Mikelandia

Visa: Why I Sold All of My Shares

How about no one is going to pay their credit cards now that there is no more home equity refinance money to bail them out to consolidate?

No one talks about the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Now that we are in a tightening phase. Not as good as my crox and wamu shorts but something stinks on ice. IPO= cashout. Could care less about a dime/qtr dividend. Am I missing something here that we have people going long?

Reminds me of the Blackstone IPO.

Visa Stock Ownership Has Its Privileges

Visa? go short. with home equity no longer bailing out people living above their means it's obvious Visa is cashing out. Credit card companies may think they were slick pushing through bk reform laws but I just don't see a rosey picture for this secter. I'm curious about what factors will push this stock higher considering the next wave of defaults.......revolvi... If people aren't paying their mortgages why would the care more about their credit cards? Am I missing something here?

Good Time to Buy a 'Little' Shipping

With companies like prgn and ocnf booked through 2009 it appears the dividend streams will be secure (fuel costs permitting). Considering the increase in market volatility due to elimination of the uptick rule and selloff in anticipation of the "summer doldrums" the arteries of the global economy are excellent inflation hedges as they ship inelastic demand items for infrastructure and energy. A ship is a ship, a u.s dollar is an i.o.u from the citizens of a country who are in a productivity free fall and coping with massive government incompetence for the last 8 years. Most assets yes even housing should adjust upwards to offset what will be a continued free fall of the u.s dollar now that the monopoly of education has been shattered by web 2.0.

That said. The shippers with massive yields to be sought as investors give up on growth to seek shelter from the summer storms should provide incredible upside with low fundamental risks and yields that provide healthy investor cashflows. America is for sale. To trade assets for greenbacks is like selling Manhattan for a bucket of beads and trinkets.