Karin Hernandez's  Instablog

I have been a casual fan of Minyanville for several years, so I was happy to find this book. I always read "5 Things You Need to Know" by Kevin Depew and, of course, the videos of Hoofy and Boo are terrific. But I didn't know much about Todd as a person. After reading this book, I feel I know him better, and I like him. A lot.

This isn't a book with any big Wall Street secrets or sure-win trading ideas. It's more a memoir, a chronicle of a man who worked his way to the top only to discover that all the money and all the toys didn't bring happiness. I remember reading on Minyanville when Todd went to Hawaii to meet his estranged father - Todd was incredibly candid and emotional about the experience. and in the book he lays bare his depression after the events of 9/11, to which I am sure many of us can relate.

Todd's vision for Minyanville and the Ruby Peck Foundation, named in honor of his beloved grandfather, are islands of hope and stability in the current sea of financial chaos. In a world where, for the most part, all that matters is the money, Todd is truly a decent and caring guy.

CHK - Chesapeake Energy - more worry, more leverage. more - you hear the chatter, are they the next Enron, I just want to say the board of directors, totally heavyweight guys, I wouldn't be surprised if they take some action quickly here

WIN - Windstream - downgrade - they made an acquisition that's already disappointing and that's terrible because it's a good yield, stick with Verizon and ATT

HOG - Harley-Davidson - sales slowed in April - that's incredible, this has been one of the great stories of the year, obviously the stock is not in shape to handle this being very close to a high

SPLS - Staples - Morgan Stanley buy - this ahead of the quarter, this company has repeatedly disappointed but it doesn't go down anymore so maybe they think they have some proprietary information, i don't

CL - Colgate-Palmolive - go back over the conference all, they are the ones who said, listen, commodities are gonna come down a lot, we're gonna be a big beneficiary, this is the safe haven in that group right now

BWLD - Buffalo Wild Wings - corn prices are gonna come down, people have been worried about chicken prices, they'll come down, it's gonna be an upside surprise

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

PCLN - Priceline - I want people at home to recognize that outlook matters more than previous, Priceline was very cautious, I don't want to touch it because of how cautious they were, even though the growth is fabulous

MMM - 3M - downgraded at Bernstein - this is my worry about the global economy, 3M - this is just a call saying, listen, global economy is slowing down, I do like the company though

SMG - Scotts Miracle-Gro - this is the biggest weekend (for gardening), everything housing is going higher, Scotts got hit too far, I wanna own it

CHKM - Chesapeake Midstream Partners - 1st time today I heard someone say, hey, are they Enron, No you can't make that implication, but Goldman says Chesapeake may have to sell shares in order to be able to shore things up

ARMH - Arm Holdings - upgrade at Bernstein - I didn't like it all the way down and then this upgrade, I just want to comment that's the way analysts should do it

COST - CostCo - Costco is the great American juggernaut (note that Cramer is very enthusiastic about Costco and owns it in his charitable trust)

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.