Wow. Another wild week in the market. Here's this week's Bonus Bananas, and I've tried to make them stuff you can use to make a little dough over the next six months or so (plus there's a bunch of random great stuff).
1) ‘Death cross’ springing up everywhere (Market Watch) - Don't fear the Reaper? The "Death Cross" (the 50-day moving average going below the 200-day moving average) has been popping up EVERYWHERE in the market lately. Of course, this is considered extremely bearish by technical analysts. After yesterday's action, maybe there's something to it.
2) Stocks Sink as Treasury Yields Fall to Record Lows, Gold Surges (Business Week) - Speaking of yesterday, something pretty significant happened. No, I'm not talking about gold busting through $1,800 like it was standing still. I'm talking about the 10-year Treasuries dropping below 2% for the first time in our country's history. Why is that so significant? Glad you asked. Read #3:
3) From Ice Age to hyper-inflation with SocGen bear (Reuters) - To say Albert Edwards is a contrarian would be an understatement. He predicted the US housing crisis and the Asian flu of 1997-98, but that's not all. His outlook on Treasuries diverges from just about everyone. The only difference is that he's the only one who's been right lately. He predicted the 10-year would drop below 2% (as it did yesterday) when no one else did, and he believes it goes as low as 1.5% in the next six months. But that's not all. He's predicting hyperinflation and the S&P dropping to 400. Not dropping by 400, dropping to 400. Forewarned is forearmed.
4) Abercrombie & Fitch Offers MTV's Jersey Shore "Substantial Payment" To Stop Wearing Its Clothing (Business Insider) - This is hilarious. Abercrombie & Fitch believes that the cast of Jersey Shore wearing its clothing is damaging its brand, and has offered the cast of the show big money to wear something else. No word on whether Abercrombie & Fitch plans to discontinue its line of "The Fitchuation" tees.
5) BRIDE'S SCREAMS AS SHE SEES SHARK KILL HUSBAND (Express UK) - This is made to order for Shark Week. This poor newlywed watched her husband get attacked and killed by a shark on her honeymoon. But if you think that's bad, wait till you read this. This poor woman called her mother 3 times while she was being eaten by bears. You can't make this shit up.
6) Thanks a billion: How U2 star mocked as poor investor in the U.S. cleaned up with Facebook shares (Daily Mail) - It looks like Bono finally caught a break. After years of thanklessly fronting one of the world's most beloved rock bands, Bono has finally scratched out a living as a lowly venture capitalist. It's estimated that his personal stake in Facebook just went over $1 billion.
7) Rick Perry vs. Ben Bernanke: Round One (Rolling Stone) - The Kabuki theater of the US presidential race has officially begun. Texas governor Rick Perry went so far as to accuse Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke of treason if the Fed moves forward with QE3 between now and election day. It's nice to see a return to calm and well reasoned discourse this election cycle.
8) Neighbor chases Kidnapper, saves girl (KRQE) - This is man shit here, gentlemen. After some sicko tried and failed to lure a 6-year old girl into his van in Albuequerque, he grabbed the girl and sped off. An alert neighbor saw the whole thing, jumped into his car, and ran the kidnapper down while dialing 911 for backup. No telling what horrors he saved that little girl from.
9) A Soldier’s Letters from Beyond the Grave to His Wife and Daughter (Art of Manliness) - Speaking of man shit, you won't get anything closer than this. Army 1st Lieutenant Todd Weaver left two letters on his hard drive before shipping off to his 2nd tour of duty in Afghanistan - one for his wife and one for his infant daughter - to only be opened in the event of his death. He caught the high hard one in September of last year, and these are the words he left for those he loved most in this world. If this doesn't leave a lump in your throat, there's something wrong with you.
10) About Rum (Sex, Cigars & Booze) - Thought I'd finish this week on a positive note, and this is the perfect companion to Uncle Eddie's Guide to Rum. Great info here on rum, how it's made, where it's made, and the differences between the various distillations. Trust me, this is worth reading.
Now on to the Video of the Week. I was kinda torn this week, because we have market-related video that is relatively entertaining, but there's also a movie trailer that I find fascinating. Since I'm in charge here, I'm gonna post both.
The first video is Jim Cramer and Simon Hobbs absolutely losing their shit on live TV yesterday. There's no doubt Cramer is still a little salty about the whole Bear Stearns thing:
The second video is a trailer for the movie Anonymous. I'm willing to confess that I'm a Shakespeare fanatic, and I own every manuscript he (?) ever published. But his authorship has been a matter of scholarly debate for the past two centuries. This movie both looks bad ass and might shed some light on the controversy:
Hope you enjoyed them this week, guys! Have a great weekend and let me know what you think of this week's bananas!
my thoughts on Abercrombie banning the Situation and others:
at first i was pretty upset. mind you that i DON'T watch jersey shore. just seemed like a stunt to distract shareholders from a crap earnings report (during earnings call, the CEO even asked analysts "Isn't anyone going to ask about the Situation?".... but nobody gave a shit). even worse, they're giving up free publicity and telling loyal customers (the Jersey Shore cast) to essentially fuck off. way to simultaneously spit in the face of shareholders and customers.
however, the more i think of it, this just may be a brilliant PR move on Abercrombie's part. as far as i know, the A&F brand hasn't been worth a damn since 2004. before this whole cease and desist stunt, i had no idea that anybody of note wore A&F, and whether you like it or not, the Jersey Shore cast members are VERY popular today.
the press may not be positive, but we're all talking about A&F right now. bad publicity is better than no publicity.
I wonder if Grice agrees with Edwards on 3).
For some reason I read 5) and thought that the woman called her mom to tell her that her husband was eaten by a shark, while she was being eaten by a bear. Oh well.
Excellent collection, Eddie. That Anonymous movie looks excellent. I wouldn't treat it as historical fact, as it is Hollywood after all, but I'd still like to see it. Great choice of music in there too...Radiohead plus Shakespeare...
SB +1 Great post
Thx Eddie this made my 3 hour DMV wait seem like 10 mins
Great posts, thanks!
Great post, Eddie. And glad you introduced me to silver last fall...it's going nuts with gold, as per #2! It's paying for our trip to Europe.
See you next week. I'm bringing more margaritas.
i open these posts just so I can see the image of the chicks, post a bigger image next time!
I don't like Rick Perry, but I'm pretty sure the context of his comment was that it would be treasonous if the Fed instituted QE3 for political purposes (i.e. to spur the economy) before the election. If it were for political reasons, I don't think the word "treasonous" is the right word, but it would be highly unethical and maybe even illegal.
Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute. How would QE3 be any more treasonous than any of the other QE's? Inflation is inflation. Counterfeiting (which debasing the currency is) is illegal regardless of the political timing.
I don't think it's "treasonous"--I think Perry is using unfortunate hyperbole. What Perry is saying is that QE3 used in 2012 would be "treasonous" (I think simply unethical) if--IF--the context is the Federal Reserve doing so with the purpose of spurring on the economy for the benefit of the president's re-election hopes. I would agree with the sentiment that it would be unethical. It's exactly why I don't want someone like Ron Paul infiltrating the Fed and weakening its independence from Congress. If you think we have a disaster now, just wait until politicians are setting Fed policy--what a disastrous equation that would be!
The constant railing about how things SHOULD be in the face of HOW THEY ARE is pointless.
The fact that Perry disagrees with QE is great for reinforcing his conservative bonafides, but the overheated rhetoric and unworkable version of reality only hurts his case to be elected as far as the rest of the country is concerned. If he's not smart enough to see this, he's not smart enough to be president. In a way, he's not unlike Kerry in 2004 on one key point: if he can't effectively capitalize on all of the animosity against the current president (and there's a LOT) then he doesn't deserve to be president.
That having been said, it's kind of refreshing to see someone come into the ring swinging.
Aut asperiores tempore qui nesciunt. Neque repudiandae et quia libero officiis excepturi odio. Temporibus voluptatem quia praesentium ullam quasi cum.
Aut aut autem voluptates vero. Et ducimus reprehenderit ea explicabo officia quisquam aut. Itaque non quis quia voluptas. Ipsa ut ut fugit provident.
Mollitia reiciendis natus ut repudiandae pariatur. Laborum et voluptatem ut excepturi. Totam dolorum est est atque. Porro et adipisci quo illo veniam neque sint. Enim magnam non suscipit sit totam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...