Letter to Bank

Dear Sirs, 

In view of current developments in the banking
market,  if one of my checks is returned marked
'insufficient funds', does that refer to me or to you?

Sincerely Yours,

The United States, Europe and Bretton Woods II

excellent article:

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081020_united_states_europe_and_bretton_woods_ii

LinkedIn: Spamming in disguise?

I'm member of linkedIn for quite awhile now. Here's a situation that just happened to me and it shows one of the perverse aspect of linkedIn and how it is used to simply spam people and disguise this as building networking.


Few days ago I got an email from one of my first line members on linkedIn. His name is Octavio Pitaluga and his profile present him as "king of the world" with mastery in about everything. So this chap spams me for his new business and that I should go visit his website and arrange a demo session and bla.bla.bla.

I send a response asking to stop receiving this kind of spam and here's the rude answer I got from him:

============

....pls break the connection with me on LinkedIN and any other online social network
If we can not communicate, there is no reason to keep any connection at all.
Kindly avoid replying to this msg. Just do what I am asking for right away.
File closed.

Octavio Pitaluga

=============

So you see, on one hand I am interested to network with people and get to know other interesting people but I certainly don't consider that this give permission to all my contact to start spamming and start sending me emails about their latest product or promotion. Isn't that perverting the idea of networking? Isn't that simply a way not to abide to permission marketing? and finally shouldn't these "super promoter" be banned?
So what's your opinion about this?

Time to do nothing?

If you have plenty of cash, big positions in world-dominating businesses, and a cache of physical gold to protect your purchasing power... then doing nothing is probably the way to go right now.

Check this out.

http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

Made me laugh

Revised data show speculators controlled nearly half of NYMEX oil futures - Financial Week

Revised data show speculators controlled nearly half of NYMEX oil futures - Financial Week

Trade Journal :TradeSmart

Here's the spreadsheet I am using to keep my trade log: Tradesmart v3

Warren Buffett lunch sells for record $2.11 mln | Markets | Markets News | Reuters

Warren Buffett lunch sells for record $2.11 mln | Markets | Markets News | Reuters: "Warren Buffett lunch sells for record $2.11 mln"

Sderot Presentation - Herzliya Conference

So easy not to care about this

Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab - life - 09 June 2008 - New Scientist

Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab - life - 09 June 2008 - New Scientist: "Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab"

Uh-Oh: Dangerous Black Swan Chart Formation!

This is a very dangerous formation, as detailed in Nassim Taleb's Book The Black Swan. Traders should be very careful anytime this chart appears . . .

Click for full version of the exponentially regressed, parabolic, dreaded Black Swan:

FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor.

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'


After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.


The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'



Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.


Lesson 2:


A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg..

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.



Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone..

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'


Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4


An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.




Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.


Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..



Lesson 6


A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.


Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your
friend.

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Recommended day trading community

I am member of the following community and recommend it:

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive: "Taleb Outsells Greenspan as Black Swan Gives Worst Turbulence"

Losing the Future - CommonDreams.org

Losing the Future - CommonDreams.org

A good read

Bank's billions burnt in 10 days - Times Online

Bank's billions burnt in 10 days - Times Online: "result of confusion"