Jan222017
This article originally appeared on The Conversation. By now, you’ve probably heard about Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Eve disaster. After some technical malfunctions, Carey—who was supposed to lip-sync over a vocal track for “Emotions” and “We Belong Together”—ended up neither singing nor dancing much, and mostly talked about tech issues over the musical accompaniment track. The… read more
Jan212017
What a great week.
As my wife likes to continually remind me, “it’s not always about you,” but then again, I don’t really see her TheAcsWoman site anywhere, now do I?
But this was a great week, even as it isn’t always about the stock market.
The stock market basically did nothing on the week, but who cares?
Ordinarily, my answer to that rhetorical question would be “I do,” but this week was different.
It was different because, despite political differences and still some astonishment as I watched the Inauguration, still wondering how both political parties could have failed so badly as to get us to this point, it became clear that what hasn’t failed is our nation’s ability to move forward.
That explains why I attended one of the Inaugural Balls last night, although I did try to keep a low profile, due to my well-known political ties on the other side of the aisle.
I made the mistake, though, of being in the same place and the same time as the famed Eddy Elfenbein, of Crossing Wall Street and, so, it was hard to escape the cameras.
But the point is that the process is one that reflects greatness, as does peaceful protest.
So I’m excited about what next week brings, which now brings me back to the stock market and how the stock market affects me, because it is all about me. read more
Jan212017
Newsworthy eye candy Roche et al., Science Translational Medicine (2017) A Good Squeeze Heart failure afflicts some 5.7 million Americans. But a new air-powered robot designed by researchers at Harvard University may be able to provide some assistance—in the form of a squeeze. The proof-of-concept device wraps around the heart and gives it a hug, which… read more
Jan192017
I think I know how Joe DiMaggio must have felt.
After having made at least one trade for the first 11 trading days of the year, I doubt that I can keep it going for another 45 days, but I can dream.
I was hoping to get some trades done this week, but for the most part that hope was tied to do something with some of the many positions set to expire this week as the January 2017 option cycle was getting ready to come to its end.
I was hoping not to really be faced with a deluge of trades on Friday, especially since I have to have my attention focused on a few of those positions that had calls sold upon them at strike prices well below their purchase prices.
What surprised me is that I actually parted with some money in order to keep the streak alive.
I also tied that money up until next week.
I wasn’t planning for either of those things to happen, but very little really goes according to script.
The market did almost nothing today, as the DJIA moved a little bit further away from the 20,000 level.
Even a Janet Yellen speech today did little to shake things up, as she spoke mostly in academic terms and there was little for anyone to understand and to then act upon. read more
Jan172017
The road ahead really is pretty unclear.
The stock market may have been expressing a little of the uncertainty that awaits as we get ready to see the proverbial rubber hit the road.
What may be coming clear to some is that the bluster may not have too much behind it.
Or maybe it will.
That’s the problem.
We are in such untested waters that it may be crazy to actually put anything at risk right now, especially as we still sit so close to all time highs.
As we await Inauguration Day and we will be back to having only a single President at a time, we may get to find out whether words will be finding their counterpart in actions.
What we know right now is that we probably shouldn’t have taken too many words with a literal meaning.
What we also know is that there may not be very much agreement between the President and the other elected officials across from him in the Capital.
Even ones in his own party. read more
