The Charlotte Capitalist

Friday, May 02, 2008

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Gasoline"

I normally don't watch the news, but while working out last Sunday
morning I saw a FoxNews segment discussing the value of praying to God
to make gasoline prices drop. I couldn't find a transcript or a video
of that segment, but the guest mystic concluded that praying to God
about gasoline did *not* make sense.

The reason was that God has a master plan and there is nothing man can
do to change the plan or specifically gas prices. The conclusion from
the mystics is once again -- "Passivity rules." Even the "action" of
praying is not acceptable.

What is intriguing is that it was Fox that made this non-story into a
story. Apparently they covered it several times -- at least in the
segment I viewed, this additional one (below), and possibly another
but hard to tell if there was a third.

From News Hounds:

The first segment on this 'business news' program featured Rocky
Twyman, the organizer of 'Pray at the Pump.' Twyman, far as I could
tell, is from Washington, D.C. He organized 'Pray at the Pump' (Fox
showed video of people standing around a gas pump, holding hands and
praying) because some of the volunteers at a local soup kitchen
couldn't make it to work because they couldn't afford to put gas in
their cars.

Twyman appeared from San Francisco. He said there will be a 'big,
city-wide prayer vigil' in that area this weekend. Twyman said the
response has been 'tremendous,' thanks in large part to Fox News. He
said he was done many interviews, 'with radio stations all over the
country and of course, Fox in Washington, D.C. has been tremendous.
The story they did just propelled us into the national limelight
because here we sit today, talking to you.'

Here is the video.

Just another example of why the first step is to change the
metaphysics and epistemology of the culture -- not politics. It is
clear that it would be impossible to provide a reasoned explanation of
gas prices to the people in the prayer circle. They would need to
accept reason first. And reject faith.

Link posted by Andy @ 7:44 AM

Friday, April 25, 2008

Genocidal Maniacs

I subscribe to an email discussion group. The other day a fellow subscriber brought up Patrick Moore. Moore is an ex-Greenpeace member and was a founding member of that organization.

I have seen Moore's name pop up over the years and I agree he has some fairly rational views. He criticizes the scare tactics and disinformation of the environmental movement.

He supports nuclear power. Here also.

And while this is all good, it is not enough. Since late 1960s and 1970s, the environmentalists continue to commit genocide. No one cares.

The New York Times reported a few years ago that two million people died of malaria each year.

The late Dixy Lee Ray, former Democratic governor, in "Trashing The Planet' noted:

In 1970 [24 years after the beginning of a large-scale spraying program], of two billion people living in malarial regions, 79 percentwere protected and the expectation was that malaria would be eradicated. Six years after the United States banned [it], there were 800 million cases of malaria and 8.2 million deaths per year.

The facts are out there. Even Democrats, The New York Times, and ex-Greenpeacers have stated them repeatedly. The culture is not outraged about the clear "hatred of the good for being good" approach of the enviro-fascists. It is clear that they are not targeting those things most dangerous to humans. They are targeting those things most important to human life -- chlorine, DDT, oil, nuclear power and so on.

Their *goal*, given their choices, *has to be* genocide. The results are clearly there with respect to DDT. And now, look at the current food shortages caused by bio-fuels as another example. Rice shortages for God's sake.

With prices for rice, wheat, and corn soaring, food-related unrest has broken out in places such as Haiti, Indonesia, and Afghanistan...Last year, Mr. Runge and a colleague, Benjamin Senauer, wrote an article in Foreign Affairs, “How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor.”

“We were criticized for being alarmist at the time,” Mr. Runge said. “I think our views, looking back a year, were probably too conservative."

How many millions or billions rely upon rice for survival? I don't know, but I am sure the environmentalists do. It doesn't take much to foresee the genocidal consequences when the environmentalists force solar-power and wind-power down our throats.

The culture increasingly cares only about social consciousness and everything in the environment except for humans. Patrick Moore can't reverse this. Only a return to an Aristotelian-based culture through the human-focused ideas of Ayn Rand will we see an end to the genocide.

A different member on the email discussion group noted the other day that the only proper way to label the mystics is as "mystics". The only proper way to label the environmentalists is as "genocidal maniacs."

Labels: Al Gore, alternative energy, DDT, environmentalism

Link posted by Andy @ 7:35 AM

Monday, February 18, 2008

Some Of My Favorites

I have been incommunicado for a long time. Have missed blogging, but my hands are full. You'll see a few new posts below.

For new readers, here are some golden oldies...

"Command nature. Reject the commands of God, whim, and men."

Charlotte Food Board (humor)

Are You A Person Of Faith, Force, or Reason?

"It Must Be God"

The History Of Ideas

"The Purpose-Driven Life"

Celebrate Sprawl!

The Charlotte Capitalist in The Rhino Times

More later...

Link posted by Andy @ 7:18 PM

"The Aristocracy Of Pull"

The following from the New York Times could be re-titled "The Aristocracy of Pull":

http://tinyurl.com/2n4ua6

"Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.

Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader's bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton's public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan's poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton's wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom...

...Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton's charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra's more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton's inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges."

I can't see voting for a Republican. But a Hillary-win would effectively make Bill president again. Intern scandals, pardons of true criminals, sale of state secrets to the Chinese didn't slow him down. On his radio show, Dr. Peikoff analyzed Clinton's bizarre risk-taking personality. Electing Hillary would validate to Bill that he can do whatever he wants.

I may vote for Hillary, but this field of candidates is *so* bad I have been tempted to get down on my knees and pray to The Good Lord for the re-incarnation of Richard Nixon. ; )

Link posted by Andy @ 7:03 PM

The Danish Muhammed Cartoons...Encore

An Israeli news organization published the following:

"(IsraelNN.com) Stating they were taking a defiant stand in defense of freedom of speech, newspapers in Denmark have reprinted one of the notorious satirical cartoons of Muhammed that caused a storm of violent protest in the Muslim world over two years ago.

The decision to reprint, taken on Wednesday by 15 Danish newspapers and one in Sweden, came in response to news that Danish police had arrested three Muslim men suspected of plotting to murder Kurt Westergaard, who drew one of the cartoons. The papers thereupon reprinted that very cartoon, which depicts Muhammed with a bomb in his turban."

More:

"The California-based Ayn Rand Institute saluted the latest publication, and called on American newspapers to follow suit. "Now it is the turn of American newspapers and media outlets to show their solidarity with that ideal, and reprint all 12 of the original cartoons," said Elan Journo, a resident fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute."

http://tinyurl.com/yt63vl

I haven't looked around, but has any other organization stood up and supported the Denmark newspapers? Any freedom-of-speech loving liberals? Any free market conservatives? I can guess the likely answer.

Link posted by Andy @ 7:01 PM

"There Will Be Blood"

The rise of religion has led to a backlash in cinema. As posted previously, in "Persepolis" there was a clear denouncing of religion and its rise to power in Iran. For the first ninety minutes of "There Will Be Blood", the moviegoer experiences a wonderfully secular film. Daniel Day-Lewis portrays Dan Plainview who scratches his way out of the dirt and becomes a successful oilman. At one point, he stands in front of an audience and announces that not only will they survive, they will flourish. I thought for a moment that he was reading from a Tara Smith book.

We see the mostly rational, ambitious, and money-focused Plainview begin to achieve his goals. Plainview cares little, if any, for religion. His nemesis is the local evangelical/healer.

Unfortunately at ninety minutes, the movie begins to meet expectations. As in "Persepolis", we are then presented the supposed only alternative to mysticism -- subjectivism, hedonism, and destructiveness. A drunken Plainview states that he hates people. At that point I pulled out my BlackBerry to mark the spot. I knew it was all downhill from there. Nothing much of value to share from that point forward.

It will be great twenty years from now when we will see a flood of movies and books from those influenced by Ayn Rand which will provide us a reason versus mysticism *and* skepticism perspective.

I think it is starting to bootleg into movies. "Ratatouille" was the movie of the year in 2007. Even though director Brad Bird (also of "The Incredibles") denies a Rand-influence, I think he is not telling the truth. "Ratatouille" is explicitly pro-human. The sad part is that in this culture, it takes a rat to bootleg the message that humans are good.

Not for much longer.

Link posted by Andy @ 6:57 PM

"Persepolis"

The animated film "Persepolis" is the story of a young girl growing up in Iran as the Shah is deposed and the Islamic Revolution comes to power. While not a bad film, I came away disappointed.

Some plot spoilers:

The good: Point-blank illustrates that while the Shah was bad, the Islamic Revolution is much worse. The film makes very concrete the horrors of religion with power. The bad: The girl is never really heroic as she becomes a woman.

For example, she rebels wearing Nike shoes and a tee-shirt with a slogan. While that is risky and bold, she never takes a fundamental stand against Islam. The film continues the philosophical tradition of considering only two alternatives: mysticism versus skepticism. Her uncle, who is eventually killed by the Islamists, is a communist and regarded a hero--because he is a communist. When the girl's parents send her out of Iran for her own safety, she doesn't pursue a rational alternative. Instead, she hangs out with Mohawk-wearing,world-weary hedonist freaks.

Not even a hint of Aristotle as a potential alternative. It's either Plato or Democritus. It is not surprising that we are given the impression that the height ofwestern culture is heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

Because of the good elements, some Objectivists may like"Persepolis". I doubt many will love it.

Link posted by Andy @ 6:53 PM

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Celebrate "Atlas" in the South

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged with a free public lecture by Andrew Bernstein Saturday, Nov. 10 in Greenville, S.C. hosted by the New South Objectivists.

Dr. Bernstein will bring his new lecture “The Literary Revolution in Atlas Shrugged” to the ‘New South’ with a public talk at the Coffee Underground theater in beautiful downtown Greenville.

After first being delivered at Harvard, this will be the second presentation of Dr. Bernstein’s lecture based on The Objective Standard article “Transfiguring the Novel: The Literary Revolution in Atlas Shrugged.”

The lecture is free, but those who see the value in publicly celebrating the 50th anniversary of Atlas Shrugged can help financially support this event.

Donors of $50 or more (per person) will be invited to a private barbecue with Dr. Bernstein at a member’s house in Greenville after the lecture.

Spend several hours chatting with a leading Objectivist scholar and others who share your values while enjoying a casual meal of local cuisine. The menu will include barbecue pork and chicken as well as salad and fruit sides and soft drinks.

Contact newsouthobjectivists@charter.net for tickets or more information.

Dr. Bernstein will also deliver a public lecture at Furman University in Greenville on global capitalism on Thursday, Nov. 8. Details found on the ARI calendar of campus events.

Mark Your Calendar
What: “The Literary Revolution in Atlas Shrugged”
Who: Dr. Andrew Bernstein
When: Saturday, Nov. 10, 3-5 p.m.
Where: Greenville, S.C. Coffee Underground theater, 1 E. Coffee St. (at Main) Greenville
Cost: Free lecture; $50 donation for BBQ with Andy

Dr. Andrew Bernstein

Link posted by Andy @ 7:06 PM

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Environmentalism: Fighting Existence

Tom DeWeese at Capitalism Magazine makes a good observation:

Global warming alarmists are a clever bunch. They have very carefully changed the issue from "global warming" to "climate change." Now any change in weather, be it mild winters or cool summers can be attributed to "climate change." Whatever the weather, the news is very bad.

DeWeese didn't dig deep enough though. The thing is climate *is* changing and will forever change. It has always changed. That is a metaphysical fact of existence. There are cooling periods, warming periods, calm periods, hurricane periods. The periods move in trends both long-term across the millenia and short-term across decades. Probably in trends shorter than that also.

The environmentalist's case thus rests on the proposition that they don't like the fact that existence exists, that it has a certain identity and thus causality. All of their proposals are thus focused on fighting the nature of existence -- and nothing else.

No real news here. The mystics and the skeptics have been fighting and hating existence for the millenia. They want to either pray for it to change or they want to believe their whims will make it change. Anything but earning values to survive and flourish will do for them. But existence exists and climate changes.

Environmentalism is the "perfect storm" of mysticism and skepticism. It is a mysticism-filled temper tantrum by those who do not wish to earn their values and wish to destroy those who do earn their values.

What is the proper course of action instead of prayer, whim, and environmentalism? It is to "Command nature. Reject the commands of God, whim, and men."

Link posted by Andy @ 10:01 AM

Where Is The Charlotte Capitalist?

Whoa Nelly! I started a new job with a start-up in late April and have been heads down since then. Thanks for dropping by again!

Link posted by Andy @ 10:00 AM

Friday, April 20, 2007

Weekly Stock Market Update

Charlotte Capitalist Micro-Term Indicator (hours to days): Up since 4/13 1:00 pm. Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Short-Term Indicator (days to weeks): Up since 4/5. Dis-Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Intermediate-Term Indicator (weeks to months): Up since 4/16. Integrated

Remember...this isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 6:51 PM

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Passivity: "Threat To A Functioning Society"

In "The Culture Of Passivity" Mark Steyn nails *the* cause of today's cultural problems. It is the *passivity* stemming from both the mystics and the skeptics:

I'd prefer to say that the default position is a terrible enervating passivity. Murderous misfit loners are mercifully rare. But this awful corrosive passivity is far more pervasive, and, unlike the psycho killer, is an existential threat to a functioning society.

As Dr. Peikoff wrote in OPAR:

Capitalism is incompatible with any version of intrinsicism. It is a system of and for mentally active, this-worldly valuers, not of passive self-abnegators. Nor does the system permit any intrinsicist to enforce his commandments through the power of law. Similarly, because it is geared to the reality orientation, capitalism is incompatible with any version of subjectivism, whether personal or social. Nor does "laissez, faire" mean that "anything goes"; in a republic, "nothing goes" that infringes man's rights.

It is the mentally active which is lacking today, that is reason. The rise of religion is the cause of the passivity.

Link posted by Andy @ 7:46 PM

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Quick Update

All three trends are now up -- micro, short, and intermediate. As mentioned yesterday, it would take a strong move in the bond market to get there. Bonds were strong yesterday.

The big change is in the intermediate trend which is now up. Here is a list of past intermediate changes. You can compare them to the S&P at Stockcharts.com:

I am a bit concerned about a whipsaw, but that just comes with the territory. I like to see more of a base forming. But the decline in February was very sharp and quick. We will see.

UPDATE: One of the things I need to work through is acting upon the intermediate trend indicator. It is based upon weekly data which I look at usually on Thursday and Friday. The downside of looking at weekly data on a daily basis is that it can change during the week. The intermediate trend indicator crossed the line by a few percent. That may or may not reverse in the coming days. If it does reverse, and then I record it as weekly data, then it is as if the change never occurred.

Going forward, I think I will focus upon looking at weekly data on a weekly basis. I had thought about killing this post, but it had been up for an hour or so and didn't think that would be a good idea.

Anyway...

This isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 5:37 AM

Monday, April 16, 2007

Weekly Stock Market Update

Charlotte Capitalist Micro-Term Indicator (hours to days): Up since 4/13 1:00 pm. Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Short-Term Indicator (days to weeks): Up since 4/5. Dis-Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Intermediate-Term Indicator (weeks to months): Down since 2/26. Dis-integrated. Previous change: to up during 2nd week August 2006

As you can see, we have a lot of emerging green here.

While the stock market rose for past few weeks, the bond market fell for the past four. It is unusual to see the divergence last very long. So either the bonds need to pick up steam for the market to continue its gains, or else the market is likely to give up at least the gains of the past few weeks.

Remember...this isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 6:19 AM

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Don Imus In Context

Commercial sponsors of Don Imus' radio and television shows are justifiably dropping their advertising. The dropped advertising budgets are a result of Imus' comments towards black members of a women's college basketball team.

Says sports commentator Michael Wilbon at MSNBC:

If calling the Rutgers women's basketball players "nappy-headed hos" was the first deplorable and offensive utterance out of shock jock Don Imus's mouth, there probably wouldn't be a national firestorm over his reprehensible characterization. If this was some rare event, then there wouldn't be organizations lining up to demand he be fired. If this was the first time, or second, or 10th, probably Imus wouldn't have been suspended for two weeks from his syndicated radio show, which is simulcast on MSNBC.

But there's nothing rare about Imus's vile attacks. This is what he does as a matter of course. Imus and his studio cohorts have painted black people as convicts and muggers and worst of all, apes. Not only do they find it funny, they expect everybody else will as well.

Agreed. The Imus situation should be taken in consideration of Ayn Rand's definition of racism:

Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism. It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man's genetic lineage—the notion that a man's intellectual and characterological traits are produced and transmitted by his internal body chemistry. Which means, in practice, that a man is to be judged, not by his own character and actions, but by the characters and actions of a collective of ancestors.

Racism claims that the content of a man's mind (not his cognitive apparatus, but its content) is inherited; that a man's convictions, values and character are determined before he is born, by physical factors beyond his control. This is the caveman's version of the doctrine of innate ideas—or of inherited knowledge—which has been thoroughly refuted by philosophy and science. Racism is a doctrine of, by and for brutes. It is a barnyard or stock-farm version of collectivism, appropriate to a mentality that differentiates between various breeds of animals, but not between animals and men.

Like every form of determinism, racism invalidates the specific attribute which distinguishes man from all other living species: his rational faculty. Racism negates two aspects of man's life: reason and choice, or mind and morality, replacing them with chemical predestination. [Racism, Ayn Rand, The Return Of The Primitive]

We'll see see if Imus survives this firestorm. I hope he doesn't. I also hope that in the near future that any advocate of any form of collectivism faces the same consequence. Advocate higher taxes? Advocate government spending beyond the defense of individual rights? Get ready to be Imus'd. It won't happen today. It will take a cultural change to reject all forms of slavery. But it will come if we continue to fight for it.

UPDATE: From ABC News...MSNBC pulls the plug on IMUS:

Even as advertisers defected and politicians piled on, it was an internal mutiny within NBC News about Don Imus' racial slur that was key to pulling the plug on his MSNBC simulcast.

About 30 angry NBC News employees, many of them black, met with news division president Steve Capus less than 24 hours before Capus decided that a two-week suspension of Imus' morning telecast wasn't enough.

They said they'd had it with Imus' brand of coarse ethnic humor, capped with last week's reference to the Rutgers female basketball players as "nappy-headed hos."

"Within this organization, this had touched a nerve," Capus said Wednesday. "The comment that came through to us, time and time again, was `when is enough going to be enough?' This was the only action we could take."

May the trend continue towards banishing all forms of collectivism.

UPDATE: Imus lost his radio show. And Myrhaf disagrees with me.

I can see some of Myrhaf's points, but in the end Imus' attacks were upon innocent college women basketball players. He provides some Neal Boortz (I don't care for Boortz) quotes about Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. I have less concern over McKinney who put her self in the spotlight with her craziness as an elected official. Boortz comments were less offensive than Imus' and in fact possibly true about her hairdo. I don't think there was any basis in fact about what Imus said about the basketball players.

Is the Imus firestorm a move to ban by the government all "offensive" speech? I hope not, but it may be. But the bottom line is Objectivists need to fight all collectivism -- and make the point that racism is collectivism.

Labels: Don Imus, racism

Link posted by Andy @ 4:48 PM

Monday, April 09, 2007

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods couldn't make a run at the end yesterday at the Masters in Augusta. But I thought you may enjoy this from two years ago...

Amazing!

Labels: Golf, Masters, Tiger Woods

Link posted by Andy @ 7:37 AM

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Easter Stories

Not safe for work....

From Leanne Bell at Body In Mind on the origins of Easter:

What we now consider childlike Easter gimmicks such as the Easter Bunny, painted eggs and hot cross buns, all have their roots in this ancient goddess worship. Eggs are a well-established symbol of fertility, and in ancient myth represented the fertile power of the goddess.

Rabbits and hares were also long considered symbols of fertility - what other animal on earth is more fertile than rabbits? Even hot cross buns - which some consider a Christian tradition at Easter - began as 'bouns', part of a ritual goddess worship...

...The exact origin of Easter is a little unclear, but only because so many early civilizations held the same view of spring, fertility and women-worship, and so many had goddesses that they worshipped each spring. The most likely candidate for the origin of the Easter comes from ancient Babylonia. There the goddess worshipped was Astarte or Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven.

In case you wanted to know, I go to Body In Mind for the articles...

and...

Now that you have finished inhaling the last of your Easter candy, thought I would share this story about The Church, science, and Easter. Warning: this is not an Easter Bunny story.

From Keith Lockitch at ARI:

Galileo's outspoken defense of the Earth's motion as a serious physical idea forced Church leaders to take a stand—and when they got off the fence, they came down firmly against science. That the Church persecuted Galileo for defending Copernican theory is well-known. Less frequently acknowledged is the utter hypocrisy of that act: the Church persecuted Galileo for defending the very ideas on which its Easter reform depended.

The daily battle between Christ and Marx leaves us with two false alternatives to flourishing on planet Earth. A third alternative, a large dose of Aristotle in the culture, would do us all good.

Labels: Easter

Link posted by Andy @ 8:04 AM

Friday, April 06, 2007

Casino On The McCrory Line?

A reader send this article along about troubles with transit in Boston:

A proposal to link the New Bedford rail project to construction of a new casino on the South Coast is emerging on Beacon Hill - a move that could kick-start business growth in the economically depressed region.

Is that why Donald Trump's people were here in Charlotte last week? To look into building a casino on the McCrory line? Ha!

Labels: light rail

Link posted by Andy @ 4:41 PM

Weekly Stock Market Update

Charlotte Capitalist Micro-Term Indicator (hours to days): Up since 4/3 10:00 am. Dis-Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Short-Term Indicator (days to weeks): Up since 4/5. Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Intermediate-Term Indicator (weeks to months): Down since 2/26. Dis-integrated. Previous change: to up during 2nd week August 2006

Remember...this isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 6:38 AM

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Quick Update

Here is a quick update of the micro, short, and intermediate trends. Click on the image to get a bigger view.

Daily updates at the left.

(Blogging has been really light. Lots of stuff going on....Thanks for checking in...)

Remember...this isn't investment advice. We're just having some fun here...

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 4:42 AM

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Weekly Stock Market Update

Last week I asked, "What does the bond market know that the stock market doesn't know?"

It knew that we were going to see the Bernanke Baby Bubble Burst. The stock market gave up most of its gains from Bernanke's testimony last week.

And Barry Richter at The Big Picture said yesterday:

"As noted yesterday, Traders were none too happy with BB's testimony, setting them straight on the errors of their ways last week."

I have to ask, "Which traders?" Bond traders knew what was going on. They didn't bite. But some stock traders did only to see the market reverse to the downside.

Here are some important trendlines (Yeah, I know the picture is too small and the spacing is goofy. Any suggestions? You can click on the picture to get a better view)

Stockcharts.com

Note the support at 141.50. Important to watch for a potential bounce off that area and a breaking of the downtrend line of the last five days. If we continue to slide, watch for the 134 to 135 area.

Here is the weekly update...

Charlotte Capitalist Micro-Term Indicator (hours to days): Down since 3/27 10:00 am. Dis-Integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Short-Term Indicator (days to weeks): Down since 2/23. Dis-integrated, neutral.

Charlotte Capitalist Intermediate-Term Indicator (weeks to months): Down since week of 2/26. Dis-integrated. Previous change: to up during 2nd week August 2006

Remember...this isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 9:17 AM

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Abolition Of Public Schools

Available now, a talk by C. Bradley Thompson:

Why do so many Americans—liberal and conservative—support a compulsory system of government-run education? What role should the State play in educating America’s children? Are government schools compatible with a free society? Is it possible to have a free market in education?

In this lecture Dr. C. Bradley Thompson, Professor of Political Science at Clemson University, examines the destructive effects of "public" education in America. He critiques the principal assumptions behind government schooling (e.g., that children have a "right" to an education and that government schools are for the "public good"). And he calls for the abolition of all government schools. Thompson presents a principled argument for a free market in education that begins with the rights and responsibilities of parents to provide for the education of their own children.

Absolutely. Public schools create havoc -- from the minds of students to today's looter-based politics. We could use a good dose of Dr. Thompson's ideas right here in Charlotte Mecklenburg. I met Brad last winter and he told me that this specific subject was a passion of his.

Labels: Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Clemson Institute For The Study Of Capitalism

Link posted by Andy @ 7:27 PM

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

"How Modern Liberals Think"

Amazingly philosophical talk by ex-liberal Evan Sayet, one of Bill Maher's ex-writers.

Though he endorses religion, I have to give him credit for identifying how essential reason is to you and me. He also discusses how the modern liberal is against "being right" and knowing things. He nails the nihilistic skepticism of the modern liberal in plain terms.

Though he is clearly intelligent, I can't endorse all of his ideas. Apparently he has shifted from liberalism to conservatism and describes himself as a 9/13 Republican. Conservatism is the wrong solution to liberalism. In spite of his new found conservatism, he is very good. Maybe ten years from now, guys like Evan will choose Objectivism when they reject liberalism. I have thought for years that the best source of potential Objectivists is older style liberals.

I have thought for a long time that irrationality helps defeat itself when those who choose to think begin to understand it -- and seek rational alternatives. To some extent it is happening now.

Link posted by Andy @ 9:16 PM

Quick Update

The micro trend turned down at around 10:00 am this morning (Tuesday, 3/27).

The micro trend is just that -- micro. It can last from minutes to hours to days. The previous signal was to "up" on 3/19 over a week ago. More info in the left-hand column.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 8:42 PM

Monday, March 26, 2007

Cramer Vs. Hoenig

Jonathan Hoenig in Smart Money discusses Jim Cramer's "revelation" about hedge fund practices.

Jonathan says:

His insight into how money is really made? Quoting Cramer: "Hit the brokerage houses with a series of orders that can push it down, then leak it to the press, and then get it on CNBC — that's also very important. And then you have a kind of a vicious cycle down. It's a pretty good game." It makes me wonder if this sort of conduct explains his much-touted record of success in the money-management business.

As a hedge-fund manager myself, I'm most dismayed by his comment that, "What's important when you're in that hedge-fund mode is to not do anything remotely truthful." What an outrageous and ugly slap in the face to the thousands of investment professionals who, apparently unlike Cramer, don't participate in such nefarious and suspect schemes to make a buck.

Any rational businessman understands that it's in his own best interest to act with the highest ethical standards. To suggest this sort of conduct is commonplace in the hedge-fund world is farce. And at a time when funds11 big and small are under attack from regulators12 suspicious of free-market capitalism, Cramer's disturbing tirade should be seen not as an expose on the hedge-fund industry but of the man himself who, bathed in the glow of the limelight, seems all too eager to share his "secrets" with the world.

I agree on all counts. I saw the video last week sometime and actually thought it was pathetic. Cramer came across as a little man who was trying to be a sophisticated BA. His overacted matter-of-factness towards illicit behavior was ridiculous. Brando pulled it off when it came to murders in "The Godfather". Cramer is no Brando.

Did Cramer ever pull some of these stunts off? Probably a few times. But how many trades did he execute over the years? Thousands? How many times did he get CNBC's Pisani to take the bait? Every time? He called the Money Honey every time he took a position or everytime he had a bad position? The WSJ?

I can see these stunts working a few times or every so often. But as a regular course of business, I think not. I just don't see people falling for this over and over.

UPDATE: In email...

...there is no difference between what is practical and what is moral. Fraud just isn't wrong... its bad business too!

Agreed.

Labels: Jonathan Hoenig

Link posted by Andy @ 6:52 PM

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Abolition Of Slavery: Moral Genius

Andrew Medworth on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in England:

Many people speak as if the abolition of slavery was a long-overdue recognition of the obvious, that it was only through evasion of the blatant that slavery could have survived at all. This is incorrect. I submit that to abolish slavery, to recognise all human beings as metaphysically equal, and to form the principle of individual rights, was an act of moral genius.

It was committed, of course, by such heroes as Wilberforce, and the American Founding Fathers. It could not have happened in any age other than the Enlightenment, when the person who would boldly challenge thousands of years of tradition, think for himself, and fight for his conclusions, was regarded as the highest type of human being. Would that we today were capable of such an honest and fundamental re-examination of the principles driving our society.

He provides three reasons why to oppose an apology for slavery.

Labels: Founding Fathers

Link posted by Andy @ 4:06 PM

Charlotte Trolley: Kill The Beast

Jeff Taylor at the Meck Deck shares his thoughts on a Charlotte Business Journal story on the potential demise of the trolley:

Two to three years? But nevermind that absurdity, the CBJ notes that a CATS money crunch has forced CATS to scrap plans for a Park Avenue trolley stop in South End. Why is that important? Because that stop was the linchpin of the tourists shopping in South End plan. Without that stop, there is very little reason to run the damn thing at all.

I agree. In fact there is no reason for running the damn thing at all whether there is a Park Avenue trolley stop or no. Let's take a look at The Charlotte Capitalist archives for some trolley fun.

First, a review of a 2004 Charlotte Business Journal exclusive report:

This is beautiful. So for $40 million the trolley really isn't going to move many people around. $80,000 in fares is a .20% return on investment -- If you forget about investment and expenses!!! Who is going to make up the gap? Taxes paid by people who are not using the trolley! You are I have paid for the building of this thing, pay for the operation of it, will likely not use it or get a return on it -- and the mayor admits that it won't be a significant mover of people. On top of that, he says that light rail is going to be the big-mover. No it won't.

Be sure to see the quotes from the Journal back then.

Then there is this:

They found and used an old trolley car. They used 100-year old technology by laying track. All McCrory had to do was go 2 miles down South Boulevard. He eventually did for $40 million. McCrory calls this a success. I have my doubts.

And, from Charlotte's greatest practitioner of the primacy of consciousness:

"Mayor Pat McCrory applauded the expanded schedule and the number of passengers. 'We caught total hell about the trolley and now there's nothing (being said). That's because it's a success.'"

The trolley never had any justification. Kill the beast. It's all fraud.

Labels: light rail

Link posted by Andy @ 6:05 AM

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Stock Market Meter

In the left hand column, I have added to the daily publishing of the short-term trend (days to weeks in duration). Updates now include the micro trend (hours to days) and intermediate trend (weeks to months).

From time to time I will publish this graphic. It is a little small. Click on it to get a better view. As you can see, on the left is the micro trend, the middle is the short trend, and the right is the intermediate.

The micro trend will change fairly frequently. If it has enough power it will change the short trend. At some point, the intermediate trend will change.

After the end of February collapse, all trends were red. Within a few days, the micro trend turned green. Then the short trend turned partially green, but has never gone 100%. Thus I consider it down, but disintegrated. The intermediate trend has remained down, but is disintegrated.

Over the last two days, the micro trend has softened and begun to turn red, but I still consider it up. If the micro continues up, the short-term will change to up. If micro continues its weakness of the past two days, then the short and intermediate trends will continue their downtrends.

We shall see. Check the column at the left daily for updates.

Remember...this isn't investment advice. Just havin' some fun here.

Labels: stock market

Link posted by Andy @ 6:14 AM