tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-180797282024-03-06T20:36:08.976-08:00Cassandra Does TokyoMostly original content that examines financial surreality in equity markets in general, and the Japanese Stock Market in particular."Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comBlogger768125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-19776396556423961532021-01-28T06:56:00.003-08:002021-01-28T06:56:55.059-08:00If You're Not the Hunter, Are You the Hunted?I’ve always had a morbid fascination with systemic faults and those that game them. LOR and portfolio insurance. BARRA risk models. Valeant/Shkreli in pharma. SOES bandits, Enron, Worldcom, Madoff, investing in the GSCI as an asset class. Things that seem to be, and ultimately are, too good to be true.“Market impact” has long been misunderstood by the many. For there is the fiction in the popular"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-35703811986120352892019-09-19T13:45:00.000-07:002019-09-19T13:45:10.041-07:00Bear Market in Integrity Continues (2019 Update)Things, people, and/or ideas believed to have integrity, now seemingly compromised...(the second third fourth latest updated and expanded version). The bear market in integrity continues unrelentingly…2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 edition.
Permbears
Woodford
Carlos Ghosn
Sheryl Sandberg
Quantitative Easing
Boeing Corp
Generic Pharma
Justin Trudeau
James Dyson
Kayne West
US "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-77372274300325834632019-03-06T05:04:00.000-08:002019-03-06T05:04:11.286-08:00Could Progressives Have Done More to Prevent Nasty Populism?
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The
rise of populism has caused both left and right to indict centrist’s
seeming embrace of “neo-liberalism”, to further their own
agendas, or to forensically assign blame for the current blight of
Trump, Brexit, Five Star, Gilets Jaunes, Orban, etc. While
neo-liberalism has always been "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-56117800403093118722018-11-30T03:54:00.000-08:002018-11-30T03:54:04.672-08:00James Fields, Jr. is a Coward
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I sent my middle child to a boarding school, deep in the bowels of the English countryside, when she was of a tender
single-digit age. One doesn’t make such a
decision without carefully consideration, but the reasons, while
complicated, were compelling and I have no regrets. She will have her
whole life to "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-800891358793728542018-09-05T10:02:00.000-07:002018-09-05T10:04:28.299-07:00Elizabethan VerseSo farewell then
Theranos,
inventor of
innovations
that weren't.
You fooled
some of the people
all of the time,
but not enough
of the people
some of the time.
You were like
the "Roy Batty"
of start-ups -
shining multiples
as bright
for fractions
as long".
Your name
was an amalgalm
of "Therapy"
and "Diagnosis,
Now,
your investors
will need
both.
(apologies to EJ THribb & PrivateEye)
"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-50189929012633586582018-03-15T10:08:00.002-07:002018-03-15T10:09:26.218-07:00Farewell Then Toys"Я"UsFarewell then
Toys"Я"Us
America's Halfway house
to Barbie, Ken,
G.I. Joe and
"Rock-'em Sock-'em
Robots"
You were
the first company
to crucify
the English Language
for the sake of
a memorable
name.
Upon your shelves,
aptly-named board games
like "Risk",
"Chutes & Ladders"
"The Game of Life"
and "Trouble -
foretold your
future.
"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-63445003909521590462017-03-02T13:29:00.000-08:002017-03-02T13:29:00.476-08:00Bitcoin Haiku
It's been more than three years since I first posted these. So on the day when the value of 1 Bitcoin surpassed that of 1 oz of Gold, I thought it'd be fun to see how they have aged. For the sake of FD, I can re-affirm that I own no Bitcoin (as if you had to wonder).
Icarwho?Up Up and AwayThe sun feels good up yon-der"Relax!" said HamletMacklemore&More&MorePop some "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-82619859669128645032017-02-01T12:46:00.000-08:002017-02-01T12:46:04.044-08:00On The EU & BrexitThe following is a my Remainer's reply to a Brexiteer's comment on my last piece "The Uninspiring Antitheses to Populism". I wouldn't normally turn a reply into a post but I've been wanting to articulate most of these thoughts in Cassandra's record for the future. I've replied in-line to the commentator's (in boldface italics). All further comments, thoughts and replies are both welcomed and "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-72984912465889828052017-01-27T02:26:00.000-08:002017-01-27T02:26:13.968-08:00The Uninspiring Antitheses To PopulismMany have written insightfully on the reasons that seem crucial both to understanding Brexit and the parallel populism carrying Trump into office. Richard Baldwin, Branko Milanovic, even Tom Friedman's latest shed much light on the political-economic fractures and their causes. Useful data analyses have teased out the statistics past and present county-by-county or even town-by-town. There "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-89582500300797908962017-01-25T03:49:00.000-08:002017-01-25T03:49:53.564-08:00Nothing Cures Populism Like Populism
Though skeptical by nature, I tend towards the optimist. The infectious idealism of my mother is difficult to quash. I would like to believe that sound reasoning, so-called sensibility, could sway, teach, influence, impact, attenuate, educate ameliorate, moderate and contribute towards the evolution in the opinions of those under the influence of angry populism. But it can't.
If, like "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-75173627672077102002016-04-06T04:46:00.000-07:002016-04-06T04:46:19.047-07:00On Selling Short Oh, roller-skating is exciting,
and so are volcanoes too.
And a good old-fashioned blizzard
will put you in a stew;
But of all exciting pastimes,
or any kind of sport,
There's nothing quite so thrilling
As the game of Selling Short.
It isn't merely selling
something which you have got;
It's much more complicated -
You "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-64433174516090933912016-03-15T16:56:00.001-07:002016-03-15T16:56:55.288-07:00So Long Pershing SquareFarewell thenBill Ackman,"Activist investor".Whatever that means.You made a few good trades,and a couple of friendsalong the way(like Ezra Mirkin,and some guy you metin a cab).You also made some stinkers,and a bushelful-o'-enemies - on The Street,in Congress,at the SEC,and the DOJ(to name a few)."Shootin'-The-Moon"was your strong-suit,butrisk-managementwas not.Which is jolly-finewhen it works,but"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-84015638991593571082016-02-24T01:21:00.000-08:002016-02-24T01:21:44.360-08:00Upon seeing the miraculous photo of a headset-less Mark Zuckerberg walking through an Oculus Sea, I thought that this post, written in 2012 was just as, if not more apt today than when it was written. All comments most welcome.
Pleasure Principles
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“What will fill the vacuum formerly occupied by religion?”
"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-56071345059355886792016-01-24T03:43:00.001-08:002016-01-24T03:43:07.064-08:00Where are all the Jewish Momentum Traders? Many would find financial research a curious pursuit. And while most curious financial researchers have their own peculiar or arcane interests, one area of modern finance continues to intrigue and mystify me: "Why are there so few Jewish momentum investors?" Now before the ADL or JDL launch a protes taking issue with this post before giving it a fair read, let me first clarify several points at "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-10577520569087343132016-01-08T04:54:00.000-08:002016-01-08T04:54:35.087-08:00Financial Psalm 11
Financial Psalm 11
1 In FANG we take refuge.
How then can one say to investors:
“Flee like a rat on a sinking ship?"
2 For look, the Pessimists bend their bows;
And Shorts set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the heart of the momentumous(1) uptrend.
3&"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-1538243610193254342015-11-04T02:19:00.001-08:002015-11-04T02:22:17.359-08:00Bear Market in Integrity Continues (Late 2015 edition)Things, people, and/or ideas believed to have integrity, now seemingly compromised...(the second third fourth latest updated and expanded version). The bear market in integrity continues unrelentingly…2015 edition.
Volkswagen
Porsche
Audi
Fantasy Sports
Theranos
Mt Gox
Lufthansa
NFL Football Air-Pressure
Bill Cosby
Pot Noodles
Michel Platini
"Kids Company" Charity
Student Loans
"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-35416599173757465682015-10-05T07:10:00.000-07:002015-10-05T07:10:19.533-07:00Giving The People What They Wantp { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }
We live in a golden
age of near-exponential knowledge-growth and consolidation in
general, and more particularly, as it relates to drug discovery. That
said, while Moore's Law incessantly drives down the cost
semiconductors and related electronic equipment, and algorithmic
software innovations are on the cusp of driving down the cost of much
"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-59850688632526461432015-10-01T04:57:00.003-07:002015-10-01T04:57:58.744-07:00Finding Fault in Fault-Finding
My spouse is an expert fault-finder, never failing to expose, highlight, broadcast, lay bare, unshroud, feature, examine, emphasize, reiterate, assert, underscore and remind ME of MY faults, weaknesses, inadequacies, shortcomings, failings and defects.
And of course, my spouse is often "right" insofar as I am quite imperfect, and (one of) the first to admit this rather human condition. For I "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-20136551856836465482015-09-29T05:26:00.000-07:002015-09-29T05:31:23.867-07:00Farewell then Daiichi Chuo Kisen Farewell then
Daiichi Chuo
Kisen
Kaisha.
9132.
Sunk
by "slumping rates";
Torpedoed
by falling demand;
Capsized
by the stormy seas of
market forces,
so you
said.
Fact is:
you've been 'listing'
for decades,
and many times before
I thought you'd
abandon ship.
Your debt
could have filled
the holds of
several of your
handy-sized
bulk carriers.
You'd survived
depressions,
inflations"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-84985434014131903602015-09-04T03:07:00.000-07:002015-09-04T03:07:18.830-07:00Limitations of Pillorypillory
/pɪləri/
verb
past tense: pilloried; past participle: pilloried
1.
historical
put (someone) in a pillory.
2.
attack or ridicule publicly.
"he found himself pilloried by members of his own party"
synonyms: attack, criticize, censure, condemn, denigrate, find fault with, give a bad press to, lambaste, flay, savage, brand, stigmatize, cast a slur on, denounce;
Bold political "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-43902465254326583632015-06-30T13:24:00.000-07:002015-11-19T18:32:39.373-08:00Life Imitates Artp { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }
Marauders, pirates, outlaws, scallywags, and gangs of opportunistic thugs have, since time immemorial, been the scourge of civilized folk pursuing ordinary civilized life. Some have been officially-sanctioned (think Drake or Surcouf), while others were banished from society to life on the periphery (think Ronin). Most, from my anecdotal "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-6806298681354989342015-06-26T04:16:00.003-07:002015-06-26T04:16:49.948-07:00What Have The Europeans Ever Done For Us
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The interior of UKIPs headquarters. A darkened room with a very
conspiratorial atmosphere. Nigel Farage and Douglas Carswell are
seated at a table at one end of the room. Steve Baker, dressed in
Activist gear — black robes and a red sash around his head — is
standing by a plan on the wall. He is addressing an audience of about
eight "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-78704107998488676942015-06-07T02:37:00.002-07:002015-06-07T02:37:47.733-07:00Farewell Alan BondSo Farewell
then
Alan
Bond.
The most
infamous
Ozzie
contrapreneur.
You gave
Laurie Connell
a "run for
his money".
(no pun intended)
Few young specs
will recall
your name;
But,
they should.
For you were
a case study on
the peril(s)
of paying
way too much.
Apparently,
you also
stole
lots of things -
illegally.
But at least
you stole THE Cup
from the Yanks
fair and
square.
(With "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-79307861428792823592015-04-22T04:12:00.002-07:002015-04-22T04:12:28.124-07:00FIRE !!!! (J.K.....)Guy walks in to the shadows of a crowded movie theatre. Yells "FIRE!!!!!". People scramble to exit. Some get trampled and hurt. It's ugly. A few skeptics remain (for the movie's still running). Of course, there's no fire. But people are prudently herd-oriented by nature so react viscerally. The guy emerges from the shadows, and coolly takes a prime seat - perhaps his objective "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-54989954413719883002015-03-24T10:25:00.002-07:002015-03-24T10:25:52.044-07:00Yellen Isn't Yellin' AnymoreDuring times of liquidation, panic, and revulsion, when authorities are trying to establish a definitive floor under asset prices, and create an atmosphere of greater confidence in order to assuage fears and encourage longer-term capital investment, there is reasonable benefit clearly telegraphing policy intentions. Speculators may (and probably will) use this elevated level of certainty to "Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.com6