vlogolution network » PassMeThePork

The Perfect Storm: Lessons Learned from the DOW’s 1000 Point Flash Crash

Alexander — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:02:53 +0000

Was the May 6^th, 2010 intraday crash and recovery just another one of those once-in-a-lifetime rare anomalies -– a rare confluence of events coming together to form the “Perfect Storm”? And if a “Perfect Storm” generally occurs so infrequently, why does it seem that we are presented with a newsworthy “Perfect Storm” in the markets on an almost regular basis? With all the misinformation and outrageous reasons the media and its “pundits” offer, perhaps it’s time to revisit exactly how markets work, and what (or who) may be to blame. It’s a lot easier to blame a “fat finger” or some naughty short-sellers for a huge market-selloff, than to accept that markets do not always have a buyer for every seller. Very simply, when a large number of market participants decide they all must sell (or buy) at the exact same time, an “air pocket” of price action will form. Anyone who has traded a market knows that this type of single-sided liquidity “crisis” occurs every day in the markets to various extents, especially after significant news events are released. While these relatively smaller moves may not be nearly as significant as a 1000 point intraday drop and overall market selloff, the dynamics are more or less the same. The setup develops with a large number of market participants all thinking the same way (ie. very strong bullish or bearish sentiment), generally due to a strong extended trend in a market. When the market finally turns, the large group of participants on the wrong side of the trade all decide to reverse course at the same time, at similar stop levels, just to save their leveraged hides. Does the trading term “slippage” ring a bell?

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Mind over Money – Documentary on Irrational Markets

Alexander — Sat, 01 May 2010 22:23:36 +0000

NOVA recently released an interesting and insightful documentary, “Mind over Money”. How can markets be rational when humans are not? It helps explain why stock in bankrupt companies can still go up 500% before going to zero. The movie presents studies that show how people will emotionally overbid for items even though they know they’re over-paying for it. For example, one study had a man purchase a $20 bill for $28. In another study, a class of traders irrationally bid up an asset they knew would become completely worthless within 15 time periods.

Watch “Mind over Money” free online (about 53 minutes long) at the following link:

Watch NOVA’s “Mind over Money” Documentary

Letter from Grandpa to Liberal Granddaughter – ask Obama to Spread the Wealth

Alexander — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:58:15 +0000

This anonymous “letter” has been circulating around the Internet for the past few months, and it’s turning out to be more or less right on. Granted, Obama supporters will claim that Obama “inherited” many of the problems he faces. But how does that address Obama surrounding himself with many of the same questionable entrenched politicians from past administrations? And palm-greasing bribery lobbying is still alive and well and going on strong in Washington.

Hitler, Chavez, and any other number of die-hard socialists have made the same claim to sweeping hope and “change”. Unfortunately, it never turns out as most people expect, and tends to lead to a massive power-grab instead, under the guise of “helping the people”. When considering a new employee, one will generally look for references, appropriate qualifications, history of competent performance, honest and ethical behavior, and years of experience, to say the least. When hiring a money manager, most of the time they’ll want to see years of track records, references, etc (and still Madoff managed to bilk his clients for billions).

However, in politics we are always told to “give him a chance, and let’s see what he’ll do”. No big deal that these politicians control the incomprehensibly massive purse strings of the nation — TRILLIONS of dollars worth. But, that’s okay. Obama seems like a nice guy. Of course, I doubt he’s ever run anything so much as a lemonade stand. Let’s have some faith (where’d that suddenly come from?!) and let’s see what he’ll do. Given the limited choice of political nominees (which are selected solely by their parties), many people tend to vote for who they believe will be less “bad” for the country. They’re actually surprised if a politician merely tells fewer lies, breaks fewer promises, or causes fewer problems than they expected.

So, while everyone’s so busy bickering republican over democrat, the people have lost site of the fact that at this point, nearly all politicians are guided by one primary motive: their own self-interest. With the exception of a few politicians such as Ron Paul, I’d say we should place just about all of them on their own rocket ship to the moon. It would be interesting to see how they would handle that move. Of course, as Margaret Thatcher once stated, “socialism only works until you run out of other people’s money“, and without generous, naive, and hopeful peasant slaves citizens to bilk, things will fall apart pretty quickly. Especially since many of them would find more ways to evade paying the taxes they themselves imposed on each other (as they already do in Washington, right Mr. Rangel?!).

Unfortunately, corruption, perversions of the “Rule of Law” by the “untouchable” Judiciary branch, and political self-interest will always usurp all best efforts at such Utopian fantasies. And what politician ever considers the ramifications of their policies if their latest “war” once again turns out to be dead wrong? How is that “War on Poverty” going Mr. Johnson? You would think 45 years should be long enough to win any war, at least any war that can actually be won… If socialism and near-complete government control over everything is such a great prospect, there must most certainly be at least ONE, just ONE single example in 6,000+ years of history leading to a happy ending for all those concerned, right? Anyone, anyone, Ashley? Anyone??

Benjamin Franklin once said “Upon the whole I am much disposed to like the World as I find it, and to doubt my own Judgment as to what would mend it. I see so much Wisdom in what I understand of its Creation and Government, that I suspect equal Wisdom may be in what I do not understand.” Or as St. Francis de Sales perhaps best put it, “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions.”

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MILLION HIT BY PLAGUE WORSE THAN SWINE FLU!

Alexander — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:07:32 +0000

The powers that be trying to kick things up another notch… more hype and B.S. to panic us world full of lemmings over the edge… Already A MILLION infected, and a whopping 189 dead, translating to a whopping 0.0189% of those infected (so far at least)… To whatever extent this is real, so far it sounds like another great way to “persuade” us all to get a dozen pricey flu shot vaccines that will likely make us much more ill than just taking our chances with the flu strains themselves…

Martin Armstrong on Market Predictions and Objective vs Subjective Analysis

Alexander — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:01:52 +0000

Martin Armstrong is the author of the Economic Confidence Model based on an 8.6 year business cycle theory inspired by the work of Nikolai Kondratieff. Two years ago, the cycle once again accurately predicted the peak of the last economic cycle years in advance. February 26, 2007 yielded some of the tightest credit spreads ever (easy access to credit), and the housing market had already begun its sharp decline.

He is currently in prison, indicted in 1999 on charges of defrauding Japanese investors. His trial would have made more sense had it taken place in “Alice in Wonderland”. Without getting into all the details here, just the fact that he was in jail for seven years for contempt of court should be enough to make any American cringe and wonder how that’s possible in the great ‘ole USA. He finally caved in and plead guilty in 2007 to the fraud charge. In return, he was given an additional five year prison term in addition to the seven he had already served! Now, if this were any ordinary American schmo, perhaps he could be written off for one reason or another as just another guy with a crazy “they’re out to get me” sob story. However, when you look deeper into the facts, and then consider that Mr. Armstrong was also one of the most respected financial research advisers to scores of powerful figures from central bank executives to heads of multinational corporations to heads of state, it really makes you wonder what’s going on with the “Rule of Law” — the real glue that holds our country together. Armstrong even authored the most insightful and thorough analysis of the 1929 crash ever assembled on behalf of the Reagan administration in the ’80s.

From his jail cell, Martin Armstrong continues to write some of the most insightful and interesting essays I’ve come across on a variety of topics from market cycles, to rule of law, to the history and cycles of politics and war. Since he has access to little more than an old typewriter (and no whiteout), you must understandably have a bit of patience with his “what I’m thinking about now” writing style. Would I be showing my age if I can still recall the nightmare of using a typewriter for school papers? It’s horrible.

Regardless, I’ve learned more useful knowledge about world history (and our own history) from Armstrong’s essays than I ever learned in school. And it’s more fascinating than you can even imagine. Everything’s been done and tried before. And here’s some food for thought… in the six thousand or so years of civilized history, can anyone find one example where socialism actually succeeded with a happy ending? But I guess that’s why most politicians don’t bother to learn any of history’s lessons. It would just interfere with their agendas and other questionable motives.

The following text is an excerpt from Martin Armstrong’s latest essay entitled “Objective vs Subjective Analysis” (pages 10-12). I’ve also taken the liberty of making some small corrections here and there to make the text more readable while still hopefully maintaining Mr. Armstrong’s full meaning and intent.

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CHIPPED FOR YOUR PROTECTION, TAXED FOR ALL YOU’VE GOT, AND BAILED OUT FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

Alexander — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:07:24 +0000

Ranting about Human RFID Implants to detect Swine FLU, More Taxes from the non-inflation-adjusted AMT, more bailouts for your protection, along with a bit of market insight to boot. Music: “Noite de Carnaval” by HisBoyElroy

DEBT REVOLT BEGINS NOW!

Alexander — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:54:14 +0000

This recently posted video to YouTube by Ann a.k.a. Rockerchic4God describes the public credit crisis dilemma so well I had to post it here. She’s furious that Bank of America would jack up her credit card APR to over 30% despite no change in her credit rating, and no misses in payments. While Bank of America (and MANY OTHER BANKS mind you) were more than willing to accept government largess off the backs of hardworking Americans, they’ve turned around and jacked up rates on middle class debtors across the board to try and make up for all their solid risk management principles based on insane levels of leverage.

Her response is that if Bank of America doesn’t revert her credit card back to its previous rate, they’re not getting one more cent out of her. And she recommends that you do the same, especially if you do not own your own home or other major assets.

This “just walk away” attitude seems to be gaining traction among middle class ~~slaves~~workers who are hardest hit by a slithery cocktail of inflation and usurious interest rates that can be changed after the money has already been borrowed, at the whim of the lender without consequence. This attitude could gain traction as more mortgages continue to reset and employment continues to rise (just because people give up looking for a job doesn’t mean that unemployment drops – well, unless you’re the government looking to rig statistics just a wee bit more). The legal system won’t be able to do anything to stop it if tens of millions of people decide to stop paying their unsecured loans. And that’s the ultimate fear of the elite “powers that be” that they don’t want you to realize. If people band together for a just and fair cause against institutions and government that is corrupt to no end, only then can REAL CHANGE ever happen.

The Obama Deception

Alexander — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:23:13 +0000

The Obama Deception is a must-see film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.

The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He’s been pushed as a savior in an attempt to con the American people into literally accepting global slavery.

We have reached a critical juncture in the New World Order’s plans. It’s not about Left or Right: it’s about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.

Around 44 minutes into the movie: What happened to all the promises of CHANGE by Obama, such as immediately ending the war in Iraq, outlawing secret arrests, ending the Patriot Act, ending government wiretapping, getting out of NAFTA and GATT, improving transparency, removing lobbyist conflicts-of-interest, or bringing all the criminal banksters responsible for the credit crisis to justice, to name just a few… Regarding the war, he’s actually planning to add more troops to Afghanistan! And we won’t even begin discussing the outrageous Health Care bill which amounts to a complete government takeover of just about everything related to health care.

The truth is that Obama is just one more pawn, just like Bush and many presidents before him, in a larger global agenda. Learn the true backgrounds of the many cabinet members he assigned to power – many who were already part of previous democratic and republican presidential administrations. So much for CHANGE…

Only Goldman Sachs can get away with Illegal Insider Trading

Alexander — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:33:04 +0000

It’s kind of ironic how Martha Stewart became the poster child for cracking down on insider trading activity, even though it was never even proven or substantiated. For those of you that remember the movie Airplane with Leslie Nielsen, it reminds me of the scene where the police officers detain the little old lady while allowing a dozen terrorists to walk right through the security gate armed with bazookas. Now with Goldman Sachs, we’re faced with likely the greatest inside information and market manipulation scheme of all time — way larger than the usual trading on inside information that seems to go on every day in the markets. And once again, I doubt a single one of the people responsible will end up in jail over it (let alone receive anything much more than a slap on the wrist, if that). More likely, it’ll be brushed under the rug with the rest of the manure and never heard of again. But should we really expect anything different from our government, which at this point exists as little more than a taxpayer-subsidized wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs?! Shhhh, thou shalt not use the lordGoldman’s name in vain!

It was also quite telling that Goldman was able to have the FBI detain their programmer Sergey Aleynikov within a day’s notice on charges that the theft of their code was an issue of national security as it could enable others to manipulate the markets. Of course, I’m sure that’s not what Goldman would be using it for (uh huh)… But I suppose that the Plunge Protection Team a.k.a. Goldman Sachs does require “special access” to the markets to do its job and assure it stays in the black (and then sooooome).

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Has Anyone Bothered to Read the Healthcare Bill?!

Alexander — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:58:47 +0000

It’s always fascinating how many people will waste hours upon hours arguing for something such as the national healthcare plan without having bothered to spend 5 minutes reading even one page of the actual bill. Of course, when people don’t even care when their own politicians admit that it’s too much trouble to actually take the time to try and understand it, perhaps people deserve what’s coming to them. According to democrat John Conyers of Michigan, “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?” This guy is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

And have you ever noticed that those who endorse higher taxes never seem to be the ones who bother to actually pay them? Consider the odd case of democrat Charlie Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He’s leading the charge for a new 5.4% income tax surcharge and recently called it “the moral thing to do.” Ironically, this comes from a politician who has more blatant outstanding tax evasion issues — 6 investigations so far and counting! — than our Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner himself. From violating rent-control rules to hiding rental income to tax evasion, one wonders how Rangel has any time to do perform his duties of serving the people… Serving them with more crappy bills and exorbitant taxes that is.

So, for anyone set on the terrific merits of the ObamaCare healthcare bill, let me help you out with some specific points and details directly from the bill, page numbers included. Mind you, these are just a few of my favorite points from the bill (as compiled by Peter Fleckenstein):

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Trading for Control and Avoiding the Confidence Trap

Alexander — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:23:20 +0000

Most traders and investors at one time or another have fallen into the “confidence” trap. Sometimes it’s a result of believing in the infallibility of their research. Other times it’s due to having a presumed “hot” hand — they’ve finally got the game figured out and can do no wrong. Maybe they’ve gotten caught up with some hot new money-minting trading system with a great historical track record. Or perhaps they’ve been drawn in by someone else’s hot streak, in a chat room for instance (novice traders, trying to skip a few steps, are notorious for succumbing to this). All the calls turn out great, and even the fundamental and technical research that’s shared always seems right on the money. However, up to that point they’ve just watched –- and they’re kicking themselves for missing out on yet another huge gain. Let’s take our fictional trader and call him Bernie.

Bernie decides he’s not going to miss out on the next opportunity that comes up. When the next “hot stock” is revealed, it happens to be a stock that he himself already had on his radar. The additional research backs up his conviction. Everything seems right, and the stock appears perfectly poised for a huge move. Bernie’s confidence level for the trade is higher than ever. Forget about what he can afford to lose, this is the trade that’ll make his year!

Bernie decides to accumulate a position much larger than normal — 3 times as large in fact, equating to about a quarter of his total account size. At first, all seems to be working out great and the trade has even moved a nice 5% in his favor. Two days later however, he wakes up to find the stock down 25%, blowing right through any stop levels he may have considered. The company out of the blue announced a dilutive secondary offering to “better take advantage of opportunities that may become available” or some other similar mumbo-jumbo.

Bernie feels caught, but he figures the big picture still hasn’t really changed, and that prices should find support around the offering price. In fact, he decides to double his position around the offering price if he can. The company’s valuation seems cheaper than ever, and the company will now have even more cash to materialize its goals.

However, as the price continues to drop, Bernie starts to wonder… More investors, increasingly disgusted by the management’s apparent lack of regard for their investing well-being, decide to throw in the towel. By the end of the week, the stock is down another 38% just from the offering price! The same stock that traders and investors all loved at $9 just a few days earlier, they now hate at $5. Even those investors who bought into the secondary are feeling completely betrayed.

Ironically, if the research and valuations are accurate, the stock should be more attractive than ever at these levels. Of course, it doesn’t matter anymore, as most traders (including our newbie trader Bernie) decided to throw in the towel as the stock sells off in a panic around $4/share leaving Bernie with a whopping 44% account loss (requiring a 125% increase in account value just to reach breakeven). Several days later, the stock is trading back around its offering price. How’s that for the perfect reaming. Bernie feels crushed, blames the guy in the chat room for putting out such a horrible call, and calls him a fraud despite the fact that all his other picks turned out pretty well.

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Bailouts, Lifelines, and Bank Rescues will cost $23 Trillion!

Alexander — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:32:01 +0000

If you spent a million dollars a day since the birth of Christ, it still wouldn’t even amount to ONE trillion dollars. However, a series of bailouts, bank rescues and other economic lifelines could end up costing the federal government as much as $23 trillion, the U.S. government’s watchdog over the effort says – a staggering amount that is nearly double the nation’s entire economic output for a year, with our most recent GDP figures coming in just over $14 trillion.

That’s more than the total amount spent by the U.S. on all the wars it has ever spent, even accounting for inflation. By comparison, going to the moon in 1969 cost an estimated $237 billion in current dollars, and the entire Depression-era Roosevelt relief program came in at $500 billion (according to Jim Bianco of Bianco Research).

These figures are considered worst-case scenarios, and that’s where we find the most humorous part of this story. According to Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams, “The $23.7 trillion estimate generally includes programs at the hypothetical maximum size envisioned when they were established. It was never likely that all these programs would be ‘maxed out’ at the same time.”

That’s interesting… I mean, what are the odds that something like this could ever happen?! Somehow the universe likes to test us on the one in a billion odds that everything will likely happen at the same time, especially where money is concerned. Perhaps that’s because when you combine monetary weapons of mass destruction such as huge leverage, unlimited reckless spending, wild levels of borrowing, and a non-stop printing press, history has proven over and over again that there is always a day of reckoning, usually triggered by a single event that causes all the other dominoes to collapse one after the other in a giant waterfall-type debacle.

But once it’s here, watch for all the news stories blaming speculators, or republicans, or democrats, or the rich, or the Chinese, or whoever else would make a good target for finger-pointing away from those who are always responsible. The real culprits usually include most politicians (democrats and republicans), along with the secret group of people you’ll never hear about who control them through bribes lobbying, favors, or simply because they are too powerful, wealthy, and politically well-connected to risk alienating.

If the democrats screw things up, the republicans will come in and continue the same ‘ole game. When they screw up, it goes right back to the same few democrats that are once again presented to the public for “consideration”. And thus the circle of destruction continues, with no one having any accountability beyond their ability to slip past the next election.

Don’t worry, though, the odds that all their shenanigans backfiring on us all at the same time is virtually nil. Just like when Ben Bernanke flat out told us that he had no doubt the subprime crisis would be easily contained, with little spillover or no to other areas of the economy. Uh oh, I suppose “virtual nil” still means there is a chance…

Remembering Those Who Died for Our Independence

Alexander — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:50:09 +0000

The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull (1795). Trumbull's famous painting is often identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.

It’s always wise to remember the price people paid to provide us with so many of the freedoms that we take completely for granted today. Especially in these times when our civil rights are being stripped away one after another by the government “elite” all in the name of protecting us from terrorists, banksters, panics, and ponzi schemes often created and orchestrated by those same people behind the scenes. Bernie Madoff has been given 150 years in jail for orchestrating a huge ponzi scheme. But who will go to jail when the greatest ponzi schemes of all time go bust? Who will pay when the monetary system collapses into hyperinflation and the social security and medicare systems collapse altogether? Instead, they’ll probably give the same people who helped cause the problems kudos for “saving” us from the mess, along with a few more trillion dollars of some new currency to help “save us” from themselves…

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Sasha Obama’s Pool Party was a Big Splash for Taxpayers?

Michelle — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:50:29 +0000

Happy Eighth Birthday Sasha Obama! Hope it was a big splash!

President Obama is not only an exemplary politician but also a role model of a father. In a news article published in the Baltimore Sun yesterday, Barack emphasized the importance of maintaining a normal family life in his White House by making his young daughters’ schedules a priority on his to do list. In fact, so much so that the Prez was quoted as saying, “You know, we had travel. I had to go to Normandy. And then the girls had, Sasha had her birthday party here, and she was flying folks in for a pool party. So, really, it revolves around the girls’ social schedule.”

According to Blackcelebkids.com, Sasha O.’s eighth birthday was a full four day fête (June 7^th – 10^th) while living it up in Paris, France and London, England (even closing tourist hotspot Westminster Abbey!) and according to Dad, a pool party at the White House. That’s quite some birthday for an eight-year-old! Next year’s decadent festivities may have to top Paris Hilton’s twenty-first bday debauchery.

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Obama Wants to Color You White!

Michelle — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:52:38 +0000

Pres. Obama and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu potentially see a fair amount of green in the lighter shades of white. Photo art by Michelle.

If President Obama has his way, your personal property might get a blanching. Compared to a horse of a different color, it’s really not that outlandish. This past Tuesday at a climate change symposium in London hosted by the Prince of Wales, Mr. President expressed his interest in painting rooftops and roadways an “energy-reflecting white”. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained that by painting roads and flat roofs a lighter color it could have a similar energy-saving effect as taking every car worldwide off the road for a whopping eleven years.

As stated in this article, Secretary Chu rationalized that, “It was a geo-engineering scheme that was “completely benign” and would keep buildings cooler and reduce energy use from air conditioning, as well as reflecting sunlight back away from the Earth.

For people who found white hard on the eye, scientists had also developed “cool colours” which looked to the human eye like normal ones, but reflect heat like pale colours even if they are darker shades.

And painting cars in cool or light colours could deliver considerable savings on energy use for air conditioning units, he said.”

Reducing energy costs while saving the planet sounds like a bright idea. My question is, where will they get the green to go green? The U.S. Treasury is broke; hopefully, this won’t be a blinding initiative that will break the backs of taxpayers. Or, maybe this plan for global whitewashing will end washed up.

Join Ron Paul’s Drive to Audit the Fed and Shut it Down with HR 1207

Alexander — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:54:23 +0000

With many Americans slowly waking up to the reality that our government and banking system are entirely under the control of a criminal elite of private bankster crooks, Ron Paul has once again taken it upon himself to push for an audit of the Federal Reserve, the outcome of which would likely be so incomprehensibly shocking that the Fed may finally be forced to shut down for the greater good of our country and its citizens.

The Federal Reserve was originally created under the guise of being an “impartial” entity separate from the government that could be called upon to stabilize our economy in times of panic, while protecting and maintaining free market principles. The sick twisted irony is that the Fed is the precise antithesis of what free markets are really about. And since the Fed’s inception, it has done nothing but DESTABILIZE our economy with increased volatility by manipulating interest rates, along with leverage ratios used by the banks (in cahoots with those who control the Fed and the SEC).

It still boggles my mind that the SEC implemented the “Pattern Day Trader” rule to “protect the little guy” by forcing more active traders and investors to maintain at least $25,000 in a trading account or face severe trading restrictions. I guess the SEC also forgot that they came into power largely because a big part of the 1929 crash was caused by the extension of 10:1 credit to investors (which couldn’t have happened without the Fed’s easy money policies). So to make amends, the SEC goes on to serve and protect “the little guy” some more by allowing ONLY the largest (and most politically-connected) “too big to fail” investment banks pump up their balance sheets with over 40:1 leverage.

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What the Fudge?! Twenty-Two Dollar Brownie Mix!!!

Michelle — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:45:57 +0000

$22 bucks for a box of designer brownie mix? Only a DOPE would pay that much!

You can have your cake and eat it too, but it might cost you!

Candy connoisseur and entrepreneur Dylan Lauren (daughter of fashion mogul, Ralph Lauren), of Dylan’s Candy Bar, is banking sweetly from her decadent treats and do-it-yourself sweets. Alas, these costly, take-home coolinary kits, like the Chocolate Brownie Mix, have a biting price tag of $22 clams! You’d expect a boxed mix to shoot you over the moon for laying down that kind of mean green. The packaging says it’s made with seventy percent Belgian chocolate. Surely, for that much cash the other thirty percent must contain hash?! Nope, unfortunately it includes no dope but you’d have to be high to buy. Or go dutch or broke!

As for my fudge fix, I’ll stick with a three dollar Betty Crocker mix. If your sweet tooth can’t resist Dylan’s, try a multi-tasking, chocolaty indulgence that’s lip-smacking good, skimps on the calories and it’ll let your wallet maintain its weight. Check out Dylan’s Chocolate Cupcake Lip Saver at Sephora.com.

Brownie Points

Using apple sauce as a substitute for vegetable oil cuts out fatty calories and makes your brownies extra fudgy while saving your waistline from growing regrettably pudgy. Be sure to read the directions on the side of your boxed brownie mix and/or check your recipe for alternative baking instructions.

According to Dylanscandybar.com, “the first known recipe for brownies was published in the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue”. “Aging like a fine wine” is considered praise by some. However, the compliment of “aging like a brownie”, indubitably would be welcomed by none.

Company Crumbs

According to this Crain’s article published in 2008, Dylan’s Candy Bar was expected to have generated revenues of $20 million dollars last year. Now that’s a whole lotta bon bons!

Score Cheap Booties $$$ Two Bucks for Your Bang!

Michelle — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:34:14 +0000

Being a frugalista, this two buck steal-of-a-deal was simply BOOTiful!

Don’t you just love that warm and fuzzy feeling you get all over when you bag an amazing deal? Okay, maybe you don’t but I sure DO! Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother blogging about my boring buys but I found a real steal in a brick-and-mortar store in New York City (cheaper than a slice of freakin’ pizza) and had to pass on my savings!

I’m all “warm and fuzzy” over these booties that I bought at Laytner’s Linen & Home Store on Broadway for just TWO BUCKS a pair. That’s the price of one swipe on your MetroCard and helluva lot cheaper than the “recession special” at Gray’s Papaya. I have to say, these voluminous, fleece-lined, microfiber booties are only fashionable for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (as in GhostBusters fame) but keeping my tootsies cozy during the cold winter months (which seems like most of the year here in the Northeast) is a must.

It really does pay to be patient on purchases (however big or small) and late spring is a terrific time to find steals on items for next fall and winter. My booties originally retailed for $24.99 and I bought three pairs at $2/each for a total savings of $68.97. To top it off I snatched up an organic, cotton-sateen, 300 thread count Queen-sized sheet set for just $29.99 (originally marked $59).

Frugalistas and bargain hunters, what’s your latest score? Please share in the comments section below!

NY Hard Assets Conference Review 2009

Alexander — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:48:34 +0000

While I didn’t have a chance to get down to the NY Hard Assets Conference in New York City May 11th-12th, Daryl Montgomery of the NY Investing Meetup did attend. Honestly, I counted on him releasing a good summary and review of the conference so that I could focus on trading and managing positions in this crazy market! (did I say that out loud?!) He didn’t let me down, and wrote an excellent summary of the conference on his blog, along with his take of the “experts” in attendance and their “predictions”. It’s definitely worth reading the full article. Some key points are included below:

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Turning Natural Gas into Fresh Pork

Alexander — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:35:40 +0000

While the overall market had a tough day today after gapping up early in the morning, one shining star stood out that has the potential to make investors some serious pork. After nearly a year of being decimated, many commodities recently began to spring back to life. And while oil bottomed in mid-February and went on to make a 60%+ recovery back to $57/barrel, natural gas went on to lose another 30%. Natural Gas (ETF:UNG) seems as if it may finally have risen from its deep slumber, and it’s ready to revitalize itself with a powerful new vigor. After trading below sharply descending key moving averages (the 50, 150, and 200 day moving averages) for nearly a full year, UNG finally pierced its 50 day moving average and closed above it with enough volume and price strength to give it a good shot at joining the party. The 50 day moving average also looks ready to turn back upwards after nearly a year. If the price action holds at these new levels, UNG has a good shot at moving significantly higher from these levels and joining its other energy compatriots. For disclosure, I hold positions in UNG, and I will consider adding more as the position proves itself to be correct.

On a side note, what ever happened to the swine flu “epidemic”?! Seems like this new scare has once again nearly burned itself out. It did, however, do a good job covering up the stream of disturbing spending programs and Treasury / Federal Reserve cover-up news spewing from Washington…

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Obama’s Thugs Scare New Yorkers SHIrTLESS!!!

Michelle — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:40:48 +0000

Lady Libery Gives Air Force One the One Finger Salute. Photo art by Michelle.

Y’all remember September 11th, 2001, that now notorious day in world history when a Saudi thug by the name of Osama Bin Laden was credited for the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil ever? It’s been quite some time, so your memory might be a wee bit foggy. Especially for those of you who weren’t on the island of Manhattan, or a bridge or tunnel’s distance away that late summer morning.

Fast forward seven-and-half years later to present day. We have a new thug by the name of Obama in the White House. He’s a super cool cat, sensitive and congenial. He’s the people’s clear choice for HOPE and CHANGE and all that other really, really, good Socialist mumbo jumbo. So Mack Daddy Obama, why did this assholish event take place Monday, involving YOUR 747 jet diving through lower Manhattan?!! Granted, it did say “Air Force One” on the side for anyone with Superman-esque laser vision to see. Of course, assuming those same people weren’t also fleeing for their lives. Mr. President, I’m sure you have a fascinating explanation. Perhaps you just didn’t know what your incompetent employees were planning to do with tax payers’ loose CHANGE of $329,000 dollars, right G?

Well, it turns out Mr. Prez didn’t know diddly ’bout this shizzle and is pissed, fo real yo. Mr. Louis Caldera claims responsibility for the super duper idea to fly Air Force One over New York City and New Jersey. The purpose? It was for a “training flight” AND sexy mid-air flyover photo shoot, barely missing Lady Liberty’s left ear. I wonder where he brewed such a fab plan to terrorize thousands of New Yorkers SHIrTLESS? Me thinks most likely while on the can – what better place to come up with crap (like me writing this blog)! This “hip” administration just couldn’t stand to have the same old passé photographs of Air Force One hanging over Mount Rushmore. Ugh…that’s so “100 days” ago. It would look tacky on the many coffee tabletops at the White House Crib. Gotta impress the international homies, word.

During a press conference a pissed-off Mayor Mike Bloomberg politely stated that the photo shoot was “insensitive” and that he was “furious” that he wasn’t told about it. Someone forgot to pass the Mayor of New York City a memo?! Oopsie…

For the $329,000 large the government wasted on some dope pics and a joyride, they could’ve purchased 465 licenses of Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a bonus of three blinged out camels, ten goats and 12 jackasses. Well, maybe hold the jackasses – Obama’s already got those positions filled.

If a talentless half-wit like myself can hack together the above picture in Photoshop all by my lonesome, I’d place a Fifty Cent bet that a non-paid White House intern can too. They could save even more taxpayer money and download an illegal copy (no biggie by Washington’s standards)! Surely Prez Obama’s peeps are familiar with Photoshop. I mean, c’mon, isn’t that what they used to create his “legitimate” birth certificate that’s been circulating around the internet? And why do they need new pictures anyway?! Is the President planning to charter out Air Force One to rich Middle-Eastern oil or real estate magnates? I hear the Bin Laden family is filthy rich.

Answers damn it, New Yawkers want REAL ANSWERS!!! And possibly a few government goofballs’ cushy jobs WHACKED!

Swine Flu Hysteria May Make for Cheap Mexican Vacations!

Michelle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:30:31 +0000

Translation: Bartender, another beer please! Oink, oink! Photo art by Michelle.

As I was standing in a ridiculously long, “fast” check-out line at the grocery store yesterday evening, an impatient gentleman shouted out to everyone waiting, “We can’t have a line like this! After all, it’s the Swine Flu Pandemic!”.

Perhaps in this man’s mind he thought his plea would be a ploy to speed up the line (Wait time a total of seven minutes, not that bad and you only have three items in your basket sir, some stockpile. And Mister, the cashiers making ten bucks an hour don’t give a flying **** what you shout!). Or sadly, this man is a fine example of what happens to someone who buys into the mainstream media’s “panic-demic” proportioned pandemonium. They become oafish Lemmings.

Seriously, is it just me or doesn’t it seem like there’s a new designer, potentially pandemic virus or disease that becomes a hot topic in the news every couple of years? Let’s revisit JUST the early 2000’s briefly, shall we? Off the top of my head… hmmm…SARS rings a bell, and there was that post(al) 9/11 Anthrax scare, for us East Coasters West Nile Virus was a bitch, ughh….with those nasty spray trucks spritzing all of Manhattan….what else, what else….oh, an Ebola outbreak in 2004 and something about a flesh-eating virus if I recall correctly. I’m sure I’m leaving something out…ah, the Avian flu!

And now we can add the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009 to that list! However, this isn’t the first swine influenza outbreak, add the Spanish flu of 1918, and the swine influenza of 1976 to that list. The 1918 – 1919 flu pandemic may have resulted from swine to humans (like what we have now) or the reverse. The evidence available at that time was unable to substantiate the matter. The Spanish influenza infected approximately one third of the world’s populace, killing about fifty million people. It sucked big time.

The 1976 U.S. outbreak claimed only one death from the flu and forty million U.S. citizens vaccinated. Conversely, the immunizations may have been the cause of 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome claiming 25 deaths from severe pulmonary complications.

The 2009 swine flu is a new strain of H1N1 swine influenza that can adapt to humans and “spread more efficiently than previously known swine flu strains”. Latest reports say that it has infected 2,770 people globally resulting with 152 dead in Mexico and possible two here in the States. This new strain may be able to spread faster, however, according to this article & the CDC, about 36,000 people die EVERY year in the U.S from influenza. Other stats claim a higher number of 56,000 (quite a discrepancy, right?).

So to put this whole swine flu hysteria in perspective, it’s the flu and will most likely target the elderly, young children or people who are chronically ill. People, please use some freakin’ common sense AND manners. Don’t sneeze or cough on others, wash your hands regularly (like you always should!), clean busy surface areas in your home with chlorinated bleach (diluted please, and don’t drink it, duh) and keep bottled water on hand in case of an emergency.

Like everyone else I have no idea (pay attention, this is my disclaimer) what the future may bring, and this may become a pandemic. But unlike 1918, we have advanced medical and communications advantages. It pisses me off when you come across an article like this beauty that paints the swine flu like it’s the coming of the next black plague!

With Mexico’s tourism already hit hard by drug wars and the Atlantic Hurricane season just around the corner, it may be a fine time to start looking for cheap Mexican travel deals after this outbreak (and maybe a hurricane or two) blows over. Or even better yet – cheaper beachfront real estate!

For giggles I had to include this from Yahoo! Answers. It’s always helpful when twelve-year-olds give their perspectives. Not that mine’s much better. Anyway here’s the question:

Should I cancel my Mexico vacation?

My famliy is going on vacation to Mexico in a month. How serious is the swine flu outbreak? Should I cancel my vacation to Mexico (Cancun) and go somewhere else. What would you do?

Thanx

Favorite Reply:

No, you can always bring masks and wash your hands very often.

It’s gonna spread to America, anyways, so why not have some fun before you die?

DENDREON’S 70% PORK OVER BY THE NASD

Alexander — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:27:09 +0000

Here’s to another great oversight job by the SEC and the NASD. For anyone who caught any of the trading in Dendreon today (NASD:DNDN), this is exactly the type of situation that can be the death of you as a trader. Once you see it unfolding, the best thing you can do is STAY THE HELL AWAY. For those of you who missed all the “fun”, basically DNDN tanked nearly 70% in a bit over two minutes from 1:25pm to 1:27pm down to around $7.75 and was halted a few minutes later. Trading did not resume until 6:15pm when the stock reopened at about $24 per share and traded as high as $27.65 within minutes before pulling back a bit. You think maybe a few people got caught in the early fun and games that took place by some market-manipulating private trading elite? I’d bet on it…

The Nasdaq Stock Market said it was investigating two minutes worth of transactions in Dendreon Corp because they may have resulted from a brokerage error. Transactions executed between 1:25pm and 1:27pm were under review, the New York-based exchange said in an e-mailed statement. Anyone who made any trades in DNDN during that time were now panicking due to the trading halt, since they have no clue what their position would be by the time it’s all over (as the stock may gap huge and/or the trades may be broken). In such a case, if it was really some massive broker error or some other strange sheistery, the proper way to handle it would have been to BREAK EVERY TRANSACTION right up to the time just before the debacle began. But, that would of course mean that those politically-connected friends of the NASD who made a fortune from this mess (you know, like Bernie Madoff until he went just a wee bit too far) would have to give it all back, and that’s just NOT PLAYING FAIR!

So, the Nasdaq Stock Market announced that it would let stand those hairy two minutes worth of transactions in Dendreon that it initially suspected were the result of a brokerage error! Nasdaq announced its decision in an e-mailed statement at 3:06pm. The statement also asserted that the ruling “cannot be appealed”. Of course not… then their pals couldn’t have booked their 100%+ of porkified profits once DNDN reopened for trading later in the day!

Getting caught in something like this is a trader’s worst nightmare, and my heart goes out to any trader who may have been sideswiped and reamed in the rear by the elite powers that be.

What can be learned from this? Trading is war, and you’re on your own. Your only protection is that you’re always in control of your position size. Remember the importance of discipline, and always consider worst-case scenarios when managing risk. Speaking of which, anyone else notice some of the “Swine Flu” stocks may be attempting to build new higher bases today (ie. NVAX, BCRX)?

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MAKE SOME PORK FROM THE SWINE FLU OUTBREAK!

Alexander — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:52:21 +0000

Another year, and another pandemic-potential flu virus outbreak. This year’s hoopla is over the swine influenza (H1N1) virus (swine flu) outbreaks in pigs which has also traversed to humans. Granted, this is frightening stuff. Perhaps what’s more frightening about this outbreak than other recent avian flu outbreaks is that not only are these closer to home, but that there have already been confirmed cases in humans from California to New York City. The outbreak seems to have spread from Mexico outward, as eight students at a New York Catholic high school that contracted swine flu had been to Mexico over spring break just two weeks ago.

Grounding ourselves back to reality, with so many protective measures now being taken, it’s likely that this outbreak will eventually fizzle out like those in previous years. Already many of the students are recovering, and with the heightening level of awareness people will be extra cautious. For those who want extra protection, I’ve heard that Sambucol (black elderberry extract) may be helpful in warding off flu virus attacks.

In the meantime, with all the hype around this outbreak (#swineflu is the top tweeted phrase on Twitter today!) is there some way to Pass Me The Pork on this crazy PIG FLU?!

Already Friday, several of the top flu vaccine “penny stocks” began moving sharply higher, and there’s likely more potential opportunity for greater moves higher on Monday. The current leader is NASD:NVAX (Novavax, Inc.), already up 75% on Friday alone. Scientists at Novavax have successfully developed the first multi-strain flu vaccine, though it may not be FDA approved in time to help with the current flu outbreak. As these stocks will already likely gap even higher pre-market Monday morning, you better watch the price action closely, don’t chase, and consider scaling in as higher bases form. If it’s too wild, stay away and wait until they calm down.

Some of these stocks may also turn out to be great shorts later this week. For disclosure purposes, I already managed to pick up some shares in a few of these stocks on Friday so I already have a nice little cushion, and will watch closely Monday for the opportunity to add more (or begin unloading if one of these stocks just goes completely berserk). But remember… Don’t stick around too long, hit and run baby! Well, enough rambling…

Here’s the list of stocks to consider (NVAX – Novavax, BCRX – Biocryst, GNBT – Generex, SVA – Sinovax, and MYL – Mylan/Roche/Tamiflu/oseltamivir). From the charts and data below, you’ll also notice a few of them have built up a significant short interest for some seriously whopping short-squeeze potential. Do your due diligence, don’t blink, and you just may be able to turn these pigs into some of your own PORK!

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ANY PORK IN THIS STOCK MARKET FOR ME?

Alexander — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:53:54 +0000

Video interview and update on the current State of the Markets, as well as the overall State of the Economy with Daryl Montgomery of the NY Investing Meetup (interviewed by Alexander Morris of moMoneyTV and PassMeThePork.com). Watch NOW to learn if there are any opportunities currently offered by the markets. We have the answers for what’s on everyone’s mind, “Is there any room in the stock market for it to PASS ME THE PORK??!”