Las Vegas Looks a Lot Like the New Detroit

11 Reasons the Economic Slowdown is Here

The LInkedin IPO is not a trend following play. If you had shares pre-IPO it was one great trade, but if you are trying to play that now–it is gambling. Or you could think of it as buying a lottery ticket–risk a little and maybe you get lucky.

THIS is why so many people are not finding what they want:

Gene Wilder sang, rapped and screamed:

There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There’s no knowing where were rowing
Or which way the rivers flowing
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing
Cause the rowers keep on rowing
And they’re certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!

Starting about 1:52:

Here is an issue that government monkey business forces you to think about even if you have the right trading strategy: Chaos:

“Viewed objectively, the central banks are trying to push up asset prices using quantitative easing and the portfolio rebalancing effect. The resultant rise in asset prices based on this effect represented a potential bubble—or at least a liquidity-driven event—from the start. The question is whether the real economy can keep pace with asset prices formed in those liquidity-driven markets. If it cannot, higher asset prices will be considered a bubble and will collapse at some point. The resulting situation could be much more severe than if quantitative easing had never been implemented to begin with.”

I hope we don’t look back at all of this government intervention as having created a larger Ponzi scheme than without–what an awful thought.

From Yahoo:

“The market hates you. If investors made this profoundly simple premise the basis for every investment decision they made, it would vastly improve investment results. All of the organisms that make up the financial markets hate you. John Paulson hates you. Goldman Sachs loathes you. Morgan Stanley wants you to drop off the face of the Earth. Paul Tudor Jones likes you a little bit, but he still wouldn’t mind seeing you blowup.”

Harsh sounding, but thoughtful thinking.

A reader writes:

“As i am going through my different portfolios i am wondering what’s up with Eurodollar, seems to have extremely low volatility, much lower than another futures. Any idea whats going on?”

Fundamental question. No one knows and why would you need to know to make money?

The Tail Chaser – The Land of the Setting Sun

Bill O’Reilly is ignorant, lost and dangerous on this issue:

The man who debates later in the video is dead right. The woman who debates has no clue–clearly–what the concept of zero sum entails.

Kicking the Can to the End of the Road

Stanley Druckenmiller: What If the U.S. Treasury Defaults?

Druckenmiller Calls Out The Treasury Ponzi Scheme: “It’s Not A Free Market, It’s Not A Clean Market”

An Ominous Looking Market Top

IMF head Strauss-Kahn Arrested in Alleged Sodomy of Hotel Maid

Goldman’s O’Neill Says ‘Black Swan’ Fears Overblown, Stocks Set to Rally

Note: I am not betting on any of these views, but they sure are interesting!

A reader writes:

Stumbled across [Turtle whatever] and the story of the Turtles and their rules…the author goes on to say, “…TurtleTrader.com…doesn’t tell you that trading rules are only a small part of successful trading. The most important aspects of successful trading are confidence, consistency, and discipline.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you go into those subjects in detail?

I wrote an entire book on the subject of the Turtles: The Complete TurtleTrader. How could that conclusion be drawn after reading my book?