Headless Horseman's Profile
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Entry: Worst Pep Talk Ever?
posted by Headless Horseman
Oct 24, 2008 11:39AM
@8 Virgil,
While I don't doubt your commitment to your views:
Paragraph 3, line 2..than not "then"
Paragraph 3, line 3..tear not "yearn"
Paragraph 3, line 4..Americans not "American's"
Paragraph 4, line 1..affecting not "effecting"
Paragraph 6, line 2..ones not "one's"
Paragrph 5, first word..There not "Their"
Paragraph 6, line 1..world's not "worlds"
Paragraph 7, line 3..like-minded not "like minded"
Paragraph 8, line 1,.."home towns where you grew up from" is a redundant train wreck of words
The current macroeconomic situation is extraordinarily complex. While I'm sure you were well intentioned, nobody here will take you seriously when you misspell every third word of your post. If you're concerned that America is losing its competitive advantage, then I'd suggest that you focus more on bettering your own individual situation (maybe start off with some remedial English or Writing courses) and leave the macroeconomic solutions to those individuals that can find their respective asses with both hands.
Maybe we're losing the respect of other countries because our high schools continue to graduate people that can't spell and haven't even a cursory familiarity with the rules of proper grammar. Considering that Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke are currently struggling with the complexity of this mess, I'd venture that you’re better off over in the shallow end of the pool on this one.
I'm going to stop now because I feel like I'm picking on one of those kids that you're not supposed to pick on.
Get down,
HH
Entry: Worst Pep Talk Ever?
posted by Headless Horseman
Oct 24, 2008 11:43AM
year not "tear"
But hey..at least those keys are near one another.
Egg on my face,
HH
Entry: Opening Bell: 11.13.08
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 13, 2008 1:05PM
@9
So the "big three" are then stuck with a situation where the supply of the vehicles they've produced (might as well build them if your entire fucking cost structure is fixed thanks to the UAW) far outstrips the demand from the consumers. What to do? Take a Ford F-150 that should sell for about $24K (when compared to similar foreign product) and slap a $30K sticker price on it thereby enabling you to offer a $10K rebate in hopes that mindless, undereducated consumers will say "33% off! wow! I'm buying" because common knowledge is that Americans will buy dirty diapers if you just put them on "sale". Unintended consequences include:
- Fire sale pricing (buy one get one free, buy an Explorer at sticker and get a free Focus, 33% off, employee pricing for everyone including your dog etc.) creates a perception of undesirability and poor quality that is compounded by any actual quality issues (again, I tip my hat to fat, lazy, undereducated and overpaid union workers).
- This perception, in turn, decreases demand further...resulting in the declining market share and lack of profitability we're currently witnessing with domestic automotive manufacturers
Fortunately help is on the way. Since the Democrats have never met a labor union they didn't like, and they need that component of the electorate like a diabetic needs insulin....we'll no doubt soon see the "big three" (a twenty pound semi-retarded host animal) and consequentially the UAW (7000 pound mulit-headed, blood sucking parasite that would sooner kill said host than go on a diet) nursing at the teet of the federal government (the 20,000 pound parasite attached to virtually every pay check of anyone that's remotely productive). As part of the 60% of the electorate that actually pays taxes, I'm comforted to know my money will be hard at work to keep the UAW from working hard.
Entry: Dartmouth: 'Things Are *A Little* Fucked'
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 14, 2008 11:27AM
First blocker
Entry: Dartmouth: 'Things Are *A Little* Fucked'
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 14, 2008 12:46PM
@17
Me thinks that the notion of "morally compromised" analysts is, by and large, an exercise in redundancy.
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 14, 2008 1:35PM
@ 52, 55, 57, 60
Could we turn down the righteous indignation for Christ's sake?
You presumably work on Wall Street so quit bloviating about ethics. I laughed so hard that my Sprite came out of my nose until I realized you two (or possibly TGFD arguing with himself again through proxy handles and guest users) were serious. Then I almost tossed my fucking lunch.
Remember not ten years ago when analyst pay was (overtly) contingent upon the success of the analyst's firm in putting together deals for the covered entity? Wonder why analyst ratings have such bias towards going long.
Almost hard to believe (but not really) that they failed miserably regarding their assessment of securitized mortgage assets. For its part, Wall Street was some combination of too stupid to know better (unlikely) or too greedy (this horse is favored like 800 to 1) to exhibit any semblance of collective self-restraint insomuch as everyone thought you wouldn’t get caught holding the bag . Bottom line: you work on the street so it's been fuck or walk for as long as the music was playing. Spare us the ethics lecture now that it's stopped.
@ 69 - Whatever it takes to get your mind right for your regularly scheduled 2:00 bathroom stall spunk session. Eventually though, when the internet porn looses its luster, you've got to ask yourself if all women REALLY are "lesbos" or if just maybe your approach is lacking something.
Get down,
HH
Entry: Vikram Still Interested In Making Citi The Best Company In The World, Bar None
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 14, 2008 2:41PM
@ 8
You can repost the same thing at five minute intervals for the rest of your life and it sill won't make your comments insightful to anyone with even a cursory familiarity with Citi's situation.
C's Town Hall = A glorified pep rally not unlike those that used to be held for my high school football team which, coincidentally, was also a perpetual loser.
Get down,
HH
Entry: Vikram Pandit: "We will be the long-term winner in the industry"
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 17, 2008 2:47PM
Sad fact is that Wall Street has been oversubscribed for quite a long time. Only those that can't see the forest through the trees are so shocked that "headcount reductions" are coming to a theater near you. Even prior to the cat (fucked valuations, instuments so complicated the people originating them don't understand them let alone the tools marketing them) escaping the bag (the Wall Street gangbang culture in which nobody asks any questions so long as the party's still going) it was apparent this ship had taken on too much weight.
It's mildy entertaining to see how many posters are pissed at Vik for being as greedy and self-serving as the rest of the street. HE PROFITED AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS...GASP! Oh the humanity! I suppose the gangbang isn't as much fun when you're the one that's being passed around. Welcome to the other side of capitalism. Be sure and thank those of us that are providing the $700B worth of lube (from our collective paychecks) for making your transitions a little less painful than it would be otherwise.
Get down,
HH
Entry: Vikram Pandit: "We will be the long-term winner in the industry"
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 17, 2008 2:58PM
@57
You can call me anything you want...but you can't call me unemployed. Ouch! That's gotta sting a bit, no?
Note: In reading my own post it occurs to me that I may have went a touch overboard with the sweeping generalizations. In actuality, the post only pertains to about a third of the streeters I've ran with. The other 66% probably shouldn't be painted with the same brush.
For the third of you that can't find your asses with both hands...do your homophobic worst.
Entry: That's Awfully Final
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 17, 2008 3:17PM
What a considerat chum...didn't even contribute to an unemployment uptick while simultaneously creating another job opening for some of New York's newly unemployed.
Entry: That's Awfully Final
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 17, 2008 3:17PM
@2 nicely done.
considerat"e"
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 24, 2008 12:21PM
First.
Regardless...Buffet still has his shit together which is more than can be said for most of the street's big shooters.
$50 shake shack gift card says he's more likely to provide the additional information on his derivatives than Vik is to provide a coherent plan on how he's gonna pull Citi out of the ditch (long term) even with the latest taxpayer handout.
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 24, 2008 1:31PM
@ 13
Pretty strong opinions for an unemployed has been that never really was.
Maybe you should short the stock then Captain Hot Stuff?
The reason why rumors, speculation, and requests for additional information don't cause Berkshire's shares to collapse like so many banks is that Berkshire has a credibility shield. This shield stems principally from the following:
1. Berkshire's share price is supported by sustainable business that actually provide value (as opposed opaque business models reliant upon accounting gimmicks and abstract mathematical calculations)
2. Warren has a track record of being correct over the long term, even if certain decisions or opinions have made him unpopular in the short term. Most of Wall Street on the other hand has a track record of lying in the short term and hoping they can cash out before the wheels come off the wagon in the shorter term (Wall Street knows no long term but instead manages for tomorrow, this week, or this quarter, etc.) Wall Street would recommend long positions in dog shit if it beat the S&P for two consecutive quarters.
This is why Wall Street can't pull itself out of the current crisis of CONFIDENCE and must rely on the government for handouts. Unfortunately, this administration also lacks credibility. Hard to lend out what you don’t have in the first place.
Eventually this ship will right itself when the liberal media sickens of reporting the downside of all things financial (which will suspiciously coincide with the change to a Democratic administration) in favor of reporting how miraculous and reliable the rising of the sun is each morning. Americans for their part will realize that they've got to bank somewhere and rally behind the remaining banks that haven't been crushed on the erroneous assumption that the respective management teams of the remaining institution must be the least incompetent. Then Wall Street will go back to being a bunch of narcissistic assholes talking about "fly over states" until its unmitigated greed, unchecked stupidity, unbridled shortsightedness and unadulterated conflicts of interest cause another debacle, albeit a less protracted and less severe one...probably around 2015. It's the circle of life.
Bottom line: Buffet's credibility > Wall Street’s + the Bush Administration’s.
Just a little tired of watching retarded little pick pockets question the integrity and intelligence of someone who was successful and did it the right way (comparatively speaking).
Get down,
HH
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 24, 2008 1:54PM
@30
Agreed. EP is using sarcasm here...a fact that has apparently eluded the grasp of many of this thread's posters.
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 24, 2008 3:22PM
@ 36
Props on your fund...so far.
DJIA sub 5k? It'll hold the line at 7.5k through year's end (assuming GM is told to take a long walk off a short pier) and be back above 9K by 2011.
Our current predicament has little to do with the great depression (so far) other than the lack of confidence in banks.
The boomer arguement? Really? Most boomers don't have enough socked away to switch to an income strategy even if munis were to yield 10%. Never more so than if your decade of back filling and listless growth holds true. Plus there's an awful lot of cash being held by institutionals right now that are just waiting for some stability as a green light for deployment.
I'll concede your point that DCF models will be less relevant than has recently been the case, but equity yields won't be sufficient to fund the retirement needs of the boomers, corporations will still think they can spend free cash better than shareholders in addition to wanting to avoid the management stigma associated with large dividends.
Lastly, even if your predictions of sub $5K DJIA and a decade of stagnation come to pass...we'll all have bigger issues to worry about than what Berkshire is doing (and Berkshire will still have enough in liquid assets to remain solvent...which is more than can be said for most of the fortune 500 under that scenario).
All in all, an interesting perspective with which I respectfully disagree.
Time will tell,
HH
Entry: Spitzer Travel Agent/Trollop Handler Gets A Year
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 25, 2008 12:20PM
....former governor got off once again....
Bess - you sure know how to pull my strings. Bravo!
Entry: Obama Live Blog (Again)
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 25, 2008 1:29PM
Hypothesis: Higher voter turnout results in worse Presidents being elected via the watering down of our electorate.
In this most recent election, the rational and engaged portion of the electorate was diluted to the point of being inconsequential by a strong turnout of tree huggers, Jesus freaks, white supremacists, abortion crazies (anti and pro), women voting solely based on whether a female is on the ticket, minorities voting solely based on whether a minority is on the ticket, rednecks, and howl-at-the-moon lazy asses looking for a handout.
While everyone is entitled to vote their conscience, our nation is better served by a more engaged, smaller, and more well-informed electorate that vote based on a thoughtful consideration of the serious issues facing our nation.
I'm a Republican and I'm embarrassed by how many fellow Republicans (especially from the south) still think Obama is a terror-loving Muslim fundamentalist and/or haven't even a cursory familiarity with any issues other than abortion and/or gay marriage.
I'm from Ohio and I'm embarrassed by how many fellow Ohioans are against free trade because their union stewards told them it's the way to go...but then shop at Wal-Mart (notorious for closing store rather than allowing them to unionize) because shits cheaper there (even though most all of it comes from the very same Chinese factories that are allegedly "stealing" their jobs).
The candidates and office holders are only as good as the people that show up on Election Day.
Discuss.
HH
Entry: Obama Live Blog (Again)
posted by Headless Horseman
Nov 25, 2008 1:53PM
@39
"simply focused on doing what is right"
While I concur with your assertion that President Bush was well-intentioned, I don't think he really focused on much of anything. Just saying.
To your second point: Milton Freidman is quoted as having said "Inflation is taxation without representation." I couldn't agree more. The government does not miraculously create economic activity from the ether. An increase in government spending requires an increase in taxes to fund the incremental spending (or more commonly and increased budget deficit which ultimately results in inflation).
Entry: "I Know How Seriously Each Of Us Takes Our Work [pauses to stifle laughter] And Our Dedication To Integrity [shoves fist in mouth, turns head, flashes the 'give me a minute' sign] And Quality [actually pees pants]."
posted by Headless Horseman
Oct 24, 2008 10:57AM
@7
Nicely played.