Companies

• Delta Sees S&P 500 in Reach as Credit Ratings Rise http://stks.co/rEBE? I would b cautious here, airlines have destroyed a lot of capital $$
• Berkshire?s Weschler Holds Almost $150 Million of DaVita http://stks.co/pEIf? FD: + $BRK.B | The slow takeover of Davita continues $$
• The real Apple tax scandal http://stks.co/gWz1? Scrap the corporate income tax & raise taxes on realized capital gains & dividends $$
• Berkshire Hathaway Seeks Release of ResCap, Ally Financial Report http://stks.co/dVOD? Wants 2c if there was any fraudulent conveyance $$
• Oil Revolt Generates $35 Billion as Icahn-Singer Agitate http://stks.co/jWnd? Many activist investors trawling in energy stocks $$
• Inside Google’s Secret Lab http://stks.co/qE31? “Since its creation in 2010, Google has kept X largely hidden from view.” Long but good $$
• Explaining Apple?s Irish Tax Dodge http://stks.co/hXHa? A good transfer pricing accountant is worth his weight in gold $$
• Deal of the Week: Penney Holds Real Value http://stks.co/rDoO? $JCP needs to turn around its retailing much more than managing property $$
• After all, that’s how BK conservation is done in the insurance industry, taxpayer never gets on the hook (please ignore $AIG) $$
• Customer Service Is Next Job for IBM’s Watson http://stks.co/tDcy? Could Watson replace the grunts that take care of customer service? $$
• “…insurance giants such as ACE Ltd and Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd” http://stks.co/qDeA? $ACE is a giant @ $31B , $ENH not @ $2B $$
• $VOD to Keep $VZ Payout Amid Europe Struggles http://stks.co/cV0K? Not surprising they stalemated on VZW, & no special div | FD: + $VOD $$
• Regulators Scrutinize Firms’ Ties to Insurers http://stks.co/sDXn? How much unsafe assets are held by life companies of $APO $HRG $GS ? $$

 

Market Dynamics

• Murray International?s Stout Says Stocks Too Expensive http://stks.co/aVhD? This means invest in cash, long Tsys or gold if correct $$
• Bargain-Hunting Buoys Treasurys [sic] http://stks.co/rEBC? Strength Returns as Bargain-Hunters Appear, but Prices Still Fall 4 the Week $$
• EVERGREEN VIRTUAL ADVISOR http://stks.co/eVjh? A very good publication this week. If u beg, u can get on the distribution list. $$
• Richard Band notes that the S&P 500?s prices-to-sales ratio is 1.5 to 1, almost 60% above its average since 1955 http://stks.co/gX6Z? $$
• Paul Tudor Jones: Macro trading, babies r a ?killer? 2a woman?s focus http://stks.co/gX54? Any significant outside activity harms focus $$
• Is This the Best Time for Investors? Don’t Bet On It http://stks.co/cVSF? Long term valuation measures r flashing red, play defense $$
• 3 articles on gold http://stks.co/pE4K? & http://stks.co/sDwa? & http://stks.co/rDwK? New hedging, record shorting, paper gold $$ $GLD
• Follow the Leader @mktanthropology http://stks.co/jWlB? Global economy feeling deflationary; stock markets poised to follow down $$
• Goldman raises S&P 500 targets through 2015 http://stks.co/gWYI? Not impossible historically, but not likely, profit margins would b2hi $$
• James Surowiecki: Is There a Stock-Market Bubble? http://stks.co/sDac? Argues profit margins sustainable: lower taxes, globalization $$
• Looking for Investments With Higher Yields in a Low Interest-Rate World http://stks.co/pDgr? Grab hi yields now= walk tightrope; no net $$
• Gold in Yen and SP500 and Bitcoin : Back to the Future http://stks.co/fWYb? Gold almost back to peak in yen terms & much more $$
• Gold Bear Bets Reach Record as Soros Cuts Holdings http://stks.co/jWKK? Market delivers pain to the gold longs: bears now overextended? $$
• Gold Rebounded After Moody?s Says U.S. May Face Downgrade http://stks.co/qDZq? People want certainty somewhere, whether in Govt or gold $$
• Junk Stocks Spur Broadest Equity Advance Since 1995 http://stks.co/qDZm? Highly indebted firms take the lead in the equity market $$

US Politics & Economic Policy

• Obama Bully Pulpit Bullied With Congress Probes Obscuring Agenda http://stks.co/jWz8? Maybe we should limit Presidents to one 4-yr term $$
• Fannie Mae Profiting as Market Middleman Angers Lenders http://stks.co/sEB4? If we really want 2wind down F&F, we should end purchases $$
• Goldman Sachs Research Disputes TBTF Subsidy http://stks.co/aVW5? In quiet times, advantage difficult to detect, easy during crisis $$
• Unaccountable Executive http://stks.co/rDwj? If President doesn’t run government, who does? Can delegate authority, not responsibility $$
• The Prisoner?s Dilemma of Central Banks [pdf] http://stks.co/rDwg? Everyone has an incentive 2 inflate, which leaves everyone worse off $$
• The Fed Is Squeezing the Shadow-Banking System http://stks.co/tDy5? As they should: repo market was a big part of the financial crisis $$
• The FED & F-35: Still no Rules of Engagement http://stks.co/pDwg? The Fed doesn’t know what they are doing; making it up, smiling a lot $$
• Sheila Bair: Dodd-Frank really did end taxpayer bailouts http://stks.co/jWPv? Will follow BK pecking order, after that charge industry $$
• Naming Names in the Dodd Frank Mess http://stks.co/jWPr? Mark Wetjen manages to stymie Dodd-Frank reforms; some of it is good, some bad $$
• What Strong Dollar? US Boom Provides Oil Hedge http://stks.co/tDcb? W/more energy produced in the US, $$ has less impact on oil prices
• White House urges Senate to cut crop insurance in farm bill http://stks.co/cV18? Difficult to beat the Ag lobby on crop insurance $$
• Health Law Costs: Employers Eye Bare-Bones Plans http://stks.co/tDXo? Obamacare messes up the health system; avg person less well-off $$
• Puerto Rico Statehood Bid Gets New Push http://stks.co/pDdM? Sensing future bankruptcy, Puerto Rico reconsiders a permanent liege-lord $$
• Does Rand Paul’s Rise Signal A Broader Libertarian Moment? http://stks.co/aV62? Somehow I think this one will end in disappointment too $$
• US Immigration Plan Encounters Business-Labor Rift http://stks.co/hWgM? Fascinating how seeming certainty of immigration bill has gone $$
• The end of QE? http://stks.co/rDKW? @izakaminska tells us why more QE won’t help, & why the process will have to end soon. $$ #becareful

Rest of the World

• Turkey Moves 2Curb Alcohol Sales http://stks.co/hXJT? This will b an interesting test of govt power; vodka is delivered quietly in Iran $$
• Foreign Fighters Enter Syria to Defend Shiites and Al-Assad Regime http://stks.co/tEAp? “Islam is a religion of peace” “Islam is a…” $$
• The Great Chinese Property Bubble: a Wall of Worry? http://stks.co/pEH3? 2 much 2 occupy; prices 2 high; enough debt 2b troublesome $$
• BRICS risk ‘sudden stop’ as dollar rally builds http://stks.co/cVY1? EM blowups often preceded by rise in $$ | Good 4 EM exporters though
• Wrong:Avoid These 3 Stocks on Japan, Says Expert http://stks.co/dVX1? An expert that doesn’t understand insurance trashes $AFL | FD:+ $AFL
• Asia Goes on a Debt Binge as Much of World Sobers Up http://stks.co/sE8v? Over-indebted economies don’t grow rapidly; complexity chokes $$
• 2 articles on Japan http://stks.co/fWuS? & http://stks.co/hX67? Rising bond yields & trade deficit, monetary policy drives both $$
• Two articles on the Tokyo market rout http://stks.co/qE7K? & http://stks.co/rE2d? Abenomics is stretching the limits of the possible $$
• Nobel Laureate Phelps Warns Against EU as Iceland Abandons Talks http://stks.co/fWui? Iceland gets smart, doesn’t join the Eurozone $$
• Death in Parched Farm Field Reveals Growing India Water Tragedy http://stks.co/cVN6? Water shortages r big factor 4 India’s development $$
• The Abenomics Experiment: Major Risks for Banks http://stks.co/gWlx? If interest rates rise 2much, banks in Japan go to neg net worth $$
• Experts call for urgent measures to tackle debt http://stks.co/qDtR? One advantage of US over China; we resolve troubled debts better $$
• Stockholm Riots Continue for Third Night http://stks.co/gWlk? If this can happen in Stockholm, it can happen in a lot of other places 2 $$
• Hollande Bonds Without AAA Shine Brighter Than Gold http://stks.co/dUzy? Similar things worked 4 Japan 4a while, but now may b shifting $$
• World?s Biggest Volatility Jump Spurs Fund Outflow http://stks.co/gWTm? Investors invest outside Japan 2 escape perpetually falling yen $$
• China April housing inflation quickens to two year high http://stks.co/fWM5? Chinese inflation is the endgame for many globally $$ #theend

Wrong

• Wrong: Strategy To YieldBoost Phillips 66 To 6% http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/05/22/strategy-to-yieldboost-phillips-66-to-6/?partner=yahootix?? Selling calls does not purely + yield b/c it limits your flexibility
• Wrong: Defining Moments in ‘Currency War’ http://stks.co/rDoJ? Monetary & Currency policies r joint @ the hip; Japan & China r similar $$
• Wrong: Investment That Protects You From Yourself: Bonds http://stks.co/jWPQ? Same argument can b applied to cash, more safe than bonds $$
• Unfair: The Rich Investor?s Secret to Buying Low http://stks.co/sDbz? Cherry-picks 2 winning trades 4 marketing purposes $NFLX $BP $$
• Wrong: Central banks saved world economy, now beware the fallout http://stks.co/iWYf? Would b growing rapidly now if we let banks fail $$

Other

• Soldiers Turn Entrepreneurs as One Million Exit Military http://stks.co/gX55? Military training has similarities w/entrepreneurship $$
• The Exercise Equivalent of a Cheeseburger? http://stks.co/cVY6? Exercise is good; too much exercise is worse than little exercise $$
• How Rail is Reshaping America?s Energy System http://stks.co/iWqJ? Summary piece on how tank cars r taking cheap fuel to the coasts $$
• Wined, Dined, Canned http://stks.co/tDq6? Inside the insiders game that is the Cannes film festival $$ Movie about the business of movies
• ?Teen?s invention could charge cellphone in 20 seconds http://stks.co/eVD0? Wonder how stable supercapacitor will b? Might b an issue $$
• ??I?m going to be setting the world on fire,? she said. http://stks.co/jWPq? Having seen overpowered capacitors burn, could b literal $$
• The Tech Innovator Who Almost Killed Saddam Hussein http://stks.co/dV1x? Long interesting article; Sabra becomes rich computer maven $$
• Getting Along With the Original Other Woman?Your Mother-in-Law http://stks.co/iWbp? Husbands, support your wives. Mothers, bow out $$
• New Rival Emerging for Bloomberg Chat http://stks.co/bV4p? Bloomberg may learn the hard way: messaging security can’t be compromised $$

Comments, Replies, & Retweets

• @Sir_Strangelove Had not caught that, thanks for correcting me
• “There is one thing you neglected: Baa bond yields are 3% lower than in 1999. That roughly comports?” ? D_Merkel http://disq.us/8d7ha9? $$
• @joshuademasi It’s like long-tail reinsurers in the mid-’80s, most were technically insolvent, but book capital was +; losses eaten slowly
• “Jeff Matthews is correct; Dealbook, though usually good, is wrong.” ? David_Merkel http://disq.us/8d735b? $$
• “This is a failure of the regulators, that they let this happen at all. They have the power to top it” ? D_Merkel http://disq.us/8d730h?
• @danielckoontz I know that dividend swaps exist, can imagine the possibility of leverage, don’t think it’s done much though, I hope
• @danielckoontz So long as there isn’t any leverage on the person holding the dividend paying stocks, generally it should self-limit

FWIW

• My week on twitter: 35 retweets received, 1 new listings, 66 new followers, 30 mentions. Via: http://20ft.net/p?