has to be about how fast you can get to the bottom of the hill. I also am not one who has to get in as many rides as possible. Everything else in my life is fast enough, when I ride I like to take my time. The five of us went to a restaurant owned by one of our hosts sister. It was great food.

The third day it was just me, the husband and TK and we hit the Canyons that day. Those two were slave drivers! They led me on some very long rides and some that were not blues in my mind. On my last ride I was making a nice little run when some mother yelled at her 6 year old to get over here. The little shit cut right in front of me and I had to take myself out. I did not say anything to either of them. Then as I was getting down to the bottom of the run I get clipped from behind by the same little shit who cut in front of me. At that point I was so pissed, tired and sore and starting to get cranky. I went right past the husband and told him to take the lift I was done. I had some water, caught the lift, took the ride tot he gondolas and went down to the lodge. I had myself a hot toddy, some pizza and water and watched the Vikings pull one of of their asses and get into the play-offs. While I was waiting for them to get off the mountain I ran into an old friend who was in Park City with his two kids. He is a lawyer who helped me out with my divorce and I lost touch with him due to negligence on my part. He is remarried and now has an infant and the wife is pregnant again. I told him he can get fixed and it is reversible.

The husband and I went to dinner by ourselves that night. We hit this nice little bistro. The busboy was really cute and chatted us up a lot. He went to college near where I grew up and his roommate was from my hometown. I kept telling the husband he wanted some salsa because he was bored with white bread and mayo Mormons. We then taught our hosts how to play pitch and I won the game which is kind of hard with five people playing. I was really feeling like shit that night. I had a serious headache and the entire night I was sweating like a pig. I did not feel up to riding at all on Tuesday so I told the husband and TK to go ahead. I spent the entire day sleeping. When TK and the husband got back we made dinner with our hosts and taught them how to play pitch. It take a while with five people playing to get a winner but I came out victorious.

Our last day the husband and I went to Snowbird. Ok, first off the drive there was amazing but Snowbird is definitely not boarder friendly and was way above my skill set. I mistakenly took a wrong turn on the second run and ended up doing my first black diamond. I was dropping the f-bomb and I am pretty sure the word divorce passed my lips because the husband was leading. When I got to the bottom alive I turned and said I am not going back up. We left and went back to the Canyons. We rode the other side of the mountain and had a nice day. We got home and helped our hosts prepare for a dinner party that we were going to be part of. We met the parents of one of our hosts, another couple from Jacksonville and our hosts friends. It was a great dinner party.

We slept in late our last day, packed up, and hit the airport.

Tomorrow is a new year for the markets. If I were to make a guess I'd say '09 is going to be an up year marginally. JAN will probably see a nice pop in the first few weeks and then we'll muddle along for the rest of the year near our current levels.