Another New Market High Randomosity

• Yes, it is starting to sound like a broken record: Another day, another new market high. Even with the news that Factory output dropped in April and manufacturing activity in New York state contracted this month, a sign that slowing global demand is weighing on the economy.  Hey, the good news is that this means the Fed can keep QE-infinity going!
• Still in cash.  LOL.  HAHAHA.  “What a maroon!”
• Remember when $CSCO used to move the market?  Think they still can on their profit beat?  Cisco shares rose about 8 percent after Chief Executive John Chambers said the company was seeing some good signs in the United States and that other parts of the world are "encouraging."  Seems like only yesterday that Chambers moved markets.
• That’s Chambers, not Cramer.
• Patience.  Patience. Patience.
• Watching bottom of the 8th with Dodgers up over Nationals 2-1. Could use an insurance run or two, Blue Team.  Greinke is out and it’s up to the Dodgers bullpen.  Gird. Your. Loins.
• It is options expiration week, so one thought is NO WAY THEY CAN PUSH THIS THING DOWN.
• By the way, $AAPL was down today.  3.4%.  And the market was up.  Yeah. Really.
• I had dinner at the Olive Garden tonight.  Is that place always packed or what?
• Sometimes I think about moving out of CA, then I read: At least three killed, up to 100 injured by Texas Tornado. 
• Sacramento Kings staying in Sacramento.  Of course, now David Stern is planning on meeting with the Maloofs to try and convince them to sell the team to the Sacramento group of investors.  The Maloofs don’t have to sell – that’d throw a wrench into Sacramento’s new downtown arena plans.

Got Ballots?

• Have you been watching the Minnesota Senator race between Coleman and Franken? They keep finding all these "missing" ballots.  And Franken closes the very narrow gap.  Seems like it's just a matter of time before Franken "finds" enough ballots to win.
• Hey, I was out walking the dog and while I was dropping off the poop bag in the trash bin, I found a box of Minnesota voting ballots!  All for Al Franken!
• Russian stock market down 12% today.   As they're saying on Fast Money, "You want to feel better about the American markets?  Take a look at the Russian markets."
• From Free Money Finance, The price of those 100-calorie packs will certainly lighten your wallet. On average, they cost from 16 to 279 percent more per ounce than the versions in regular packages, according to a study conducted last year by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. If you can buy snacks in their regular packages and use an ounce of willpower, your wallet will stay fatter.
• I can't use an ounce of willpower.  Even when I buy the individual bags.  I'll eat 4 bags. LOL.
• Biggest bang for the stimulus dollar?  The Curious Capitalist quotes that food stamps and unemployment benefits are the winners.  These are all estimates churned out by a model, not hard facts. Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi says the model assumes that getting money to people with lower incomes has a bigger impact "because their saving rates are lower and they'll spend more quickly."
• I suppose.  Just seems strange to me that the ticket to prosperity is food stamps.  Although, maybe in the big picture, if folks are using food stamps to buy steak and eggs, they can then use their disposible cash to buy beer and lap dances.
• At lunch, I was coming out of the bathroom and someone commented, "Hey, something is stuck to the bottom of your shoe."  Yes, three Minnesota voting ballots.  Franken, Franken, and Franken.
• There must be some auto-bots that subscribe to feeds in Twitter. 
• Mark Cuban on Homes vs. Stocks.  I think “Buy and Hold” for stocks is one of the all time great marketing scams. Ignore it. Always.  “Buy and Hold” for your house is a mantra you should always live by.
• How about "Buy with less than 10% down, hold, don't make payments for 3 months, and get a sweet government refinance deal?"  And with stocks?  I think if one holds a diversified portfolio that minimizes individual stock risk (no big concentrations in any one name), ie an index fund, then buy and hold seems to beat everyone else on the planet.
• Except for maybe Mark Cuban.
• Hey, I was watching the Mavericks game on TV, Mark. I swore when the camera went to the bench that under Jason Kidd's chair, there was a box of Minnesota voting ballots!  All for Al Franken!

The Big Saturday

• Forgot to turn off the alarm clock this morning. Saturday, right? Phew. 
• Volume Divergence on the $DIA: Let’s step inside this situation for clues on how volume could have helped you anticipate a reversal… or at least suspected that ‘things weren’t quite right’ with the recent rally.
• The best thing about charts?  They're great for predicting the past.  Seriously.  No matter what  happens the coming week, by next weekend you can take a look at a chart and come up with an explanation. 
• Read on for perhaps a chart prediction?
• Currency trends:  Double top for the $USD?  While the US Dollar has been strong of late, there is a disturbing divergence that is going on between the rising uptrend on the chart and the negative sloping relative strength index ((RSI)).
• Who will be President Elect Obama's Treasury Secretary?  An article in Saturday’s Journal suggests that Obama’s economics advisers are split between Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and New York Fed President Timothy Geithner.
• Voters rejected environmental propositions.  From California to Missouri, four of five environmental initiatives lost at the ballot box. Voters are clearly still not ready for exorbitant costs and excessive regulation without clear benefits.
• The amazing thing in the article above is a comment on wind energy.  Wind is unreliable.  It isn't always windy.  Wind turbines generally operate at only 20% efficiency compared with 85% for coal, gas and nuclear plants. A single 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant would generate more dependable power than 2,800 1.5-megawatt, occasionally operating wind turbines sitting on 175,000 acres.
• From Seeking Alpha, Warren Buffett on Investing vs. Business.
• President Elect Barack Obama apologizes to Nancy Reagan for this:  “I have spoken to all of them who are living,” he responded. “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any séances.”
• Well, it is Saturday.  There is college football on.  LSU-Alabama, right?  Yard needs work  here, too.  Lunch?  Sukiyaki!
• What's up with you?  Leave a comment or voice mail.  Hey, the comment system from Disqus even allows video comments.  How cool is that?