Rez humor..............

An Indian, walking through a field, sees a white man using his hand as a scoop to drink water from a pond. The Indian calls out to the man, "Na ol an t-uisce, ta sïlan de chacbo." (Translation: Don't drink that water. It's full of cow poop!)

The man shouts back, "I'm English! Can't you speak English, Indian! Are you completely ignorant, you asshole?!!"

The Indian calls back in ENGLISH .... "Use both hands. You'll get more."

John Lewis

The Georgia Congressman only has one thing to offer Georgians.

His claim to fame is that he is a walking poster-boy for black grievance and victimization.

And nothing more.

Bucking Bulls.............

In high school on the Great Plains I rode some bucking horses but never rode a bucking bull. With bareback and saddle bronc bucking horses you have something to hang on to besides a rope. Bull ropes weren't my idea of a great tool. I was always too scared. I was lacking the courage and guts factor. The bulls were too big, too fast, too unpredictable and it was too easy to get seriously hurt. These days the bucking bulls are better, much better. Sure the cowboys are better but the athleticism of the bulls has improved. How do these cowboys stay on for 8 seconds? They know the bull. The know how the bull has bucked in the past. They know how the bull has bucked the last few times out. They talk to the cowboys that have had to ride the bull recently. The PBR is a fraternity, similar to the crowd down on the corner of Wall and Broad. Some cowboys have video tapes of the bulls bucking action. If you don't know how the bull is going to buck before he comes out of the chute generally a cowboy doesn't have a very good chance to stay on and make any money.

How do I get a video tape of the market ahead of time? Who can I talk to about what it might or might not do? I've found that talking to other market "riders" doesn't make me much money. It seems to be what's under my hat that counts, how I approach my "ride" and the amount of preparation I have invested. And as always, staying sharp, staying in the game and "riding" every day are paramount.

And some times good old fashioned courage comes into play, the guts factor. A good bull rider needs to know when and how to dismount from a bull if he makes the whistle. No one in the arena can help him, it's all up to him. As well using all the available tools for trading is smart and beneficial.

It's the courage and guts parts that can't be bought.

Downtown Atlanta..........

About 12 years ago when the Olympics rolled through Atlanta I thought it might bring some night life downtown and clean things up. You think?

In todays AJC there was an article about the Georgia Dome and how it withstood the tornado force winds a couple of weeks ago. It seems the "skin" of the Georgia Dome isn't tough enough to withstand gunfire and that 3 separate gunshots have pierced the fabric/skin of the Dome and that all three shots injured spectators at sporting events.

Just three more reasons to stay away from downtown until things are cleaned up or the venues are moved to safer havens, safer being relative because it will probably be at the expense of public tax dollars.

And that's more fiscal suicide.

The Dumbest American..............

How dumb?

Very dumb.

It's the American who knocks what he's got.

Here's what he's got:

A country of unbounded beauty.

Almost unlimited natural resources.

A judicial system the envy of the world.

Food so plentiful obesity is a major problem.

A press nobody can dominate.

A ballot box nobody can stuff.

Churches of your choice.

One hundred million jobs.

Freedom to go anywhere you want, with planes, cars and highways.

Social Security.

Medicare.

Unemployment insurance.

Public schools, plentiful scholarships.

The opportunity to get rich, real rich.

Okay complainer, what's your second choice?

GO.

Lehman fleeced in Japan

Looks like another investment bank gets taken for $350 million.

Interesting times for sure.

Who's watching the risk these days? Has anyone done any serious due diligence on these deals?

Anyone else tired of TAXPAYER funds bailing out these Wall Street veterans? This litany of woe just never ends, decade after decade. Seidman and the RTC, Big John and his band of renowned at LTCM and now the Bear Bailout....taxpayer funds to the rescue.

Any idea when the taxpayer will share in the upside?

OBAMA's economic plan..........

Let's all be clear. If you had to grade his economic plan for America it would warrant an "F".

For failure.

Or foolish.

This from a trained lawyer who has done nothing in the private sector or in public life to warrant leading America.

Higher taxes, here we come!!!! If it wasn't such a marketing job to become President I might think it funny. Let me give you my idea of taxation. It's the redistribution of wealth, taking from those who have from those who have-not.

It means those who worked hard, saved, built, employed and created and who were then "robbed" by the IRS. Where's the line-item veto in 2008?

The fall of Bear Stearns........

About a third of the outstanding shares of Bear Stearns were held by employees. The average broker at Bear Stearns, they had about 500 brokers, was making about $500,000 on average commissions of $1,100,000 per year, well above the Merrill Lynch average per broker per year of between $750,000 and $825,000. Never forget, the salesmen generate the commissions from client investors whether markets are up or down. The economic role of a client for a brokerage firm is to enrich the brokers and the brokerage firm, they are not fiduciaries like Chippewa Partners. Brokers are trained to sell investments that generate fees and commissions and unfortunately often have an agenda other than an investors financial welfare as evidenced by the large number of rogue brokers and arbitration cases brought by investors against firms. I was an arbitrator for the New York Stock Exchange and the NASD for over 10 years and you would have a hard time believing the carnage that goes on out there in the real world. It is frankly disgusting. The interests of Wall Street and the media are not aligned with those of investors. The NASD makes it very clear; investors should never let their guard down with brokers who have a sales agenda.

This debacle is another great lesson for all investors to stay diversified no matter how big or great or fabulous your company's stock is. Jimmy Cayne, Bear's CEO provided a lesson in fooldom. His tournament bridge-playing while the firm tumbled will be fodder for the ages at Harvard Business School. Unfortunately, the financial fortunes of many were impacted by a select few at the top. Lack of risk controls across all areas of the firm were lacking. Wall Street is notorious for poor managment because of the massive compensation at stake. Management often lets trading desks take the firm down and this will happen again and again as it has throughout the last few decades. Call it asinine, call it stupidity just call it what it is.

Human nature and desire for the almight dollar? Call it greed.