• support@madhedgefundtrader.com
  • Member Login
Mad Hedge Fund Trader
  • Home
  • About
  • Store
  • Luncheons
  • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

European Style Homeland Security

Diary, Newsletter

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya, and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940, when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France?s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person.

CleeseJohn2

0 0 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-09 01:04:152013-05-09 01:04:15European Style Homeland Security
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

May 9, 2013 - Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

?I don?t know who spends more, Democrats or Republicans, but Democrats seem to enjoy it more,? said former Federal Reserve governor, Bob McTeer.

Money-$100 Bills

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Money-100-Bills.jpg 262 261 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-09 01:03:462013-05-09 01:03:46May 9, 2013 - Quote of the Day
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

May 8, 2013

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
May 8, 2013
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:
(JULY 16 BERLIN STRATEGY LUNCHEON),
(WHY BEN BERNANKE HATES ME)

https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png 0 0 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-08 01:06:192013-05-08 01:06:19May 8, 2013
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

July 16 Berlin Strategy Luncheon

Diary, Lunch, Newsletter

Come join John Thomas for lunch at the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Update, which I will be conducting in Berlin, Germany, at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A three-course lunch will be followed by a PowerPoint presentation and an extended question and answer period.

I?ll be giving you my up to date view on stocks, bonds, foreign currencies, commodities, precious metals, and real estate. And to keep you in suspense, I?ll be throwing a few surprises out there too. Enough charts, tables, graphs, and statistics will be thrown at you to keep your ears ringing for a week. Tickets are available for $219.

The lunch will be held at a downtown Berlin hotel within sight of the Brandenburg Gate, the details of which will be emailed with your purchase confirmation.

I look forward to meeting you, and thank you for supporting my research. To purchase tickets for the luncheons, please go to my online store.

Berlin-Brandenburg Gate

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Berlin-Brandenburg-Gate.jpg 268 356 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-08 01:05:032013-05-08 01:05:03July 16 Berlin Strategy Luncheon
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

Why Ben Bernanke Hates Me

Diary, Newsletter

I don?t just think he hates me. He truly despises me. In fact, he does everything he can to put me out of business.

Take last Wednesday, for example, when the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee gave me and my views a complete thrashing. Additional quantitative easing was the last thing in the world I was expecting because it was not justified by the current fundamentals. Most other independent analysts agreed with me, including several Fed governors.

He could have let me off easy by announcing some minor back door easing, like ceasing interest rate payments on deposits from private banks. But, no, Ben decided to make me look like a complete idiot, not by just announcing more QE, but one infinite in size that goes on forever. To make matters worse, he got his pals, ECB president Mario Draghi and BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda, to join in. Talk about pouring salt on my wounds.

It?s not that I am not an all right guy. I am kind to children and small animals. I donate generously to many charities. I just sent my mother a card for Mothers Day, even though she is 85 and not expected to last much longer. I even occasionally escort little old ladies across the street, although this is a holdover from my days as an Eagle Scout.

It?s just that Ben Bernanke and I don?t see eye-to-eye on a lot of important issues. He wants stocks to go up. As a hedge fund manager who plays from the short side more often than not when the economy is growing at a paltry 2% rate, I want them to go down. He wants bonds to go up too, as he clearly elicited with his recent announcement. I, on the other hand, want bonds to sell off because I know that when the bill comes due for all of this monetary easing, the crash will be momentous.

These are not the only matters we differ on. He wants to create jobs. He can wish this until the cows come home, but he?s not going to get them because of the gale force demographic headwinds the country is now facing and the massive deleveraging by the public and private sector. The 6 million jobs we exported to China are never coming back.

However, all he has to do is make a mere mention of his desires, or even just mention the letter ?Q?, and asset prices go through the roof, forcing me to stop out of my shorts at losses. This is why I was in such a foul, acrimonious, and detestable mood over the weekend, after stocks blasted through to new all time highs.

My problem is that Ben Bernanke isn?t the only person who dislikes me. President Obama doesn?t think much of me either. And it?s not because I refuse to buy a cold chicken dinner at his St. Francis Hotel fund raisers for $35,000 or $70,000 if I bring a date. He talks about jobs too. He frequently speaks about the need to improve our education system, even though I know he is poised to slash the budget for the Department of Education as part of some deal with the Republicans. Ditto for Social Security and defense.

Fortunately for me, I wrote off any prospect of getting a retirement check a long time ago and have made other arrangements, like becoming a hedge fund manager. Either the payments will be too small for me to live on, subject to a means test that excludes fat cats like myself, or they will be made in worthless Zimbabwean dollars.

I got along with former Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, OK, who keeps me on his ?must see? list whenever he stops in San Francisco. But we go way back. There are not a lot of people around who read my first book on the Japanese financial system. There are only four people in US history who can discuss Japanese monetary policy of the 1920?s in depth, and do it in Japanese just for laughs (it was clearly too easy, but they had to reflate after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Some things never change).

Two of them, Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana and Harvard professor, John K. Fairbank, died ages ago. So he is kind of limited in his choices. Besides, there are not a lot of people out there who can give him a 40-year view on the global economy, and I am one of them.

There are plenty of others who don?t think I am so hot. Try making a fortune in a market crash when everyone else is losing their shirt. While others in the locker room at my country club are slamming doors, tearing their hair out, and breaking golf clubs in half when they see the price feed on CNBC, I am chirping happily away about selling short at the top. I might as well be letting out a loud fart in Sunday church service. This explains why I stopped getting invitations to social dinners ages ago.

It?s not that my relationship with Ben Bernanke is totally hopeless. When the demographic picture turns from a headwind to a tailwind and individuals and corporations cease deleveraging and return to re-leveraging, we?ll probably be reading from the same page of music. But according to the US Census Bureau, the earliest this can happen is 2023. By then, he probably won?t be the Fed governor anymore and I won?t care if he likes me or not.

There are other Fed governors who are not in the least bit interested in all this quantitative easing malarkey. They are much more similar in philosophy to Herbert Hoover?s Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon, who popularized the ?let the chips fall where they may? approach to economic policy. ?Liquidate, liquidate, liquidate?, he said. Kick the props out from under this market and all of a sudden Dow 3,000 is on the table, as argued by Global strategist and demographics maven, Harry Dent.

They might even go as far as unwinding the Fed?s hefty $3.5 trillion balance sheet. That would give the Chinese, who hold $1 trillion of these bonds, a heart attack. But who cares? It would create the mother of all trading windfalls for me. Hell, they might not even care if I torture small animals, beat children with a switch, and strand little old ladies in the middle of onrushing traffic. I think we would get along just great.

Screw Social Security, and Ben Bernanke too.

Marunouchi_after_the_Great_Kanto_Earthquake The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

 

220px-Ben_Bernanke_official_portrait

zimbabwe-1

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/220px-Ben_Bernanke_official_portrait.jpg 275 220 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-08 01:04:592013-05-08 01:04:59Why Ben Bernanke Hates Me
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

May 8, 2013 - Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

?Bonds are priced artificially because you?ve got some guy buying $85 billion a month. That will change at some point, and when it does, people are going to lose a lot of money,? said oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett.

Woman-with large chest

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Woman-with-large-chest.jpg 246 246 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-08 01:03:422013-05-08 01:03:42May 8, 2013 - Quote of the Day
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

SOLD OUT - July 16, 2013, Berlin Strategy Luncheon

Lunch

Come join John Thomas for lunch at the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Update, which I will be conducting in Berlin, Germany, at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A three-course lunch will be followed by a PowerPoint presentation and an extended question and answer period.

I?ll be giving you my up to date view on stocks, bonds, foreign currencies, commodities, precious metals, and real estate. And to keep you in suspense, I?ll be throwing a few surprises out there too. Enough charts, tables, graphs, and statistics will be thrown at you to keep your ears ringing for a week. Tickets are available for $219.

The lunch will be held at a downtown Berlin hotel within sight of the Brandenburg Gate, the details of which will be emailed with your purchase confirmation.

I look forward to meeting you, and thank you for supporting my research.

[button size="large" color=(blue) link="http://madhedgefundradio.com/buy-tickets-berlin-july-16-2013/"]Order Luncheon Tickets[/button]

Berlin-Brandenburg Gate

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Berlin-Brandenburg-Gate.jpg 268 356 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-07 11:47:372013-05-07 11:47:37SOLD OUT - July 16, 2013, Berlin Strategy Luncheon
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

SOLD OUT - July 12, 2013, Amsterdam Strategy Luncheon

Lunch

Come join John Thomas for lunch at the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Global Strategy Update, which I will be conducting in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on Friday, July 12, 2013. A three course lunch will be followed by a PowerPoint presentation and an extended question and answer period.

I?ll be giving you my up to date view on stocks, bonds, foreign currencies, commodities, precious metals, and real estate. And to keep you in suspense, I?ll be throwing a few surprises out there too. Enough charts, tables, graphs, and statistics will be thrown at you to keep your ears ringing for a week. Tickets are available for $229.

The lunch will be held at a downtown Amsterdam hotel near Nieumarkt details will be emailed with your purchase confirmation.

I look forward to meeting you, and thank you for supporting my research.

[button size="large" color=(blue) link="http://madhedgefundradio.com/buy-tickets-amsterdam-july-12-2013/"]Order Luncheon Tickets[/button]

Amsterdam

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Amsterdam.jpg 319 479 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-07 10:15:212013-05-07 10:15:21SOLD OUT - July 12, 2013, Amsterdam Strategy Luncheon
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

May 7, 2013

Diary, Newsletter, Summary

Global Market Comments
May 7, 2013
Fiat Lux

Featured Trade:
(I?M OFF TO THE SALT CONFERENCE),
(JULY 12 AMSTERDAM STRATEGY LUNCHEON),
(BE CAREFUL! YOUR PC IS WATCHING),
(TESTIMONIAL)

https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png 0 0 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-07 09:20:532013-05-07 09:20:53May 7, 2013
Mad Hedge Fund Trader

I?m Off to the SALT Conference

Diary, Newsletter

I will spend the rest of the week attending the 5th annual SALT conference at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. This is the preeminent get together of the major players in the hedge fund industry. There, I will hook up with readers, consulting clients, old pals, and former staff, many of whom now run their own multi billion dollar hedge funds. I could write a letter entirely composed of tips from my former employees, and it would be a damn fine one too.

On Wednesday, May 8, I will sneak away for a few hours to present my own Las Vegas Global Strategy Luncheon to a select group of Mad Hedge Fund Trader subscribers.

SALT is organized by my friend, Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, which manages and advises $6.9 billion of hedge fund assets. Among the listed speakers are Dr. Doom, Nouriel Roubini, Clintons chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Laura Tyson, former CIA director, Leon Panetta, an ex prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and hedge fund legends Leon Cooperman of Omega, and Daniel Loeb of Third Point. The actor, Al Pacino, will also be there too.

I can?t tell you who I will be meeting with, or I will have to kill you. According to the terms of my invitation, I am not permitted to directly quote, record, or photograph any of the speakers. Such an off-the-record format enables them to open up and share thoughts on what?s really happening in today?s complex markets.

But as readers of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader you will greatly benefit from whatever views and hard information I pick up in future letters. It is a level of access you can?t obtain elsewhere.

The SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference is committed to facilitating balanced discussions and debates on macro-economic trends, geo-political events and alternative investment opportunities within the context of a dynamic global economy. With over 1,800 thought leaders, business professionals, hedge fund managers, and investors from over 26 countries and 6 continents, the SALT Conference provides an unmatched opportunity for attendees from around the world to connect with global leaders and network with industry peers.

Over the course of the program, more than 100 speakers will participate in some three dozen panels, speeches, and breakout sessions that address critical geopolitical and economic issues. The agenda is designed to provide multiple perspectives on a variety of salient topics within the context of a dynamic global economy.

For more information about the SALT Conference, please visit their website at http://www.saltconference.com.

SALT Conference

las vegas

https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SALT-Conference.jpg 287 392 Mad Hedge Fund Trader https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png Mad Hedge Fund Trader2013-05-07 09:19:512013-05-07 09:19:51I?m Off to the SALT Conference
Page 9 of 13«‹7891011›»

tastytrade, Inc. (“tastytrade”) has entered into a Marketing Agreement with Mad Hedge Fund Trader (“Marketing Agent”) whereby tastytrade pays compensation to Marketing Agent to recommend tastytrade’s brokerage services. The existence of this Marketing Agreement should not be deemed as an endorsement or recommendation of Marketing Agent by tastytrade and/or any of its affiliated companies. Neither tastytrade nor any of its affiliated companies is responsible for the privacy practices of Marketing Agent or this website. tastytrade does not warrant the accuracy or content of the products or services offered by Marketing Agent or this website. Marketing Agent is independent and is not an affiliate of tastytrade. 

Legal Disclaimer

There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading. Past results are not indicative of future returns. MadHedgeFundTrader.com and all individuals affiliated with this site assume no responsibilities for your trading and investment results. The indicators, strategies, columns, articles and all other features are for educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Information for futures trading observations are obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy, or warrant any results from the use of the information. Your use of the trading observations is entirely at your own risk and it is your sole responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of the information. You must assess the risk of any trade with your broker and make your own independent decisions regarding any securities mentioned herein. Affiliates of MadHedgeFundTrader.com may have a position or effect transactions in the securities described herein (or options thereon) and/or otherwise employ trading strategies that may be consistent or inconsistent with the provided strategies.

Copyright © 2025. Mad Hedge Fund Trader. All Rights Reserved. support@madhedgefundtrader.com
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • FAQ
Scroll to top