Linkfest!

Good Weekend! Forget what the calendar says, old man winter’s icy hands still grip the NorthEast. No worries, though, relief seems to be on the way as warmer weather is expected this week.

No relief for either the Bulls of the Bears in the market this week. Trendless, up-down-up action seems to be mainly rumor driven, with oil prices and Fed splices driving every other tick. Something for everyone? More like nothing for anyone. This too, will pass.

While we eagerly await the first Fed meeting of the Bernanke era, hows ’bout some reading to keep y’all occupied til Tuesday?

•  Did Bernanke actually say those four little words, "Its different this time?"  No, but according to Barron’s, he came pretty damned close. (If no Barron’s sub, go here

• The Housing data seemed to throw everyone for a loop. 3 things to note: After 5 down months, a pop in existing home sales is merely a counter trend bounce; Note too that new home sales are notoriously volatile; All of this matter less than the fact than we may be at the beginning of the housing cycle where Houses are Repriced Downwards;

• Interesting discussion by a Value Investor on the advantages of Technical Analysis;

•  Jeremy Grantham, who runs $120 billion, talks markets at Inside The Mind of a Legend;   

• Computers and the Internet? Thats so last century. Technology Review Identifies 10 new emerging technologies that may change the world; The list runs from Nuclear Reprogramming to Cognitive Radio. Its way too early to worry about a bubble in Nanobiomechanics stocks;

• I am not happy about the Relative Outperformance of Low Quality Stocks;

• As Mad Money gets more and more popular, a cottage industry has sprung up critiquing and praising Jim Cramer; Some measures show him outperforming, while others underperforming:

Sad Money? Cramer’s Stock-Picking Prowess In Question 
Cramer: Stock Tips for Suckers?
Is the Market Mad? Evidence from Mad Money  (academic paper)
Booyah Audit
Funny Money
Unauthorized Discussion Forums

Note that while Kass, Shark and I have all weighed in on what this means to the market, the new criticism seems almost "Cramer obsessed."   

• The powers that be in the Media and Entertainment business are not sure how to treat upstart YouTube;   

• Its not just the WSJ: The New York Times is blogging also;

• I wrote the producers of Fox’s Bulls and Bears last week, and suggested they needed to change their name to Bulls & Bulls; Their hype last week was so over-the-top absurd even the Daily Show mocked it;   

• As a longtime Mac user and fan — but no longer an Apple shareholder —
let me start a minor firestorm: Apple’s chart looks like hell. The
stock is down 30%, and Steve Jobs just dumped almost $300 million worth
of stock. So at $59, with the company about to turn 30, is Apple a Buy, Hold, or a Sell?

• Incidentally, the one thing you cannot do with Apple is rely on magazine covers for Buy or Sell signals;

• A surprisingly interesting discussion about  AT&T and the “common carriage” rule; It has direct applicability to internet bandwidth pricing;

Asia’s Future? It’s All About Demographics

• Time Magazine asks is President Bush’s normally astute "Political Antenna" broken?

• If you are a wonk who is interested in the esoteric discussions on Economic Dark Matter — that mysterious stuff that rationalizes all the imbalances in the eoconmy — you may find No Monopoly on Dark Matter interesting;

Very unflattering portrait of J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Diamond; Forget sucking up to obnoxious bosses — Guy Kawasaki gives good advice on The Art of Sucking Down;

Simple ways to make yourself far cleverer — Even if you aren’t the Woman with perfect memory who is baffling scientists;
   
Awesome: A 9 Year old uses Apple’s garage band to great effect: check out what he created musically, and as you listen, you may find it hard to believe he’s 9!

• The first of the reviews for Pixar’s Cars is utterly terrific; The animation looks astounding; See the newest trailer here (check out the tatt on the Porsche);

Jeff Matthews digs the Arctic Monkeys; (My CD is already ordered). Lately, I’ve been loving Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins new disc, Rabbit Fur Coat — its brilliant modern alt. country. Jazz fans need to check out Testifyin’!: Live at the Village Vanguard by the under-appreciated Benny Green;

• The very witty Stanley Bing looks at the Roman Empire as an expansionary multi national corporation in Rome, Inc. Very amusing!

That’s all from this end, where the latest Whose Line is it Anyway? may very well be the funniest show since MXC. 

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  1. Alan Grossberg commented on Mar 26

    Arctic Monkeys, the UK’s band du jour, are way over-rated. Nothing particularly distinguishable from the hundreds (or thousands) of bands to come along since the Beatles. (Memo to Jeff Matthews: like the Beatles at the Cavern? Perhaps, but unlike them, who’ll still be playing the Arctic Monkeys in 40 years?)

    Jenny Lewis’ new disc…not bad. But she’s far more impressive with Rilo Kiley and as part of The Postal Service.

  2. todd commented on Mar 27

    The Arctic Monkeys rule! There is SO much great music coming out of the UK right now… Have you heard the song “Wires” by Athlete? It’s the first song in a long time that actually made me cry. The song is about the lead singer’s newborn daughter being rushed into intensive care right after birth. Real powerful.

    AAPL stock is under HUGE distribution. Most of my profits this year have come from trading AAPL on the short side. The only time I lost money on Apple was on a quick long trade. That being said, it looks pretty over-sold at $59.

    My new obsession is SIRI. Any other really good short selling going on out there?

    Homebuilders actually rallied on Friday on the 10% drop in new home sales numbers. One of those “so bad it’s good” numbers I guess. Bonds yields were so wacky last week!

  3. wayne commented on Mar 27

    I thought the Dimon portrait was very favorable and can’t understand why Barry doesn’t think this kind of guy is great for shareholders

  4. Jon H commented on Mar 27

    I’ve seen speculation that Jobs’ sale was for tax purposes, and that they were transferred to Apple, not dumped on the market in the usual way.

  5. ROYAL PRINCE HOWARD ROCKEFELLER HUGHES commented on Apr 27

    it is illegal for any person to be makin up fake aliasas to hide mony from me or aliasas that belong to my father ( howard robard hughes, or my uncle jack warner,
    and i am prince ambassador howard rockefeller hughes, also know as mark anthony chase ray,

    plus this info::
    Legal document
    never signed never, never gave never, never sold never, I am the owner forever! (this is a legal document.) (plus)
    I am the highest ranking (royal) diplomatic immunitied ambassador of everything, every person, ever place and every location, location in or out of the location, in the whole universe, in or out of, and in the world, forever , plus I AM THE HIGHEST RANKING REPORTER IN THE UNIVERSE FOR EVER, PLUS!!!!
    I out rank all politicians for ever in or out of government ( past, present, and future, ( just in case some politician try to steal from my inheritance and or companies and or tries to harm me or tries to manipulate me, I am a royal for ever!!! (since birth), plus!!!, AND OR ANY PERSON IN GOVERNMENT OR OF NON GOVERNMENT,PLUS!!!
    I am the highest ranking (royal) diplomatic immunitied ambassador of everything, every person, ever place and every location, location in or out of the location, in the whole universe, in or out of, and in the world, forever , plus ! DON’T TOUCH EVER!!!
    I am the highest ranking reality owner in the world,PLUS
    I am the highest ranking diplomatic immunitied ambassador accountant in the world ,plus!!!!
    I am the highest ranking ( richest royal diplomatic immunitied ambassador in the world at everything no matter what!!!!! It is illegal to be denier of me and my recognition of my identity and my access , and my acknowledgements of my ownerships, and when I visit a location or branch of my corporation, plus,
    including phone access, phone calls, plus!!!!!!!
    hello everyone, forward this message ,this is the biggest case in history, most important case!!!
    It is illegal to be operating the companies with out the owner, and I have been the owner of the companies since April 5 1976( and even before), and I don’t even have a credit card from my own companies, plus, I haven’t been receiving any moneys from my companies since my father past away !!!!!!!!!!
    It is illegal to be a denier of my status and my identity( AND THE RESTRICTIONS)(MY WEALTH)at any time,”largest inheritance in history and it is the most documented inheritance in history!”
    it is also illegal to be trying to cover up a private inheritance, and I am the only inheritor of the heritance and I am prince ambassador Howard Rockefeller Hughes also known as prince ambassador mark Anthony(chase) ray,307 80 8151
    Corporate laws also prevent them to be operating the companies with out the owner
    they are still illegally messing with me from satellite and yes I know some things about satellite technology
    I am suppose to be seen on television every day, I own the companies
    I am ROYAL PRINCE HOWARD ROCKEFELLER HUGHES
    my inheritance is over 122 billion plus dollars and of course I am the owner of the companies forever,
    I was suppose to have received my inheritance when I was 5 years old, why haven’t I received my inheritance, there is no valid reasons, and no valid laws either, tell them to give me my inheritance now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
    I own all of my fathers(Howard Robert Hughes) aliases and all of my father accounts and properties plus! and all of jack Warner’s aliases and accounts and properties, plus!!!( I own the companies forever!
    HELLO I AM THE ONLY CHILD OF HOWARD ROBARD HUGHES AND THE STANDARD FORMAT IN THE MEDIA IS A DOCUMENTATION OF MY IDENTITY and my father set the format when I was born, and it is documented in the media every second in the media (format/protocol), and I am the highest ranking royal diplomatic immunitied ambassador in the WORLD FOREVER, I AM HOWARD J.C. ROCKEFELLER HUGHES: ALSO KNOWN AS PRINCE AMBASSADOR HOWARD J.D.C. MARK ANTHONY CHASE RAY ROCKEFELLER HUGHES (LOCH NESS) untouchable, (EL-.NESS) my status means that they are not to be touching me at all but I am suppose to be seen on TV and entertainment shows
    call me 317 506 8586, e-mail ( prince.amb.h_hughes@hotmail.com)
    and send me mail at mray275@sprintpcs.com
    OR PLUS…

    the format is a documentation of my birth marks and beauty marks and royal dental records of my royal ambassador teeth. (some of them??) some what top secret(teeth) yes I am the real Richie Rich!! it is a physical description of my identity and the fact that I am the only child(son) of Howard robard Hughes, it is also a birth certificate, plus!

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