Monday Randomosity

• Ominous cloud: $HPQ is down nearly 5% afterhours. “Watch every penny and minimize all hiring.” Yikes. That’s not what we like to hear.
• Warren Buffet buys 216,000 shares of $MA in the first quarter. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to have know that in last year’s fourth quarter?
• Donald Trump will not run for President. Phew, I don’t know what I’d do Sunday nights without the Celebrity Apprentice! Besides, isn’t President Obama a shoe-in for re-election? C’mon. He is. That’s why we’re getting the retreads running on the GOP side. The Bob Dole or John McCain types. The GOP is not going to run a strong candidate until 2016.
• Did you read where the US and Pakistan are going to cooperate on terror targets? Yeah, like they’re our “partners.” C’mon. Really? I suppose everyone is trying to save face. But I think Pakistan is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Of course, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?
• California tax revenues come in higher than projected, but Governor Jerry Brown still wants to raise taxes on the middle class via sales tax and the DMV car fees. I think the plan was to pay for half of the debt with cuts, and the other half with tax hikes. But now that tax revenues are up, CA doesn’t need the tax hikes. The budget can be balanced by the spending cuts alone. If high taxes were the answer, CA wouldn’t have a problem as the state is near the top-taxed state in the US.