http://bit.ly/z4dwfV

Here’s a very interesting book.  It’s another reason why I haven’t been a fan of either party for the past 10 years. 

In the Spring of 2010, a bespectacled, middle-aged policy wonk named Peter Schweizer fired up his laptop and began a months-long odyssey into a forbidding maze of public databases, hunting for the financial secrets of Washington’s most powerful politicians. Schweizer had been struck by the fact that members of Congress are free to buy and sell stocks in companies whose fate can be profoundly influenced, or even determined, by Washington policy, and he wondered, do these ultimate insiders act on what they know? Yes, Schweizer found, they certainly seem to. Schweizer’s research revealed that some of Congress’s most prominent members are in a position to routinely engage in what amounts to a legal form of insider trading, profiting from investment activity that, he says, “would send the rest of us to prison.”

Great Debt Dashboard

I love this dashboard, but the data is scary!  US total debt is 56 trillion!  I’m looking for ways to short California, but I haven’t figured it out yet.  I need to call Kyle Bass.

· http://www.usdebtclock.org/

·

Kyle Bass

· If you don’t know about Bass, he manages Hayman Capital, and made a ton of money predicting the subprime mortgage crises. Now he’s betting all of his money that sovereign debt will be the next big thing to take down the world.

Quick Summary

· 15 Brilliant Insights From Hedge Fund Superstar Kyle Bass – http://www.businessinsider.com/americatalyst-kyle-bass-2011-12

Two interesting Kyle Bass interviews

1 Video – Recent semi-hostel interview from UK Journalist on European crisis – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044363/Kyle-Bass-Meet-Texan-investor-millions-credit-crunch.html

2 Video – 20 minute interview from 2010 – Lots of interesting charts.  Talks about Japan “write-down” – http://vimeo.com/18920437

Two Great Books from Michael Lewis

I thought the Big Short was fascinating.  I read it cover to cover one Saturday.  Lewis is a great writer!  I read Boomerang on the flight to Maui over the holidays.  It’s a great read about how government corruption and massive government pensions are contributing to the sovereign dept. crisis in the US and Europe. over the weekend. 

· Big Short – “about the bursting of the housing/subprime bubble, focused on a little-known but ultimately highly influential Wall Street analyst named Meredith Whitney who saw the collapse coming in 2007.”

· Boomerang – “The book could not be more timely given the worries about Europe’s deepening debt crisis and the recent warning issued by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the I.M.F, that “the current economic situation is entering a dangerous phase.”

Microsoft Excel for Stock and Option Traders: Build Your Own Analytical Tools for Higher Returns

Here’s another book I started reading over the weekend. In the first 50 pages it highlights a number of examples of insider trading.

Trade More Profitably by Exploiting Excel’s Powerful New Statistical and Data Mining Tools!

· Uncover subtle anomalies and distortions that signal profit opportunities

· Create powerful new custom indicators, alerts, and trading models

· Visualize and analyze huge amounts of trading data with just a few clicks

· Powerful techniques for every active investor who can use Excel

· Now that high-speed traders dominate the market, yesterday’s slower-paced analysis strategies are virtually worthless. To outperform, individual traders must discover fleeting market trends and inefficiencies and act on them before they disappear.

"Buying gold is just buying a put against the idiocy of the political cycle. It’s That Simple" – Kyle Bass

We need people like Kyle Bass running the Fed & Treasury.  If you don’t know Kyle, check out this video from Nov 2011 on BBC’s Hardtalk.

Stocks Extend Rally; Dow Surges 300 Fox Business

BOTHELL — Sawyer Whalen admitted it was his decision.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Woodinville’s senior standout grabbed teammate Branden Shrout and told him to help pick up the Gatorade cooler.

The devious duo sneaked toward Falcons coach Wayne Maxwell. They doused him. That kicked off the celebration. Players spilled onto the field, reveling in a 17-14 victory over top-ranked Eastlake in the KingCo 4A football title game Thursday night at Pop Keeney Stadium.

“All throughout the team we’ve kind of had one mindset,” said Whalen, his eye black smeared and the five on the front of his jersey torn. “We’ve taken it step by step, never looked a game ahead. This is huge for us.”

Woodinville will host an SPSL opponent next Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastlake will host a playoff game at 7 p.m. Friday.

The eighth-ranked Falcons improved to 9-0 for just the second time in school history and have already won more games than they did the past two seasons combined.

The difference this year? They grew up.

“We were too immature last year,” Maxwell said. “Our kids recognized that in the offseason, and as far as what they did to get to this point, it’s all on them, because those guys came together. They truly understand the team concept.”

Like Eastlake (8-1), Woodinville wins because players throughout the roster contribute. It started on the game’s first drive. Senior quarterback Brett Arrive picked up 25 yards on third-and-long to keep the possession alive. It ended in Alec Schwend’s 8-yard touchdown run.

Kyle Adkins caught a 48-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and Conner Zaback added a 28-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 17-7 at halftime.

The offense was good, but the defense was better. Woodinville swarmed to the ball all night.

The Falcons forced a fumble on their 3-yard line to stop Eastlake’s first third-quarter drive, and after the Wolves closed within three points with 9:18 left, junior defensive back Caleb Hamilton picked off passes on back-to-back drives.

“It’s huge,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been working so hard. It finally paid off.”

The Wolves had one last chance to mount a game-winning drive with 1:29 to play, but Trey Fornelius picked off a pass to seal the win for the Woodinville.

“They played very well up front,” Eastlake coach Gene Dales said of the Falcons. “We’re going to have to learn from this and know, next time we make a mistake like this, we’re done for the season.”

You can use the same software-design principles to help people learn to make better decisions.

Roger C. Schank, Dimitris Lyras and Elliot Soloway. The Future of Decision Making (Kindle Locations 95-96).

Georgia police are hunting for the aggrieved Taco Bell customer who threw a Molotov cocktail at the restaurant’s drive-thru window after phoning in a complaint that there was not enough meat in the chalupas he had purchased.

http://bit.ly/uPP0nS

http://bit.ly/rQjdkr