AJ30

Friday Options Update: VIX, C, WFC, FITB, JPM, TXN, CYH, TEVA, HES

Great blog, please keep them coming. You aren't always right, but you bring in some interesting thoughts.

Airgas: A Company on Fire

A good report thanks for bringing it up. I will take aa good long look, its my kind of play.

Timber REITs: Above Vicissitudes of Cycles

I doubt burning wood to fuel electric power plants would be an acceptable alternative use.

How to Position Your Portfolio for Recovery

A very thoughtful blog, and a good starting point. I think you also have to look for the companies that have good technically oriented management, such as a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Sloan at GM. Companies are like comets, they rise become very briliant for awhile then fade from sight ie. U S Steel, Uniroyal, Montgomery-Ward, Maytag, Jeep(American Motors), Woolworth etc.
When the accountants or investment guys take over you can bet that companies zenith is near.

Irate Icahn - Fast Money Recap (9/19/08)

Yes jackooo add Chgo & Northwestern R. R. to the heap he jumped, pumped and dumped. He is just another greedy Wall St. card sharp, that doesn't give a darn about employees or Communities.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

J. B. W. you are right on the money with your comment. Excessive greed got us here, and the chief Architect was Mr . Greenspan and his "cheap money" policy for all those years. Now we see him covering his tracks with printed statements. Hoover was probably one of the best educated and smartest Presidents we ever had, yet look what is "trickle down" theory (fully backed by WALL STREET) accomplished. ?? It took a rich guy like FDR who sensed that people need to eat each day and need to have a decent place to live, to come up with a band aid. Go figure!

Home Inventories Soaring? Not Exactly

It seems to me that one metric that most pundits are missing but that is known to us "commoners", is that everybody has to live somewhere! If someone bought 5 condos at pre construction "deals" hoping to "flip" they are in a world of hurt, but that wasn't the big chunk. Most housing is bought by renters moving up. Unless divorce intervenes they will fight hard to stay in something. They may have to "downsize" but they have to live somewhere.

Should We Listen to Boone Pickens on Oil?

kebu 77, Where will we put all this rail capacity? Canadian National has been trying to buy the Chgo Elgin & Eastern to improve the capacity around Chicago, and all the communities are in an uproar of denial. Nobody wants a lot of freight trains 2 miles long running through their backyards and street crossings.

Why Buy MLPs?

I am puzzeled why many others were left off the list ie APL?

Could Dell and Salesforce.com Merge Someday?

These kind of tight fit "partnerships" can only float along for a relatively short period of time, then something has to give. I think you have a good idea worth watching over the next year or so.

The Top 10 Lowest Standard Deviation MLPs

Does anyone have any ideas on how Mr. Obamma's stated policy of increasing business taxes will affect MLP holders. I would hate to be required to use two tax rates.

Keep the Remaining Blue Cross Plans Non-Profits

We have many problems in this area. Primary-care physicians are a vanishing breed.
The poor guy who doesn't have coverage gets billed at arate that is often double what a "Plan" would be billed because of negotiated rates.
New treatments (read complicated and thus expensive) are being developed at a rapid rate.
85% of your health-care expenditures occur in the last 15 years of your life.
We need a thoughtful honest debate to find the best solutions.
Small countries like Denmark can manage national health-care, but in larger countries it usually turns into a disaster. Look at Canada.
A partisan political "solution" won't "git er dun.'

Nordic American Tanker: Income Strong, Raises Dividend

Good post in spite of minor errors. TNK call report talked at lenngth about fleet size and utilization going forward. Conclusion was spot rates will probably soften a little but not a lot into '09. It was avery good discussion of the tanker industry, and worth wading through.

The Case Against Investing in the Dow Industrials (For Now)

In his book "The Roaring 2000s", Harry S. Dent,Jr. correctly predicted the bust in 2008. His basic theme was that "We" innovate and grow in spurts, followed by a period of assimilation (little growth). Its a very interesting postulation, and has certainly worked out many times.

Ensco Q2 2008 Earnings Update

Great research piece. Good fact display, well written. Long ESV