It's the end of the World as we Know it

• At least it felt that way as the market tanked today. $$
• I was stuck at work and unable to watch it implode. I get the bad employment news and the continuing troubles in Europe. Investors also worried about US debt and financial reform. Anything new, though?
• What to do? Nothing, yet. Having sold my high beta stuff a few weeks ago, I'm still of the belief that this is a typical (!) mid-term election swoon, and in a few months or so these headlines and panic selling will seem like a bunch o nonsense. Still have to get through it, though.

Darth Cheney Endorses Meg Whitman

I'm not sure I understand Meg Whitman's campaign strategy. She's running ads against illegal immigrants. Now, an endorsement from Dick Cheney. This certainly looks like the 1994 playbook, but I'm not sure it will fly.

As a conservative in CA, I am a little tired of the partisan bickering. We have have Arnold in Sacramento for awhile, and he has been unable to do anything. I see Meg as being another Arnold.

Muckdog endorses Steve Poizner in the Republican primary. Hey, my endorsement may not mean much. But right now, I want an inside guy running for governor, not a "blow up the boxes in Sacramento" retread.

I can't imagine the ad campaign Meg is running will help her. I think this is a huge break for Poizner.

If it's not one Fiat Currency, it's Another

Seemed like only yesterday that nobody wanted the US dollar. $$.

Euro's Fall Echoes in Other Markets
(author unknown)
2010-05-14 09:20

The sliding euro rippled across global markets, undermining equities and pushing investors into gold, U.S. Treasurys and other safe-haven assets.

Say, is there an ETF that contains a basket of "safe-haven assets?". Or would the turnover in that thing drive up costs and inefficiencies?

Boy, thank goodness countries didn't abandon the Yankee Dollar for that Euro-trash money!

Thursday Randomosity

• Getting the blame for today’s market selloff?  Retail reports! $$ Stocks tumbled Thursday, with much of the selling coming late in the day as investors became more concerned about the pace of consumer spending. The market also came under pressure as major indexes failed to hold above key chart levels.
• Obviously, investors haven’t been following me around this week.  But then, they’d be worrying about consumer debt.  If it’s not one thing, it’s another Rosanne Rosannadanna.
• What? Thursday night already? Where did the time go this week?  Oh, the iPad.  Yes, the iPad.
• Oil hits 3-month low.  Er, what about gas prices, fellas?  Give up the lag time and cut us a break!  Crude-oil futures tumbled to a three-month low Thursday in volatile trading amid persistent concerns over swelling inventories at a key U.S. storage hub.  (Yeah, that new storage hub is called “the Gulf of Mexico.”)
• I hope folks are taking advantage of near historic low interest rate to refinance and lock in fixed rates, or eliminate debt altogether.  Here’s an article about Europe’s Newest Risk: Inflation. Europe's nearly $1 trillion rescue plan seems to have quieted the government debt storm for the time being. But another problem may be brewing as Britain and the euro countries tackle their still unresolved fiscal problems: rising inflation rates.
• The main reason is debt.  The only way out is to inflate and debase their money.
• The US has the same debt problem.  At some point down the road…  Oh, and I don’t own any bonds or bond funds.  None whatsoever.
• A $NFLX takeover?  Maybe. 
Technorati Tags: oil,inflation,stocks,nflx,netflix,debt
• Maybe not: UBS’s Brian Fitzgerald seems to have had enough of the rumors as he cuts the stock to “sell.” There’s one big reason to think it won’t happen, he writes, and that’s Netflix’s dozens of distribution centers around the country. They’d likely mean Amazon would be legally required to charge sales taxes in a whole new pile of states if it buys the company.

#8: Positioned for a Stock Market Pullback

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#7: The iPad Experience

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iPadapalooza

• Yes, I have an $AAPL iPad 3G.  Now what?
• Oh – the stock market choked today, by the way.  More later.
• Well, activating the iPad resulted in every iPhone app loading to the iPad.  The apps show up in native resolution, so you can double the size but it looks crappy.
• The apps built for the iPad are beautiful, though.  So I deleted all the iPhone apps and loaded iPad apps.
• Haven’t found a suitable replacement for Mobile RSS Pro, my favorite news reader.  I’m using Feeddler now, eh.
• Apple store sold out of folio cases, so I ordered an Eco View online.
• Loaded the Amazon Kindle books I had via their iPad app and whispersync.
• Heck, it’s almost midnight now…  LOL.
• Good night!