Category Archives: Announcement

After the Bell Part (1)

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Markets are down:

All the markets are down, but not as much as expected.  However, we are only five minutes into the open so there is plenty of time for them to move further. 

Confidence needs to hold:

Did I goto the bank yesterday and pull out a bunch of cash from the ATM?  Yes!  

If a run on the banks ensues their reserves will plummet and we will have a much larger crisis on hand.  Therefore reassurance is crucial.  Just wait for major figures to get on television and tell the public that everything is okay.  

How is everything okay?  Major companies are vanishing!

Future:

The talking heads on CNBC are saying how you probably don’t want to pull out your money from the market as “historically” that is the worst thing you can do.  They seem to think that the future outlook is positive.  Some may say then when “blood is on the streets” that is the time to buy.  Fundamentally, banks are still facing major hurdles including alt-a loans, more ARMs converting, credit card defaults, and who knows what else.  Thus I’m not convinced.

Black Monday 2008?

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Black Monday?

Really bad news, and I’m going to the store to get some consumer staples, and cash. If the banking system collapses then cash may not be good for anything. I don’t know if everything is going to crash in one day, but the next week is going to be very interesting. My blood pressure is rising. The entire banking system may be frozen next week… yes this is extreme I know, but look at the facts:

I love how HUGE matters occur over the weekend, and particularly on a Sunday. The market was listless on Friday. As I watched it fluctuate from positive to negative I had a sinking feeling in my gut that I didn’t do much about. Something told me this weekend was going to be big as far as news went, and it wasn’t probably going to be good. Just watching the prices of financial stock you had to wonder that something might be amiss. Merrill Lynch last week took a big hit, which concerned me.

  • Well the Dow December futures are down about 300 points
  • The dollar opened sharply lower on ForEx markets
  • Lehman is insolvent, and nobody wants to buy them
  • Bank of America may be merging (saving) with Merrill Lynch
  • AIG is doing a reorganization, and may sell off it airline insurance arm as well as trying to raise $40 billion in additional capital.
I don’t know about you, but this looks like a major issue. Oh and I haven’t mentioned that the ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) is saying that if Lehman doesn’t file bankruptcy by midnight tonight that the trades in credit, derivatives, commodities, and currencies will be canceled.
Yikes! What does this mean?
Well, at the moment dealers who had agreements with Lehman are trying to match up with each other. Essentialy for every trade there is someone on the other side. So, I’m long and trading with Lehman and you are short also trading with Lehman if we don’t match up with each other by midnight our trade is now gone. Thus, effectively taking Lehman out of the picture and now those trades are with eachother and not Lehman. At least that is the hope as traders only had from 2pm till 6pm EST today.
Checkout the Bloomberg article.

It begins!

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Here it is, for the first time ever my website chronicling my trials and tribulations about pursuing a career in finance. Will I work for a large firm go on my own or…. only time will tell. I can’t say what future posts will be like except my opinion on the past, present, and future. Yes, I realize that is the title of a popular newsletter, but I wasn’t referring to it even though I just did. Ha! Also, I’m probably not the first to write about what will soon be written, but I’m mainly doing it for myself to see where I started and continue to move into the present. 

NOTICE::
However, before we begin I have to make a disclaimer. I can’t predict the future because if I could I would be work Billions and maybe even Trillions. If you can predict the future with a high degree ofreliability please contact me otherwise keep looking to the stars. Do I believe in astrology and other meta-physical thoughts… I’ll just say that I don’t not believe. Okay I’m getting off topic. Also, I guarantee nothing except that you might be entertained, think I’m crazy, think I can see the future, and well you fill in the blank here… So, without further adu…