Some summer humor........

Indian Chief, 'Two Eagles,' was asked by a white government official, 'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done.'

The Chief nodded in agreement.The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it. No taxes, No debt, Plenty buffalo, Plenty beaver, Clean Water; Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; then all night tipi creeping."

'Then the chief leaned back and smiled. "Only white man dumb enough to think he can improve system like that.?

Native American Minors Trust Funds

In our work across Indian Country I'm always saddened when I present our firm to Tribes who "manage" Minors Trust fund assets in stock portfolio's that are managed on a "relative" basis versus an "absolute" basis.

It is a huge waste of money for the children in the future and a huge lost "opportunity cost" in fighting back to get "even" for the money manager. It is unnecessary and almost evil for the kids who need it the most and the vast majority of Tribal asset managers haven't a clue of what I am talking about. That's scary in itself.

As a long/short manager who manages our methodology on an "absolute" basis it almost makes me cry when I try to talk to Tribal overseers who don't know and don't seem to care.

Once again, Native kids being left behind from the get-go.

Never ever ..........

underestimate the greed of Wall Street and the stories that brokers fabricate to generate commissions.

Scaling in.........scaling out..........

I seldom make one buy and one sale of a stock. My methodology is to average in and average out and to use varying time frames. I'm constantly evaluating my positions as conditions evolve.

A lot of traders like to set stops and price targets the moment they buy a stock. It doesn't make sense to me to do that sort of predicting when the situation is dynamic. Stops that seem reasonable one day may make no sense the next day. Rather than try to predict the best selling price, I prefer to react as the stock moves.

Save your money because ..........

Inflation is rampant and your government and mine is manipulating Consumer Price Index figures. Energy and food increases are not included in the government figures. Ponder that for a nanosecond or two and see how that computes for your financial welfare.

You have no hope of receiving Social Security benefits reflecting anything close to actual increases in the cost of living.

Corrrection.........

One of the many things I am paid to do is worry. Worry is a very poor misuse of imagination.

As clients of Chippewa Partners know we moved out of our core exposure to the S&P 500 on Wednesday, May 21. There is no money in worry. Taking action is playing defense.

Defense is key. We have had a very good run off the March lows, and rather than hope to keep moving up, now is the time to protect those gains and not let them erode. Erosion can come very fast in the current mood of this market.

Price and volume action are extremely muted. The market is in a confirmed correction.

America, the business.......

The business of America is the business of the world. Capitalism and entrepenuership isn't defined so much by America as by our ingenuity.

In looking at the markets and listening to the government tell us how little inflation is playing into the equation of the American consumer I guess it's time we put some business leadership into the White House. And having to say "honest, business leadership" hurts, are there any honest politicians left?

Unfortunately, this incompetent collection of presidential candidates has zero business experience. One married into big business, the business of booze. One has the most checkered, bogus commodity trading records in history. One has virtually no work experience in the private sector. It's an ugly bunch. What does it say about the business of America?

1 week and 1,381 miles later......briefly speaking

Higher crude is putting a damper on a robust America. Iowa has not an acre not under plow, disk or planter this spring. The Congress of the United States keeps up the grandstanding with their hearings of executives of the major oil drillers. They should have mirrors in their chambers. The same with the mortgage problems.

What a week it was internationally. Lebanon now has Hezbollah in their midst, legally and armed. The Pakistani's have a love affair going with the Islamic militants to the north.

In case you get your financial news from CNBC touts without a clue, the market is in a correction. Ford is toast. The airlines have no pricing power. American's push to charge $15 for a first checked bag will put more time and stress on an already burdened employee group. The speculators are going to the bank, the cow-calf producers are as usual, taking it. Obama doesn't get it.

It was a great trip. At 85 I wish every day to be Fathers Day for my Dad. It's good to be back but hard making solid returns playing defense. And defense keeps us in the game.

Let the games begin again.

Hard work, luck and saying thanks..........

The show-down with reality will come over the next decade as America's boomers come face to face with the reality of "retirement". Every day as I go into the markets doing the two things that I am hired to do, protect and grow the assets of clients at Chippewa Partners I have the "retirement" of clients and myself on the line. It's not an easy job to consistently post great returns. As much as I work, the aggressive trading fund I manage will hopefully, but probably never exceed the 83% returns achieved coming out of the longest bear market in history in 2003 (it won't, we use little leverage these days, very little). Last years return of 33% with no leverage were not a "gimme" on easy street either. If it was easy, as I used to say, even the milk-man would be a trader. Unfortunatley the milk-man is a thing of the past and few can afford milk these days! The bear of 2000-2002 took care of the novices and day traders.

This year we have had some tremendous luck under market conditions that have not been favorable to the overall indexes and we've done some aggressive trading, all without the use of leverage. As I leave the office for afew days to visit my Dad in Minnesota, who at 85 may not have that many summers ahead, and returning next week I have a tremendous amount of people to thank for helping me become a better equity trader.

In no particular order let me reflect on the many who have helped in immeasurable ways. To Eddie Stephan, the Italian stallion and NYSE floor broker who took me under his tutelage on a chance meeting outside the NYSE in the early 90's, to David Ryan's meeting here in Atlanta, a highlight being his advice on the ONLY way to become a successful trader, to meeting William O'Neill in 1984 at an early seminar through my pal, Dave Utter and then our meeting in his Los Angles offices in the mid-90's as well as the thousands of dollars I spent on O'Neil advanced CANSLIM seminars, priceless. Hearing first hand of Mr. O'Neil's trading of shares of Price Club meant more to me than he will ever know. To Dave Davidson, you will never, ever know the impact you had on me on the time we spent together trading in San Francisco, thanks Dave, you turned the light on. To Gary Tremble for his insight on market trends and the utilization of macro views and sharing the O'Neil NSMI in the late 1980's that started the whole thing. To the late Bill Gritz, the price/volume trader who by hand, count-traded very well and amassed millions who would hang daily in the offices of Drexel Burnham Lambert in LaJolla and always made time to share ideas. Your work will never ever go out of style. To J. Peter Steidlmayer for so much in his work on market logic and position-sizing. To my friend Maurice Altshuler, the Morgan Stanley broker in LaJolla who opened my trading arsenal to catching the falling knife and playing the snap-back reflex move off a hard break. To Victor Niederhoffer who, among so many things, imparted balance and the importance of adjusting away from recent success. To Brett Steenbarger and his great work, to Ken Grant, risk control manager extraordinaire, to Lazlo Biryini and his great money-management work, to Jim DePorre, the finest "deaf" trader to probably ever walk the planet, to the unknown trader at Steinhardt Partners in New York City who in the early 1990's imparted to me probably the best advice ever given to me and to the great minds found on the Daily Speculations website whose experience, zest and positive optimism are of such inspiration, thank you.

As well, lest I not forget, to the great team who on a whim and a dream started "Trader Monthly" and authors Tanous, Elder, Covel, Lewis and Tharp who have shared their interesting work.

With the major indices still negative for the year I wish I was in position to be trading hundreds of millions for the thousands upon thousands of Native American children who reside on the many reservations I grew up on. They are the ones who could use my talent, drive and work ethic. Getting those Native tribal councils to fund investments with us has been truthfully, a rather long, arduous, time-consuming and expensive process. It's hard to justify the investment to help but yet we continue to help those who need us the most. There is no money in education for us and the lost time-value of money for them is astronomical. Frankly, it's a shame for the Native children of today and for those unborn in the tomorrow's ahead. We really do have a unique approach to offering so much "value"added" to Native money, and it hurts to know that few will be able to take advantage of it.

Year to date, our performance is up over 37%. Some luck, yes, lots of hard work.

May the trading gods continue to shine. It's hard to imagine how many investors think a 1% management fee we charge is "too much" to hire Chippewa Partners, a fiduciary and professional investment management firm. For us, it's all about hard work, alittle luck, staying consistent, motivated, optimistic and saying thanks.

The best is yet to come, and you can take that to the bank. I'll be back in a week.

Refreshed, recharged and ready for another foray into the largest casino on earth.

You got to be kidding, right??

Ms. Baum and Victor Niederhoffer collaborated afew years ago on Hillary Clintons cattle trading. With beef prices moving up because of the ethynol crazed demand for beef feed stock, corn, you can appreciate just how unbelievable her trading records are. This is worth a read if you even remotely think Hillary Clinton is honest.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n3_v47/ai_16709018/pg_1

Coyote attacks..........

In the September 21, 2006 issue of The Alpharetta-Roswell REVUE & News a news writer by the name of Bob Pepalis wrote an article titled “Coyotes roam Alpharetta streets”.

Having been misquoted many times over the course of my business career I can attest to the often-times misquote by writers unfamiliar with subject matter. What I think should be corrected and for correct information to be disseminated to the taxpayers of Georgia is the quote attributed to a Mr. Dan McGowan, at that time a senior wildlife biologist with the GA DNR.

As a Life Member of three state trapping organizations, MN, TN and GA I can easily show that there have been attacks on children by coyotes in the United States. A quick GOOGLE check using “coyote attacks on humans” or “coyote attacks on children” will bring up several items showing that coyotes have killed children in the United States. In fact, I was living in southern California when a 3-year old baby was drug off of the drive-way, dying of puncture wounds to the upper body. Perhaps Mr. McGowan should have been quoted as talking about documented coyote attacks in the state of Georgia.

Why the writer would call coyotes a “western” animal leaves much to be desired if he had done any research on the history of the coyote in North America. Indigenous to Georgia I can only surmise that coyotes are found in all counties in the state. I know that coyotes are found within a mile of the newspaper offices because I see them in my neighborhood and would be happy to assist in the trapping of coyotes in North Fulton or Forsyth County.

I have taken a large number of coyotes (and fox) 0ver the years in many states and would welcome any attempt by anyone to help abolish (rid) the antiquated North Georgia NO-raccoon trapping law off the books.

http://www.varmintal.com/attac.htm

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif.- May 8, 2008 — A coyote grabbed a 2-year-old girl by the head and tried to drag her from the front yard of her mountain home in the third incident of a coyote threatening a small child in Southern California in five days, authorities said.

The coyote attacked the girl around noon Tuesday when her mother, Melissa Rowley, went inside the home for a moment to put away a camera, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in an incident report.

Rowley came out of the house and saw the coyote dragging her daughter towards a street. She ran towards her daughter, and the animal released the girl and ran away, said sheriff's spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.

Rowley took her daughter to a hospital where the toddler was treated for several punctures to the head and neck area, and a laceration on her mouth. She was then flown to Loma Linda University Hospital for further treatment, although her injuries were not life-threatening.

State Fish and Game wardens and county animal control authorities set traps for the coyote and were monitoring the neighborhood high in the San Bernardino Mountains about 65 miles miles northeast of Los Angeles.

On Friday, a nanny pulled a 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote at Alterra Park in Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County community about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The girl suffered puncture wounds to her buttocks and was treated at a hospital.

A coyote came after another toddler in the same park Sunday. The child's father kicked and chased the coyote away.

Alterra Park is near Chino Hills State Park, a natural open space of thousands of acres spanning nearly 31 miles.

$31,000

was the amount reported today on CNBC that the average American has in his 401-k plan. Trying living on the interest generated from that amount. Rice and beans anyone?

Nothing amazes me .........

I've been a voracious listener and reader of Wall Street's shenanigans since 1982.

There isn't much that I haven't seen and a whole lot to come. The whores, cheats and thieves still run with wild abandon.

Todays Goldman Sachs blurb on how oil speculators should be applauded for hastening America's mindset for oil conservation was wild stuff. Only the rulers of the universe could make that claim.

Drug Addiction is about Negative Consequences

Charges: Hunter who killed son had beer, pot in his system
By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

May 5, 2008

The Belle Plaine man who fatally shot his 8-year-old son in the chest last month while turkey hunting had alcohol and marijuana in his system at the time, according to a felony second-degree manslaughter charge filed Monday.

Anthony Klaseus, 39, told authorities that he told his son, Hunter, to stay put as he circled a field to approach turkeys sometime after 5 p.m. April 19 in a field east of Crahan Lane near County Road 6 in Sibley County, according to charges filed in Sibley County District Court.

Klaseus called to the turkeys. They called back and moved toward him.

"Then I heard something snap or break near me, and a large figure rose up," he told authorities. "I thought it was a turkey, and I shot and it went down. I thought I shot the turkey. Then my son jumped back up screaming and then fell back down."

Hunter, dressed in full camouflage and wearing a hood, looked like a "turkey fanning out," Klaseus told authorities. Department of Natural Resources regulations only allow hunters to shoot turkeys with visible beards, a feathered appendage on the breast.

Klaseus and paramedics performed CPR on Hunter, but he died at the scene.

Klaseus took a breath test at the scene that registered a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.06 percent, the charges said. A urine test taken three hours after the shooting showed an ethyl alcohol concentration of 0.05 grams per 67 milliliters. It also showed that he had marijuana in his system, although the exact concentration won't be known for a few weeks.

Authorities said it's unclear exactly when he consumed the alcohol and marijuana.

Two 12-packs of beer, three six-packs of beer, an empty 24-pack of beer and a marijuana pipe were found in Klaseus' truck at the scene, the charges say. The packs of beer contained empty and full cans.

"That's just one side of the story," said Klaseus' attorney, Patrick Flanagan. "The family is distraught. They're trying to work through the loss of their son. They were hoping the county attorney would come up with a different conclusion."

Flanagan declined to address details revealed in the charges. The family did not want to comment, said Hunter's grandmother.

Hunter's death was the first turkey hunting fatality since turkey hunting began here in 1978. Last year, two people were fatally shot in hunting accidents in Minnesota. All told, in 2007, there were 23 incidents of hunters being shot at in the state.

"One of the 10 safety rules of hunting, besides being sure of your target, is not to consume ... alcohol or be on any kinds of drugs," said Al Thomas, executive director of Turn in Poachers, a nonprofit that promotes safe and ethical sportsmanship. "By following the rules of safe shooting, maybe it could've been prevented."

Klaseus is also charged with felony reckless discharge of a firearm and two misdemeanor charges: trespassing and hunting turkeys without a license. He was drawn to buy a license, but never made the $18 purchase.

Klaseus is scheduled to make his first court appearance May 22. He will not be arrested in connection with the charges.

He was cited by a DNR official for marijuana possession in 1996.

ALWAYS listen to the Investment Biker.........

Jim Rogers in a CNBC interview says, "Low food inventories, no new lead mines, zinc, silver, copper prices off. India and China all want to live like Americans. How can it be a bubble if there is no new supply?"

"The ambition and drive in China is astonishing, it's like it used to be in America and Europe."

Warren Buffet do as I say, not as I do............

In Berkshire Hathaway’s 2002 annual report, Warren Buffet said:

In my view, derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.

On May 3, 2008 the AP ran this headline:

Unrealized derivative losses send Berkshire's 1Q profit 64 percent lower
With this article:

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday its first-quarter profit fell 64 percent because it recorded an unrealized $1.6 billion pretax loss on its derivative contracts, and its insurance businesses generated lower profits. Berkshire reported net income of $940 million, or $607 per share, in the quarter ended March 31. That's down significantly from the net income of $2.6 billion Berkshire generated a year ago. Berkshire's chairman and CEO Warren Buffett warned shareholders in his annual letter that the derivatives could make the company's earnings volatile. But he predicted the derivatives will ultimately be profitable. The four analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of $1,476.99 on average. Including the derivative losses, Berkshire's net investment losses in the quarter totaled $991 million. A year ago, the Omaha-based company recorded a $382 million investment gain. Berkshire's derivatives fit into two major categories. Berkshire will have to pay on some of the contracts if certain U.S. entities default on their credit. Most of the other derivatives will only be paid if the certain stock indices are lower in 15 or 20 years than they were when the contract was written. Berkshire has received $2.9 billion in premiums on the credit-default derivatives and $4.9 billion on the stock index derivatives. Berkshire said its operating earnings are a better measure of how the company is performing in any given period because those figures exclude derivatives and investment gains or losses. Berkshire reported $1.93 billion in operating earnings during the first quarter, which was down from $2.21 billion in operating earnings a year earlier.

Yahoo

and Jerry Yang are toast........there is massive change ahead. Just watch.