debate this

last night's democratic debate contained all the usual suspects and they went at it for a good 2+ hours. It was hosted by a couple of the nbc news guys and besides featuring goofy stunts like a "jeopardy-esque" lightning round, the debate never really touched the "hot topics" that many Americans wanted to hear discussed. However, one topic that got quite a bit of attention was the questionable groundswell of interest in the tax rate that HF and PE managers are paying on their incentive fees or positive carry. The moderators talked about the top 100 managers making several hundred million up to $1+ billion annually all taxed at 15% instead of the normal 30+% that would be used against normal income. What's the deal with that? Is that really something that resonates with the average American? Shouldn't the debate be focused on things a little bit higher on the priority scale such as education, the war, healthcare, and about 10 other topics?

So the fed lowered rates by 25bps which sent the market rocketing skyward. The 3 major indices all finished markedly higher with the nasdaq looking the best of the three as it broke out into "new" territory...well at least territory is has not seen in a very long time. Techs were strong obviously with The Goog leading the way. Also financials were strong with such stock as Goldman Sachs (GS) hitting all-time highs at $248 a share. Oil continues its march to $100 a barrel. Someday soon, we're going to think that a C note was a steal for a barrel of crude. The guys long oil and gas are laughing all the way to the bank.

so much for black anything

So the market shrugged off last Friday's sell-off and bounced back with vigor this week. This thing could run into the end of the year or it is setting up a nice head fake for all of us.

Summary of this week: With time comes change and change is good.

TPA - out with the old and in with the new....minimums have been raised and we are going shopping.

PB - same old player but now going with an IB to get up and running....minimums have been raised so we are going indirect for now.

T&A - out with the old and in with the new again...minimum fees have been raised and we are going shopping. I really don't want to give away a chunk of performance in the form of GP fees so we are looking for a more competitive player.

Legal - same old same old I guess.

A bit of shuffling and re-organizing but bottom line we are getting as good or better service at a better price. Cheers to that.

Happy Friday.

DJIA 13,806.70

NASDAQ 2,804.19

SP500 1,535.28

Black Monday/Black Friday

20 year anniversary today of the big crash of 1987. In sympathy with the rough day the markets experienced 20 long years ago, the Dow sold off 367 points today to close at 13,522. To put it in perspective, Black Monday saw the DJIA sell off 508 points and close somewhere around 1739. What a difference 20 years makes.

I was in college taking a Business Ethics class that met on Monday nights. I had gone about my usual Monday during school, attended some classes, went to a few meals and by the time I showed up in the hall for the evening's lecture, I had not a clue that the market had experienced a 22.6% drop in value in 1 day. I had known that the prior week had been a rough one but was out of the loop as far as Monday's market news was concerned. It was interesting, our business professor was quite excited about the day's sell-off and we discussed for the remainder of the evening the repercussions of the day's events. Who would have thought that 20 years later the Dow would be almost 12,000 points higher.

Happy 'black' weekend.

DJIA 13,522.02

Nasdaq 2,725.16

SP500 1,500.63

rolling & records

all-time highs, 52 week highs, 6 year highs, one can't get away from it. The markets are on fire right now. The tech sector is leading the way with companies like The Goog and Chinese play BIDU absolutely ripping. When will it all come to an end? Time will tell. In the meantime, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Momentum at the home office too as the days are flying by with lots of work getting done and progress being made. Gettin' serious around here. Fall is in the air.

Happy weekend.

DJIA 14,093.08

NASDAQ 2,805.68

SP500 1,561.80

quiz

Question: If I sell short one share of stock at $100 and bring in $100 for the effort and then later buy back and cover the short position at $10 (hey, what can I say...I'm good), I am paying out $10 to buy back the one share of stock. So $10 went "out" of my pocket to cover the short position, and $100 came "in" to my pocket to originally sell short the stock.

$10 out, $100 in. What is my return on that trade? (ignoring commissions and interest)

back on top

a big week for the markets overall...up up and away. The dog days of summer seems like eons ago and now the future is nothing but bright all over. Ok, maybe not that optimistic but don't be sitting on the sidelines as this market could very well run into the end of year. Not trying to predict or anything but let the trend be your friend as a man much wiser than I once said.

Happy Friday.

DJIA 14,066.01

NASDAQ 2,780.32

SP500 1,557.59