That Magic Moment...

Have you ever had a 'moment of insight' when trading stocks?

When beyond retarded charts and metrosexual trendlines, and old-geezer fundamentals,  you just know the trade is right?


Then fuck it all up by pressing BUY.

Happens 3-4 times a day....

Just What the Fuck is Going on with Canadian Housing?

Just what the fuck is going on with Canadian housing? Nevermind that... what the fuck are our policy makers doing about it is what really bothers me...

It is becoming more evident recently that Canadian real estate is finally falling off its high horse in a big fucking way.

The goat fuckers in Ottawa are indeed freaked about the whole ordeal via trying to intervene in ways so we don't get a US-style crash...  If we do so happen to miraculously dodge, Matrix-style, the impending massive 'de-cocking' of real estate in Canada as we know it now or "soft landing", are we still gonna end up the way the US did anyways despite our government's asshattish precautionary measures  ie. like Japan??


An interesting read from Rabble.ca:

The numbers are becoming increasingly clear; the bloom is off of the Canadian real estate bubble and boom.

Among a variety of indicators, sales of condos in the second quarter of this year in Toronto have fallen by half and a record number of units were left unsold. In Vancouver July residential sales were the lowest for any July in ten years and fell 11.2% from the month of June.

While prices are not dropping yet, the fact that commentators from the business and real estate communities themselves believe a 15% downward adjustment in prices is imminent means that we can likely expect a greater decrease. These are, after all, people whose best interests are served by minimizing any potential housing market panic.

The increasingly interventionist actions being taken by the Conservative government and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to dampen the market, counter-intuitively if one does not really understand what is behind the real estate market boom of the past few years in the first place, also shows that the powers that be are worried. Very worried.

And they are worried for good reason. It was the government itself that facilitated the creation of the overheated market and it is the government that is ultimately on the hook for the tab should an American style meltdown occur. Which means that, in the end, you are on the hook.

The government has chosen the most bank friendly model of "intervention" in the housing market; they don't build affordable housing for all, rather they allow the banks, at no risk to themselves, to put citizens into unsustainable levels of personal debt to own what is completely unaffordable housing.

If a real housing correction occurs, and if it results in an entirely predictable and at least somewhat likely wave of foreclosures and defaults, and if the government is forced to cover even a relatively small proportion of the near $600 billion in insured mortgages, the cuts of recent federal budgets will look like happy times with hindsight. The economic "side-effects" will also be devastating.

Even if this is a bullet that we do manage to dodge, Canadians need to ask themselves if the role of their government and their taxes is to fund social programs, health care, direct housing and infrastructure expenditures, or if it is to put all of these necessities at risk by removing actual market and risk factors from the mortgage business for the big banks by insuring and taking on liability for their loans and the lifestyle of a certain segment of the population, potentially on the backs of all Canadians.

Full Article here.

Disney $DIS: More than just the Gay Ears and Friendly Demeanor...

Just when it seemed Disney's CEO Bob Iger was gonna need to pull horseshoes and unicorns out of his ass to meet Wall Street's high expectations, especially after coming out with such drival as John Carter and worries of the global economic picture slowing its theme parks' admission numbers, the media and entertainment conglomerate reported fiscal Q3 earnings that up sharply from year ago, and up sharply from the Street’s expectations, boosted by a big contribution from the blockbuster Avengers film, as well as growth at its media properties and theme parks.

Disney reported third-quarter earnings of $1.83 billion, up from $1.48 billion a year ago. Adjusted EPS was $1.01, up 31% from 77 cents a year ago, and better than Street consensus of 93 cents. 

It's all about the "BRAND"; The Disney Magic. And it's not just the gay ears and friendly demeanor anymore... .

Matthew Ryan, Sr Vice President of Brand, Franchise & Customer Relationship Mgmt at Disney says it well:

"Walt Disney once said, “I believe in being an innovator. I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I resent the limitations of my own imagination.” At Disney, we don’t see technology as a threat, but rather as an opportunity to innovate and deliver new entertainment experiences. We now live in the richest era of storytelling ever, as technology has created opportunities to unleash the imagination in ways that Walt could only dream of. Sometimes this means reinventing core businesses, as we have done with animation, pioneering the shift to CGI via Pixar. Sometimes it means new entertainment formats, like Club Penguin. Sometimes it means distributing our product on new platforms. And sometimes it means leveraging technology to constantly improve and upgrade the customer service experience. All the while, our brand is the central point, as we consistently deliver quality, creativity, and great storytelling that people have come to expect from Disney."  


And, I think my son's reaction to "Cars" truly exemplfies what Disney has going for it:

Something IMHO Rovio is doing right with Angry Birds;  and Zynga ZNGA and Facebook FB needs to learn. It's not about turning children into degenerate riverboat gamblers... but letting their imaginations and creativity run fucking wild, no?

Happy Anniversary! Fuck You, We're All Gonna Die...

Well well... Happy Anniversary Fuckfaces! !

Today, August 9th, 2012  marks the 5th anniversary of the start of the Global Financial Crisis– "the day the world changed" in the words of former Northern Rock boss Adam Applegarth.  To think I almost completely forgot all about it with it also being AAPL EX-Div Day today and the 24th Anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers selling of Wayne fucking Gretzky to the LA Kings.  A momentous day it is indeed!

So raise and clink your diamond-encrusted chalices folks to this glorious day; thanks to global policy makers, and financial regulators, and general government asshattery for pouring trillions of dollars of liquidity into the 'murderhole' that is banking and finance, we can all celebrate in this momentous occasion for many more years to come as no end is in sight...

And what would a celebration be if one were not to look back, reminscing how it all came to be.. so in the words of the Guardian:

On 9 August 2007, the final wake-up call to the world's banking system occurred after many early warnings over the toxic nature of high-risk mortgage debt. "Sub-prime" was about to enter the vocabulary.


France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, had been forced to suspend three of its funds with major exposure to bonds backed by US sub-prime mortgages – it was unable to value them because the market for these products, or "securities", had dried up completely.

Default levels among high-risk US borrowers had soared as the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to 5.25%.

This shattered confidence in the bonds, which were used by most banks as collateral for the commercial paper they used as a source of short-term funding.

There had been early signs of the crisis – notably the first-ever profit warning from HSBC in February and the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds exposed to high-risk mortgage debts in July.

But BNP caused other banks, concerned at the possibility of more bad debts coming out of the woodwork, to cut back on everyday lending to each other by hiking their own interbank rates – and so began the credit crunch....

In the wake of 9 August 2007, heightened inter-bank lending rates, along with the closure of the mortgage securities market, placed the finances of Northern Rock under intolerable pressure.

The way the group financed itself, "a reckless business model excessively reliant on wholesale funding", according to MPs, had been caught short by the credit crunch. Panicking customers queued to grab back their savings and the UK's first bank run in 140 years was under way.

The Rock – the fast-growing banking success story of the previous decade – was on the road to nationalisation, a £27bn taxpayer bailout and huge political embarrassment for the government. 

Here's another look at it with pictures here at the Telegraph.   Cheers! And Fuck You.

AAPL EX-Divvy Day Today--Shut the Fuck Up!

$AAPL Ex-Divvy Day today; Record Date August 13; Payout on August 16....

And it's $2.65 per share per quarter..

So all you baglickers talking shit about playing this dividend run up like degenerate riverboat gamblers, buying then just waiting to dump immediately after the payout, are a bunch of fucktarded asshats of the first order.... its daily trading crack spread is bigger than than the dividend!! You're either in or out; shut the fuck up about how much you think Samsung /Android is better anyways and how owning some big-ass mother fucking 2-handed cel phone makes you so different from the rest of the sheeple...

In other news, the order from Judge Davis sanctioning $AAPL was just issued and ruled for patent troll- Virnetx $VHC's motion and denied Apple's motion. Expect $VHC shorts to be properly executed soon as it's only a matter of days before $AAPL will settle...

Also $VHC reports tomorrow. Big pressure here to beat that monstrous zero sales number....

Good Morning $$


DISCLOSURE: I am long VHC, V, and stupid as fuck amounts of AAPL

Apple's Secrets Revealed at Trial

From the Wall Street Journal:

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Apple Inc., AAPL -0.02%one of the world's most secretive companies, is finding there's a price in pushing its grievances against rival Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +2.01%in federal court: disclosure.

In just the first few days of its patent trial this week, Apple has publicly discussed how it created the iPhone and iPad, showed early designs of the devices and described intimate details about its product team.

It also gave glimpses into its strategy and customers, and each fact—like an internal survey showing that 78% of iPhone owners buy cases—was quickly disseminated and discussed in tweets and blog posts by people tracking the high-stakes case.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of world-wide marketing, took the stand Friday and revealed how much Apple spends on marketing the devices at the center of the case. He discussed a document that said Apple had spent $647 million advertising the iPhone in the U.S., from its release in 2007 through its fiscal year 2011. For the iPad, which debuted in 2010, he put the amount at $457.2 million.

Much of the trial so far has concentrated on how Apple's design teams came up with the ideas for iPhones and iPads. Apple is trying to prove that Samsung copied its designs, while Samsung is demonstrating to the jury that its devices are different and that Apple was inspired by Sony Corp.'s SNE +0.13%products.

On Friday, Scott Forstall, a senior vice president who oversees the software used on the company's mobile devices, testified that as early as January 2011, an Apple executive advocated that the company build a tablet with a 7-inch screen. Apple has generally disputed the appeal of devices smaller than its 9.7-inch iPad, despite reports the company is developing a smaller model.

In cross-examination, Mr. Forstall said Eddy Cue, now head of Apple's Internet services efforts, had used a 7-inch Samsung tablet for a time, and sent an email to Chief Executive Tim Cook that he believed "there will be a 7-inch market and we should do one."

Mr. Forstall also testified that Apple in 2004 placed unusual rules around how it would assemble a team to build the iPhone, or "Project Purple," as it was called then.

Mr. Forstall said co-founder Steve Jobs told him he couldn't hire anyone from outside the company to work on the user interface, or the buttons and images that appear on the screen. So, he said, he found "superstars" from within Apple and said he was starting a secret project and he wanted help.

He recalled telling them, "If you choose to accept this role, you will work harder than you ever have in your entire life."

Mr. Forstall described "locking down" one floor of the company's buildings at first with cameras and keycard readers to beef up security regarding the project. He also took to calling it the "purple dorm," after the project's code-name, purple. They also put a sign up on the front door with the words "Fight Club" written on it, referring to the hit book and movie in which characters are told not to talk about what they were doing.

He cited numerous challenges to developing the iPhone, because his teams had until then only worked with keyboards and mice. "Every single part of the device had to be rebuilt for touch," Mr. Forstall said.

Mr. Forstall also told the court that his team consisted of 1,000 people who directly reported to him. When he holds all-staff meetings, he said that number usually comes to 2,000.

Mr. Forstall said he invented a patent for double-tapping on Web pages because as he had been using a prototype of the iPhone to surf the web, he realized he was spending a lot of time pinching and zooming the page to fit text perfectly on the screen.

"I realized I have this incredibly powerful device, why can't it figure out the right size for me?" he said. So, he challenged his team to make the software automatically size the text into the center of the screen when he double-tapped around a webpage.

Earlier in the week a 99-page document filed in the case revealed some early iPhone prototypes considered by the company. The renderings, dating back to at least early 2006, show what could have been—from bulbous backsides to angled edges. Other documents disclosed variations on the iPad design, including the fact the company considered a kickstand for the device.

Veteran Apple designer Christopher Stringer—the company's first witness—walked through many of the prototypes on Tuesday and said the design team often works around a table in a kitchen, translating ideas to sketches to computer designs to 3-D models. When asked how Apple arrived at the final iPhone design, Mr. Stringer said: "It was the most beautiful of our designs…When we realized what we got, we knew."

But the iPhone almost didn't get off the ground. Mr. Stringer said even Mr. Jobs had doubts Apple could deliver the unprecedented design.

Mr. Schiller, in another part of his testimony, discussed a customer survey of iPhone buyers. The issue of market research is of special interest to Apple watchers, because Mr. Jobs famously maintained that the company didn't rely on tools like focus group in deciding how to craft new products.

Before the trial opened, however, a May 2011 survey of iPhone owners was filed as evidence. The Apple document showed, among other things, that trust in the company's brand was a decisive factor in buying decisions in countries that include the U.S. and China.

Mr. Schiller testified that such surveys are considered important trade secrets because while it is easy for an individual company to survey its own customers, it is very hard to survey a competitor's customers.

Information that was not shared with jurors has triggered some of the biggest fireworks so far in the trial, which kicked off with jury selection Monday and testimony Tuesday and Friday. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh blocked Samsung from introducing evidence that it says shows the iPhone design was inspired by Sony products, an attempt to weaken Apple positions that the iPhone was an original design copied by Samsung.

A Samsung representative shared the information with reporters, prompting a request from Apple for the court to sanction Samsung. On Friday, Judge Koh denied Apple's request, but criticized Samsung's legal team and polled each juror individually to make sure they hadn't read about it.

"I will not let any theatrics or sideshow keep us from doing what we're here to do," she said.

—Jessica E. Vascellaro and Ina Fried contributed to this article.


UPDATE:  Nail in the Coffin?? In a report in 2010, Samsung said its Galaxy would be better if it were more like the iPhone.... Read it here.

The Recession Generation

The day Michael Anselmo signed a lease on his first apartment in New York City, he lost his job at Buck Consultants LLC. He spent about 10 months struggling to pay rent with unemployment benefits. Two years later he’s still hesitant to buy a home or even a road bike.

As the Great Depression shaped the attitudes of a generation from 1929 until the early years of World War II, so have the financial crisis and its aftermath affected the outlook of young consumers like Anselmo, said Cliff Zukin, a professor of public policy and political science at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey.

“This is a generation that is scared of commitment, wants to be light on their feet and needs to adjust to whatever happens,” said Zukin, who’s researched the effects of the recession on recent college graduates. “What once was seen as a solid investment, like a house or a car, is now seen as a ball and chain with a lot of risk to it.”

Read More here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-08/recession-generation-opts-to-rent-not-buy-houses-to-cars.html

For Those of You Who Think Canada's Healthcare System is the Envy of the Rest of the World.. Think Again...

From The Vancouver Sun:

 "The key to boosting productivity in Canada may come from an often overlooked but seemingly logical source – health care.

So says a study released this morning by the Fraser Institute, which estimated that last year Canada lost $1.08-billion in business-day economic activity due to excessive wait times at hospitals and time gaps between visits to specialists and receipt of treatment.

Long waits in emergency rooms and forcing Canadians to take time out their work days to visit multiple doctors has a cumulative effect not only on the quality of their care but on the overall productivity of the workforce, says the report.

The study estimates that when factoring non-work time, the Canadian economy loses out on an about $3.29-billion in productivity – a number that does not take into account the residual productivity losses associated with the energy and time family members may need to provide to loved ones who are not receiving efficient care."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/productiveconversations/Sick+health+care+system+made+Canadians+lose+more+than/7023115/story.html#ixzz22xRAabEQ

Back to Work....Fuck you.

Back to work today... I gotta admit, I'm beat tired.

I'm still wondering how in the fuck did I get convinced that driving 6000km across the countryside with your kids going out of their fucking minds, waging WWIII with each other in the backseat and your wife out of control to the upside spending money, donating it to every Target we pass by, was supposed to be "relaxing"???

But, I'm back in the comfort of my own home now and things are just peachy keen around here due to robust $AAPL share price gains and good cocaine.

So, I was just informed by Tripadvisor.com today my posted review and little rant about that "Roach Motel" we stayed in when we passed thru Eugene, Oregon, was rejected...

It was supposed to be my honest account, on "our first-hand travel experience" staying in this fucking rat trap of a semen-infested shithole of a hotel.

Not that I give two fucks and a retarded goat about what Tripadvisor thinks of me per se, but I think as a result of their "censorship", you all can be proud of the fact people who use this site regularly or irregularly, can be "duped" into thinking this fucking hole in the ground they call a hotel is, maybe not the poshest place to stay, but still an fairly good place to stay with their 3.5 of 5 star Tripadvisor rating; all because the fucking Bible-thumpers at Tripadvisor deemed my colorful verbiage inappropriate and my experience at that particular venue NOT an accurate account because of it.

Well  fuckface, YOU stay there for a night then.. then give me your opinion.

I still get the fucking "heebie jeebies" thinking about that sorry excuse for a hotel...you know that weird 'itchy' feeling you get up your spine, kinda like the feeling you get after wading through some nasty-ass slue with brown sludge floating on top, to get your putter after you helicoptered it into said slue post- 'Nancying it" on a 3-footer putt.  Fuck, the Best Western at our next destination in Seattle that we stayed in felt like the Sultan's Suite at the Ritz fucking Carleton compared to this shithole in Eugene!

Perhaps using and trusting ABVI's own website is more your forte; they give said shithole their 4-check marks of 4 approval or "best of the best" score....

You think my language is a tad ina pro pro? Just wait til your wife wakes up to the tune of bedbug bites or hives from sleeping there... and  have paid full meal deal prices to do so to boot...

And while we're on the subject of profanity...if you are one of those freakshows that is somehow distracted by some of the four letter words here or on Facebook or my other blogs, then you Sir, are an asshat– you’re a shallow-minded vagrant that only focuses on the outer layer of things or only on appearances without acknowledging the actual issues at hand. You are 'wowed' by the sensationalism of the sugar icing and cherry on top and will ignore the cupcake is made of dogshit and piss.

And, since when is social media supposed to nice and shit?? Like you fuckers, so prim and proper online, with your oh so optimistic and motivating quips on Facebook, are that way in real life!! Please.  Fuck you and the dick you rode in on.

My online alter-ego may not be for everyone, talking shit with complete strangers about money and stocks and shit, but consider this: the Internets is a place most of you degenerates go to look for porn and free music...  If you're really paying attention, you may stumble on some good advice and a good stock tip or two..  And sometimes, just sometimes, you may just wanna put down your crack-pipe for 2 seconds and ask yourself if you're really getting the truth...

Back in the Gym...

Back at the gym after 2 weeks of slothing it up like a big fat degenerate tub of shit...

I've been feeling like crap lately and the way my bowels have been telling me for the last couple of days now, the toxic waste has to go and it's about time I got my duff off the fucking couch...last day of holidays today and back to fucking work tomorrow; so it's best I start the week off with the regular routine of hitting the gym...

Considering my diet consisted of "Costco-sized" ice cream bars dipped in chocolate and almonds at a whopping 1000 calories and 65 grams of net carbs a pop, drive-thru-window fare "supersized" for my viewing pleasure at every major player in the fast food game, and Walmart or Target (and most times both) branded potato chips whilst lazing in the sand like a beached fucking whale waiting to be violently slaughtered by gay famished Eskimos with African spears in hand, I ONLY gained a total of 5 lbs over the 2 weeks on vacation!!

Well, fuck me running sideways with Knight Capital shares up my ass, I 'm lucky to be alive!! Much to my surprise, I am quite elated my heart didn't suddenly stop or at the least, explode in between my 13 hour driving stints and yelling at the kids every hour on the hour threatening to stop the van so they can get the fuck out and walk home....

Don't get me wrong or anything, I tried to eat better on this trip. I mean those Whole Foods salad bars are to die for; and with all the peer pressure of living the hippie "greener" lifestyle that comes hand in hand with just being present in the SF Bay area, that should've been more than enough incentive to eat better.

Thing was, I was still craving a couple of Carl's Jr $6 Burgers and some Dorito Tacos a whole TEN minutes AFTER I ate my "appetizer" of 2 "Elaine-sized" big salads from Whole Foods!!  How in the fuck do those Vegans or vegetarians NOT starve to death???

Fuck, I even brought along a TRX trainer in hopes of burning some of those shitbag calories off and getting a somewhat decent workout in since we all know those hotel gyms are such a fucking joke and you gotta be some kind of asshat to think you can get a good workout with a Suzanne Somers Thighmaster, a 1970's-era Universal machine, and a restaurant chair in a room the size of a bathroom...

I tried the TRX outside once to no success....I usually don't mind spectators when I work out even when these vagrants decide to gawk and stare like I was some fucking sideshow for the Shaolin monk circus was fine... But when they get their kids to line up for autographs and a chance to kick me in the nuts, I knew it was time to pack it up or I'll end up finishing my calorie burn via pushing these fuckers down rapidly moving escalators....

So, I find after abusing my body for 2 weeks, I did notice I am a tad weaker but managed to eke out  out 3 plates per side (315lbs) for 5 reps on the bench press and 2 plates and the quarter a side for 10 reps... Not bad for an old fucker like me...

Now if I can survive the rest of the week....