For a staunch liberal, I loathe the plebeian class of our society. It as if the Serfs have decided that they will not participate in higher education nor will they actively involve themselves in gentlemanly conduct while out in public. Now, let me explain my most recent run in with the very dregs of our kingdom:

Today, my office had a planned tour of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Cheesy, but cool. Especially since they asked us not to take pictures in the gold vault, and that is exactly what I did. Very fine photos if I do say so myself. Moreover, I would highly recommend you check out my Instagram account, I am rather talented in the area of photography with an iPhone.

So the real fun began when I got on the 4 train at Wall St. heading up town to my midtown east apartment. Due to the abominable inefficiencies of the MTA, said train was stuck underground for 30, yes 30 minutes. Not fun, as it was a packed rush hour car. Eventually it was announced that the train malfunctioned and we would be escorted off at Brooklyn Bridge. As this was announced, our conductor, a rather large woman, came up and began walking through the car. Now, being the sly and attentive person that I am, I decided it would be smart to follow right behind her, as I was half her size and could easily maneuver through the crowd with her as the wrecking ball. Well, as we were about to enter the next car, some ghastly, monster of a woman steps right in front and says “No way, you are not getting by!” as if it was up to her ugly face to decide who can and cannot be first off the train. I politely told this amazonian that she could fuck off and that I was going to continue on my merry way. Well, she tripped me and I fell into an individual who took it upon himself to try and teach me a lesson on how to speak with women. Mind you, I think she was a woman, but her horribly, cratered face and obvious tourist clothing definitely confused me a bit.

This man, who was greasy, wearing a wife beater and flat brim hat, speaking ebonics began using profanities and the threat of physical violence. I, again politely, told this individual that he should mind his own business and get a job if he has something to say to me. That didn’t go over too well. Before he could clench his fist, I reminded him that I was in an expensive suit while he was wearing rags; who would the police side with? Moreover, I belittled him to no end as I walked pass. A verbal decapitation, if you will.

These types of encounters happen on a daily basis for me and I imagine for many of you. What bothered me the most about this, was that these two disgusting people attempted to stop me for being smart and savvy and figuring a way out quicker then the others. Again, it is as if the dregs of society are permanently against anyone who has an oversized wallet and an intellect that cannot be rivaled by the layman.

Today sucked for the market, all my shit was down, I was up huge only to lose all gains, not quickly, but a slow bleed out. Thank God I was able to take a half day with the Fed tour and all. As Le Fly said, people don’t lose faith in the Fed. this sell off is fake and we will be higher in the coming weeks. Have a great weekend everyone!

Top Picks: APP, FSLR, YGE, CLF, PMT not in that order, just some stuff I own and like

Well, today was quite interesting. A most definite respite from the doldrums that have plagued my investing psyche. Deep down, you know, in my heart of hearts, I am a value guy …a deep value kind of guy. I buy dumb shit that people hate like APP, BBRY, RAD. The amount of times I have heard “that shit sucks” or “I hate that store” is absurd. It makes me even more confident in my analysis and my investment. That being said, I have recently been dealing with a heavy work load at the formidable day job, and on top of that, an impending death of my grandfather, who in his own right is a straight up OG. Owing to these facts, I have pared down my portfolio to my core positions; the good stuff, the stuff that I makes you want to actually order a stock cert and hang it in your office so clients think you’re cool (I do have a few trades on as well). Because I give props when props are due, a lot of my heavy cash position is due to The Fly’s warnings. I admire and respect the man and like to be on the same side of a trade as he. So you ask, what is the point of all this? It is to say that I came into the day comfortable, stress free and anxious for a tit-ripping short squeeze.

Do you know why I was so amiable in my nature this lovely September afternoon? Because I was confident in my predictions that Sir Benjamin Bernanke would NOT initiate some sort of assinine tapering. That the entirety of Wall St. making largesse claims of “foregone conclusions” and “guarantees,” was so absurd that even a common layman would turn his head in bewilderment.

Do you know how I came to the conclusion that there would be no tapering at the September meeting? Because I listen and I know how to read. Blasphemy! you scream. No you plebeian, it WAS that simple. If there is one thing that everybody has become a purported expert on in the last 4 years, it is analyzing the FOMC minutes. I am here to tell you, that non of you are experts on the Fed nor on the topic of monetary policy, which is a tricky son of a bitch. To implement it is even more difficult; so difficult that once you make a decision you are stuck with it. There is no going back. So as Federal Reserve Chairman, you must be so sure of yourself as to be cocksure. Now if you had been paying as much attention to the language of the Chairman as you claim, then you would understand when, why, and how he is implementing his policy.

Perhaps it is my communication-centered Public Relations degree from the fine University of Florida (always number 1 or 2 for the PR major in the world), or my instinctual grasp of the English language, but, I take Ben at face value. By doing this, a pattern had developed. In hindsight you were able to see when, why and how he implemented that beautifully sexy tool, Quantitive Easing. Looking at the pattern, I realized that the economy is on the precipice of greatness, an American Renaissance of sort; but to taper now would be a fool’s errand that could derail the whole thing; Sir Ben has put too much at stake to turn back now. The myriad of recent economic reports have obviously been sub par, the complete opposite of what Bernanke said would be a reason to taper.

I made boatloads of money leaning long today. Even with a 45% cash position, today was still a blessed gift, and it all came because I listened and read a few reports. Nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary, and certainly no robot algorithms that my wonderful, button-pushing friend @Raul3 loves so much. Sometimes it is better to keep it simple and just shut up and listen. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, gentlemen. It pays to pay attention.

Peace,

Harper

EDIT: After posting, I realized there was one other thing that confirmed my stance on the non-existant tapering; the relative strength of PMT. I am long that mREIT in size. I made a killing last year riding it from $16-$28 while collecting a 12% yield. And, since the tapering talk began I have slowly been acquiring a position into the discount. This stock has done nothing all summer, the summer of “The Taper.” Until this week when it slowly but surely crept higher, holding its gains, and setting up quite nicely. Now, if tapering was real in September, and MBS’ were not going to be bought in size this should have been underperforming this last week. However, the opposite was true. I posted my thoughts this morning inside The PPT.

Honestly, if you were never part of the 12631 chatroom, you are at present a derelict. Even monkeys in a confined room can eventually write Shakespeare, as has been purported.

So I am penning this post as an official goodbye to my degenerate trading buddies inside 12631.

I am at that point in my trading/investing career where I need to make a decision, take the road less traveled (no Frost) or continue down what my investment banking buddies call “the easy way out.”

Due to my personal health, occupation and other duties I find myself less in tune with the day-to-day movements of the markets; those inner workings of that beautiful, yet deadly, bitch …the market. Being less connected has resulted in sub-par returns recently and more stress than could ever have been anticipated; and yes, you old men, you, I was trading during 2008. Though I was less intuitive and informed, I had still been trading as actively as if I was John fuckin Wayne gripping a wench while riding a horse sideways with an ice cream cone that has the really bad flavor that none of the kids want (No ENPH).

It’s as if I have finally realized that I don’t need to catch every move, I don’t need to watch the market tick for tick, I don’t need to constantly refresh my account to see how many bps I outperformed that day. Oh, and by the way, I outperformed $SPY by .53bps today, in case you were curious.

Back to my point, I dont like panic, stress and sadness. Its not worth it. Think about it, how many Forbes Richest 500 People in The World were strictly technical analysts. This post is in no way a bash on that technique. Shit, I started with it and still use it daily, even when I plan where I want my next big investment to be purchased. Don’t you worry, I will still be in The Game as an active participant. I mean I do work in institutional investing, but its time to take a step back. Perhaps commit a hate crime or gut like a pig a companies capital structure.

This is a long post. So for the ending with the fireworks I want to say thank you and see you all later; @ChessNwine @RaginCajun @Raul3 @dominator @Bernie Cornfeld @Dirk Diggler @mickeyp @clemer @tpain @HawaiiFive0 and anyone else I have forgotten. I owe something unique to each and everyone of you.

Peace

TheHarper

This is not a post about the merits of $NES, I am long and will stay long until my thesis changes. Others still adhere to rig counts and GDP to search for growth, they are behind the times and have NO idea how to look into the future:

Some of you may have discovered that myself and another individual, “Po Pimp,” and I have been on opposite sides of a trade. Well, thats not true. I have actually put my money where my mouth is and invested in said company, $NES, and he has just sat there and bashed them.  He even went so far as to “not recommend a short position because thinly traded stocks that get pumped on Seekingalpha can burn your ass” …the stock trades upwards of 2 million shares a day, I’d say thats liquid enough.

Now, I stand here today to publicly apologize for any ad hominum attacks on his person. Whether this blue-collared, “look at me I’m an engineer!” deserves it is besides the point. I am apologizing for my personal well-being and to make sure that I do not do this again. This is the market and there are two sides to a trade.

Moving on, I had thought after his first post on $NES where he bashed them I had apologized then, only to have him attack me further. Well, it didnt stop there. To make matters worse, this “Clown from Appalachia” went out and examined their most recent quarter, which I admit blew. However, he put my name on the blog post title and then had the audacity to find my LinkedIn profile (which hadnt even been updated in years) and went ahead and posted that on his blog post. If there is anything I desire, it is anonymity. The things I post are absurd, ridiculous, and offensive. No one in my real life should be subject to such whims.

In conclusion, this “Po Pimp” who is apparently 20 years behind the times, when teenagers actually thought “pimping” was cool (you know, degradation and violence against women), has absolutely zero class and if it was up to me I would ban him completely. Moreover, he claims he is so old as to have so much experience; but, I think its that he realizes that as young as I am, I am much more ahead in life at this age then he was 15 years from now. That is my guess, what is yours?

There is a wave of degeneracy and bigotry that is sweeping the world, and unless you are in tune with its movements and motives you will not realize the widespread implications and consequences.  I refer specifically to the BDS; the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel.  Mind you, this is a group of people, mostly NOT Palestinian, who advocate for divestment against the entirety of Israel. Which political party runs the government, matters naught. These debaucherous clowns call for a full economic and political boycott of a sovereign nation. The leaders of said movement claim that is because they do not agree with the “illegal occupation” of Palestinian lands, or the matter in which the government supports the building of settlements on historically Jewish land. Whatever the reason supplied, it always comes down to their hatred of Israel and its Jewish citizens (though they would never admit that publicly).

Now, if these individuals wanted to boycott a particular government, for example, the Likud-dominated administration of Benjamin Netanyahu, then that would be alright. More than that, it would be wonderful to see people expressing their political opinions in such an enthused manner, no matter how misguided those opinions might turn out to be.  However, they attempt to force organizations, companies and goverments to completely cut ties to the whole country. If I didnt know any better, it would sound to me like the BDS movement is rather uncomfortable with the idea of a Jewish state.  They of course, do not agree. They claim any number of absurd ideas about stealing land, UN colonization, and of course the dreaded word, “apartheid.”  It is in these endeavors that they spread hatred for the country, the army (Israeli Defense Forces), and its citizens. 

What is most disturbing, besides their gross misunderstanding of history, is that BDS and its members claim to be acting under the guise of “anti-Zionism.” Though a bigoted opinion by nature, this hatred does not stop at the members’ deference to the religiously-based political movement of Zionism.  Instead it takes on a tone of hatred for the citizens of the targeted country. Insofar as the movement calls for isolation of Israel, no matter who is at the helm and no matter what the official government policy is towards the Palestinians, they are preaching a subtle form of anti-Semitism, for Israel is first and foremost a Jewish state.

Unfortunately, I will not be providing an indepth look at this movement of bigotry as this is still iBankCoin and not The Forward. My motivation for this post came when my buddy, and contributor to this site, @Rhino, forwarded me this article: http://t.co/DoPbOEZW1D 

I grew up in California before moving to South Florida, and am very aware of the clusterfuck that is that state. But, sometimes, some shit just goes too far. In this case, the University of California Regents voted to appoint an openly anti-Zionist and self-proclaimed hater of Israel. Sadia Saifuddin, though slightly attractive, is known at the University of Berkeley for her fervent support of the BDS movement. Furthermore, she has planned and participated in “Apartheid Weeks” which are nothing more than a facade for the cultivation of anti-Semitism on campuses. Now, I know many of you plebs will denounce this post for Islamaphobia and other such nonsense. But, my disagreement over her appointment has nothing do with a supposed dislike for Islam or where she was born or even what type of person she is. It is all based on her political opinions, which are interwoven with a hatred that is unnacceptable. Look, I am all about freedom of speech. In these pages you will constantly find me defending civil liberties and human rights. The thing is that she is now in a position of power to dictate policy to students of the UC system. To have such farfetched beliefs that threaten the destruction of a country and its citizens is to go too far. The UC board should never of had her name on the ballot. They claim she is an “outstanding student” …its Berkeley, of course she is outstanding! To be outstanding is a dime a dozen at that university.

In conclusion, anyone that is intimately associated with BDS should not be nominated for a position of power and influence. It is a movement of hatred, founded in ignorance. Shame on you, UC boardmembers.

I figured since one, I used to live in Florida, and two, I now live in NYC where protests seem to be getting absurd, I might as well add my two cents to the Trayvon Martin debacle that has the plebeians so up in arms.

Let me start off by saying I am a liberal, and have been an advocate of protests for as long as I can remember, but of the more molotov kind. Hell, I go so far as to put R.A.F. on my twitter bio (for you ignorant souls, that means Red Army Faction). I find Occuppy Wall St, and this most recent T.M. protests to be puny and misguided; that is not even mentioning Anonymous which I have the utmost hatred for and will soon devote an entire blog post to.  What can now be witnessed, and belittled by the clowns at Fox News are a bunch of young retards, running around screaming about things they truly do not understand. Now, for the meat and potatoes:

George Zimmerman is a tool, seriously the dude blows. Only the worst kind of people are “community watchers” …my high school career was spent living in a gated community in South Florida, so I am well aware and versed in the inner workings of “unofficial police duty.”  Trayvon Martin, for whatever his short comings were, did not deserve to meet the untimely end that he did.

Moving forward, Zimmerman went on trial and stood before a “jury of his peers” (I pulled that directly from the Bill of Rights ).  Those 12 people decided that based on the charges, the STATE LAWS of Florida, and the evidence, that he should be acquited. The legal system spoke, and now people are pissed. Pissed, not because justice was not served, but because it was served and they just happened to disagree with its outcome. Now, if there is anything that I love about America (and trust me, there are very few things) it is the god damn legal system we have here. By far, the best in the world sans Israel (If someone makes a comment that the Arabs dont have the same rights as the Jews I will come to your house and punch you in the neck).

As I said before, I love protesting, but when it is informed and meaningful protesting. Taking to the streets because you say justice was not served shows a gross misunderstanding of our justice (sic) system.  You can talk about all the different examples of racism in the legal system, and you would be 100% correct! However, this is the system we have and I will take this above all us.  A funny aside, last night I was on 23rd and Park watching the protestors walk down 23rd st. and was discussing this topic with a buddy of mine only to have a black girl say to me “You support the justice system because you are white”

To my last point are the state laws that nobody seems to understand. This was a state, not a federal case! So for you fools to call on Obama to step in shows how little you understand our federal system.  Furthermore, there is a thing in Florida called the “Stand Your Ground Law.” As a young socialist activist, I rallied as hard as I could to stop that from passing, as I was able to foresee the absurdities it would bring to our society, as is so evidenced by this T.M. issue. However, that passed and is now law. So juries have to decide a court case based on the laws of the state, as it is a state case and not federal (I repeat this point to drive it home).  What these idiots should be protesting is the Republican-dominated State Senate that passed that abominable law, nothing else. Idiot Republicans fetishize their self-defense and gun rights and shit like this happens, will they ever learn?

You might say I dont have a heart, but I would disagree, its just a little more to the right than is my logical thinking.

Top Pick: $NES always has been and always will be. Great news just keeps rolling in.

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from blog writing, for no other reason then I am lazy.  I walk around the inhospitable summer streets of NYC and think about all these phenomenal topics that I want to stuff down the throats of my readers, and of course, I don’t do shit about it. Reminds me of my trading at times, watching something then freezing and not pulling the trigger. Oh well, I digress.

The market has been a mean bitch, one could even go so far as saying a cunt of the highest order. I lost a quarter’s worth of gains in 2 weeks then made them all back. I love it. What I love even more is all the pikers who bash Sir Ben and short every rally as if the market is going to deflate tomorrow.  Liquidity is high, money base is NOT exploding, and inflation is non existant. What the hell is wrong with you! stop bashing such a gentleman, who helped save you from becoming a caveman, because if ATMs had stopped dispersing money, which you can be sure they would have had Ben not interceded, then “I Am Legend” would have looked like a Disney film.

Into the down draft on the $SPX I held most of my long term positions like $RAD $APP $NES $VOD and even added to those. Well, as you can see that worked out wonderfully.  Now that we are back up at the highs I have taken profits on a few names that I like trading. $SCTY has been a money machine and I bought some back today. $ZLC, an OA pick, I took a nice 9% profit last week and entered back yesterday and today, will hold till the double digits, which are inevitable.  I also am in a super-crowded trade $DDD, I have no idea what to do with that and will wait till Raul3 and Chessnwine give me direction. It is ok to take direction from gents you trust, that’s how you learn. I also got long a small bomb, $OCZ, RaginCajun put this on the radar and it looks good.

I am currently on a conference call, and want to reach through the phone and punch people in the neck, but I refrain. As soon as this is done I am off to Jones Beach, NY for a night of gluttony, debauchery, and Phish. If you dont know who Phish is, or have some sort of sadistic hatred toward one of the best bands of all time, I urge you to NEVER read this blog again, for you suck.

Top pick: $ZNGA on the dips, I just pulled a nice profit and will continue to until it trades above $4

Good Shabbas.

In the words of Leslie Chow. “I love Cocaine!”

I am a man of taste, and above all else, a man of wisdom.  There are issues that I discuss with such proficiency and acumen that you would be hard pressed to find a rival.  However, there are topics of high finance and astrophysics that I am quite uninformed about. Mind you, I say uninformed because any piece of knowledge is acquirable. Do not fool yourself into believing that something is beyond your comprehension, that is dumb, and if you every purport that to be the case I will castrate you in vogue. As I have discussed the issue of books and reading in a previous post, do not attempt a retort of my argument as yours will be ad hominem, and nothing more.

As this “correction” has transpired I have found myself oscillating between high cash levels and smaller-than-usual trading positions. This being the case, my approach to a volatile market is to be open minded. By definition, a trader is inherently open-minded; for to not be so is to incure a lovely margin call for staying at a party too late or being too early. Though not always the case, I am constantly training myself to be unemotional, unattached and unburdened by stubborn opinions. The phrases “should be” or “supposed to be” are dangerous, and I would be wary of any man who uses said phrases. Especially, and I cannot stress this enough, the mongoloids who say the 10-year Treasury “should be” at such and such a level. Not only do they lose their clients money, they instill in me a neverending desire to punch holes in drywall and push Republicans down elevator shafts.

Which brings me to my final point of the post, Ben Bernanke is an OG. I loathe those who bash him for they are wholly ignorant of the detriment of deflation and common sense (see Rick Santelli). I imagine many of these self-proclaimed market guru’s are short treasuries and/or manage massive bond portfolios with near-term maturities (see Bill Gross). So, as always, it is evident that most have an agenda. For if they did not, why such hatred for such a gentleman as The Clam?

Because I am a believer in the Bernanked and his liquidity stance, I am long into the FOMC minutes tomorrow (hedged with $UVXY). Cash level still high, but with the help of trading masters @RaginCajun and @Chessnwine I have been scalping trades like a sniper in the West Bank.  I sold out of $AMBA today for a nice 7% gain, fedora tip to @The Fly for that one (I am a buyer on a retest of $17). After taking a 30% gain in $FRO yesterday, I started back in with a 1/4 position and will look to continue building it this year. I added to $CSU, one of my favorite long term plays on the populace in wheeled chairs. Other trades have been made, but nothing worth mentioning.

Lastly, $RAD reports this week, and god damn am I excited. If you do not already know $RAD has does a wonderful job cleaning up their capital structure and because of my time spent, I am banking absurd amounts of coin and will continue to do so as I sell this north of $7 in a year or two.  Watch and learn, my pikerish friends.

For now, allow your humble narrator to take leave. Until next time.

Following a brief respite, your humble narrator has returned; bedazzled and torn, but still alive.

Now, in the name of honesty and all that is holy, to both the new and old Gods of the Market, I have given up too many gains in the last 2 weeks. I fought hard for these percentage points that hold so much sway over my mental state and ability to purchase boats and cigars.  As if by shit-storm magic, practiced in the decadent halls of fortune tellers and homeless men alike, I win throughout the first half of the year only to be poleaxed as we move into the sweltering summer months. Due to some sort of sick obsession with watching the tape, I attempt to “game” a system that is marked by low volume and junior traders trying to make a name for themselves (see: The Fly’s most recent blog post).  For the next 2 months I plan on playing close to the chest, while accumulating long term positions.

My favorite activity during market times such as these is to seek out long term opportunities that are not being systematically dismantled by mother market. It just so happens that two stocks I am looking at I already have starter positions in; $RAD and $CSU.

I am extremely bullish on both of these names, and if you pull up a chart, both have been weathering this storm like a boss. I have only 1/4 positions in each currently, but you can be damn well sure that before the summer is out they will be brought to full positions. In a follow up blog post, I will give my thesis on both names so the plebeians can pilfer my time and effort I put into research.

I also want to tip my fedora to @RaginCajun for pushing me into $TZA Friday evening, I promptly took gains this morning near the open and successfully hedged some of my remaining longs.

Besides long term picks, my top choice here is still $IMMR. Uptrend is still intact, with rising moving averages tucked neatly below.