Words of Wisdom

Hope helps us see the future
Courage helps us create it
(heard this from a wise  friend over the weekend)

New York City Police - Looks Like The Movies

I accompanied a friend who had to report identity theft to Manhattan’s 10^thPrecinct.  The bank did not pay out the $6000 falsified internetcheck written against his account but he has to make a police.  Itwas amazing, the place actually looked like Hill Street Blues or Lawand Order or whatever TV/Movie image of a New York police my mediaindoctrinated mind would have.  If you had asked me to guess on actually appearance, I would have said, anything except what they show you in the movies. 

It was the same, right down to the detectives and the uniformed cops filling out reports.  The police were all quite friendly with the public and each other.

My favorite moment was when the cop yelled out so the other copscould hear, “ this isn’t identity theft, this is grand larceny”.  The other cops became more interested.  When the amount is over $1000 the crime qualifies as grand larceny.   And that is much more interesting if you are a cop; felonies are cool.

Jim Cramer Beats Up on Conagra Management

Ironically, a few hours after I wrote the previous entry on Conagra (CAG) I turned on Jim Cramer's Mad Money on CNBC and he commented on Conagra.  He was actually talking about Conagra selling it's pork division to Smithfield Foods (SFD).   In talking about this sale, Cramer mentions Conagra as "The worst managed company in the food business".  My first thought is that value stocks are not cheap because they have highly regarded management and everyone loves them.  It is also  can only make the stock cheaper that someone with Cramer's following among retail investors dislikes the company.  However, I also know that he does his homework and research so I must redouble my research into Conagra.  


Disclosure: I own Conagra.

Sticking With Conagra (CAG)

Well I'm keeping my position in Conagra (CAG)  .
Technical:
I liked the way it bounced back from last week's bad news -that a good technical sign. 

Insider buying:
The CEO also bought 75,000 share and even if that's for show it's agood sign when you see any CEO buying his own stock.  (at the timeof this posting yahoo finance still didn't have the CEO transaction butstill one by an Executive VP).  (Yahoo finance insider transaction for CAG)

Value:
From a value point of view, even with the worst earnings, the shares are still well priced at $20.00 a share.

Merger:
With a market capitalization of $10.8 billion the company is digestible bymany of the large multinational food conglomerates like Nestle orUnilever.  That creates a nice floor to the price of CAG.



Disclosure:
I am at full allocation of Conagra in the portfolio.
I also own Unilever and Nestle at half allocations.

Is Steven Pinker borrowing from Diamond or just using a similar reference?

I am just finishing The Language Instinct by  Steven Pinker.   I'm amazed how similar the "Big Bang" Chapter is to Jared Diamond's The Third Chimpanzee in terms of data and theory contstruction.  However, I find it intersting that The Third Chimpanzeeis not mentioned in the reference section.  And Diamond is onlyreferenced once.  I will have to investigage further - perhapsboth these accomplished academic authors had similar sources.  (Ican expand once the blog is in non-test phase)

Thank You for Smoking

Thank You for Smoking is a brilliantly scripted comedy which takes aim at our spin oriented culture. 

The Film does an excellent job creating a seldom conflicted yet complicated character in Nick Naylor portrayed by Aaron Eckhart.  Ifound myself rooting for the despicable hero as he promotes thebenefits of smoking and defends the rights of tobacco companies.  He even goes so far as to join Hollywood in looking for ways to combat public opinion and legally encourage more teenagers to smoke.  To satisfy his own loneliness, Naylor brings his pre-adolescent son with him on many of these lobbying excursions.  Some of the films most uncomfortably ironic and brilliantly comic moments are seen through the boy’s statements of admiration.

 The movie is intelligent, sardonic and keeps the belly laughs going.  Attimes, I found it a bit preachy as every other character seems to be astraight-man to Naylor’s (Eckhart) tobacco spinnerisms.  The moments lacking of innocence and full of pure evil represent the film’s highest comedy.  Naylor’sfriends are lobbyists from the alcohol and firearms industries;together with tobacco the triumvirate calls itself the Merchants ofDeath (or MOD Squad).  At their weekly lunchthe MOD Squad compete with statistics about whose products cause themost harm and how to beat public opinion.  The satire is almost too obvious.  But it still works.

I would highly recommend seeing this film adaptation by Jayson Reitman of Christopher Buckley’s book.

(Interestingly Christopher Buckley is the son of the Commentator William F. Buckley.)

imdb.com link
official link to film

What's a Strangle? (Option Strangle)

A Strangle is the purchase of a put and a call, in which the options have the same expiration and the put strike is lower than the call strike, called a long strangle. Also the sale of a put and a call, in which the options have the same expiration and the put strike is lower than the call strike, called a short strangle. If both options have the same strike price, it's called a straddle.With both straddles and strangles you don't care which direction the market moves. You are just betting that it moves faster than the options lose ...

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Life Is Short

Saw this video and quit my job two days later: ...

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