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- Today was a pretty interesting day on the market. Both Bulls and Bears can take something from it and call it a victory. Bears might point to the overall market internals and breadth, while the Bulls might mention the late day move to cut losses. I'm bullish and long with beta, although always a little nervous about the month of August. The Fed will be an interesting catalyst over the next week. I think we're still in the bull market, so that the trend is up. As I mentioned months ago, I feared the election year selloff and a summer trading range. But I felt that when I went long with beta, that I was in a good position to capture the next leg up of this bull. Even if that meant riding out this summer!
- Dr John McDougall on the Glycemic Index (GI). Sugars actually have a very low glycemic index (GI), and according to the popular practice of judging foods based solely on GI, you would be making healthier choices by eating chocolate cake, instead of carrots—or cheese-topped pizza, rather than potatoes. Candies and ice cream, because of their high simple sugar and fat content, are absorbed from the gut into the body slowly; therefore these widely acknowledged “junk foods” have lower GI values than so-believed “health-foods,” like whole grain breads and brown rice. This was interesting to me because I recently got in a debate with a buddy about whether or not potatoes were healthy. Being a vegan (most of the time), I eat a bunch of potatoes and they certainly haven't caused me to gain weight. I lost a bunch of weight on veggie sandwiches (carbs), oatmeal (carbs) and potatoes (carbs).
- Fidel Castro handing over the reigns to brother Raul. Lots of celebrating by the Cuban US population, but I'm not sure there is a fundamental shift in that nation. Who knows how it will turn out?
- Mel Gibson fallout? You knew it was coming. ABC pulls Mel Gibson's Holocaust miniseries. Their reason? "Given that it has been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon," said spokeswoman Hope Hartman. ABC did not give any further reason for its decision to drop the project and Hartman made no comment when asked if the decision was linked to Gibson's behavior over the weekend. Uh-huh. Sure. Hey, how about a miniseries about a guy who drinks and drives, gets pulled over by a Jewish officer, makes some derogatory comments, then enters rehab and begins the healing process with folks he offended? There's a script made for Hollywood!
- Adam had a good entry up yesterday on backdating options. As I read it yesterday, I had to put a comment up. There have been movies made about folks wanting to do things differently if they had a second chance. (Think "Peggy Sue Got Married"). We've all thought the thought. I was thinking, hey, wouldn't it be great if I could backdate my sports bets? Take Texas over USC instead of the other way around? Bet the Steelers at the beginning of the 2005-6 NFL season to win it all? Isn't that what backdating options gives folks the chance to do?