tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9617857054479924952023-12-17T14:47:37.648-08:00Peter Ort's Poetry BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-18946596639990451542023-12-17T14:47:00.000-08:002023-12-17T14:47:06.536-08:00Year End 20232023 we barely knew ye, your days left are but a few,<br />Much you’ve given us to ponder, a lot on which to chew.<br />The good the bad the ugly, we’ll analyze it all,<br />We’ll hit on all the highlights, the big ones and the small.<br />A list we have been keeping, the naughty and the nice,<br />Reflect on it we shall, and perhaps offer some advice.<br /> Sit down or keep on standing, as you listen to these rhymes,<br />Let’s sum up the year’s events, let’s call out all the crimes.<div><br />The war grinds on in Ukraine, the death toll keeps on rising,<br />A stalemate at the front, no signs of Putin compromising.<br />For a few hours he looked at risk, from Wagner chief Prigozhin,<br /> Who took some tanks and armor, and up to Moscow went bulldozin’.<br />Alas he lost his nerve, which meant his living days were numbered,<br />A mistake by the apprentice, to leave his master unencumbered.<br />Just two months to the day, from which the coup he did abstain.<br />Vlad took out some missiles, and shot down Yevgeny’s plane.</div><div><br />Sheer terror in southern Israel, vicious senseless slaughters,<br />Of young people at a rave, of mothers, sons, and daughters.<br />Other calamities we’ve had aplenty, in Hawaii deadly fire,<br />The Titan sub explosion, Ohio’s train derailment very dire.<br />Spy balloons over the heartland, as China tensions have snowballed,<br />Amidst US chip export restrictions, DC’s pandas have been recalled.<br /> Boardroom drama for Sam Altman, much fear about the AI creature,<br />A House Speaker messy change, a Barbenheimer double feature.</div><div><br />Finland admitted into NATO, to ward off Russian dangers,<br />A first at the World Series, for the winning Texas Rangers.<br />A first too for Denver’s Nuggets, whose win we did applaud,<br />A Trump mug shot and indictment, alleging election fraud.<br /> Kansas City came out on top, for the Super Bowl’s 57th ring,<br />In coronation glory, the Brits crowned Charles third as king.<br />Taylor Swift went out on tour, and found a new boyfriend,<br />Some dude named Travis Kelce, for the Chiefs he plays tight end.</div><div><br />Farewell we bid to greats, each one sure had the hunger,<br />Goodbye to Tony Bennett, goodbye now Charlie Munger.<br />Sandra Day O’Connor, you broke the glass ceiling on the Court,<br />Friends star Matthew Perry, a young life cut too short.<br />Tina Turner and David Crosby, live on your voices will,<br />No less Jimmy Buffett, in the sounds of Margaritaville.<br />Sam Zell and Henry Kissinger, your stars they did shine bright,<br />Yours too Jerry Springer, Dick Butkus and Bobby Knight.</div><div><br />In the financial markets, the Chinese reopening was a dud,<br />The mag seven soared anew, while crypto shook off the FUD.<br />Duration losses and deposit outflows, left the regionals shooting blanks,<br />Silicon Valley and First Republic, an existential crisis for these banks.<br />Chronic mismanagement at Credit Suisse, had created quite a mess,<br />Which ran into the ground, and the waiting arms of UBS.<br />Inflation has come down, looks like the Fed hikes will now stop,<br />The latest trade that is in vogue, is for interest rates to drop.</div><div><br />So what does it all mean, how to make sense of all this noise?<br />With so much daily blather, it’s hard to maintain your poise.<br />Media distraction runs amuck, it can be habit-forming,<br />So much to make you jumpy, like climate change and global warming.<br />Tune out the nasty rhetoric, it’s enough to make you tense,<br />Even the learned out amongst us, can spew some real nonsense.<br />Like these views on permitted speech, up in the ivory tower.<br />These college presidents testifying, make you want to take a shower.</div><div><br />With an election coming soon, we’ll pick a new leader in ’24,<br />With this geopolitical backdrop, who knows what next year has in store.<br />Maybe you’ll win the lottery, maybe you’ll inherit some Nvidia.<br />Maybe you’ll meet your spouse, maybe they’ll be named Jim or Lydia.<br />Take stock in this holiday season, of blessings in your life,<br />Your kids your friends your loved ones, your husband or your wife.<br />Don’t put up with all the haters, don’t tolerate a nasty boss,<br />Let’s make next year a good one, and don’t forget to floss.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-27650170140450440242022-12-11T12:50:00.006-08:002022-12-11T12:52:48.496-08:00Year End 2022<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2022 we have known you, but forget you we must, <br />In more ways than one, your time here's been a bust. <br />A land war in Europe, that has left us aghast, <br />A concept we believed, was firmly left in the past. <br />From the Ukrainian people, we take inspiration, <br />Standing up to the Russians, and defending their nation. <br />Financial markets too, they have not been good, <br />A bit further below, we'll look under that hood. <br />Let's review the year's news, the good and the bad, <br />To turn the calendar page, we may not be sad. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From headlines this year, the covid receded, <br />In returning to normal, vaccines have succeeded. <br />Monkeypox threatened, and then faded from view, <br />Judge turned down $200 mil, and then smacked 62. <br />Johnson, Truss, and now Sunak, as British ministers prime, <br />Xi once more supreme leader, till the end of his time. <br />A Supreme Court bombshell, overturning Roe vs Wade, <br />$44 billion for Twitter, looks like Musk overpaid. <br />The supply chain improved, yet things remain out of stock, <br />At the Oscars this year, Will Smith face slapped Chris Rock. <br /><br />At the Super Bowl in LA, the Rams would not be denied, <br />In this year’s college playoff, Georgia held back the Tide. <br />A World Series no-hitter, as Houston beat the Phillies in six, <br />In the NBA Finals, the Warriors outmanned the Celtics. <br />The Crown’s season five, we binged for many an hour, <br />And House of the Dragon, and Tolkien’s Rings of Power. <br />In an epic backfire, of real world political science, <br />Sweden and Finland, joined the NATO alliance. <br />The Dems lost the House, but not in in a much-feared landslide, <br />Cat four Hurricane Ian, destroyed Florida’s Gulf side. <br /><br />In life they impressed, we miss them now that they’re gone, <br />You’re still the one that we want, Olivia Newton-John. <br />Sidney Poitier and Bob Saget, rappers Coolio and Takeoff, <br />You gave us perestroika and glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev. <br />May Meat Loaf be in paradise, beyond the dashboard light, <br />Goodbye Jerry Lee Lewis, goodbye Madeleine Albright. <br />Queen Elizabeth did reign, for over seventy years, <br />On the court playing hoops, Bill Russell had no peers. <br />Angela Lansbury and Loretta Lynn, you earned your renown, <br />Goodfellas Paul Sorvino and Ray Liotta, Shinzo Abe gunned down. <br /><br />What to say about the markets, without being profane? <br />If 60/40 is your jam, you’ve felt acute pain. <br />Belatedly reacting, to a bad case of inflation, <br />The Fed spiked the rates higher, hitting all things with duration. <br />Risk assets have suffered, pandemic trades reversed, <br />In crypto and SPACs, the selloff’s been the worst. <br />Big tech too has suffered, with Facebook down the most, <br />Nasdaq down $7 trillion, is not something you post. <br />The yield curve’s inverted, and some call for a crash, <br />If you’re not sure what to do, hold on to some cash. <br /><br />If you feel a bit anxious, like the good times have flown, <br />Take solace in knowing, you are not alone. <br />The world is uncertain, they say recession is nigh, <br />It’s enough to make many, grown men want to cry. <br />The climate is changing, and Europe’s at war, <br />To make matters worse, Trump’s running once more. <br />As this year and this poem, soon come to a close, <br />I hope you will find, some time to repose. <br />Keep your family close, there’s nothing more dear, <br />And do your best in this season, to spread holiday cheer.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-37211008378712217972021-12-09T07:54:00.002-08:002021-12-09T07:54:54.411-08:00Year End 2021<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">It’s passed
by in a blur, another one almost done,<br />I feel we
barely knew you, year twenty twenty one.<br />Spike
protein mutations, now in our daily lexicon,<br />Moreover
variants galore, alpha delta and now omicron.<br />Vaccines
have been a Godsend, to prevent covid infection,<br />Yet so many
have refused, to get the dual injection.<br />Therapeutics
are improving, more defenses we are mounting,<br />Too late for
far too many, five million dead and counting.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The New Year
broke expectantly, we’d chosen a new President,<br />The vote had
been confirmed, for the White House a new resident.<br /> A peaceful change
of power, we assumed would be completed,<br />Not so
thought the incumbent, unable to accept he’d been defeated.<br />Before
exiting his post, on the Capitol he provoked attack,<br />A mob incited
by its leader, the hallowed building did ransack.<br />Twice
impeached a historical first, as Trump joined the one term club,<br />Skipping the
inauguration, to the establishment a final snub.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The year
brought other news, at a pretty healthy clip,<br />In Texas
winter blackouts, in the Suez Canal got stuck a ship.<br />Super Bowl Fifty
Five, showcased the Buccaneers,<br />Led by the
ageless Brady, a guy with no known peers.<br />Hurricanes
and heatwaves, never ending weather disasters,<br />The first
green jacket for Japan, as Matsuyama won the Masters.<br />European
flooding taking weeks, for the waters to subside,<br />Tragedy in
Florida, at a condo complex in Surfside.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>Summer
Olympics in Japan, the US medal lead did widen,<br />A bungled
exit from Afghanistan, an early stain on Biden.<br />This year in
the Fall Classic, the Braves took down the Astros,<br />Cuban
protestors seeking freedom, from the shackles of the Castros.<br />Jeff Bezos
and Richard Branson, on rockets for a space vacation,<br />In Haiti a
massive earthquake, and a presidential assassination.<br />The Stanley
Cup in hockey, captured by Tampa Bay redux,<br />Milwaukee waited
fifty years, for the victory of their Bucks.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>Again we
lost many great ones, without them we aren’t whole,<br />Farewell to General
Colin Powell, Goodbye to Senator Bob Dole.<br />Lee Elder
broke the color barrier, at Augusta National playing golf,<br />We’ll miss
New York rapper DMX, and Memphis star Young Dolph.<br />Stephen
Sondheim wrote the music, Virgil Abloh sure had style,<br />Prince
Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Hank Aaron hit the ball a mile.<br />Marvin
Hagler and Leon Spinks, their punches hit you like a truck,<br />Charlie
Watts gave the Stones their beat, Olympia Dukakis left us moonstruck.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>Heady days
in the markets, where behaviors were extreme,<br />Retail hordes
trampled hedge funds, when GameStop became a meme.<br />Crypto came
of age, El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender,<br />Supply chain
issues and cheap money, have sent inflation on a bender.<br /> If you’re
having trouble with the lingo, Web3, NFT, DAO, and SPAC,<br /> Worry not
for in the metaverse, your avatar will pick up the slack.<br />A rebrand
may be the ticket, for your company and stock,<br />Zuck’s Facebook
is now Meta, Dorsey’s Square is now Block.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The virus isn’t
disappearing, to this fact we are resigning,<br />With it
always amongst us, our lives we are designing.<br />We have other
worries too, that clutter up the brain,<br />Climate
change and social injustice, Putin invading the Ukraine.<br />Please take
time this month to unplug, and focus on the ones,<br />That matter
most to you, your daughters and your sons.<br />I wish you
all good health, I hope your year end’s sweet,</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">May you solve life's greatest mysteries, like how to fold a fitted sheet.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-71689061395097475502020-12-14T08:34:00.001-08:002020-12-14T08:34:59.991-08:00Year End 2020A year of sorrow is soon ending, goodbye to 2020,<br />Miss you we will not, you’ve brought bad news aplenty. <br />As we struggle towards yearend, of better days we are desirous, <br />We won’t so soon forget, this grim year of coronavirus. <br />Forevermore our lives have changed, so too our daily tasks, <br />As we stare into a Zoom, and don our cotton masks. <br />Exposed this year it has, our lack of ready for pandemic, <br />Deep divisions in our society, and racism that’s systemic. <br />Before we turn the page, let’s take some time just to reflect, <br />And review all that’s transpired, each event we will dissect. <br /><br />It snuck up on us slowly, and then with a sudden quickness, <br />Across the globe it spread, this horrid covid sickness. <br />Our closeness was our enemy, human bonds became our sins, <br />From a bat or from a lab, we’ll never know its origins. <br />By spring we were in lockdown, our behavior somewhat manic, <br />We disinfected every package, and hoarded TP in panic. <br />Ventilators, PPE, and testing, all in desperate short supply, <br />States pitted against each other, as we all wondered why. <br />Days at home stretched into months, and we all became quite grouchy, <br />We binge watched Tiger King, and grew fond of Doctor Fauci. <br /><br />Spirits lifted with the temperature, and gatherings moved outside, <br />Some things began reopening, as infections did subside. <br />While the NBA prepared to bubble, to keep the spread at bay, <br />Any peace was quickly shattered, on a fateful day in May. <br />As George Floyd lay upon the street, handcuffed for all to see, <br />On his neck for nine long minutes, a cop pressed down his knee. <br />As he lay there slowly dying, and said he couldn’t breathe, <br />The footage quickly spread, and the nation began to seethe. <br />Protests raged across the country, people marching in solidarity, <br />In support of Black Lives Matter, and against police brutality. <br /><br />Against this wretched backdrop, we had a strange election, <br />From two granddads in their seventies, we were making a selection. <br />The vast disparity between them, didn’t take too much explaining, <br />Quite stark even the difference, in their own styles of campaigning. <br />As the ballots all were counted, the gap began to widen, <br />The result was soon revealed, as the swing states broke for Biden. <br />To the embarrassment of most, Trump has not gracefully conceded, <br />And with a melting Giuliani, with claims of fraud he has proceeded. <br />Mr. President it’s over, your lame duck days are numbered, <br />Of your presence in the White House, we’ll soon be unencumbered. <br /><br />This year we’ve lost so many, the majority of them nameless, <br />Over a million and a half from covid, victims that are blameless. <br />Many legends too were taken, some lives just cut too short, <br />Kobe Bryant the black mamba, who ruled the basketball court. <br />Naya Rivera brightly shined, in the glow of glee club lights, <br />The Honorable RBG, paved the way for women’s rights. <br />In the Golden Age of cinema, Kirk Douglas was always bold, <br />Kenny Rogers you did teach us, when to hold and when to fold. <br />The smiling Regis Philbin, forget you we will never, <br />The Black Panther Chadwick Boseman, RIP in Wakanda forever. <br /><br />Don Shula’s undefeated season, no team has ever done the same, <br />Another feat no one’s repeated, Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game. <br />We lost other athletic greats, who lit up the big scoreboard, <br />Maradona and Tom Seaver, Lou Brock and Whitey Ford. <br />Jack Welch had all the answers, as 20 year boss man of GE, <br />Alex Trebek took all the questions, as 36 year host of Jeopardy. <br />Eddie Van Halen and Little Richard, Hall of Famers for their endeavors, <br />Civil rights leaders from the south, John Lewis and Charles Evers. <br />Sean Connery the great Scotsman, aka British special agent Bond, <br />May you continue your heroics, out in the great beyond. <br /><br />Like everything this year, financial markets too were nuts, <br />You stood to make big money, but you had to have some guts. <br />We sold off hard in Feb and March, with all risk assets in the red, <br />Until we got some major stimulus, from both Congress and the Fed. <br />Oil futures traded negative, as lockdowns sapped demand, <br />And with a Saudi/Russia feud, global supply it did expand. <br />Growth stocks resurged anew, IPOs staged a huge comeback, <br />A lucky few have been invited, to the raucous party of the SPAC. <br />As the year draws to a close, a strong bull market is in session, <br />Not many would have guessed it, in the depths of this year’s recession. <br /><br />So now we’re in December, and covid cases are exploding, <br />Vaccines are being rolled out, but the long dark winter is foreboding. <br />Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, and many others are quite close, <br />Some need a cold supply chain, and require a double dose. <br />New things this year we’ve learned, like how a curve is exponential, <br />We know now what it means, for a worker to really be essential. <br />So much this year’s been tragic, as a nation we’ve been tested, <br />But together we will triumph, by this virus we will not be bested. <br />Happy holidays to all, do your best some cheer to spread, <br />I tell you with conviction, better days lie not far ahead.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-68965297509632850422019-12-16T08:26:00.000-08:002020-12-14T07:06:51.379-08:00Year End 2019Twenty nineteen is now ending, goodbye to the year and the decade,<br />Let's look back and then move forward, please do not be afraid.<br />As always in a year, there's been bad and there's been good,<br />We'll examine both below, we'll take a look under the hood.<br />The Patriots won again, they now have six Super Bowls,<br />This season may be different, their offense appears to have some holes.<br />We had some first time winners, that started brand new chapters,<br />The Nationals in DC, in Canada the Toronto Raptors.<br />In soccer the US women, took the win over in France,<br />UVA in college hoops, took the win in the big dance.<br /><br />Many legends we have lost, great legacies they did bestow,<br />Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, the billionaire Ross Perot.<br />Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, actress and singer Doris Day,<br />JuiceWRLD the emo rapper, legendary architect IM Pei.<br />Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca, Cameron Boyce one of Disney's stars,<br />Eddie Money's got tickets to paradise, Ric Ocasek headlined the Cars.<br />Lee Iacocca rescued Chrysler, Gloria Vanderbilt's blue jeans were so tight,<br />Paul Volcker tamed inflation, Toni Morrison sure could write.<br />More shocking deaths emerged, fighting Thanos in Endgame,<br />Without Ironman and Black Widow, the Avengers won't be the same.<br /><br />In Maduro’s Venezuela, things have really gone downhill,<br />A catastrophic dam break, in neighboring Brazil.<br />A crash in Ethiopia, revealing flaws for Boeing’s Max,<br />Mosque shootings in New Zealand, in Sri Lanka church attacks.<br />A mass shooting in El Paso, hours later a Dayton copy,<br />A Mormon massacre in Mexico, in the DR they shot Big Papi.<br />A tragic dive boat fire, California homes destroyed by flame,<br />The rainforest too is burning, another fire wrecked Notre Dame.<br />To know the climate’s not like the past, you don’t have to be a historian,<br />Just look at the Venice flooding, or the wreckage left by Dorian.<br /><br />Trump and Kim Jong Un, becoming buddies seemingly,<br />Met up in Vietnam, then crossed Korea’s DMZ.<br />Major protests in Hong Kong, much to China’s consternation,<br />Riots too in Chile, over subway fare inflation.<br />Drone attacks on Saudi oil, Iran allegedly the source,<br />Al-Baghdadi in a tunnel, taken out by Delta Force.<br />Elections there were many, Zelensky in Ukraine,<br />Who then was asked to play a role, in an American campaign.<br />Modi’s BJP in India, won in a significant landslide,<br />As did Johnson in old England, where Brexit will not be denied.<br /><br />The Dems too are campaigning, and grandstanding up on stage,<br />They're shaking all their fists, some are filled with lots of rage.<br />If you don't know whom to back, ask your daddy or your mommy,<br />There's the extremist Lizzie Warren, or Bernie the old commie.<br />After watching them debate, it's hard to feel inspired,<br />Andy Yang has decent energy, Joey Biden's looking tired.<br />Mayor Pete is quite articulate, he's one of two Rhodes scholars,<br />The other's Cory Booker, though he's behind in campaign dollars.<br />Billionaires Steyer and Bloomberg, have joined the magic quest,<br />Along with Klobuchar and Gabbard, they're a bit of a snooze fest.<br /><br />In the markets things were rosy, as equities screamed higher,<br />For every stupid seller, there was an even dumber buyer.<br />Despite a trade war and more tariffs, and a brief inversion in the curve,<br />Jay Powell had your back, and gave the bulls plenty of nerve.<br />But not so unicorn IPOs, which were pretty much a bust,<br />And so in private valuations, engendering distrust.<br />Uber, Lyft, and Slack all traded lower, and then there was WeWork,<br />Where Masa bailed out Neumann, who ran off with billions and a smirk.<br />Crude oil rallied strongly, the bitcoin almost had a double,<br />Not so the bonds of Argentina, where an election caused some trouble.<br /><br />So wrap up your year end business, wrap up the presents too,<br />Perhaps a baby Yoda, or some Air Pods for your crew.<br />Get away from all the noise, go find a respite on some beach,<br />Whichever side you’re on, of the motion to impeach.<br />In the coming vote next year, we may change the President’s name, <br />But we all should be prepared, that it may remain the same.<br />Let’s resolve to be more civil, on all of us rests this onus,<br />Let’s worry more about each other, than the size of this year’s bonus.<br />Happy New Year to you all, we’ve made it through another year,<br />Be good to those around you, and spread some holiday cheer.<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-69826450638479743932018-12-11T07:01:00.000-08:002018-12-11T07:01:56.982-08:00Year End 2018<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Two thousand and eighteen, come and
gone so fast,</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Turn the page in a few weeks, put it
firmly in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The days are growing shorter, the
nights are getting colder,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As fall turns into winter, another
year we all are older.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Put your politics aside, for a
moment let’s be civil,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If you watch CNN or Fox, forget
about all that drivel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">To this year’s beginning, let’s
re-wind back the clock,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We’ll look at it holistically, not
on a basis that’s ad hoc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">News there was aplenty, stories of
people very brave,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A Thai soccer team and coach,
rescued from a flooded cave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Winter in PyeongChang, we saw the
Olympic flame ignited,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">And the South and North Koreans,
marching with one flag united.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A Windsor Castle wedding, how those
British royals sparkle,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">At his confirmation hearings,
Kavanaugh faced some strong objections,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Dems took back the House, in
November’s midterm elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Farewell to Steven Hawking, Godspeed
to John McCain,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Respect to Aretha Franklin, good
eats to Anthony Bourdain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The rich and famous lifestyles, did
show us Robin Leach,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The evangelist Billy Graham, he sure
knew how to preach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">George and Barbara Bush, a classy
couple he and she,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A fond goodbye to Burt Reynolds, so
long now to Stan Lee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The most gruesome death this year,
Khashoggi we do remember,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">For whom a hit squad was dispatched,
to murder and dismember.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A fourth term coronation for Putin,
Xi’s now emperor for life,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Genocide in Burma, in Syria endless
strife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A June summit down in Singapore,
Trump and Kim Jong-Un,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Raising hopes for a de-nuking,
assuming you trust that pudgy goon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A duck boat disaster in July,
California fires in a recurring cycle,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Tragedies in Florida, the Parkland
shooting and Hurricane Michael.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A former Russian spy in England,
poisoned but still alive,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Great progress down in Saudi, where
the women now can drive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A caravan of migrants, heading
northward towards the border,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So Trump dispatched the troops,
vowing to keep the law and order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">China’s modifying the genes of
babies, opening Pandora’s box,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In Boston they’re still cheering,
the triumph of their Red Sox.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Eagles flew and flew, and seized
a rare victory dance,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">At the World Cup in Russia, the
trophy went to France.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Warriors won in four, beating
Cleveland in a hurry,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Even mighty LeBron was no match, for
Durant and Curry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Mueller’s investigation moves apace,
slowly tightening the noose,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Seems he’s angling for bigger fish,
and unwilling to call a truce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">White House turnover continues, it’s
stormy near the throne,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Hope Hicks resigned in Feb, followed
in March by Gary Cohn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Rex Tillerson was fired, these
shifts seem almost daily,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">McCabe and McMaster, and don’t
forget about Nikki Haley.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We’re told it’s no big deal, please
don’t get the wrong impressions,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">John Kelly’s out as well, following in
the footsteps of Jeff Sessions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This year in the markets, to almost
nowhere could you flee,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It mattered not if you were in,
fixed income, gold, or equity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Two issues were to blame, which
caused all this bloodshed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">One was the Chinese tariffs, the
other was the Fed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Two stocks were worth a trillion,
the Amazon and the Apple,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">For redemption from that greed,
we’re now praying in the chapel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Many charts are off the peak, so
much it makes you holler,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The only things that have gone up,
are volatility and the dollar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So what awaits us all next year, in
this uncertain future,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">How to stop this sudden bleeding,
and give our wounds a suture?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps reset your expectations, to
a lower notch than outright brash,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It’s not time for crazy leverage,
you’re not a fool to hold some cash.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The QE is unwinding, there’s no
prior roadmap for this journey,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Before it’s over rest assured, some
will be rolled out on a gurney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Prepare to take more off the table,
if risk assets make another rally,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">You’ll be glad you did before, this pullback
makes its grand finale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">But enough with gloom and doom, in
this annual search for clarity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Let’s count our many blessings, in
this season of hope and charity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If your tower’s Trump or made of ivory,
let’s stop the nasty tweets,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">And work to bridge our differences,
and share some holiday treats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Though we disagree quite often, consensus
we must reach,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Whether you’re in the camp of one
more term, or the one of let’s impeach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Let’s take a year end break, from
trade wars and yield curve kinks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Look up now from your smartphone,
and enjoy some New Year’s drinks.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-26745101960318601072017-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:002017-12-13T07:00:22.508-08:00Year End 2017<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Another
year is ending, seventeen is in the books, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Before
moving to the passing lane, let’s take some rearview looks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Let’s
review who’s made the news, every hero and every chump, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And
take stock of where we are, a year into the reign of Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We’ve
had some ups and downs, of some things we are not proud, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Like
the challenge some had measuring, the tiny inauguration crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With
my rhymes now please bear with me, your patience I do beseech, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sit
back now and relax, like Christie on a shut down beach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
eclipse was pretty awesome, moving from northwest down to southeast, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Love
or hate that guy Tom Brady, that Super Bowl comeback was pretty beast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sexual
misconduct allegations, men abusing positions of power,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Weinstein,
Franken, O’Reilly, Moore, Rose, Spacey, and Lauer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Catalonia
voted for secession, alas the Spaniards took it back,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Too
bad Equifax can’t do that, with your personal info lost in the hack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
women marched on Washington, with quite a large turnout, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
Astros won in seven, the Warriors won in a rout.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bad
news we had aplenty, always on terror high alert, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Trucks
driving into people, bombs at a Manchester concert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Migrants
fleeing into Europe, refugees pouring out of Burma, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hurricanes
smashing the Carribean, Maria, Harvey, Nate and Irma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Maduro
in Venezuela, Kim Jong-Un and other kooks, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Destroying
their own countries, or hell bent on having nukes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Destruction
in Aleppo, a double California fire outbreak, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mass
shootings in Vegas and Texas, a Mexican earthquake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Goodbye
we said to many, without them empty we may feel, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Chuck
Berry rolled over Beethoven, Monte Hall taught us how to make a deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">David
Cassidy and Jerry Lewis, of you we were quite fond, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hugh
Hefner was our playboy, Roger Moore was our James Bond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sam
Shephard and Tom Petty, Lil Peep and Fats Domino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
psychopath Charles Manson, no one’s sad to see him go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
diplomat Zbigniew Brzezinski, we never could pronounce your name, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
chancellor Helmut Kohl, reuniting Germany brought you fame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
first year of the administration, an interesting one it’s been, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Few
legislative victories, but a guilty plea from Flynn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
Russia thing’s a mess, always another strange plot twist, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Manafort,
Gates, and Papadopolous, on Mueller’s naughty list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Price,
Preibus and Steve Bannon, not one a year did survive, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scaramucci
had his day, well to be accurate he lasted five.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Comey
from his post ejected, for excessive investigatory intervening, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Before
resigning I wish that Spicer, had explained covfefe’s meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Our
country is divided, the left against the right, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Every
issue that’s debated, ends up a bitter fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All
you nutty fringe extremists, on both sides of the aisle, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Put
your country before your party, and stop being so hostile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Enough
with the shouting and the violence, don’t get all up in my grill, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Please
stop all of this chaos, we don’t want another Charlottesville.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Our
country isn’t perfect, we have many problems that do displease, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But
to the NFL you’ve made your point, it’s time to get up off your knees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
markets have been bullish, with synchronized global growth, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To
short every little vol spike, we all have now taken an oath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Credit
spreads have tightened, the momentum trade has been astounding, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">US
short rates have moved higher, dollar weakness has been confounding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
yield curve it has flattened, emerging markets all have rallied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Large
cap growth stocks are on top, a winning year they’ve tallied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But
the winner of them all, has been the bitcoin and the crypto, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">They’ve
sprinted ever higher, this is no walk, or jog, or tiptoe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So
the New Year is upon us, it’s getting really close,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Please
put down all those opioids, you don’t need another dose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In
eighteen please stay alert, I don’t think it will be boring,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Vol
may just make a comeback, you don’t want to be caught snoring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A
new Fed chair’s taking charge, as the balance sheet is shrinking,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of
buying every dip, you may want to do some fast rethinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With
your gains this holiday season, be generous and don’t be chintzy,</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Be
charitable with your winnings, and don’t spend $450 million on a da Vinci.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-22710346444510016692016-12-13T06:52:00.000-08:002016-12-13T10:42:43.169-08:00Year End 2016<div class="MsoPlainText">
Twenty and
sixteen, over in a flash,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Remembered it
will be, for the Trump and Clinton clash. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
To follow up
Obama, on the presidential throne, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Hillary or the
Donald, a poorer choice we've never known.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The one a
scheming liberal, always above the law, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The other an
inflated ego, looking at himself with awe. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
She had more
votes by millions, and allegedly more knowledge, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
With deplorables
in his corner, he took the electoral college.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
This year we had
some horrors, all of them causing fright, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Such as the Zika
virus, spread by a mosquito bite.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Bombings in
Brussels, Belgium, a crazed driver in Nice, France, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Fanatics bent on
killing, innocent victims of circumstance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In Oakland a
warehouse fire, where 36 did die, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In Orlando a
nightclub shooting, that leaves you asking why?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In Aleppo death
and carnage, by Assad a true barbarian, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
If you don’t know
where that is, don’t ask a libertarian.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In sports we had nice
action, led by a guy named Manning, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Who then retired
at the top, leaving Newton also ran-ning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Always much
excitement, in the world of college ball, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Villanova at the
buzzer, leaving Carolina feeling small.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
LeBron brought it
home in Cleveland, after going down three to one, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Despite a Warrior
record season, 88 games they won. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In Chicago
they're still celebrating, the kids, the wives, and hubbies, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
After a century
long hiatus, the victory of their Cubbies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Again we lost
some great ones, some women and some men, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Mrs. Brady
Florence Henderson, the astronaut John Glenn.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Gene Wilder and
David Bowie, the word genius they evince, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The doves are all
still crying, at the sudden loss of Prince.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Muhammad Ali was
the greatest, in a fight no one was calmer, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
He mixed lemonade
and tea, the golf king Arnold Palmer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Fidel Castro was
a menace, a commie tyrant like no other, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In Cuba they’re
still suffering, in the shackles of the brother.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In the markets
things were choppy, until the election gave direction, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Many hedge funds
lost real money, buying useless put protection.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In long/short
returns were tough, being down or flat the norm, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
As the small caps
and the value, did strongly outperform.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Passive flows
keep rising, bringing higher correlation, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
From bonds to
stocks some say, we’re in a generational rotation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Uncertain is the
future, try as we might to see it squinting,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The Fed too knows
not what’s coming, or the harms of money printing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Populism’s all
the rage, as people 'round the world revolt,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The status quo's
being upended, at the speed of Phelps and Bolt. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Paul Revere said
the Brits were coming, from the EU now they're leaving, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
For the European
experiment, it may be time to start the grieving.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The Bushes and
the Clintons, their time it has now passed, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
America wants
change, in its political crew and cast. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And what about
Chris Christie, who drove his career off of a bridge, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
He’s somewhere
back in Jersey, seeking solace in his fridge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
So the election
is now over, though the tweets are just beginning, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
He says he'll make
us great again, and that we’ll all get used to winning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Don't lose much
sleep for Hillary, she won't suffer from starvation, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
She's saved up
quite a nest egg, in that dirty Bill & Hill Foundation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
After eight years
of his lectures, we won't much Obama miss, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
As we head into a
world, of pure Republican bliss. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
In this year's
holiday season, please don't be a Scrooge, <o:p></o:p></div>
Let's pray for
one another, and for this Trump thing to be huge.<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-65533876370513569692015-12-17T09:34:00.003-08:002015-12-18T05:55:56.087-08:00Year End 2015<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Goodbye to twenty fifteen, hello to fifteen plus one,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope your year’s been good, as it’s all but said and done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some ups and downs we’ve had, we’ve taken a bruise and bump,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ve heard some stupid stuff, almost all of it from Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">How will this year be written? When historians look back,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It will likely be remembered, as the year of the terror attack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another likely legacy, when scholars about the year will ask,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Is that even the liberals conceded, that Obama wasn’t up to the
task.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was much bad news this year, and more than just one crisis,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of them caused, by the lunatics called ISIS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our hearts go out to all, our friends in Paris, France,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Attacked twice in the past year, by crazies in a suicide trance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Plane crashes too we saw, over the Sinai a Russian jet,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A deranged pilot over the French Alps, stranger than that it
doesn't get.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mass shootings almost every week, on this side of the Atlantic,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jihad in San Bernardino, it leaves you feeling frantic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Goodbye to Yogi Berra, so much we learned from thee,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we look out towards the future, it sure ain’t what it used to
be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ll miss you Leonard Nimoy, you went where no man went before,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May we all live long and prosper, as we continue to explore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Your voices will live on, Ben E. and BB King,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You sure could play the R&B, and boy could you guys sing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Omar Sharif and Kirk Kerkorian, John Nash and Lee Kuan Yew,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You left your mark on this world, as very few can do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The markets all were tough, making everyone feel pissy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It started right in January, with the revaluation of the Swissie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By springtime we had thawed, though commodities kept sneezing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The risk appetite was whetted, with Draghi’s quantitative easing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though early summer felt nice, by August we were back on our knees,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we saw crude oil break forty, and a devaluation from the
Chinese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All the while the Fed kept threatening, to give the rates a raise,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ll see if their recent boost, will bring an end to this
malaise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Growth destroyed the value, as the FANGs all did rerate,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Labor force participation and Brady’s footballs, sadly did
deflate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Junk amongst your junk bonds? It’s enough to cause a panic,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">E.coli in your burrito? It’s not even safe to eat organic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A nukes deal with Iran, with Cuba diplomatic relations,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some places to consider, for your next spring break
vacations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Josh Duggar and Bill Cosby, two sickos down in flames,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brian Williams and his stories, all based on bogus claims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Prepare yourself for next year, it’s really not far in the future,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If your portfolio is bleeding, raising cash could be a suture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can blame any losses on the Fed, or blame it on bad karma,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can blame it on dispersion, or just blame Valeant Pharma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Making choices can be tough, with spouses and with money,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s all about the tradeoffs, like choosing sad or funny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can’t always win in life, whether it’s investing or badminton,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Choices can be no win situations, as in choosing Trump or Clinton.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-81253264056228565632014-12-19T05:50:00.001-08:002014-12-19T05:53:33.732-08:00Year End 2014<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">2014 slipping by, another year to be
retired,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Let’s review what we have seen, what
really has transpired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The year started out so cold, we
learned a phrase called polar vortex,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">That chilled us to our bones, and brain
froze our frontal cortex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Another chilling event, was the ebola
epidemic,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Concerns about its spread, were more
than merely academic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Democrats took a beating, in this
year’s mid-term elections,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">As the right wing took the Senate,
handing incumbents their ejections.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Give me Crimea for an appetizer, said the grabby Vladimir Putin,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">For dessert some eastern Ukraine, as
I continue with my lootin’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Shooting down a Malaysian plane, was clearly
this year’s biggest error,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">While Islamic State emerged, as this
year’s biggest terror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Boko Haram was close behind, with their
heinous kidnap attack, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Many have now forgotten, that the
girls have still not been brought back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">A Pakistani school, another of this
year’s horror scenes,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Resulting in the death, of a hundred
innocent teens.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Farewell we said to others, their absence gives us shivers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The world is laughing less, without
our friend Joan Rivers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">We miss you Robin Williams,
hysterical and looney,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Goodbye to Shirley Temple, goodbye to
Mickey Rooney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Godspeed to Maya Angelou, her poetry
so sublime,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Casey Kasem left us too, up the
charts he made us climb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Philip Seymour Hoffman, each role
played with finesse,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Oscar de la Renta, who showed us how
to dress.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The big story in the markets, was the mighty US dollar,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">If you were long against the Ruble, you’re
a wealthy FX scholar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The BOJ continued easing, causing the
Yen to take a tumble,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Though in the end the Abenomics, may
yet fall apart and crumble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The Fed wrapped up the taper, though
the ten year rate went lower,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">As the expansion and inflation, proceeded
to grow slower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Two nasty falls from grace, that took
most by surprise,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Crude oil and the bond king, both well
off of their highs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile in the stocks, M&A was all the rage,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">With healthcare deal inversions,
taking center stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Actavis snatched up Allergan, Medtronic bought
Covidien,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">All boosting banker bonuses, by a
couple of hundred million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Google built a Nest, Suntory
swallowed Beam,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Apple boogied to the Beats, Ballmer
bought the LA team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Facebook said What’sApp?, Comcast
hooked up with Time Warner,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Halliburton took Baker Hughes,
DirecTV’s in Ma Bell’s corner.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">If you missed the market rally, if you took a hit on Shire,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Stay calm and please don’t panic,
things are not so very dire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">If your returns are flat or down, though
this makes you quite frustrated,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Take solace in the fact, your returns
are not correlated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Look at the bigger picture, even if your
performance makes you vomit,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The European NASA, put a spacecraft
on a comet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The holidays are here, may the New Year
bring you luck,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Things are looking up already,
Obama’s a lame duck.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-42684068443180983832013-12-16T06:57:00.000-08:002013-12-16T07:00:41.560-08:00Year End 2013<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Version>14.00</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Two thousand and thirteen, coming quickly to a close, </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Events that have transpired, let us here expose.<br />
Over Russia flew a meteor, over the Vatican white smoke, <br />
Bombings up in Boston, the stateless Snowden bloke.<br />
Poison gas in Syria, floods in India in June,<br />
The governmental shutdown, in the Philippines typhoon.<br />
<br />
A new tenant in the White House? Alas we were not so lucky, <br />
At least the current occupant, appears increasingly lame ducky.<br />
Like in many a second term, scandals now abound, <br />
The yes we can agenda, has now sadly run aground.<br />
Worried about big brother? You might be right my love, <br />
The NSA can hack anything, except </span><a href="http://healthcare.gov/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">healthcare.gov</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">.<br />
<br />
Who left us this past year? We wish them all Godspeed,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Farewell to Edward Koch, farewell now to Lou Reed.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Global statesmen left us too, men and women of high stature,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Goodbye Nelson Mandela, goodbye to Margaret Thatcher.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">James Gandolfini we will miss you, and your softer side of crime,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Adios to Hugo Chavez, your revolution ran out of time.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In the markets year to date, we’ve had lots of steady action, <br />
Your choice of asset class, has shaped your degree of satisfaction.<br />
US equities won the race, all year they kept on sprinting,<br />
Boosted by juicy steroids, also known as money printing.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Gold and bonds were laggards, causing their owners mental anguish, </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The Yen, Aussie, and Rupee, against the Dollar all did languish.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Among stocks there were big winners, that proved to be good picks,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The Facebook made a comeback, though not quite like Netflix.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Tesla hurt the shorts, cutting through them like a knife,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Other exhibits in that category, Green Mountain and Herbalife.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Losers have been scarce, in fact there are hardly any,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Blackberry and teen retail, and the flailing JC Penney.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">And what about the macro, as we look out to fourteen?</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Should we bet it all on bitcoin, to keep it in the green?<span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Across every class of asset, vol has disappeared like vapor,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The markets are complacent, worried not about the taper.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: dark2;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Remember you can’t go broke, with some profit taking,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your smarts in this year’s rally, you should not be mistaking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">With those gains you can now harvest, let’s also do some giving,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">There are still so very many, with a low standard of living.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Five years ago things were dismal, as the crisis was so dire,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Who imagined that so quickly, to new records we’d vault higher.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Be thankful this December, your health is just one reason,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s think of those less fortunate, in this year’s holiday season. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-77111055088527539702013-09-26T11:06:00.000-07:002013-12-10T10:13:30.944-08:00Hedge Fund Man<table border="0" cellpadding="15">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Hedge Fund Man - by Peter Ort<br />
<br />
He's a PM and a trader<br />
He's got a signal turning green<br />
He's a restless young risk taker<br />
Wants to run the big money<br />
He's got no problem with his high fees<br />
And his lockup is secure<br />
He's cleaning up his network<br />
To keep his sources pure<br />
<br />
Learning to lower the beta of the Old World Man<br />
Learning to make the alpha like a New World Man<br />
<br />
He's bought some concentrated stakes<br />
And learned when to sell and apply the brakes<br />
He's old enough to know what options to write<br />
But young enough to confuse it<br />
He's noble enough not to take in too much cash<br />
But weak enough not to refuse it<br />
He's a Hedge Fund Man...<br />
<br />
He’s got activism fever<br />
Spin off your factories and farms<br />
He's a fighter and no stranger<br />
To the sell side and their charms<br />
He's got market timing power<br />
With quant models on patrol<br />
He's got to watch the advance/decline line<br />
And keep his risk control<br />
<br />
Trying to double the pay of the Old World Man<br />
Buying a Swiss chalet like a New World Man<br />
<br />
He's forgotten the drawdown of yesterday<br />
He knows a high water mark is here today<br />
He's noble enough to see his risk is not right<br />
But weak enough not to defuse it<br />
He's wise enough to raise a yard<br />
But fool enough to lose it<br />
He's a Hedge Fund Man...<br />
<br />
Learning to lower the beta of the Old World Man<br />
Learning to make the alpha like a New World Man<br />
He's a Hedge Fund Man...<br />
He's a Hedge Fund Man...
</td>
<td>New World Man – by RUSH<br />
<br />
He's a rebel and a runner<br />
He's a signal turning green<br />
He's a restless young romantic<br />
Wants to run the big machine<br />
He's got a problem with his poisons<br />
But you know he'll find a cure<br />
He's cleaning up his systems<br />
To keep his nature pure<br />
<br />
Learning to match the beat of the Old World Man<br />
Learning to catch the heat of the Third World Man<br />
<br />
He's got to make his own mistakes<br />
And learn to mend the mess he makes<br />
He's old enough to know what's right<br />
But young enough not to choose it<br />
He's noble enough to win the world<br />
But weak enough to lose it<br />
He's a New World Man...<br />
<br />
He's a radio receiver<br />
Tuned to factories and farms<br />
He's a writer and a ranger<br />
And a young boy bearing arms<br />
He's got a problem with his power<br />
With weapons on patrol<br />
He's got to walk a fine line<br />
And keep his self-control<br />
<br />
Trying to save the day for the Old World Man<br />
Trying to pave the way for the Third World Man<br />
<br />
He's not concerned with yesterday<br />
He knows constant change is here today<br />
He's noble enough to know what's right<br />
But weak enough not to choose it<br />
He's wise enough to win the world<br />
But fool enough to lose it<br />
He's a New World Man...<br />
<br />
Learning to match the beat of the Old World Man<br />
Learning to catch the heat of the Third World Man<br />
He's a New World Man...<br />
He's a New World Man...
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-41543961524319527752012-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:002013-12-10T10:13:51.809-08:00Year End 2012Another year now ending, goodbye to twenty twelve,<br />
Into events that have unfolded, let us briefly delve.<br />
Some things didn't change, the status quo remaining,<br />
Middle Eastern fighting, and tireless campaigning.<br />
More borrowing and spending, debt burdens they did widen,<br />
Thanks to our spendthrift leaders, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.<br />
Not to be outdone, in the massive spending spree,<br />
Was the Federal Reserve, launching unlimited QE.<br />
<br />
What failed in the past year, amidst all the to and fro?<br />
Exhibit A in that sad bucket, must be the Facebook IPO.<br />
What else was a loser, on a transatlantic scale?<br />
JP Morgan's prop trading, felled by a London whale.<br />
Another bust of large proportions, leaving half the country cryin',<br />
Was the GOP fall ticket, of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.<br />
The biggest setback of the year, was not at all man made,<br />
A hurricane named Sandy, that did our coast invade.<br />
<br />
To some we bid farewell, they left us all too soon,<br />
Goodbye to Andy Griffith, goodbye Vidal Sassoon.<br />
So long to Whitney Houston, she too has left the scene,<br />
So long to Donna Summer, of disco she was queen.<br />
Our ambassador to Libya, for him the nation grieves,<br />
Dick Clark we’ll miss your countdown, on future New Year’s Eves.<br />
Farewell to Neil Armstrong, to the moon you travelled far,<br />
Farewell to Maurice Sendak, I hope you’re where the wild things are.<br />
<br />
The state of our nation, is challenged at this time,<br />
Pax Americana, may be beyond its prime.<br />
Division reigns supreme, in our corridors of power,<br />
Listen to our politicians, and you’ll want to take a shower.<br />
Where can we find redemption, it lies somewhere within,<br />
The better angels of our nature, not in some partisan spin.<br />
Though challenges we face, resolution is within our reach,<br />
It’s not like we must storm, some barricaded Normandy beach.<br />
<br />
How to position your portfolio, into the year beyond?<br />
Go short the equity market, stay long the 30 year bond?<br />
The vol has been so low, across all the asset classes,<br />
While the recovery we’re in, has been slow as molasses.<br />
To offer some advice, if I may be so bold,<br />
Don’t lend Uncle Sam your money, with his spending uncontrolled.<br />
On one thing you can count, with regard to money making,<br />
A bigger share in taxes, the government will be taking.<br />
<br />
So let me wrap this up, with something more upbeat,<br />
That you can share with friends, via text, email, or tweet.<br />
There are better days ahead, that is my calm projection,<br />
When will they come you ask, not till the next election.<br />
Though winter has arrived, and outside it may be storming,<br />
If you’re feeling wet and cold, relax the globe is warming.<br />
At all your year end parties, make your cocktails strong and stiff,<br />
And get ready for a tumble, off of the fiscal cliff.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-61096082247927924092011-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:002013-12-10T10:14:00.110-08:00October 2011It’s October twenty eleven, in this year it’s getting late,<br />
Your year-to-date performance, really hasn’t been that great.<br />
The economy has softened, the stocks have been a mess,<br />
Job growth has been anemic, banks again are under stress.<br />
Let’s review what all has happened, the events that have transpired,<br />
And perhaps we’ll understand, why this market’s uninspired.<br />
<br />
The year started off all right, the stocks they climbed on higher,<br />
On LinkedIn and Pandora, investors took a flyer.<br />
Social media was all the rage, that quickly grew into a bubble,<br />
Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, saw valuations quickly double.<br />
In other asset classes, higher prices too were quoted,<br />
Top ticking it in commodities, Glencore’s stock was gently floated.<br />
<br />
As spring turned into summer, to higher highs we almost vaulted,<br />
Until our slippery politicians, on our debt almost defaulted.<br />
On both side of the aisle, they all found many they could blame,<br />
What they found in less abundance, was a sense of any shame.<br />
So in the early days of August, the risk rallies all were faded,<br />
And our pristine credit rating, was deservedly downgraded.<br />
<br />
And all the while in crusty Europe, across the wide and deep blue ocean,<br />
A train wreck was developing, albeit in slow, slow motion.<br />
Debt levels and GDP, had long ago inflected,<br />
Sovereigns and banks alike, insolvency had infected.<br />
The market had grown weary, of dear old Merkel and Sarkozy,<br />
And of their silly euro games, of bailout ring around the rosy.<br />
<br />
The exercises of policy makers, have been ones largely of futility,<br />
Bringing back higher measures, of correlation and volatility.<br />
Money managers to their benchmarks, have not come even close,<br />
The biggest losers out among them, are Johnny Paulson and Bill Gross.<br />
Big winners have been rare, good news scarce in performance reports,<br />
Unless you bet it big on treasuries, or had those Chinese shorts.<br />
<br />
Big worries they abound, the list just keeps expanding,<br />
Deficits and unemployment, or an economic cold hard landing.<br />
The masses they grow restless, they write about it as they tweet,<br />
To organize their protest, and occupy Wall Street.<br />
Obama’s a disappointment, you can see it in his approval rating,<br />
For a decent GOP alternative, we’re still patiently awaiting.<br />
<br />
So is there hope for our future, can we somehow persevere?<br />
Will we get back our mojo, will our prosperity disappear?<br />
Let’s take stock in our republic, in our continuous long term renovation,<br />
And in our entrepreneurial spirit, best shown in Steve Jobs’ innovation.<br />
And in the short term if you’re nervous, that the markets keep on wheezing,<br />
Then doctor Ben Bernanke, will provide more quantitative easing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-27125838146360654802010-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:002013-12-10T10:14:09.169-08:00January 2010 - A Decade In Review<br />
And so we find ourselves at the start, of a decade that is new,<br />
The one just ended wasn’t pretty, if you look in the rear view.<br />
When it started in 2000, Nasdaq was climbing to new heights,<br />
On its way beyond five thousand, where it was read its final rites.<br />
The harsh road back to reality, crushed many a banker and VC,<br />
With business plans and sock puppets, filling Sand Hill Road’s debris.<br />
<br />
The tragedy of nine eleven, changed the mindset of a generation,<br />
That we never forget that fateful day, is our eternal obligation.<br />
Shortly after that disaster, we were greeted with many a business sham,<br />
Kozlowski, Ebbers, Skilling, Rigas, up the river they all swam.<br />
All the while Mr. Greenspan, kept on chopping at the rate,<br />
Convinced was he that the risk, was that prices would deflate.<br />
Recovery was soon at hand, as the markets all shot higher,<br />
For any asset or derivative, there was many an eager buyer.<br />
<br />
The silliness soon began, in the market for the housing,<br />
Bidding wars were all too common, animal spirits were arousing.<br />
A virtuous cycle was upon us, with many players in the game,<br />
Home buyers, brokers, and appraisers, all proceeded without shame.<br />
An Option ARM and a HELOC, will you please get down with the lingo,<br />
If you want that beach house in Miami, with the cheesy pink flamingo.<br />
Investment bankers always clever, sliced and diced the toxic paper,<br />
The regulators and rating agencies, they blessed the shady caper.<br />
<br />
And over in corporate America, things were heating up as well,<br />
The buyout kings they were ascending, as their funds began to swell.<br />
The nonsense soon was spewing, just as it was in the late eighties,<br />
Lighten my covenants and toggle my PIK, as I drive off in my Mercedes.<br />
Activists ruled the day, demanding buybacks and dividend recaps,<br />
Any CEO who resisted, was shown the door or busted kneecaps.<br />
And our governmental finances, how did they fare amidst this boom?<br />
Deficits every year, it happens when you take in less than you consume.<br />
<br />
The carry trade was running rampant, fueled by Japanese free money,<br />
That some bought it for two and twenty, is somewhat sad and slightly funny.<br />
The BRICs were off and running, and took on a life all of their own,<br />
Impacting the status quo global order, the G7 they did dethrone.<br />
And in so doing caused commodities, to go on an unrelenting climb,<br />
The peak oilers said we would run out, in a short amount of time.<br />
Correlations all were rising, as the world was busy flattening,<br />
Ags became all the rage, as its citizens were busy fattening.<br />
<br />
What marked the top of all the frenzy, what took us into the red zone?<br />
Was it Cerberus buying Chrysler, or the public offering of Blackstone?<br />
While Chuck Prince was still out dancing, and Jimmy Cayne was out back toking,<br />
Liquidity was draining from the system, leaving many addicts choking.<br />
Subprime mortgages were just the first, of many things that did implode,<br />
The collapse of other asset classes, their meltdown did forebode.<br />
The quants blew up rather early, despite their fancy qualifications,<br />
Up in their ivory towers, they misjudged their peer group’s concentrations.<br />
<br />
With the world around it melting, Wall Street still carried on denying,<br />
Bogus concepts like decoupling, it persisted on supplying.<br />
And then the old houses started falling, like a line of children’s dominoes,<br />
Bear, Lehman, AIG, and Merrill, they all did decompose.<br />
Even Morgan and mighty Goldman, were saved by the bank charter,<br />
For the warmth of the TARP blanket, they were forced to go and barter.<br />
With no more fear of moral hazard, the bailouts came quite quickly,<br />
All you had to do was ask politely, and demonstrate that you were sickly.<br />
To cap a heinous 2008, we learned of the Ponzi scheme of Madoff,<br />
While millions of Americans, were being furloughed and laid off.<br />
<br />
But to finish out the decade, it was time for a party in ’09,<br />
Hosted by Ben Bernanke, serving potent monetary moonshine.<br />
For appetizer zero interest rates, for dessert quantitative easing,<br />
Speculators found his menu, extremely succulent and pleasing.<br />
While the rally that we’ve seen, is salve for our financial cuts and gashes,<br />
It’s just postponed our day of reckoning, and ensured further market crashes.<br />
Unemployment, deficits, foreclosures, and your very large unfunded pension,<br />
Are just a few of our collective problems, which I feel that I must mention.<br />
<br />
So what comes next in this new decade, what’s in the cards and what’s in store?<br />
At best some serious belt tightening, at worst a collapsing dollar and holy war.<br />
How to prepare for these calamities, how to shield oneself from all this pain?<br />
Learn to live with less, from gratuitous consumption please abstain.<br />
Have faith in our America, this is the land of hope and dreams,<br />
Built not by economic foolery, or no money down financial schemes.<br />
Dig deep within your being, against our challenges now stand fast,<br />
Let’s bid farewell to the decade of naught, and leave it resolutely in the past.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-38973776628528477532009-05-01T08:00:00.001-07:002021-12-09T07:08:12.516-08:00May 2009As winter turned to spring and quick as a lightning flash,<br />
We recovered from the losses and made back the ‘09 crash.<br />
The sentiment and trend have both made sharp and sudden turns,<br />
Giving the bears and shorts alike, horrific third degree burns.<br />
Just a few short months ago, it all seemed so very dire,<br />
The consumer had collapsed, the banks were all on fire.<br />
Their wallets all were empty, their book values all had vanished,<br />
Saving was in vogue, all consumption had been banished.<br />
I remember it quite well, every night there on the tube,<br />
They said the Fed’s work was in vain, and that Geithner was a boob.<br />
As Citi’s stock broke through a buck, we looked on with much disgust,<br />
Thinking TARP, TALF and P-PIP had all been such a bust.<br />
The depression was upon us, it was getting very bad,<br />
Except for Taleb and Roubini, we all were feeling very sad.<br />
<br />
And then the thing it softly hit bottom, without making any sound,<br />
At the moment that it happened, there were no bulls here to be found.<br />
The rally it was false, a head fake we all said,<br />
After all we knew full well, capitalism was now dead.<br />
But it kept on going higher, day after day, week after week,<br />
Although the macro stats and news flow were still looking very bleak.<br />
Things were all still getting worse, just not quite as quickly as before,<br />
A second derivative change helped the market set a floor.<br />
The talk now everywhere is of sprouting new green shoots,<br />
Only time it will reveal, the depth of their underlying roots.<br />
<br />
The way the bulls tell us the story, things will end up being fine,<br />
Nothing now can stop us, not even flu or plague from swine.<br />
Ignore the prices of the houses, though they continue to be sagging,<br />
Don’t sweat surging unemployment, an indicator that is lagging.<br />
Obama and Bernanke will fix any problems that we have,<br />
If your mutual fund is impaired, they’ll pass a bailout of your NAV.<br />
If it’s Chrysler that’s gone bust, give it to the unions and Italians,<br />
If it’s your strategy for Afghanistan, send in some more battalions.<br />
Stimulus, healthcare and green energy, it all can be afforded,<br />
Don’t worry if you haven’t saved a penny, you’ll be kindly well rewarded.<br />
If the Chinese don’t buy more Treasuries and start puking all our dollars,<br />
The Fed will print more just to buy them, those depressionary scholars.<br />
<br />
And the bears think they know better, that they are wiser than an owl,<br />
On this rally and economy, their advice would be ‘throw in the towel’.<br />
They know this turn is just for suckers, for the money that is dumb,<br />
The S&P’s going back to a six handle, that awful place we just came from.<br />
Our households and our businesses still have much delevering to go,<br />
Though our assets are declining, big debts we all still owe.<br />
All the governmental actions just delay our day of reckoning,<br />
Out on the near horizon, financial ruin it is beckoning.<br />
Take no comfort from green shoots, which all will soon be withering,<br />
Buy gold in heaps and bury it, this is no time to be caught dithering.<br />
<br />
And as for me as an observer, what is my present opinion,<br />
On this bull and bear debate, raging across this wide dominion?<br />
As with many things in life, the answer’s somewhere in the middle,<br />
There is no easy answer to our tangled financial riddle.<br />
Did we overdo the leverage and create much false prosperity?<br />
Did we put off many problems and leave them to posterity?<br />
It’s clear the answer to these questions is a high conviction yes.<br />
What’s more, we haven’t fixed the banks with recent tests of stress.<br />
Yet there still are many things that give me hope for times ahead,<br />
I do not sit around in fear of a future that I dread.<br />
So bears stop hoping for no end, to our economic pickle,<br />
And bulls take time to reassess, these rallies can be fickle.<br />
Good luck to both sides of the coin, may you find alpha by year end,<div>Here’s to hoping we soon return, to days when beta is your friend.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-35701783968000062122008-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:002013-12-10T10:14:28.891-08:00Year End 20082008 can you please hurry up and end,<br />
Perhaps skip right past Christmas, as we’ve no money left to spend.<br />
We started out the year expecting just some regional recessions,<br />
We’re finishing it out with bankers seizing our possessions.<br />
Our assets and liquidity have all gone up in smoke,<br />
Our equity has vanished, we’re simply just flat broke.<br />
Jobless, homeless, hopeless are now words in our vernacular,<br />
The failure of the system has been sadly quite spectacular.<br />
So let us now review events, of this year that’s passed us by,<br />
Disasters there were many, an unlimited supply.<br />
<br />
Peloton crushed it in ‘07 and was everybody’s hero,<br />
By February end their NAV had dwindled down to zero.<br />
The Ides of March spelled doom, for the folks over at Bear Stearns,<br />
For the investment banking model, we began having real concerns.<br />
All year banks were going belly up, and July felled Indy Mac,<br />
Though that was just a prelude, to September’s heart attack.<br />
The first week of that grim month, brought Fan and Fred’s demise,<br />
Trillions is how they measure, their impaired asset size.<br />
Mother Merrill then decided, it must hook up with a mate,<br />
BofA came courting, proposing marriage on the first date.<br />
That was quickly followed by the fall of dear old Lehman,<br />
Letting that one go, may prove to be Paulson’s demon.<br />
Too big to fail returned, the following day with AIG,<br />
Whose balance sheet was filled, with heaps of foul debris.<br />
Wamu was close behind, with the biggest bust in banking history,<br />
Where exactly TPG saw value, remains a shrouded mystery.<br />
Wachovia was next, which Citi quickly lost to Wells,<br />
Buying Golden West right at the peak, is one that really smells.<br />
<br />
The hedge funds, how’d they navigate these failures I recite?<br />
Poorly, in a word, since I’m keeping this polite.<br />
Through June they rode real assets up a steep and soaring climb,<br />
They shorted the financials, the dollar and subprime.<br />
And then it all went sour, the bottom it fell out,<br />
Commodities went down the toilet, and then turned into a rout.<br />
The trades were all quite crowded, the unwind it was vicious,<br />
The shorts were squeezed and banned, the margin calls malicious.<br />
Leverage crushed the wise guys and so did net exposures,<br />
Who knew the hedge fund beta was tied to home foreclosures?<br />
The VIX broke right through eighty, as vols spiked through the roof,<br />
Currencies fell to pieces, as the carry trade went poof.<br />
Counterparties failed, the TED spread grew and grew,<br />
Some lost big in the convertibles, some on Porsche/VW.<br />
Money funds soon hit the skids, and some then broke the buck,<br />
If you let Lehman rehypothecate, you sure feel like a schmuck.<br />
It mattered very little, if you chose value, growth or GARP,<br />
Nothing sustained a rally, not even Kashkari’s TARP.<br />
As credit markets froze, for redemptions all were braced,<br />
Side pockets became the home, for assorted toxic waste.<br />
Drawdowns grew severe, at Glenview, Tosca and Spinnaker,<br />
The victims of the carnage include Gendell, Dubin and Dinakar.<br />
<br />
And the regulators, how’d they handle this mess that we’re now in?<br />
Randomly, it seems, much to Dick Fuld’s chagrin.<br />
Over weekends they did work, the dynamic duo Ben and Hank,<br />
And pleaded on bended knee, to Pelosi, Schumer and Frank.<br />
Through facility upon facility, they grew Fed’s balance sheet,<br />
They accepted all collateral, from desperate firms across Wall Street.<br />
“We’re all banks now” became the mantra if you wanted to be saved,<br />
If you asked for their assistance, you found yourself enslaved.<br />
Forget the leverage and the bonus, those days are now long past,<br />
The last shall now be first, and the first shall now be last.<br />
And the legacy of Greenspan, how will we remember him?<br />
I’m sad to tell you Alan, it’s looking pretty grim.<br />
Maestro we’ve now decided, was a terrible misnomer,<br />
A Simpson seems more fitting, not Bart or Marge, but Homer.<br />
<br />
Ah, it’s easy to point fingers, when we all share in the blame.<br />
We all helped inflate the bubble, and did so without shame.<br />
The leverage proved intoxicating, it felt just like a drug,<br />
Any problems that developed, we swept under the rug.<br />
Our nation became infected with the borrowing disease,<br />
We shipped out all our dollars, to the Saudis and Chinese.<br />
We all built the fancy houses, we each drove in a Hummer,<br />
Not just Kravis and Schwarzman, but even Joe the Plumber.<br />
And now we pay the piper, the repo man is at the door,<br />
He’s asking for his money, we can’t defer him anymore.<br />
And Bush up in the White House, asleep on the job in a pajama,<br />
So disgusted all his countrymen, they picked some new guy named Obama.<br />
Mr. President Elect, good luck to you with all these troubles,<br />
Iraq, LIBOR, Depression, and the bursting of these bubbles.<br />
So I’m sorry I’ve depressed you, but these straits are very dire,<br />
I wish I had some words, with which I could inspire.<br />
I suppose it could be worse, despite the big destruction of your wealth,<br />
In this land hope still springs eternal, and you still have got your health.<br />
Happy Holidays to you, I hope you spend it in good cheer,<br />
Let’s raise the glasses up in unison, and hope for better come next year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961785705447992495.post-52904874539283348892008-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:002013-12-10T10:14:37.234-08:00July 2008Midway through the year of 2008,<br />
Performance is grim through June year to date.<br />
Of industry sectors, banks have fallen the most,<br />
As they’ve watched their loan books turn quickly to toast.<br />
The brokers of course, they too have had issues,<br />
For the memory of Bear, we can but cry in our tissues.<br />
Mortgage insurers as well, are now in a mess,<br />
Happy are those who’ve owned a dose of their CDS.<br />
Regional banks have succumbed and are now in a jam,<br />
IndyMac is the newest possession of dear Uncle Sam.<br />
Of Fannie and Freddie, what will they write of their tale?<br />
That when they came close to the edge, they were too big to fail.<br />
<br />
Who or what is to blame for our terrible plight?<br />
For these problems that keep us awake in the night?<br />
The home builders, for one, who just built way too many,<br />
Why build one or two, when there’s financing for twenty?<br />
Mortgage bankers and brokers, who provided the grease,<br />
In this religion of lending, they were the priests.<br />
Wall Street played its part, with the securitization,<br />
Those bonuses you know, can be quite a temptation.<br />
The rating agencies, they too, were all part of this trade,<br />
Triple A they all called it, no matter the grade.<br />
And the borrowers of course, we must not forget,<br />
Liar loans they filled out, without any regret.<br />
<br />
Who can now save us, who will come to our aid?<br />
We all bought these big houses, and now feel so betrayed.<br />
Mister Bernanke, can you please lower that rate?<br />
What do you mean, you worry that prices will start to inflate?<br />
Mister Paulson, please continue the bailouts without quarrel.<br />
What’s this that you say, you’ll create hazard moral?<br />
Mister Bush, your people in need you will surely remember?<br />
Oh, how could I forget, you’ll be gone come November.<br />
Mister Buffet, buy these homes before they’re all repossessed,<br />
You say there’s no value so you won’t come invest?<br />
<br />
So we’re all by ourselves, to fend on our own,<br />
To make do with our problems, to pay off that loan.<br />
Stay calm and don’t panic, let’s think this one through.<br />
After all we’re Americans, we’ll know what to do.<br />
Don’t cool down your house and please skip that vacation,<br />
Don’t buy food or energy, that’s not part of core inflation.<br />
That tax rebate check, don’t you spend it on shopping,<br />
Didn’t you hear, the housing bubble is popping?<br />
Sell the jewels, sell the gold, sell the family possessions,<br />
It’ll help ease the pain of this beast of recessions.<br />
And when you’re feeling depressed, by our debt in the trillions,<br />
Have a beer, try a Bud, it’s now owned by Brazilians.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0