Week-in-Review: Mon: Summers withdraws from Fed race, US/Russia agree on Syria plan, India inflation 6mth high, US IP +0.4% (+2.7% yoy), Cap Util 77.8%, NY Empire -2pts to 6.3, S&P +0.6%; Tue: China FDI falls -0.6% yoy (Jan-Aug FDI +6.4%), RBA retains easing bias, German ZEW 30.6 (9mth high), EU exports firm, UK CPI +2.7 yoy (core 2.-%), US CPI 1.5% yoy (core 1.8%), NAHB homebuilder  sentiment 58 (Nov ’05 h

Hope all goes well… Back from the bush. With all sorts of wild animal tales. You know, they have the most wonderful collective names for beasts in Kruger Park. Of course, there’s a pride of lions; a parade of elephants. Dazzle of zebra. Parliament of wise old owls. A kettle of vultures, circling upward like steam. Crash of rhino. Leap of leopards. An obstinacy of buffalo; back away slowly mate. We chased a pack

“So you Eric are a white man, I am a black man, and imagine he is a colored woman,” instructed the policy maker, pointing to my host (a brilliant young white economist, looking puzzled). “Let us say that being a white man in Johannesburg you earn $100k, being a black man I earn $10k, and being a colored woman she has no job and lives beneath a sheet of plastic – tell me, what do you do?” he asked, turning to me. Now

Helicopters raced across Kazakhstan. To the scene. Carrying medics. Who leapt out, ducked low, ran across the swirling grass, and gently pulled three men from the crash. One American, two Russians; Cassidy, Misurkin, Vinogradov. Gently placing their weakened bodies into reclining chairs, for swift evacuation, evaluation. You see, in outer space there’s no gravity. And these boys had been orbiting 258 miles above eart

Hope all goes well… “So what did you think of Cape Town Mr. Peters?” asked Emraan, my driver, extra early, whisking me off to the airport. We’d spent two-days together, zipping from meeting to meeting, sneaking off to see mountains, beaches, seals, his son’s school. And naturally, I’d ferried out to Mandela’s jail cell. District 6’s desolation. But one stop remained. “It’s like Santa Barbara with barbed wire and bigg

Who doesn’t love surprises? Particularly the predictable ones. Which is why Putin is so utterly boring. I mean, of course he was going to support Assad. Face it, with each escalation in Syria, the prospect for Middle-East stability falls in direct proportion to the rise in oil prices (Knightsbridge property too). And the only thing that makes Putin happier than semi-nude fly-fishing with his posse of paparazzi, is a

“They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist,” whispered the bold black letters, engraved in granite. And recognizing the quote, I reached for Jackson’s shoulder, drew him near. You see we were in Boston, wandering. And had happened upon what appeared to be an artistic installation of unusual beauty. Grace. “Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak u

Hope all goes well… “Got two words for you mate – Burning Man,” he said hoarsely, returning from Nevada’s wild spectacle. “But dressed as a unicorn with a belly-full of mushrooms, I couldn’t quite coax a single bird back to my camper,” continued one of the most talented speculators I’ve known, with a unique knack for getting the long-term right. “And as mind-expanding as things were out in the desert, I still c

Oh Shiite. Assad crossed the line. And our British brothers blew us off. So now we got to support Syrian Sunni’s solo. Worse yet, the French want in on the action. And everyone knows Washington and Paris suck at siding in civil wars. “There is no doubt Iraq has raised the bar on skepticism,” announced Jack Straw, UK Foreign Secretary from 2001-06, lifting the lid on the West’s latest crisis: our crisis of credi

Saddled up Dreamer. And Mara mounted Q. At a dusty trailhead, hidden deep in West Marin’s redwoods. The two studs snorted, jumpy, excited. Ready to rip. So we did. You see, Mara grew up racing, but peeled off pre-Olympics. When we met, I shuddered at the sight of a saddle. Which was a deal killer. So naturally, before we got hitched, she broke me. Now 14yrs later we race through redwoods. Barely in control. Praying f