MISBEGOTTEN

Some might call it Expansion Hunger.

Others: Be careful what you wish for. A lot people recognize it for what it really is, just broke. In this case, politically bankrupt.

The trouble with truth it has little traction. It's an unwanted guest, not welcome. Take a gander at Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh for the real lowdown: "The lie of the pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober."

O'Neill's classic is about murder. Murder takes many forms. Kill the fantasies of tomorrow and what is one left with. Just pipe dreams.

And that's what many believe how Euroland will eventually end up, a misbegotten, bumbled, fumbled pipe dream.

http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-is-politically-bankrupt-2013-3

TIME IN ALL THINGS

Since the start of the year, notwithstanding an anemic 3% February correction, it's been pretty much up, up and away.

For weeks now since the DJIA broke into new territory focus shifted to the S&P 500. When would the famous index join its brethren? It's as they say a when not an if.

A broader, much more intriguing question is, then what? More new, greater heights or will it prove in a month or so to be the beginning of a meaningful correction?

We all know about worry-walls. We also know about head-in-the-sand types.And one could postulate we all know them by another monicker, Democrats and Republicans.

A lot of previous bears lately have suddenly got that old time religion. They've jumped on the bull market bandwagon. Could this be a contrarian sign? Or did they get it right?

All things in their time.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-market-timing-dead-2013-03-26?link=MW_story_investinginsight

MORE EXPECTED THAN DIABOLICAL

A story today on Zero Hedge raises the question is the plan of Euro politicians to force depositors to spend their money to help revive the sick economy. 

If it is it wouldn't be the first time. In fact, doing so is one of the basic tenets of Keynesian economics. Saving beyond planned investments, excessive saving in the Keynesian view, is a major problem. It can cause recession, even depression.

One of the often-quoted points US bulls make for a future equity run-up is all that cash sitting in low-yielding checking and saving accounts. Toss that in with overflowing corporate coffers and the buy back scene.

Keynes believed that savings don't necessarily decline with falling interest rates. 

Never under estimate political zeal.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-26/diabolical-master-plan-behind-crushing-europes-depositors

TUESDAY READS

CONTRARIAN SIGN?
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2013/03/25/bullish-crowd-attracts-yet-another-member/

CYPRUS BAILOUT FAILS TO BOOST S&P 500 TO RECORD
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-03/26/c_132262736.htm

BOND PRICES UP
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/markets-usa-bonds-idUSL2N0CI13320130326

CANADIAN STOCKS GOLD LOWER
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/markets-canada-stocks-idUSL2N0CI0WO20130326

OPPORTUNITY RISK

Dignity is over-rated.

Webster defines dignity as "the quality of being worthy, honored or esteemed."

Right off if that esteemed part don't get you, you probably never thought about being a stand-up comic. Here's a little test: Try being funny and holding on to your dignity at the same time.

MONDAY READS

MSM LIES
We have written long and often about the MSN and their penchant, to use a kinder, gentler depiction, for telling it their way. This is hardly new. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/03/the-new-york-times-caught-lying.php

ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO SPIN
Here's just one more example. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/03/tom-lipscomb-how-do-you-know-theyll-print-it.php

BIG BANKS ANOTHER VIEW
http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/are-cries-to-break-up-big-banks-about-reform-or-revenge-1057631-1.html?zkPrintable=1&nopagination=1

CYPRUS PRESIDENT MAY RESIGN
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/24/eurozone-cyprus-anastasiades-idUSL5N0CG1132013032

GOLD SHORTAGE
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-24/another-gold-shortage-abn-halt-physical-gold-delivery

DEAL REACHED
http://www.businessinsider.com/sunday-night-cyprus-bailout-negotiations-2013-3

IT'S ABOUT TIME
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2013/03/22/you-may-be-kissing-traditional-cable-goodbye/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=email-2013-03-24&utm_medium=email

OUTSIDE THE US DOLLAR

We've all heard about the lessor of two evils.

Well, with the US dollar it's more like the lessor of several evils. The US dollar index has chalked up a nice gain so far in 2013, rising more than three percent, but hardly all on it's own merits.
It's had a little help from its friends, the yen, the pound and the euro. All three of these currencies face some kind of turmoil, economic or political or both.

If you snooze you lose. And that's what politicians in the European Union have been doing for a while now. From the Cyprus crisis to Italian election uncertainties to high unemployment and heavy debt-plagued members, Euroland is looking more and more like an amusement park than a stable, confidence-instilling government.

Much of this trouble makes the US appear like a safer port in a sea of turmoil and turbulence. How much of this is factored into the jump in US equity prices remains to be debated.

An aside. We wrote about CAPE recently. So here is a link that should give you some ideas about how to play the CAPE outside the US.

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT GRATITUDE FROM A COUNTRY SONG AND JOE BIDEN

Many of us aren't grateful enough.

We don't fully grasp the importance of gratitude. It's such an easy, simple take-it-for granted thing.

No, this isn't going to be another of those motivational pieces that makes you feel great for the next 30 seconds or until your IBS flares up again. This is much more serious.

Country songs, especially the slower ones, usually tell a story. Often a heart-ripping one.

A few years ago on the backroads of my more energetic youth I first learned about the magical power of gratitude. I'll try to make this brief and not too heavy or sad.

TENFOLD

Determined, persistent and never satisfied.

Sounds a lot like my old girlfriend's mother.  She was always pushing for something, a wedding, a glass of good Tuscan red, dinner at Maestro's. But it's not.

I spend some of my time working with professional fighters, some of the nicest, gentlest, smartest people in the world. Now I'm not the main trainer. Just one of the guys who helps out, mostly with the strength and conditioning, nutrition and coagulating.

What a lot of people don't understand is good fighters have to travel somewhat to get good sparring. The world doesn't always come to your gym. So there's quite a bit of helping each other out.

 The head trainer can't always accompany them. Sometimes you're getting more than one fighter ready for an upcoming bout. So you spend much time with them.

Bottom line they get to know you and you get to know them. Fighters, to borrow a line from a Randy Newman song, are people, too. When you go on the road for a fight there’s usually some downtime, not to mention the media and the weigh-in, before the fight. And all things pending, the tension.

Often it can turn into a kind of father-son or big-bro-little-bro relationship. Nobody likes to lose. Some of us hate to lose a big bunch, as in it freaking sucks, not to mention the pain. There's a lot of sweat, some disappointment and more than a few laughs. The winning validates it all.

And that brings me to my point. You go through a lot together. The word love gets vented too much these days, especially in sports. But that's what it becomes, a labor of love.Top to bottom I wouldn't trade my guys for anyone's.  And it never disturbs me when I hear someone else in the profession utter the same sentiment.

Determined, persistent and never satisfied. Sounds like characteristics of a good options or commodities trader. At least all the ones I know. 

Some no doubt will object, particularly to that never satisfied part. That's their choice. We all make them. But whatever you do or want to do, those three attributes expand way beyond the realm of professional fighting.

Determined, persistent and never give up. As structured it breaks the rule of parallelism in grammar. But so what. 

Treat them with care and respect and they'll repay you ten-fold.

THURSDAY READ

A REAL SELLOUT
http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/02/22/coca-colas-innocent-weapon-in-the-sugar-wars/?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obinsite#

EURO'S FATE ONE VIEWPOINT
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-may-be-doomed-whether-cyprus-stays-or-goes-2013-03-21?link=MW_story_investinginsight

RECOVERY FOR REAL
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/

SPEND IT IF YOU GOT IT
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100579544

LIVE IT LIKE THEY LOST IT
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2013/03/live-your-life-as-if-everyone-else-was-going-to-die-today/

A CLOSE AFFAIR
http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/global-markets/articles/The-Truth-Behind-Cyprus2527s-Bank-Catastrophe/3/21/2013/id/48846