Billionaire humor

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Surf's up

As I mentioned in the last post, I had some video from the wake surfing safari. Here is one:



Btw, I once again write this high above Londonderry, NH on a Delta plane. Well done GoGo Internet Wifi!

The View from 30,000 feet

Everyone talks about seeing the big picture or the view from 30,000 feet. Well... I really do have a view from 30,000 feet. I write this as I sit on a Delta jet traveling somewhere high over the Great Lakes on my way to Boston. This is my first time using in-flight WiFi, and I have to say it's pretty cool. I'm stuck in the middle seat (albeit in the exit row), but have endless entertainment surfing the web. I can communicate with multiple people over Instant Messenger. $10. Seriously, what took the airlines so long.

I'm headed to Boston to visit a company we have a debt investment in. However, Thursday night I will get a chance to see my brother and niece at a Red Sox game.

Spring has officially arrived in that yesterday was the first day going into the lake. After work, three of us hit the lake to go wakeboarding and wake surfing. I have a 3/4 wetsuit, but I still expected the water to be frigid. I brought a winter jacket along in case I needed to warm up. I couldn't have been more wrong. The water was awesome! The air was 75 +/-, and it was a complete blast. I have wake surfed before (surfing on the wake of the boat), but it is the first time I have ever wakeboarded. I'll being doing that more often. I have video coming...

Dunk of the Series

And it wasn't by LeBron.



Fly Tony, Fly

Buy Mortimer Buy!

Wild day in the markets today. With images of Greek Police literally cracking heads of protesters and cameramen alike on TV, the stock market began to tank. Down 30 S&P points ….. down 40…. 50…60..70.80.90. The S&P was almost down 100 points or 10% (half of which occurred in a period of five minutes). The Dow Jones was down almost 1,000 points. As part of our strategy, we buy and sell stocks – net short on average. With stocks getting killed, I was buying them like crazy. I couldn’t get orders in fast enough. At one point, I told my equity salesman – just take whatever order you have…and DOUBLE it. Just buy whatever you can. As can been seen from the graph above, the panic was over in a few minutes. After weeks (if not months) of sleepy boring markets, it was quite fun and the fund made some money in the meantime.

Word is that the major decline came when a single trader placed a $16 Billion S&P futures trade instead of a $16 Million by mistake. Whoops. However, the selling wasn’t all due to that. The market was for sale before that trade, and people are worried about Europe. The steady decline is a prime example of complacency v. fear in this market.

MSNBC is reporting that Obama blames today’s decline on the Bush Administration.

Boxer Amendment

From Bloomberg:

"Lawmakers voted 96-1 for an amendment offered by Senator
Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, to bar use of government
funds to rescue failing financial companies. The move revises a
provision that Republicans said would perpetuate bailouts."

This is about the dumbest piece of legislation I've ever seen. Both sides of the aisle hail their efforts to save the economy by touting how things could have been worse. Pres. Bush and Sec. Paulson, who both abhor government intervention in free markets saw how awful things would have looked without the saving of the financial system. Without the help of the Fed and the U.S. Treasury, things would have been disasterous.

People talk about "Too Big to Fail" as if there is some written code or law. It's not. It's a concept that says if this company fails it's easier to save them than to let them fail and pay the consequences. You don't legislate the concept away. You create systems that 1) either prevent firms from being too big or too interconnected, or 2) you create legal ways to wind down these institutions without the normal repurcussions of a traditional bankruptcy. I favor #2 by a wide margin. #2 allows capitalism to work without creating some government oversight using vague concepts of largeness.

So, to create legislation that bans the use of government funds in cases where it may help us is MORONIC. The phrases "unintended consequences" and "best intentions" might be used here. I'd chose "stupid decisions" instead.

Live Video of Senate Hearings on Financial Crisis

Sox 8-11, let's focus on FOOTBALL!

With the exception of the first pick, I thought the Patriots draft was pretty good – if not very good. Areas of need appeared to be filled with quite talented players that fell in the draft due to reasons that are unlikely to bother the Patriots front office. The more I look, the more I like the TE picks. In Rob Gronkowski, the Pats grabbed one of the top two tight ends in the draft. Can’t argue with that. He had injuries that kept him out of last year, but I have to imagine they are comfortable with his healing process. At 6’6” and 265 lbs, he’s a big cat. He’s “straight-line” speed isn’t great they say, but I don’t think that is a factor. The guy can run, catch and block. Fourth rounder, Aaron Hernandez, is a interesting complement to Gronkowski. He’s not much of a blocker, but a solid player from a big-time school who could be used in the passing attack. He’s “undersized”, but could easily see him in a Dallas Clark type role. Check out this stat summary from ESPN: “2009: (14/14) 68 catches, 850 yards (12.5 avg.), 5 TD; 1 carry, 16 yards; Unanimous First-team All-SEC selection, First-team AP All-American honors, John Mackey Award winner as the nation's top tight end.” Nice. [For the record; Dallas Clark: Height: 6-3 Weight: 252 v. Aaron Hernandez: 6’ 2 ½”, 245]

The Linebacker picks are good too. LB was clearly a need. Cunningham and Spikes appear well-suited for Patriots kind of defense. I like they are big SEC players, and the fact that they played together is even more intriguing to me. They don’t have first round kind of talent, but this is where Belichick’s genius comes into play. He picks solid athletes who might lack a few techniques that would get them to the next level. The knock on Cunningham is that he lacks certain pass rush moves. He has gotten where he is because of great off-the-line, first-step speed. You can be taught technique, but not speed. Spikes was considered among the top inside linebackers in the draft. Some say his “slow 40 time” at the combine caused him to drop. I say, who cares. Scouts note his great instincts and excellent tackle ability. That’s what you need in a 3-4 inside backer. I also love this ESPN quote: “Emotional leader of the defense. Plays game with a chip on his shoulder and teammates follow his lead. Has very good playing experience at the highest level.”

Fourth rounder, Taylor Price is fast with great hands and athleticism. He’s considered a hard worker with a mature attitude. Plus, he’s tall. At greater than six feet, he’s taller than some of our other wide receiver picks over the years. He needs to improve his route running skills as that is particularly important to the Patriots offense (remember Joey Galloway – “It’s not that ----- hard!”).

Oddly, I love the pick of Zoltan! A stud punter! Gotta love it. Widely considered the best punter in the draft, the Pats picked him up in the 5th. Field management is critical in football, and our punting game has been weak the past few years. The guy was a captain at Michigan. Who makes captain as the punter?!? NFL.com summary describes him as follows, “He averaged 44.5 yards in 52 attempts with 0 blocked. Mesko is excellent at dropping the ball inside the twenty yard line to pin opponents deep into their own territory. Mesko has good size and athleticism for the position with above average leg strength. Mesko has been effective in tough weather conditions and shows poise under pressure. He has been solid with his hang time and distance.”

We also picked up some O-line guys. NE has done an excellent job at developing O-line talent. These are cheap options that could easily turn out to be the next Stephen Neal. All this, AND we picked up a second rounder next year. How do we do it?!?

So what’s wrong with Devin McCourty? Nothing. I just don’t get it. You want first rounders to be starters – impact players. Think about all the talented college football players at the multitude of positions – now pick 32. Darius Butler (1st round ’09), Jonathan Wilhite, Terrence Wheatley (both 2008). We signed Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden (including a new 5-yr $10 million of guaranteed money contract). Last season, NE was 26th in defense against #1 wide receivers, and were 17th in pass defense in general. We either aren’t good at evaluating CBs or we don’t need anymore. Which is it? McCourty was a stud at Rutgers. Nothing against Rutgers, but it’s hardly OSU. The guy has good ball skills and is apparently a smart player. However, he also looks really lanky. I love how Belichick relies on his network when drafting (almost every player in this draft class played for a Belichick friend. That’s the kind of insider information I love to see); however, I just don’t get this pick. Nevertheless, kudos on the draft as a whole.

Future President of the United States

At a local bookstore we met Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts and future President of the United States. He was there signing copies of his new book, No Apologies. He was very nice, spoke to each of the kids (including wishing Emily Happy Birthday), and even took a picture with a stuffed gorilla, Gonzo, for Emily's school project. He was great. I wished there was time to actually have a discussion with him, but it was cool just to meet him and get our picture with him.

Rich Avoid Paying Taxes

oh, whoops. Nope, they pay most of it.

Good basic Yahoo.com/Finance article of the disparity in Federal Taxation.

HERE