Short Circuit.

Posted by Colin Doyle June 30, 2010

Well, what do ya know? Looks like we had another "flash crash" yesterday. This time, shares of the not-so-venerable Citigroup (C) plunged 17% in less time than it takes banksters to raid the U.S. Treasury of taxpayer money to cover their bad trades. Which, as we all know, can happen rather fast. However, the 5 minute freeze in trading activity which is triggered by a rapid plunge in shares allowed for the trade to be corrected and the stock to open up at a price that was in line with earlier trading activity.

Chart Courtesy of Zero Hedge/ Bloomberg Terminal.

LINKS:

Zero Hedge: Fat Digital Finger Breaks Citi Stock...

NY Times Dealbook: Citi Suffers It's Own Minicrash.

WSJ: Citigroup Becomes Second Stock Halted By Circuit Breaker.

Great Minds Think Alike...

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 28, 2010

Photo Courtesy of Life.com (Jamie McCarthy/ WireImage)

Uh-oh!! Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, the financial "genius" whose only remaining personal asset is a $10,000 dollar German shepherd following a massive and embarrassing bankruptcy, is in trouble yet again. Turns out the ex-slugger was paid for pumping stocks on his bff Jim Cramer's website TheStreet.com. This is all according to author Randall Lane in his book The Zeroes: My Misadventures In The Decade Wall Street Went Insane. Lane alleges Dykstra was given $250,000 worth of secretly issued stock in return for the pumping of that same stock to TheStreet.com's unwitting subscribers.

Let's face it, Lenny was a helluva hard nosed ballplayer in the mold of Pete Rose. (In fact, he was Pete Rose on steroids...literally). But a financial genius he was not. Cramer created this financial savant mythology with his constant pumping of Dykstra's stock picking ability. The truth is "Nails" was a big name, a likable mumbling celebrity hybrid who could appeal to the everyman. Dykstra was like a lot of TheStreet.com's everyday subscribers for which stockpicking and day trading were secondary careers or hobby rather than full time vocation. He was thus a perfect pitchman for the budding empire Jim Cramer was building for the so-called "retail" investor with himself, James J. Cramerious The Bold as benign (re: mad) Emperor.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Trent.

Back to the front...

The stock in question was a small cap named Automated Vending Technologies (AVTC.PK). According to Randall Lane, AVTC's founder Shannon Illingworth gave Dykstra $250,000 of AVTC stock (secretly putting it in the name of Lenny's brother-in-law) in exchange for the pumping of said stock on Dykstra's newsletter for TheStreet.com.

The real question remains unanswered. Mainly, will any of this damn dirty Dykstra business come back to haunt Captain Cramerica, the Mad Emperor of all financial media? Or will Cramer's well worn teflon coat beat back yet another scandal?

Read The Full Story Here: The Daily Beast: Jim Cramer Stock Touting Scandal.

The iPhone 4...

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 26, 2010

iPhone 4 Video - The Deleted Scenes from Adam Scott

If you were on the fence about purchasing an iPhone 4 perhaps this will influence your decision.

As Previously Mentioned....

Posted by Colin Doyle June 22, 2010

Image Courtesy of Reason.com

Luckily, U.S District Judge Martin Feldman was thoughtful enough to do the right thing today.

President Obama's moratorium to cease the issuing of new deep-water drilling permits was just the beginning of the sloppy policy reaction coming down in the wake of this crisis. Once the government gets in the middle of this (drilling) business it will make the investment in and operation of it near impossible. The ability of the federal government to recall permits, and require new ones, opens any company up to the possibility of potentially being shut down. It sets a bad precedent.

It is my opinion that in order to clean up this mess (pun intended ) the President should realize efforts must be focused on BP specifically. That's the trade here. BP's swaps are already rallying in expectation of what should be an easy political fix for the President, and an even easier meal for Wall St.

Oh, and here's the one year on BP. Geronimo!

Broad And Wall For Sale!!

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 21, 2010

Photo Courtesy of the AP.

According to the Associated Press, Christie's will auction off the famous (or infamous depending upon your persuasion) street sign marking the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets. The post is expected to fetch up to $ 80,000. No word on whether or not a nostalgic "Pretty Boy" Lloyd Blankfein will be in on the bidding.

Speaking of Lloyd...Here's some wit and wisdom for Monday:

The People of The United States Vs. Tony Hayward.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 17, 2010.

Graphic by Colin Doyle.

An Englishman went to Capitol Hill and (insert joke here).

Image Courtesy of Cummings / The Financial Times.

Cablevision's Manifest Destiny.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 15, 2010

Image Courtesy of Tim Mosenfelder/ Getty Images.

Go west (not so) young man...

Cablevision has just bought Bresnan Communications, a mid-sized cable TV operator out west, for $ 1.37 billion dollars. CVC Big James Dolan, lead singer of the band JD and The Straight Shot, will finance most of the deal with (some serious) borrowed coin.

But let's be honest here. The only asset that anyone in New York really gives a tuppity damn about Dolan acquiring is a young baller straight out of Akron, OH. His name, I believe, is LeBron James.

TECH SHOWDOWN!

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 14, 2010

Image courtesy of Mashable.

Great graphic from Mashable depicting the looming showdown between the HTC Evo vs. iPhone 4 vs. Droid Incredible, essentially listing and comparing the various pertinent tech specs between the the three dominant smart phones on the market. In looks as if on the whole Apple wins again due mainly to it's superior storage, battery life, and app store.

In other tech news:

Microsoft unveiled it's new Xbox Kinect at the E3 conference in Los Angeles.

Is this new motion capture technology an official Wii-killer? JustmaybeperhapsyeahIthinkso...just check out the upcoming Star Wars game coming in 2011.

World's Greatest Trader Steps Out.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 14, 2010

Video courtesy of Vanity Fair Online.

What Does The Future Hold For The Strength And Liquidity Of Housing?

Posted by Colin Doyle June 13, 2010

Image courtesy zizzio.com
The Pro:

Real weakness in the market, or simply put "the glut" of homes for sale will eventually allow a NATURAL market bottoming/price discovery. Pricing homes to sell while giving less certain investors the confidence to get back in.

As the overall economy improves real estate will once again be seen as a solid long term investment in the most stable resilient economy in the world. In short a stable economy will create an appetite for more investment/risk.

Home prices will potentially decline as the fed tightens interest rates (they can't get any lower right now) If the price decline can offset the rise in rates, or even price homes significantly more favorably, then this could be a boon to the strength of the market as long as buyers are there.

The government has shown it's commitment to a stable and strong housing sector. This doesn't hurt your chances of obtaining special funding, credits, and help from other types of government incentive programs.

The Con:

The 8K tax credit will soon expire.

The federal reserve can't keep rates this low and the rate increase will potentially price out buyers who are on the fringe of being capable borrowers.

Unemployment is at historically high levels.

Banks have reduced their exposure to riskier borrowers. Even decent loan applications are getting declined.

Lack of demand in the secondary/securitized market for mortgage debt.

Renting makes more sense then buying when u calculate the rental value to the buying cost.

The Oilbama Trade.

Posted By Colin Doyle June 7th, 2010

Image By: Shepard Fairey /Doctored by Colin Doyle

While the gulf forever drowns in BP's black gold and the surrounding economies suffer from this epic environmental disaster the major question is....

What type of potentially ill-conceived public policy reaction will come out of Washington? Media coverage has slowly turned this into a political crisis for Obama. Two things are now certain.

1) President Obama is a master politician who will do everything to ensure he remains exonerated from any responsibility for the mess.

2) President Obama is going to be reigning in offshore drilling and increasing regulation on the broader sector. It's the only way to spin this crisis in a positive direction for his administration.

Long term, offshore drilling in the gulf is too lucrative for the government to not allow, but there will be new rules. Overhead costs will change for drillers and they won't be able to explore without paying big brother BIG money. The greater narrative here is how (if at all) to determine if these new hurdles will significantly change the drilling business in the Gulf.

BP's stock chart since the spill...

Chart courtesy of AOL.

Also check out:

Transocean

Haliburton

Delta Smelta.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 4, 2010

Graphic by Eddie Animal

Despite what they say, Delta doesn't get you there. I can attest to this.

Let's Face It, Microsoft Blew It.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 3, 2010

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO and monkey dance enthusiast, took time at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital D8 Conference to state the obvious. Said Ballmy, "We missed the whole cycle." After a strong start, MSFT is now fifth in the mobile phone market. This is a familiar tale for those who have followed the tech titan for the last ten years. On every major technological trend that has emerged in the aughts decade Ballmer and crew have forever been a day late and a dollar short.

Now, (depending on who you believe....read this and this) Apple has now passed Microsoft in Market Cap for the first time in history. Even if there is some technical issues with that point, there is no debate as to Mr. Softy's sad performance under Steve Ballmer. Below is a ten year chart from Silicon Alley Insider illustrating just how far Microsoft has fallen in comparison to it's greatest rival.

Graphic courtesy of Silicon Alley Insider.

From search to social networking, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, Ballmy has missed every chance to innovate in the tech sector. Forever playing catch up to it's sexier and more limber competitors is not a strong business model. Ballmer is a brilliant guy, but maybe the time is ripe for Microsoft to replace their wily coach.

Big Al Is Back On The Market.

Posted by Sean Doyle, June 1, 2010

Profile Photo Courtesy of DaFever.com

Apple Inc. board member and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced earlier today that he is separating from his wife of 40 years Tipper Gore. The Gores announced their break-up via e-mail to friends, which was later circulated to the Associated Press (In what certainly amounts to a bitter irony for the erstwhile "inventor" of the internet).

Graphic Courtesy of The Onion.

Now Al can focus all of his sweet attention on his two major preoccupations and passions: saving the world, and being the awkward in-between for the burgeoning feud between Apple and Google. Good luck and God bless.