Hope all goes well. Summertime. Off to Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Chamonix. Bringing Mara, Jackson, Olivia. The Karamazov brothers are tagging along too, we go way back. In Mont Blanc’s shadow my old climbing partner and I will watch our kiddies hop from boulder to boulder. We’ll recall our adventures, near misses – hoping they’ll someday share that kind of bond, explore the edge, survive, Live. You won’t hear from me ag

Overall: A Mon rally on China’s FX flexibility failed miserably, setting a “sell-rallies” tone for wk. Ozzy presented an austere looking budget — said the right things. Japan’s Kan pledged to cap spending for 3yrs, the German cuts thru ’14 look to be 80bln Euros. Austrians in; Keynes out. Soros warns Germany leading EU down deflationary funnel (The Economist, Krugman and his ilk agree). US housing data collapse

Hope all goes well. I zipped off to NY. Swung by CNBC, my boys there always got interesting off-air info. Hung with old friends, new ones too. Heard lots of scary stories. One fella got his 1st colonoscopy. He ain’t alone, it’s been that kinda mth for most guys. Overall: Japan unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer, 8.2 quadrillion calculations/second (8.2 Petaflops). Of course, with that much power, they’ll desi

Japan unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer, 8.2 quadrillion calculations/second (8.2 Petaflops). Of course, with that much power, they’ll design reactors to withstand Tsunami’s instead of just building ’em on higher ground. Nikkei rallied 3.5%, hoping the new computer can solve the problems of 200% debt/GDP, deflation and swarms of ageing baby boomers soon to need diapers. The Reds suffer from Petaflop envy, th

We got nominated for an award. That stuff’s not really our thing. We’re superstitious – call it a trading injury. But I pulled the short straw amongst my partners and jetted to NY on the off chance we won. Caxton’s Bruce Kovner accepted the lifetime achievement award. He’s a legend. One losing year in 30, fantastic returns, made investors (and his boys) very wealthy. Bruce admitted there’s no secret to making m

Rarely does a brilliant inventor perfect his own idea. Greeks invented democracy, but of course we perfected it (just ask any American). Genghis Kahn invented Eurasian repression, Russians transformed into an industrial-sized work of art. Case in point, Khodorkovsky, once the richest oligarch, snuck a note from jail, warned Russia needs $200/barrel oil to make ends meet. Putin’s not the only corrupt dictator to need

Certain days you know you’ll always remember, so I sat dead center. Immersed in the vibe, the energy. Brilliant young scientists from all over the planet packed the room. Mike took the podium. He leads Stanford’s Materials Science & Engineering Department for Solar Energy – no better program in the world. His graduates will power our crowded, hungry planet. Room went silent, he spoke softly, “I’ll never have a st

Hope all goes well. Mom and Grandma been here all wk. Sharing family trees. Like most guys, I know so little about where I’m from, even less about where I’m headed. But enjoy exploring the former and considering the latter. I’m related to the Wright Brothers (lots of dopes too). Orville and Wilbur, brilliant inventors. Wilbur lived at Mom’s house till he died. But that was when Americans built more than they bought.

Oooops. Just slipped out. A squeaker. Naturally, that happens when you get a group of guys together in a room. Sure, most guys intend to – but when caught, they claim it was a mistake. Sometimes though, a fella just gets excited, loses control. This slip smelled distinctly like that latter variety. The Official blurted that Obama’s economic advisors visited the UK – a mission to understand Cameron’s auste

A peaceful transfer of power is Govt’s most noble moment. The higher a nation sets the bar for incumbents, the better. And frequent political revolutions are way better than infrequent ones. Of course, both kinds are going on now, each a cause for celebration. Coelho just ousted Socrates in Portugal. This followed recent revolutions in the UK, Ireland, Greece, and Belgium (still leaderless). Sarkozy seems sure to fal