johnny inca

Let the debate begin: Senators Lincoln and Landrieu indicate they'll vote Yes on the motion to debate the Senate health care bill. Both also say they won't vote for cloture on the bill unless the debate process leads to further concessions, especially on the public option. But post-debate, the bill only needs 50 votes to pass. (via)

the headline is misleading. It only needs 50 votes to pass, but 60 votes for cloture to end debate to make the vote pass / fail. So they still need 60 votes to pass, even after this vote.

MBIA: Tax Arcana

that makes sense, i would have been very surprised if they were buying back stock at this juncture.

I know they did buy back some debt but frankly it is trivial size compared to the obligations they insure.

MBIA: Tax Arcana

Is there any record of how much common stock MBI has bought back this year?

Why Is Vivus Diluting Existing Shareholders?

anyone who has paid any attention to the market over the last year should realize that the best time to raise capital is when you don't need it. Now is the perfect time for VVUS to strengthen their balance sheet.

The better prepared they are to work w/o anyone else's money the better the buyout offers will be when they finally come.

Vivus's Qnexa Drug Approval Makes It a Nice Trade

i am still waiting to hear what the "nice trade".

Vivus's Qnexa Drug Approval Makes It a Nice Trade

>>This is a nice trade right now and in the future.

I am sorry but what precisely does this mean? Saying something is a "nice trade" w/o any further clarification is pretty useless.

Struggling with Divergences

i find it hard to believe that the 800MM shares of FNM traded on Monday was "primarily retail".

Earnings Preview: MBIA

note there was another story today about some boston lawyer suing mortgage writers for making loans they "knew" would default.

If the legal proceedings ever get any legs, watch out.

Expect Big Improvements in These Three Chinese Steel Companies

As I said on yahoo a month ago, in a few months when GSI is 8 to 10 a shares people will look back at when GSI was $3 and wonder how they missed something so obvious.

Everybody Hates Leveraged ETFs

i have been short both FAS and FAZ since late April and it returns about 7% a month, although you do need to rebalance from time to time. I will never cover these positions.

Everybody Hates Leveraged ETFs

The 3x ETFs are the greatest thing in the world. I hope they come up with 5x ETFs. It just means that much money for me when I short both sides.

FAS and FAZ are the gifts that just keep on giving!

The Great Credit Crunch Continues Unabated

if you are going to crow about your prior predictions, can you at least provide a link to where / when you made them for the record? Otherwise you come across as just another after the fact gas bag.

Direxion's Leveraged ETFs Triple the Risk

kkerr, it is not fire and forget technology but it's still a sure winner if you know what you are doing.

Direxion's Leveraged ETFs Triple the Risk

i am short both of the ETF's. I was trying to do it for months and then in April all of a sudden there was just a mass of availability of shares. Now that the reverse split has gone through you don't seem to be able to short them anymore, but I still have mine from april. The more volatile the trading the more you make on any given day. FAZ tends to decline more over time than FAS, so I try to stay short 40% FAS 60% FAZ. It's the closest thing to a sure winner that I have ever seen in my life.

Direxion's Leveraged ETFs Triple the Risk

I will be very sad if they pull the plug on FAS and FAZ because I have been running about 10% gains monthly by being short both. The reverse split was a huge bonus as it lowered the margin requirements for the position immensly, so thanks Direxion for that.