In 2006 and 2007, while that idiot Cramer of "Mad Money" fame was touting Countrywide Mortgage as a "buy" on CNBC, I was watching Angelo Mozilo. Mozilo was the founder of Countrywide Mortgage and he was selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of company stock. I was tracking his insider sales on E Trade. So about the time Cramer had Mozilo on his TV show, I very nearly threw a brick through the Samsung. I remember Cramer saying Mozilo had founded the company and was entitled to take a "little money off the table." To say that Cramer kissed Mozilo's ass is an understatement. He completely avoided any mention of the size of those sales. Mozilo was completely liquidating his ownership in the company. I truly hope nobody bought Countrywide. Cramer should have been flogged in the square for his role in that interview. To this day, I refuse to watch his show. I had a mortgage originator insider tell me what kind of loans Countrywide was making at that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmJ-VWPDM4 Just before the two lost decades that is now Japan, I read once where commercial real estate was selling at one million per square inch. I am not sure whether that was in dollars or yen and I am too lazy to look it up. The point is illustrative. That kind of insanity kicked off Japan's banking melt down and it's two lost decades. Anything Japan can do, America can do better. Including credit disasters. We extended make believe money to everyone. That the "FED" has mirrored Japan's moves- in the post meltdown period is not news. There is simply no alternative for "one-way" Ben Bernanke. So when they posted today's usual round of bad news, widening trade gap, PPI at 0.4, and unemployment up again...I was not surprised. I was not surprised to see stock futures up. The stock market has been marginalized to the extent that it is simply no longer a credible predictor of our nation's economic health. All it ha

At some sort of rally in Philadelphia, someone apparently hucked a book at President Obama while he was on stage. Obama was probably doing what he does best, talking. Three things instantly came to mind. First, it did not appear that the book was a first edition "War and Peace." It was thin and had it actually hit him, it is doubtful that it would have knocked any sense into him. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319448/Obama-book-thrown-Philadelphia-rally.html Secondly, it reminded me of how utterly useless the Secret Service is at preventing real attacks. They serve some deterrent effect for lunatic opportunists like Squeaky Fromme and mainly I think that all of that looking around they do is a reminder that a small army of men and women and dogs will descend upon any attacker forthwith and seal their fate. That in turn reminded of the myth of "pro active" law enforcement. The idea that law enforcement actually prevents crime. It was and still is- a grand d