- I haven't had a minute to catch my breath today, as 2007 hit the ground running at the Fun Factory today. Finaly, I checked the markets. Looking at the close, one would think it was rather quiet. Turns out the market had quite a reversal today. Euphoria led the market higher in the early hours, then brutal selling through mid-day, closing with buyers taking the market back up a bit. Enough out there for both bulls and bears to throw darts at one another. The market has had a tough time gaining any traction since November. Maybe we're consolidating at the highs before we move higher. On the otherhand, maybe the volatility we saw today is a sign of a market reversal coming our way. I tend to believe the latter, and remain in low beta holdings with plenty of cash on the sidelines.
- Notre Dame +8.5. Er, maybe. We'll see.
- Full-fat dairy products linked to lower weight. The health-conscious often shun whole milk but a new study suggests that adults who favor full-fat dairy gain less weight over time.
- Fed minutes being blamed for derailing Wall Street today. But is there really anything new here? Or were investors just waiting with their fingers on the eject button? Maybe investors hit the panic selling on that full-fat dairy products news. Who knows?
- Nick Saban leaves the Miami Dolphins for the coaching job at Alabama. Roll Tide. That one kind of surprised me. I thought he was a little more dedicated to the Fins. At least the Dolphins can go after some quality assistant coaches here. If it had happened later, they'd have been stuck with re-treads.
- In politics... The Democrats are about to take over the House and Senate. Ah, maybe that's why the market sold off. Was Pelosi's mug on the TV down on the floor? SELL! (Gridlock is good, though).
- The Bill Cara crystal ball?
- I've mentioned in the past that I really don't understand the whole Google click-ad revenue model. Now some advertisers are cutting back on their spending. Frustrated by the soaring price of Internet-search advertising and diminishing returns from the ads they buy, mid-sized advertisers say they plan to reduce how much business they do with Google this year -- in some cases, significantly. This can't be good for the GOOG. I don't know who is clicking those ads to be honest. I've joked before that I wish my utility company would quit asking me for a monthly check, and instead just stuff the monthly bill with ads. If Google can do a click-ad revenue model, why can't the utility company just stuff an envelope with ads and be done with it? Uh.. yeah.
