A Bone to Pick with Reality.

Everyone's writing books these days.  I credit James Altucher (@jaltucher) with getting me off the fence, but having a son really helped get over the hump, too.  The problem has always been subject matter.  You see, no one really gives a fuck about what anyone else has done.  There's always a schadenfreude or smug "I could do that" attitude that goes into reading autobiographies.  For me anyway.  And maybe that's the problem.  To my thinking the truest virtue of all is follow-through, and when a car ride with Buttercup turned into a conversation about some friend of her parents dying, it occurred to me that I simply wanted to be remembered as a philosopher - and philosophers write philosophy.

Here's the opening paragraph of Sur le Pontification:  Shit I Learned the Hard Way for Ego and Id:

First and most importantly, branding yourself hurts like a motherfucker, for a protracted period of time.  We're not talking tattoo here.  I did make it through the first week.  And the second.  But she found out today, and that was not ideal - and there's the rub.

She asked me what I would tell my son, as if he'd ever have occasion to see the upper third of the outside of my thigh.  I'd tell him it hurt like a motherfucker, just like I told you.  But beyond that, is it any of his fucking business what I had done or why?  Libertarian isn't a convenience.  Individual will and desire aren't to be labeled.  This is why Waffler-in-Chief Obama's statement on gay marriage was even hollower than it sounded.

The true fact is that your rights end at my nose.

Remember that.

book's coming this fall, get excited.

I had this idea.

note - the cover is designed and converted to pdf as below, but for some stoopid reason has that gray border after uploading to scribd;  i do not have a license to use Sprint, The PGA, or any other names or logos

Staying on top of the Inbox.

$80 Billion 'Gas Price' Tax on Consumption by zerohedge
Why I do not like Small Caps much at the moment by John Hempton (@John_Hempton) via brontecapital
Nullification:  A Jury's 'Secret' Power by Erik R. Guenther via State Bar of Wisconsin

Berkshire 2011 Shareholder Letter by Warren Buffett
How to be Successful by Mike Bellafiore via smbcapital
Leaked Memo Blows Lid off Greek Bailout by Joe Weisenthal via businessinsider

F5 Acquires Traffix by yahoo
A Tale of Two Depressions by Barry Eichengreen and Kevin O'Rourke via voxeu
So What if Apple has a Chinese Labor Problem by Jordan Terry (@The_Analyst) via forbes

Characteristics of a Boom Boom Stock by Kunal Desai (@kunal00) via bullsonwallstreet
Trend Following Advice from John W. Henry by Michael Covel
How We Roll by gtotoy

What is the Method to your Madness by James Altucher (@jaltucher)
Tomorrow's Market Probably Won't Look Anything Like Today by Carl Richards
Deconstructing a Trade:  Picking up the Clues by Brian Lund

The one about glass houses.

see also Reminiscences of a Retired Kindergartner

Spring Cleaning the Olde Inbox

Dangerous Knowledge by Dan Colman via openculture

The Kirby Theory Explained by Ron "the goat" Roll (@gtotoy)

Letters to a Young Analyst by Tom Brakke (@researchpuzzler) via NYSSA

Finally ... a Classier Keg Party by Julia La Roche via businessinsider << pay attention to how the inventor talks about business

Indiana University ... Profit by Precise Pricing via emergingmoney

February 3rd Gameplan Review by Steve Spencer (@sspencer_smb) via smbcapital

Trader Inverventional by @FuturesTrader71

Can You Tell the Difference? by Steve Spencer

Four Pathways to Increase Trading Performance:  Part I & II by Brian Lund (@bclund)

Top 5 Regrets of the Dying by Susie Steiner via guardian

Spectacular Aurorae Erupt over Norway by Ian O'Neill via discovery

MPAA ... Threatens Politicians by Mike Masnick via techdirt

Longitudinal Weight Distribution (snow skiing) via mechanicsofsport
Lateral Weight Distribution (snow skiing) via mechanicsofsport

The Holy Grail Setup Explained by @traderstewie via theimpatienttrader
Homeless Teen is Intel Competition Semifinalist posted by Jacob Wolinsky via valuewalk
Stocktiger's Lazy Trader Technique by Richard Crockett (@stocktiger) via chart.ly

How to Maximize Your Memory by Jon Simons via guardian
Candlestick Pattern Dictionary via stockcharts
10 Key Differences Between Bull and Bear Rallies by TradersLog

How to Trade the News by Andrew Hall via itradepod
Ohio Quake ... Won't Stop Oil and Gas Work by Mark Niquette via bloomberg
OptionsHawk Blog by Joe Kunkle (@optionshawk)

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself by Marc via marcandangel
People Are Awesome by derDon1234 via capitalogix
You Don't Live in the World You Were Born Into by Mark Cuban via businessinsider

2011 is the Year I Started Over by Michael Bigger via biggercapital
After Abuse Scandal ... Wife Files for Divorce by Josh Chin via wsj
Here's What a Failed Bond Auction Looks Like by Gus Lubin via businessinsider

Value Trading Basics by Rodney Lalgie with Andrew Hall via itradepod
Business Booms and Depressions by Tension Envelope Corp [old skool] via stlouisfed

SPX Seasonality

Thanks to vcutrader for tweeting this diagram.

The Japanese Debt Model

A few days ago Twitter must-follow BarbarianCap commented on the rising trend in unfunded union pension obligations.

So then I start to wonder:

If, rather than diversify for the sake of diversification, a union were to use its pension strictly for purchasing its parent company's secured debt;

then a more direct system of accountability would be in place [access to financials, corporate leadership],
then it would always have control over the deployment of company cash [loan covenants],
then legacy liabilities would be better protected [by priority and security of operating assets],
then employees would always have "skin in the game,"
then the market would be forced to take unsecured risk.

Then I start to think about the Japanese debt model whereby its citizens hold most of its country's paper.

Then I say to myself, that is exactly what is going on in the world.  While China and Russia move large volumes of US debt (zerohedge), yields continue to plunge.  So while it may not be clear at first blush who owns all this debt, the only obvious answer is that the Fed must be purchasing it with its thinly veiled broker / front operation Pimco, and all their $1.3T AUM.

Then I see these videos on ibankcoin about the ESF, and further consider what the ECB is doing through the EFSF.

Is this good or bad?  Could the same supposed benefits of a union pension funding its parent company be achieved on a scale as large as the US and Europe?  Is it right to try?  Who can say, but if there's one lesson that we learn, then forget, then learn again, it is that Confidence is a cruel mistress, indeed.