I'm Napolitano Safe!!

Now that terrorists are pouring into the U.S. and recently tried to blow up a plane near Detroil, don't you feel safer with Janet Napolitano, a lawyer, a politician, a socialist, in control of Homeland Security?
We're being "protected" by lawyers. Think about that long and hard before the next bought election in the U.S.A.

"...it worked."

Lawyers, the very people who brought the U.S. to it's knees and now control the Crime Syndicate formerly known as the United States Congress, are in control. You need to ask yourself, what possible good could come from that?

What, exactly, is wrong with the populace in this country, in this culture? Where are their heads?

Oh, right... watching television.

Why Should We Expect Any Better?

In George Orwell's famous line, "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others," there lies a prophetic comment about American and world politics. The legal profession considers itself not just advocates of legal interpretation but the ONLY body capable of making laws.

Given that the free-world has been led, for the most part, by lawyers holding political office, and given the state of political and economic affairs over the last sixty years... why does an educated public continue to give this group of "others" so much credibility?

Have we not learned anything from the Clinton comment, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."

Let's try something novel... stop electing lawyers.

Morons At The Gate

For the record ... some political news that should concern all of us:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579652,00.html?test=latestnews

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/07/reid-compares-health-care-reform-foes-slavery-supporters/

If items of this nature don't affect you then, please, by all means, just keep watching TV.

The Good Times Are Here... your govt says so.

Just a thought, but if things are so encouraging, so improved, why did the Senate just pass an extension on job benefits and new home sales credits this morning? This is one reason (among many) that I'm shorting into this rally.

WSJ reports the Senate passed legislation that would give tax breaks to big companies hit by the recession and expand a credit for homebuyers, while raising other corporate levies, particularly for multinationals. The proposed tax increases are aimed at offsetting the cost to the government of the breaks, making the exact impact on individual businesses and industries difficult to judge. But business leaders worry that the measure could be a sign of more taxes to come, as lawmakers seek ways to pay for new measures without adding to the gaping federal deficit. "We clearly are going to have tax increases going forward," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce... The new tax break for businesses, estimated to cost about $10.4 billion over the next decade, would give large companies bigger refunds to make up for recent losses. Specifically, it would let large firms claim cash refunds on taxes they paid going back nearly five years, to offset current losses. Previously, the carry-back period for large firms was two years. Similar carry-back rules already apply to small businesses.

Since the socialists are playing it very close to the vest (read "you'll never know") market participants just place bets these days as opposed to a little fundamental analysis. It doesn't matter, does it Timmy G.?

Greed IS good.

I have been in the markets ever since the earth's crust started cooling and the first "exchange" was created. Back then participants threw rocks at each other as a way of expressing bullishness or bearishness. It had its merits.

Fastforward to 2009, if "greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit" then Adam Smith's "invisible hand" will prevail in spite of the war on capitalism and anything that smacks of profit.

The most galling comment I heard during the recent meltdown was in a street interview by a large news network who happened upon a 30-something male:

Question - "What do you think about what's going on?"
Answer - "The drug companies made billions of dollars in profits, there's PROOF enough they're ripping us off!"

Maybe this yuckapuck can develop a life saving drug on his allowance money, drug companies invest billions in developing new drugs. Oil companies spend billions developing oil fields. Maybe the rising socialist star can do it better and cheaper with a pick and shovel.

The question of "ripping off" aside, why was this rising communist not aware of the fact that the sole purpose of a company IS to make profits? Presuming this putz had a job, why was he not aware that if his employer doesn't make profits ultimately he has no J O B?

Gordon Gekko in the movie "Wall Street" DID have it right when he said, "... greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."

I was asked by a student once if I traded out of greed. The question arose as I explained support and resistance levels on a stock chart. I mentioned that another word for support is greed and another word for resistance is fear. The student incorrectly inferred that the greed I was speaking of was the "bad" greed we all hate.

The greed that Gordon Gekko spoke of was the same greed that I spoke of relative to a stock chart. It is a greed out of the basic human attribute of a desire to get ahead and a willingness to take risks to achieve that end.

It is the same greed that makes people, knowingly or unknowingly, take risks whether they are trading or starting a business.

Whose greed is greater and which is the one with the "bad" type of greed, the entrepreneur's or the government's?

Don't Tell!

Please don't tell Obama and the socialists what comes after a trillion!

Yesterday, we had yet another instance of buyers failing to show up where they should be the most aggressive. This is a bearish divergence that’s starting to take on importance.

The two reports due this morning as well as Friday's reports should continue to show improving results which of course will get a bullish rally... however, they are already anticipated, already built into price, thus I'll be using any rallies to continue entering short positions until Sep. 29th when month end window dressing should abate any pullback. Going into October is where I would expect the correction, the pullback that breaks uptrend lines and throws real fear into the market.

So far, it appears the SPX has carved out a sideways range over the last 5 sessions between the 1060/1075 zone.

Wednesday's reversal off fresh highs left an "outside day" with the major indices closing on their lows. TRIN, which measures the volume of advancing stocks over the volume of declining stocks, managed to close above the 2.0 level as a result of the aggressive afternoon selling. Typically, a close above 2.0 leads to a "bounce" day sometime during the next 1 or 2 days.

The first key support level to watch on the SPX is the 38% retracement of the current Sept low/high, which falls near 1046 level. If price drops to that level, the 20-day exponential moving average should rise up to meet price in that zone as well. Next support below those two points of interest would be the 50% retracement (1035) which runs along the late-August highs in the 1035/1040 zone.

I'd like to see some weakness down to support zones going into the weekend which can set up some buying opportunities early next week for a month-end rally. If prices manage to shrug off today's sell-off and push higher above the current 5-day range highs, I'd be cautiously bullish...meaning Long for a daytrades only.