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Weekends are like relationships. Friday is the thrilling first phase, all excitement when everything is new. Saturday is the contended middle phase, where it’s nice, but not as exciting as it used to be. Sunday is the point where you know it’s over and you’re just waiting for either side to raise the issue.
…a depressing way to look at the weekend.
But hey, at least it’s Friday.
Gonna be a great weekend for hockey, starting with the Habs tonight and then the Canucks tomorrow. I don’t really know anyone who isn’t in love with Halak right now.
Here’s a weekend reading list…or just skip it and read this (Big Pic)
ENERGY
As efforts mount to contain the Louisiana oil spill (Nat Post) the immediate effects of this is of coures are on further offshore drilling (BBC) and any hopes for the arctic (Globe)
Still, despite this calamity, oil is still king (Nat Post), beautifully illustrated by an Icelandic volcano (Nat Post) and oily equities may be looking good (Insider)
Centrail Asia continues to host the Great Game as the pipelines are head east (Asia Times) while the energy risk itself rises (Infectious)
Rubin can’t be totally right…can he? (FT)
Oil sands pipeline vs rainforest, sounds like the script for Avatar 2 (Globe)
Ottawa’s ‘no’ to coal is a ‘yes’ to gas (Globe) which it what Shell and Total see (Biz Week). But with so much gas (FT), how does one play the gas market (Post)…or is the shale fake? (Oracle)
Oil shale, still in the back of my mind (Reuters)
METALS
With gold hitting highs (Globe), it is really decoupling from the dollar? (Post)
Either way, some heavies have bought the gold stuff (ZeroHedge)
More peak fun, this time phosphorous (FP)
FOOD
Surgar (Economist) and pork (Bloomberg)
GREEN
Cape Cod wind farms (NY Times) and a boom in wind (Bloomberg)
Energy efficiency in BC, at least according to the Libs (VanSun)
Still, you need to be in the green (Post) to really be green (Post)
Cap-and-trade, it just can’t stick (Economist)
EM & BRIC
Western sales are hitched to the dragon (Globe) and we’re looking for more (Globe)
You can’t be serious…more stimulus? (Bloomberg)
Norway and Russia make nice (BBC)
Brazil’s got great credit (Bloomberg) and tax deductible boob jobs (Bloomberg)
But opportunity abounds (Post)
MARKETS
Taibbi really hates Wall St (RS), but hey, they are crooks (BBC), who abuse the myth of the ’sophisticated investor’ (Big Money) while relying on a bull rally to erase past sins (New Yorker)
Sick’em Spitzer…but remember to keep your pants on (Post)
Future can’t look like the recent past (NY Times) and smart(?) money is moving out in May (MF)
Still going, the big inflate/deflate debate (Prag Cap)
A bubbly decade (Big Pic) that needs disecting (Spectator)
Buffet’s Bets (Post)
Alchemists of Wall St. (Big Pic)
ECON
US
American growth (NY Times) and the best chart you’ve never seen (Big Pic)
But many Americans feel decidedly unstimulated (Atlantic) and one Fed President still dissenting (WSJ)
Systemic angst (WSJ) (Wa Post) and a VAT explanation (Atlantic)
Rosenburg is exactly the funest guy in the world (ZeroHedge) (Insider)
Where did all the money go? (NY Times)
CAN
Canadian growth (Post) which makes up popular (Post)
Thank our houses, says Rosie (Globe), but not just yet (Globe), because we don’t actually own them (Post)
Saskaboom (Globe)
EURO
Greece is junk (NY Times) in a death spiral (BBC) facing austerity (BBC) and fighting for survival (Bloomberg) among a set of scenarios (BBC)
Question, is Greece a Lehman Bros? (Post) given the states of Spain (BBC) and Portugal (BBC)…Roubini would say yes (Bloomberg) while Rosie just fumes (Prag Cap)
GEEK
Indy Film (NY Times) & Feathered Dinosaurs (Wired)
Youth & Paradigm Shifts (Cortex), Psychopaths & Morality (Cortex)
Found: Noah’s Ark (TIME)
RSIL (Random Shit I Liked)
My generation is broke (End) and our Arts degrees ammount for squat (Big Money)
Nice girls finish last (NY Times)
Who says football guys are dumb? Not Myron Rolle (ESPN)
Back to the city (HBR)
How to treat your money (GQ)
Sic
I’m off to Calgary…unexpectedly. Oh well, at least I’ll get plenty of opportunity to talk about my favourite topic, energy. But there’s snow there, which sucks.
In other news, I (finally) had my first Japadog today. Yes, I’ll be a return customer. Seaweed on a hotdog, who knew?
Here’s the weekend reading list
ENERGY
With oil prices on a tear (BBC) you ask is it priced just right? (Student) or is it a mystery? (Post)
Regardless, the Oil Sands still beckon to Wall Street (Globe) even as we sell ourselves short (Globe)
But can oil ruin the recovery? (Barron’s) because it’s sure looking like 2007 (Prag Cap)
Other questions, how much is left? (Energy Bulletin) Does offshore matter? (Rubin) And it more about Peak Price than Peak Product? (Reuters)
Talisman’s got gas (Globe) and Athabasca’s got indigestion (Calgary Herald)
Big appetite for both Aussie coal (NY Times) and South Affircan coal (UK Times) and the unforseen consequences (Bloomberg)
METALS
Copper is tops (Mining Journal)
Rob McEwan, CEO, entrepreneur, gold bug (Cluster)…but if he’s right (Globe)
FOOD
CRB 500 years ?! (Big Pic) and their effect (Bespoke)
GREEN
With Krugman painting everything green (NY Times) CIBC making it a full-time focus (Globe) Ontario going big (Globe) and Saskatchewan piping the Co2 (Globe) I keep wondering if ‘green’ is for real.
Still doesn’t look like it (BBC)…but things do change.
But even with ‘green’ energy project on the table, the enviro guys hate it anyways (Van Sun)
EM & BRIC
Everyone like EM debt (Bloomberg) because that’s who we deal with now (Post)
Geitner knows so as he’s in India (BBC) and China (Bloomberg) the two places we need to build a brand (Globe) and appreciate (Globe)
But, there’s still the whole yuan issue (BBC) which continues to cause ample ammount of debate (Economist) though why not just look at oranges? (HBR)
Doesn’t matter to Jim Chanos, he still hatin’ (Bloomberg)
Curveball time, Turkey trumps Germany (Bloomberg) and Poland & the ECB (FT Alphaville)
MARKETS
Some say its cheap (Big Pic) with a long way to climb (Prag Cap) while wondering where the mines are buried (Big Pic)
Regardless, risk appetite is back (Prag Cap) (Student) and so are many comparisons (Big Pic) and their warnings (Prag Cap)
Despite Obamanomics (Bloomberg) teachers is still cautious (Globe) but the bear traps are out there (Post)
The case of missing private equity (Globe) a case of missing opportunity? (Prag Cap)
Ah, what rally, now back to reality(Globe)
ECON
US - Why so glum chum? (NY Times) things are on the mend (Globe) (Big Pic) but without consumer credit (Post) making Rosenberg repeat himself (Bloomberg) and Bernanke free to talk about the future (NY Times) (WSJ)…on another note, Honolulu, who knew? (WSJ)
CANADA - As the G-Money of the G7 (Post) and the Loonie building muscle (Bloomberg) we can think about how to benefit (Globe) (Post) or we can think about how some if it might be fake (Reuters) (Globe)…poor Pamela (Van Sun)
EU - Greek Fire to the max (NY Times) and raising deeper concerns (Economist) (NY Times)
MACRO - As nations are urged to cool the jets (NY Times) amdist the fear of debt (FT) (Big Pic) the inflation/deflation continues (Student) (Krugman) and the tea party sentiment grows (Real Time), meanwhile is a bigger/slower event happing (Abnormal)
GEEK NEWS
Giant Filipino lizards (Wired) puntured Inca skulls (Wired) and living in a wormhole (Econ View)
Women love online groups (Globe) while Malcom Gladwell says it doesn’t mean much (Globe)
Easter Island, a bad precedent (Oil Drum) and how to drive your elephant (Oil Drum)
RSIL (Random Shit I Liked)
What if women ran Wall Street? (New Yorker) what if bloggers did? (Naked Cap)
You can’t help but love Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone)
College grad’s outlook grim (WSJ) and grimmer (WSJ)…but it’s okay, cause we’re lazy anyways (Wa Post), besides, who does money make you happy? (BBC)
The 21st century office (Globe) and the 21st century gold digger (NY Mag)
Aliens are everywhere (24 Hours)
Atilla, a nice guy, really (Tyee)
Escape to Belize (Post)
Danielle Lloyd - Audrina Partridge - Kitty Moon
Sic
Wow, the greenies are pissed. I guess a moratorium just ain’t what it used to be. Let’s face it folks, unless you’re butt-f**king-naked right now, you’re dripping with oil. There is oil in your lunch, it’s in your hair and it’s in your grandma’s panty drawer. If you have a hard time understanding these facts, well, too bad for you.
I’m not one of the whackos, but neither am I going to get in the way of history. We have an energy problem, a huge enegry problem, and we can only expect to see both right and left wing political agendas meld into one single paradigm…securing energy.
Here’s a pre-Good Friday Jobs Report round-up of weekend reading:
ENERGY
Nope, didn’t see this one coming - Oil Price at 18 month High
Cheap oil stocks (Post) while oil is in a sweet spot (NYT)
Obama-Drill (Reuters) (NYT) & a lukewarm response (NY)
But drilling is no guarantee - Falklands Exploration Dissappoints
But plenty of appetite for an oil sands IPO (Globe) (Post)
I’m not a fan of the food, but the process is interesting - THAI
Will it every be for real? - More Talk about Oil Shale
The dwindling of the west (Bloomberg) off-set by the East (Post)
So expect a spike (Rubin) and a reaction (I Am Not a Robot)
METALS
Iron Ore price hike (ABC) and Steelers complain (Globe)
Base metals are pretty to some - Nickel Price Rally
But India still love gold - In Gold We Trust
GREEN
Scientists, off the hook - Climategate Vindication
Solar Flares, off the hook - Solar Flare Activity Didn’t Warm Earth
Getting tough on emissions - (NYT) (Post)
EU Carbon Permits — Clean B.C. Power Deals
EM & BRIC
BoC head likes’EM - Opportunities in Emerging Markets
The Globe likes’EM too - The Case for Investing in Emerging Markets
But, like always, buyers beware - (Globe) (Reuters)
MARKETS
Looking back - Q1 Review
Looking forward - A Talk with Don Coxe
Looking short - The Wisdom of the Shorts
Looking long - Lessons from Buffet’s Portfolio
Looking good - Old-Fashioned Advice Still Tops
Looking bearish - (NYT) (FT) (Prag Cap)
Is it 1994 or 1934? Rosenberg has an opinion.
Are the Bulls & Bears Both Too Extreme?
ECON
U.S. Happy Face - (Economist) (BBC) (Bloomberg)
U.S. Sad Face - (Bloomberg) (Globe) (Globe) (NYT)
UK Happy Face - (BBC) Sad Face - (Globe) (BBC)
CDN Happy Face - (Post) (Globe)
We’re also getting active - Canadians Enter the ‘Entrepreneurial Era’
GEEK NEWS
I’m scared of flying - Skydiver Wants to Break Sound Barrier
I like revolutions - The Genome Revolution Continues
It’s not that simple - There is No Simple Theory of Everything
This makes me want to read Sci-Fi - 8 Wonders of the Solar System
RSIL (Random Shit I Liked)
The debate continues - A Catholic and Atheist Discuss
Here’s a true believer - Newspaper Gambler
That’s a though sell - Don’t Blame Greed for the Crisis
The always popular top three - Sex, Bombs & Burgers
Vicki Blows - Katy Perry - More Katy Perry
Sic
In my efforts to decrease the number of posts but increase the quality here, I’ve decided to do a little bit of renovation. Going back several months, I found that I once did post about things other than the market. Beside reminding me that I did have an actual life outside of work once, it also galvanized me to create separate pages for posts that I felt deserved their own spot.
None of them are in-depth by any stretch of the imagination, but they do give a good glimpse into what’s running through my head at any given moment, and since blogging itself is an exercise in anonymous narcissisim, I went full-board.
Hope to having something of worth (?) up soon.
Sic
My entire life I’ve been told the same thing again and again…’you’re putting too much on your plate’.
No matter what it is, I’ve been an obssessive person my entire life. I’m weirdly inquisitive and very rarely tired, which means that my life is jammed with odds and ends. For example, right now, on top of a job that usually runs 80+ hours a week I’m reading 2 books at once, enrolled in sound production courses and maintaining a healthy workout schedule. My girl hates me for it because I’m never around. She always tells me that I’m cheating on her with my hobbies, which are legion. I think my years of college and professional football only made matters worse as well by instilling a die-hard work ethic which I now apply to my personal life.
What prompted this post? The weird and unexpected guilt one gets after not blogging for a while.
So, with that said, I’m going with a ‘Less-is-More’ strategy here and intend to post more infrequently, but with better stuff than a random rundown of the various news topics that come across my desk in a day.
I hope it works.
Sic
Wow, I love the holidays. I overdosed on turkey, watched half my college football bowl picks dissappoint me and endured the never-ending speeches about this-and-that by my lawyer uncle. I got the books I wanted for Christmas (Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and the The Monstrosity of Christ by Slavoj Zizek & John Milbank) and some underwear too.
Best gift though? Free time!
And to make it even better, my girl has gone to visit her family in Quebec for the next 10 days leaving me clear and free to write, read, play video games and FINALLY sink my teeth into Ableton Live 8. For any man who finds himself in a serious relationship, his most prized space is his study/garage/attic-turned-gameroom…whatever. I love my girl, but I guess men just need our playpen’s. Maybe that’s why she’s always calling me a man-child?
Anyways, all that said, I’m gone for the next 5 days starting tomorrow to spend some quality time with the brother and the more-than-likely brother-in-law to ring in the New Year in Reykjavik. I might post some music, but nothing more than that.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Sic
I had a long conversation with an old friend last night over a few beers in Kitsilano and he pointed something out that has given me cause for concern. He told me that my job is affecting my personality. I laughed at him for saying it, but after he started to point a few things out, I began to think he may have a point. Let me elaborate…
We were college teammates for five years and I trust his opinion as much as my own family’s. After graduation we both headed off, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, into the world of corporate finance, him to a big buyside institution while I went straight to the wilder world of venture capital. His big motivator was the structure of the big boys and associated bonuses whereas I chose the flexibility and blue-sky potential of the venture world.
The last 18 months have proven to be anomalous in respect to the levels of activity, attention and volatility in equity and options markets, and the effects have been painted on the faces of anyone who has a significant amount of capital participating in these markets. At the height of the meltdown my friend and I both shared worries about our personal situations in our respective firms given our youth (IE: worthlessness in crisis). But, he survived, and so did I. But that’s where the similarities stop.
His department has since been scaled down, his workload is less and he’s finding more time to concentrate on having an actual life outside of work. I, on the otherhand, have been living at my office. The reasoning has been that, as we’re a venture cap shop with a relatively small team, as the tensions rose so did the amount of things needed to get done. It became a very fluid environment where things got done by people who could do them right, not necessarily by the people who were supposed to do them. The result? We lost some people and had other people immerge as dependable players…and my workload and responsibility tripled as well.
I’ve been compensated for it in a material sense, but the other, not-so-apparent effect has (according to my friend) been on my personality. I’ve always had an irreverent sense of humour, but apparently my sense of urgency and cynicism have been magnified in the last 14 months. Also, my assertiveness is now bordering on bullying now too. This is all according to him.
I hate lazy people. Let me repeat that. I hate lazy people. Second on my hate list are people who do a job to just get it done instead of doing it right. It’s annoying, expensive and pointless to do anything half-assed, and in my line of work that translates as wasted money and mismanagement. I want problems to come from the outside, not the inside. If someone isn’t pulling for the team, then they don’t belong on the team. Period.
That said, I sure hope that I’m not slowly evolving into the stereotypical jerk-in-a-suit douchebag, but my friend’s warning has begun to worry me. Maybe I should re-read my Kafka.
Sic
For better or worse, I like to get in over my head. But that’s how I usually spend my weekend anyways.
I’m no physicist, but I find theoretical physics fascinating, both on a practical level, as well as it’s implications for theology and philosophy. Anyways, I won’t embarrass myself with trying to explain it, I’ll let these two videos do it for me.
…completely fascinating.
Sic
