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The Stock Room page 34 |
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(Continued from page 33) _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/12/2011 @05:30 pm EST: Occam's razor – Short Ban OK, now I know we’re in a totally different universe! Just listen to Curley from this morning’s 3 Stooges show on his views on short selling and market swings.
When I actually agree with almost everything that the blowhard Cramer has to say… well, then I know this world has gone topsy-turvy. Then we get past idiots like Christopher Cox, former head of the SEC, saying garbage like this today: “Christopher Cox said the biggest mistake of his term was to implement a three-week ban on short-selling bank stocks at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.” This is coming from the very man who probably did more than anyone else to contribute to this mess by eliminating the 70-year old ‘Uptick Rule’ in July 2007! This was one of 2 steps of severe stupidity and was only eclipsed by ‘Mark-To-Market’ in October 2007!
“No... no... no... it ain’t me babe! It ain’t me you’re looking for… babe!” Who’s the bigger idiot here… short sellers or US? Hence my same question: “What have we learned?” Hence my same answer: “SQUAT! NADA! ZIP! ZERO! NOT A DAMN THING! Hence the true definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again even after you know it won’t work!” Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ALL OF US! _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/11/2011 @08:30 am EST: Will Europe’s short ban work? Maybe Yes… Probably No!
I applaud the Europeans effort and gumption, but I hate to admit it that the anal_ysts are probably right on this. The ban did not work back in 2008 for some of the very same obvious reasons: · Wasn’t universal and shorts just did an end-run with other companies. · ETF’s, the WMD’s of the financial world, were not included in the ban. · Most important—it did nothing about market psychology! PSYHC 101: “Fear of Fear Promotes Fear!” But the main reason the ban didn’t work back then and won’t really work now either, is that you can’t change behavior with short term bans or restrictions. People need a strong deterrent and/or penalty in order to stop inappropriate behavior that damages others… hence jails! So, what we tried back in 2008 and what the Europeans are trying now is just NOT fearful enough. In fact, there is NO penalty anyway, so repulsive short sellers hell bent on bringing us ALL down, really have no deterrent at all. As repulsive as their activity may be… it’s NOT illegal. Oh sure you can say the mere fact we stopped them for a while should help, but just like in 2008 – the shorts will circumvent the few rules and find other ways to achieve their nefarious ends. “Then how do we stop it?” you ask. The answer is really quite simple: just make the fear of performing the act more loathsome than the possible gains; and the best and ONLY way to stop an action in the financial world is to TAX THE CRAP out of the gains while promoting the opposite behavior. You make it financially onerous to short those European banks – damn right that the shorting will stop and fast, too. Besides, if those supposedly altruistic shorts are doing this for OUR benefit with justifications like liquidity & transparency – BS – then let them help pay for the mess they are causing! “IT’S THE MENATLITY STUPID!” We ALL must promote long-term investing and NOT short-term gambling. STOP THE INSANITY NOW! Revised Tax Rules: 1. Capital gains 5+ years* - 5% tax on capital gains 2. Capital gains 2 > 5 years* - 15% tax on capital gain 3. Capital gains 1 > 2 years* - 35% tax on capital gains 4. Capital gains 6 > 12 months - 45% tax on capital gains 5. Capital gains under <6 months - 55% tax on capital gains 6. Most critical of all — Institute a capital gains tax of 65% on ALL short sales not directly tied to a long buy by a regulated hedge fund. *Anyone whose main source of ‘income’ (retired persons excluded) that comes directly from capital gains, should be taxed at never less than the 1>2 year 35% rate—no matter what the cg term length. The 5 Golden Rules 1. Immediately, reinstate the Up-Tick Rule. 2. Crack down on naked short selling. Require stock certificate #'s when a short sale needs to be covered, including ETF’s. 3. Institute some rules on how the media ’reports’ news in order to prevent rumor-boarding. Not censorship… just sensibility, accountability, & responsibility. 4. Pass a Wind-Fall Capital Gains Tax of 65% on ALL short sales not directly tied to a long buy by a regulated hedge fund! 5. Have ALL ETF’s trade on a 20-minute delayed basis. Get these instruments of mass destruction back to what they were supposed to do: mimic mutual funds. _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/11/2011 @08:30 am EST: SANITY RESTORED? Maybe! Some degree of sanity: Gold Futures Margins Increased 22% by CME as Investors Drive Record Rally
But then we get more insanity through media rumormongering: Exclusive: One bank in Asia cuts, others review credit | Reuters
But NOW we get the greatest sanity of all: Europe Considers Ban on Short Selling - NYTimes.com Personally I rather TAX THE CRAP out of the short sales through Golden Rule #4, but I’ll take what I can get! 4. Pass a Wind-Fall Capital Gains Tax of 65% on ALL short sales not directly tied to a long buy by a regulated hedge fund! _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/10/2011 @07:00 pm EST: France in Lehmanesque Naked Short ATTACK!
I thought the invasion at Normandy freed France? OK, people… when the head of one of France’s largest banks begs for mercy when asked if they are being taken down in a Lehmanesque type of naked short attack – well then it’s time to really say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! What the hell have we learned? Oh yeah – same answer – SQUAT! Golden Rule #4 NOW 4. Pass a Wind-Fall Capital Gains Tax of 65% on ALL short sales not directly tied to a long buy by a regulated hedge fund! I must say again, that until we do something about this insane ‘useless gold’ bubble… well until then, we are all going to remain in very deep shit! And when 2 of the biggest ‘useless gold’ bulls finally say its bubble popping time, well then…
BTW—even the most hated Cisco tonight had great earnings and improved guidance. Things are not that bad—actually for 92% of reporting companies it’s GREAT! _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/10/2011 @02:00 pm EST: CNBS 3 Stooges Out of Control – AGAIN! The other day I showed you a video which was blatant rumormongering and stock biased manipulation by supposedly unbiased reporters. Disgusting! Now this morning, again we all should be sickened by the VERY SAME SENSATIONALISTS spewing an equally revolting, if not a totally libelous accusation. Where is our SEC? Damn it people… implement Golden Rule #3 ASAP 3. Institute some rules on how the media ’reports’ news in order to prevent rumor-boarding. Not censorship… just sensibility, accountability, & responsibility. or better yet Pull the plug on these people, and really fast! And please, don’t even get me started on where ‘useless gold’ is right now! Insanity! If we don’t stop all this negativity and desire to bring down the system instead of building it up, we will get what we don’t really want. This is a disgrace people! All the bickering and hatred must end. There are some that keep pushing down our throats hatred and division. Who should you listen to… naysayers and nega-pundits spewing Armageddon and hatred, or one of the very people those naysayers wrongly accuse of causing this mess? After listening you tell me, I know who I want as my leader and spokesperson!
_______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/10/2011 @09:00 am EST: ‘War on Gold’ - The Day After Middle Earth! It seemed late yesterday that people saw the insanity in plopping more money into ‘useless gold’ and maybe Bernanke’s attempt to get people to invest in prosperity and jobs… just may be working. WRONG! As of this morning, ‘useless gold’ is back up $26 and other assets are selling off. “Should have declared a war on gold!” What is wrong with us? Side Note: That jerk Cramer on CNBS just said that JPM and other U.S. banks should save the European banks. That might be a great idea, BUT SCREW THAT! Every time they DID, all they got was BASHED and naked shorted by those VERY people who called for them to bail out our naked shorted, forced failures! _______________________________________ apppro’s take for 08/09/2011 @05:00 pm EST: “A bottle of reds - a bottle of whites... it all depends on your appetite!”
This market is acting as if SkyNet has taken drugs. Up then down in milliseconds! NUTS! (Continued on page 35) |
