This was quite a news-intensive week with the non-stop stories out of the Eurozone, earnings reports, various corporate doings, and the action, or lack thereof, in the political arena. We thought it might be interesting to look at some quotes found in the press this week on a variety of topics…some sobering and some a bit amusing….so here goes.
“It finally dawned on me this week that the value of my retirement account might depend on the billionaire prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, who not only owns much of the Italian media but also provides them with ample material through his escapades. By his count, Mr. Berlusconi has survived 577 police interrogations and 2,500 court appearances related to innumerable legal and political scandals, not to mention enough suspected sexual adventures to top Hugh Hefner.” --James Stewart, New York Times columnist, on Italy’s economic situation
“When MF Global fails, it will finally bring to an end the “failing up” Wall Street and political career of Jon Corzine, and finally prove that there are consequences to idiotic risk-taking.” --Huffington Post, on ex-NJ Senator and ex-Goldman Sachs Chairman Jon Corzine, whose MF Global bet heavily on a comeback in European debt
“Amazon has the lowest operating margin and the highest valuation of any tech company we cover.” --Colin Gillis, BGC Partners
“Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug.” --Anonymous floor trader on his short position heading into last Thursday
“This would be a tectonic shift in world economic power and direct financial influence of epic proportions. It would be of the greatest importance going forward both economically and politically.” --Pieter Bottelier, Johns Hopkins China expert on the Eurozone courting of a Chinese infusion of tens of billions in cash, in potential “deals” likely loaded with “preconditions”
“Gold would easily be over $2000 this week except for Paulson.” --market insider on hedge fund luminary John Paulson’s recent fund poor performance, widely predicted client redemptions, and rumored forced sale of gold holdings over the past month
“The weaknesses of Europe’s common currency area, ranging from its design to a persisting dearth of bank funding and anemic economic growth, weren’t properly addressed in this week’s accord. It avoids an imminent catastrophe and means Greece should be able to meet its obligations in the near future, and it may restore a bit of confidence. But it won’t prevent the debt crisis overall from rambling on and indeed escalating.” --Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff and Jonathan Loynes of Capital Economics
“Brian Moynihan is here tonight. He’s the C.E.O. of Bank of America. As many of you know, Brian’s brother Patrick runs a Catholic boarding school in Haiti. Their parents must be so proud to see two of their boys running an underfunded, nonprofit organization.” --Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman at a charity dinner
“We simply cannot solve our problems by demanding sacrifices from students, soldiers, seniors and working class families alone. Big Oil needs to join us by paying their fair share to help address the deficit.” –14 U.S. Senators on sponsoring legislation to roll back tax breaks for the top six large oil companies, which posted $32.6 billion in 3rd quarter profits.
“Using the Case-Shiller Home Price Index to gauge the current state of the housing market is like using the average temperature over the past six months to decide how to dress for today’s weather.” --Bloomberg Radio guest
“Eurozone debt markets have not registered the same degree of optimism as the equity markets…far from it.” --Michael Darda, Chief Economist and Strategist at MKM Partners
“Due to recent budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.” --Occupy Wall Street sign
“One day the poor will have nothing to eat but the rich.” --Occupy Wall Street sign
“You know things are messed up when librarians are marching.” --Occupy Wall Street sign
“Capital does not ask for raises. Capital does not unionize. Capital does not demand health care benefits.” --UBS economist on why many large corporations are sitting on cash instead of hiring
“CNBC’s market analysis is about as valuable as NFL game analysis from a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.” -- speaker at Bloomberg-sponsored financial markets conference
“It is a weak Halloween for politically-inspired costumes. The gloom and negativity around Washington figures make it not as easy to poke light-hearted fun at politicians. President and Michelle Obama masks are getting some action as is Hilary Clinton, but there is no Sarah Palin this year, with the closest being Michele Bachmann.” --Washington Post
“The wolf must be fed.” –CNBC guest on large mutual, institutional and hedge funds looking to drive performance into year-end.
“After such a big run-up in October, we need a pullback before you can buy more.” --Jim Cramer
‘Has anyone asked Siri where Apple’s stock price will be by the end of the year?” --anonymous blogger
Ok, there are many, many more but that will have to do it for now. We will add that one could get 11 friends together and maybe go to a Halloween party tomorrow as the Congressional Budget Super-Committee, but then you would have to spend the whole evening behind closed doors arguing about how to get the party started.
Good Trading!
David W. (aka The Underground Trader)
David W’s FlashTrading Service Is Now Live! The service is unique in its approach to trading options: low capital at risk, frequent market commentary based on the futures markets and real-time options trading, not to mention the options insights you can't help but pick up! Try It Today
Remember, you are in control your email alerts! You can receive alerts for more than 25 free research report alerts including: The “10.0” Report, The Insiders Report, ETF Leaders Report, and The Focus List.
