Condi, did you ask Iran about these?

Iranian officials deny importing weapons or militants into neighboring Iraq, but The Washington Post reported Friday that attacks in Iraq involving Iranian-made EFPs reached a record high last month. Quoting Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who oversees day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, the paper said the number of attacks with the projectiles rose to 65 in April, most of them in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad. Officials said the projectiles are used almost exclusively by Shiite fighters against U.S. military targets. EFPs were first reported used in Iraq in 2005 against British forces in the south, but have grown increasingly common, primarily in Baghdad. The Post quoted Odierno as saying that before April, the month with the greatest number of projectile attacks was December 2006, with 62. It said the use of projectile weapons has risen over time as other types of bombs have become less effective against added U.S. armor. Overall attacks using roadside bombs doubled in Iraq from 2006 to 2007 and number about 1,200 a month, the Post said. They cause roughly 70 percent of the casualties suffered by U.S. troops, the paper said.

beware Wall Street advertising.........

Today in the Wall Street Journal was a nice article on how the brokers at UBS, formerly what I called the HOUSE OF PAIN, (Paine Webber) blew up a hedge fund that they ran in-house.

It might wind up costing them around $300,000,000. In the adjoining UBS ad they tell readers what a great job they do in investment management. I guess risk control doesn't start at home. It must start with the clients. Beware the brokers folks. They want to separate you from your money as painlessly as possible and without you knowing it. Just ask any broker who just left the business. Or anyone steered into an annuity at a bank.

Shares of USO................

I bought into the ETF story early on. So far so good with the love of my financial life, the equal-weighted RSP, doing what it's supposed to do.

All is not rosy in love nor in the financial markets. I’d like to think I was hood-winked in shares of USO. Contango has pinned me down so far, can backwardation bail me out?

Maybe there’s a quick meal here for me. The fund manager said I should have read the prospectus better.

Listen carefully...........

I don’t mean to be critical, but most people invest through the rear-view mirror. They buy mutual funds after they have gone up substantially. They have bought into what I call the Sesame Street School of investing. They buy into the hottest fund, in the hottest sector, in the hottest country, from the hottest brokerage firm and the one that has the most “stars” next to it in Money magazine. Then what happens? You know the drill. They turn cold. In fairly short order, a perfectly normal market correction comes along. The cycle comes to an end. Investing like that is like enlisting in the Taliban on September 12th, 2001. Yes, you are joining the proudest fighting force in the world that day. Yes, your outfit just pulled off one of the greatest disasters of all time. But you know what? You are toast. Your obituary is written. It is all downhill. I have no wish to drive this message into the ground like a Cruise missile but I want to make one point very clear. Pay attention. At the end of an investor’s life, less than 5% of his total lifetime return will from what his investments did versus other investments. The other 95% will come from how the investor behaved.

You see, I have a firm belief that there is absolutely no relationship between investment performance and investor performance. Stock market success is a function of two things. One, recognition that the markets will go down and sometimes go down, a lot and two, prepare to regard those declines as either non-events or buying opportunities and never as an occasion to sell. With all certainty, I know that the most boring and mediocre stock fund in your portfolio, the one you hold onto during a vicious bear market is infinitely better than the world-class stock fund that you sell out of at the bottom of a temporary decline. The secret to making big money in stocks is to not get scared out of them. Americans, God bless them, are totally unable to distinguish between fluctuation and loss. The bottom line is this, and if you don’t believe me you have the right to be wrong, but don’t forget it, the higher your exposure to stocks as a percentage of your assets the better your overall return, over the long term. In the long run, no one controls our investment fate. We control it and bailing out of markets is like quitting a marathon because you get tired! You can't win if you aren't geared up to be in the game for the long haul.

Scientific Games............

What's not to like with SGMS ?

Victor.......the legend grows..........

Many know of my following of Victor Niederhoffer's web site. I make no bones about. The single best resource for "meals for a lifetime" bar none. (With all due respects to Dr. Brett Steenbarger and Lazlo Biryini's site as well) Many don't have a clue when I reference Mr. Niederhoffer and I thought I'd share some background on the man and the legend.

Niederhoffer employs proprietary programs that predict short-term moves using multivariate time series analysis. In the five-year period since 2001, Victor Niederhoffer's fund has returned 50% a year(compounded). His worst year in this period was 2004 returning 40%, in 2005 he returned 56.2% (as reported in eFinancial News). On April 6, 2006, the industry group MarHedge awarded Matador Fund Ltd. And Manchester Trading, two funds managed by Niederhoffer the prize for best performance by a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) in the two years 2004 and 2005.

From 2000-2003, Niederhoffer co-wrote with financial writer Laurel Kenner a widely read weekly column on the markets for CNBC MoneyCentral. He and Kenner co-wrote Practical Speculation (John Wiley & Sons, February 2003), called "the best trading book of the young millennium" by Active Trader magazine. Niederhoffer's life story, and the lessons he learned growing up that helped him become a success were told in, the 1997 best-selling book The Education of a Speculator.

On his website Niederhoffer claims to be proudest of having had “a benevolent influence” on people that came in contact with him. At least a dozen employees whom he started out or taught became billionaires or multi-centimillionaires, including Monroe Trout, Toby Crabel, Stu Rose, John Hummer and Roy Niederhoffer (Victor's younger brother), all of whom are famous in money management or M&A.

Victor Niederhoffer is famous for hiring young and extremely bright traders, whom he mentors. He encourages them to develop their own trading strategies, and runs his firm more like a science lab than a traditional trading firm.

Squash
Niederhoffer is one of the greatest hardball squash players in history, and is a member of the squash hall of fame. Niederhoffer who had played racquet sports all his life growing up had never played squash when he entered Harvard University in 1960. One year later he won the national junior title and by the time he graduated, Niederhoffer was the National Intercollegiate squash champion. He won the U.S. Nationals five times (a record exceeded only by Stanley Pearson who won his sixth in 1923). He also won three national doubles titles. In 1975, he defeated one of the greatest players in the history of the game Sharif Khan in the final of the North American Open (the only time that Khan failed to win the title in the 13 year period between 1969 and 1981).

Other Activities
Niederhoffer is also the founder of the NYC Junto, a libertarian group hosted on the first Thursday of every month since 1985. He is a devoted follower of Ayn Rand. The NYC Junto focuses on libertarianism, objectivism and investing and was inspired by the Junto hosted by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia from 1727 to 1757. He has six daughters, Galt (named after Sir Francis Galton), Katie, Rand, Victoria, Artemis and Kira. His son Aubrey (named after the main character from the Aubrey Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian) was born in May 2006.

Danger............

America has many dangers facing it........the biggest from within. Whether it is the Mexican "criminals" here or the military industrial complex the dangers are hidden amongst us.

The posturing of our 2008 presidential candidates is disgusting.

Listen to the lack of vision and clarity from these charlatans. Sound bite after sound bite.

Chavez the oil baron...............

This guy is bad news to democracy, free markets and North America.