Wall Street Sexism

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41469440

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-06/whitney-whips-up-wall-street-as-bear-in-heels-alice-schroeder.html

There is nothing, I suppose, perma bulls hate more than a beautiful genius married to a pro wrestler (not one of them) who notices the emperors (of Wall Street) are wearing no clothes.

Remember, Whitney faced death threats for her calls that Citigroup, was facing a disaster in the mortgage backed securities market.

Well, she was right then, and she is still alive, thank God.

It always amazes me how men are willing to embrace and welcome a beautilful woman into their world, as long as she isn't as smart as them. If they notice she is actually smarter than them, they begin to quake in their boots and go on the attack.

Here is an interview where she demonstrates not just her intellect, but her ability to reason and her integrity:



Meredith Whitney is not just a pretty face who is willing to sacrifice her intelligence and integrity to be accepted on Wall Street. She is the real deal.

I think she is fabulous, and she happens to be right.

Dow Soaring?

Please be careful, I realize you are feeling like you are missing the party, and no one likes to be left out. Please keep perspective...
I have pointed out before that we are in the midst of forming the greatest "head and shoulders top" in known history.
http://econmom.blogspot.com/2010/04/right-shoulder.html

Obviously, I was wrong about the peak of the right shoulder and how long it would take to form. However, the fundamentals HAVE NOT CHANGED!

Only very experienced traders should be long this market. Buy and hold is dead.

If you feel like you are being left behind, however, by all means, jump in! Just realize you are swimming with sharks.

Context

Let's put all of this in perspective:



If you have not watched this speech, you don't really understand what is happening in the Middle East today.

The Arab world is experiencing a revolution called for by Barack Obama himself.

Is this a bad thing? Maybe not. The brutal dictators insatalled by the U.S. have not been moral or good for humankind.

We must deal with whatever emerges head on.

But, don't forget this speech, it was groundbreaking, World changing, and in my humble opinion, vastly underestimates the influence of extremists in the Arab world.

Rational Market?

So, the turmoil in Egypt is the latest reason to buy stocks? No, wait, it's inflation. High oil prices and inflation will be good for the economy.

How about this one: Construction spending fell to its lowest level since 2000. Ok, I'll give you ISM a bit above consensus expectations, 60.8 vs 58, but don't you think inflation has anything to do with that?

I love how the American Liberal press is "excited" about the events in the Middle East. Now, I'll give you that we should never have supported evil dictators over there, but do we really understand what may replace them?

Oh, the fact that the King of Jordan appointed a new Prime Minister and Parliment is no big deal, hardly worth mentioning.

Anyway, apparently Wall Street has decided that they will buy stocks no matter what, because that is their job. And, what the hell? They can borrow at nearly 0% and speculate all they want with no consequences whatsoever. If they are right, they get rich. If they are wrong, they get saved and stay rich. Incentives are a powerful thing, but eventually, profits will be squeezed
by low aggregate demand and commodity price inflation.

It is almost impossible to know when this reality will become apparent, but it will, and you won't want to be long when it does.

How Dare We?

How dare we "support" and "consort" with a Kingdom who believes such things...

http://www.mideastinfo.com/documents/Saudi_Arabia_Basic_Law.htm

Explaining Mid-East Revolts, In Child's Terms

It has taken a few days for me to figure out exactly what is going on the the Mid-East, and frankly, I really still don't understand all the implications. However, when my daughter asked me what was going on in Egypt on TV I had to try to come up with an explanation.

In adult language:

In order to protect Israel, and by extension, ourselves, we have compromised our values (human rights and freedom) again and again in the Middle East.

It seems to avoid radical Islamic Theocracies from controlling the region, we have supported and encouraged secular military dictatorships to keep the region "stable".

But it is much more fun to use an analogy even kids could understand:

It's as if our buddy, Israel, was being bullied on the playground, by a big mean bully (Islamic Extremists). We didn't want to get our hands dirty by beating up the bully (our we might lose our precious oil), so we brought in our redneck cousin (secular military dictatorships). The cousin and the bully fought at every recess, allowing our buddy and ourselves to go about our business.

This arrangement worked for a while, but eventually, the other kids on the playground cried out that they didn't like our redneck cousin anymore. They decided to throw him off of the playground, by force if necessary.

We tried to stop them by saying, "Hey guys, we know our redneck cousin has been terrorizing you, but we have to keep him here, or the big mean bully will start picking on us again!"

But they had gotten sick of the redneck cousins abuse, "Better you than us, and who are you to tell us what to do anyway?", they said.

And really, who are we?

We are the biggest guy on the playground called the World. We believe in human rights, a Democratic Republic, the inherent equality of human beings, a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe in freedom of and from religion.

We cannot impose these beliefs on the rest of the world. However, if we think they are true, eventually they will triumph.

We have got to let well enough alone here. Let the Egyptian people decide for themselves. If the extremists prevail, the sane, rational, peace loving Egyptians will eventually get sick of them too, and rise up against them.

If we are attacked, we have the right to Self-Defense. We already retialiated against the perpetrators of 9/11. We must put that behind us and move forward.

We cannot let our fear allow us to continually compromise our values. Nor can we afford to police the entire Mid-East. We cannot support the Mubarak regime. We must withdraw our support for it. Mubarak will fall either way. We cannot, should not, and will not, interfere anymore.

We must wait, and watch, and only help when asked.

And someday, if the big mean bully starts acting up again, we are going to have to face him head on, and win the fight once and for all.

Saudi King Upset By Demonstrations

I guess I would be too, if I were him.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/29/egypt.middle.east.reaction/index.html?hpt=T2