Disqus - Latest Comments for Matt_SF

Re: What Is Mark Zuckerberg Doing in China? | The Atlantic Wire

Matt_SF — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:06:50 -0000

Put the old "Iron Curtain" phenomenon in a whole new (digital), yet unsurprisingly old (censorship), perspective when it comes to media blackouts.

Re: Exclusive: I ‘wined and dined’ NYT and WSJ for favorable coverage, health insurance whistleblower says

Matt_SF — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:40:11 -0000

Mainstream media caves at the threat of reduced access to "decision makers". Threaten to pull the plug on their coveted sources, and they'll go so far as to say Santa Claus is real. I'm generalizing, because there are a few reputable journalists left in the world, but it's by far easier to get paid by playing Corporate America's game, not the investigative journalist game.

Re: Jon Stewart vs. Rachel Maddow: It's On

Matt_SF — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:10:50 -0000

Maddow's ticked off because Stewart basically represented her as: Maddow is to Beck as Neo is to Smith.

Apparently, she, and others at MSNBC, didn't like being represented as being equally neurotic in order to balance out the Fox News equation.

Re: http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2010/11/04/blogging-at-the-wall-street-journal/

Matt_SF — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:24:08 -0000

Well deserved! I'm a late follower to TRB, but it's been amazing to watch the momentum gathering in the last few months.

Re: http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2010/11/02/financial-blog-wars-2010/

Matt_SF — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:00:05 -0000

Great stuff! Let the debate begin on who is Admiral Ackbar, Han Solo, etc.

Re: Why are you Bullish? Investing With Options

Matt_SF — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:18:43 -0000

It's ironic that the old adage "can't fight the tape" has been modified to "can't fight the Fed". As a trader, I'm unbiased in POMO b/c it's an easy money maker. As a US Citizen, it's hard to find any long term positives in the inorganic reflation trade.

Re: How To Make The Ultimate CNBC Segment

Matt_SF — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:16:06 -0000

Don't forget the white stains on the floor... presumably from the booze.

Re: The National Security State

Matt_SF — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:09:59 -0000

This was the case long before GW and the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but it probably wasn't spelled out as formally in today's standard operating protocol. Even if you wanted a semi-secret position in even the lowest levels of security, you had to go through a very rigorous background check, as well as continued security checks.

Re: Snack Attack: SunChips Cans Eco Bag

Matt_SF — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:25:09 -0000

I've seen one or two posts from "green" blogs that disprove the SunChips bags are compostable. If this is true, then I don't mind so much they're being File 13'd.

Re: Is P2P Lending the next frontier for covesting platforms?

Matt_SF — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 08:27:40 -0000

I'm quite sure this is happening already, but it's happening for free. I run a LendingClub.com investment club (via email) of around a dozen people. I'm hesitant to say the readers (mostly fellow finance bloggers) invest in every note that gets a mention, but I'd venture to say the majority of us invest in the same notes. Reputation, or making 15% NAR with no defaults after one year, certainly helped draw in new readers.

Re: An Oil Change Every 3,000 Miles is a Waste of Money

Matt_SF — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:29:59 -0000

Every 5000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. I don't drive that much, and the driving I do is stop-and-go.

Re: The New Buzz Word – Alternative Yield The Reformed Broker

Matt_SF — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 08:27:25 -0000

I believe Legg Mason started, or perhaps I should say restarted, their energy MLP fund to take advantage of recent popularity.

Re: The Only Thing Decoupling is Investors and their Money The Reformed Broker

Matt_SF — Sun, 16 May 2010 09:32:36 -0000

"The world has been ETF'd"

That's a clever way of saying it. It might be easier to list what hasn't been ETF'd, rather than what has been.

Re: "I survived the crash of 2:45pm"

Matt_SF — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:15:57 -0000

Very clever!

Re: Shaving: Neither Electric Nor Expensive

Matt_SF — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:22:35 -0000

I use a pair of old jeans to resharpen my razors. Been working well for years now.

Re: Investing in Florida in 2010

Matt_SF — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:04:00 -0000

Glad to hear things are looking up. For those who might want to invest in Florida real estate, but prefer to invest via equities, would you happen to know of any REITs that are largely concentrated in Florida?

Re: Surprising 'buckle up' PSA (video)

Matt_SF — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:56:11 -0000

Wow, excellent symbolism! What starts out as a hug becomes a life saving seat belt. Hopefully, more people will think of it this way, whether they caught the symbolism or not.

Re: New Stimulus Plan: The Fiscal Menace or The Economy Strikes Back?

Matt_SF — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:19:49 -0000

We've borrowed too much already. Personally, I'm kinda tired of borrowing from the year 2040 to pay for stuff in 2010.

Re: TV Everywhere Might Just Be a Big Bully

Matt_SF — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:38:10 -0000

I'm not an expert, but if you run a business and you want to maintain a historical profit margin (and maintain dividend payments to shareholders) in a market where you're losing customers, the only real opportunity you have is to raise your price.

The market will decide if they like/need your product enough to keep you around.

In this sense, it vaguely reminds me of AOL dial up service back in the late 90s / early 2000s.

Re: Are Values-Based and Socially-Responsible Investments Worthwhile?

Matt_SF — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:49:04 -0000

To each his own I suppose, but it's far better in my opinion to ignore your personal feelings (faith, past transgressions, etc) when making an investment.

I agree with KC, I think it's a marketing ploy to fish out naive investors. Not to mention, if you only want to only invest in "ethical" companies, best of luck to you in finding them. That's got to be a very short list.

Re: Ten Reasons Why Using Twitter Will Boost Your Happiness.

Matt_SF — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:45:05 -0000

"Do good, feel good."

Doesn't get more appropriate than that... especially on Thanksgiving.

Re: Podcast 30: Nick Corcodilos, Ask the Headhunter

Matt_SF — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:08:56 -0000

Excellent podcast. Like a CPA, a good headhunter is worth their weight in gold.

I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the salary I received in my mid 20 to late 20s without their assistance, much less found the jobs I landed because (as Mr. Corcodilos mentions) those jobs weren't posted on the job boards or company websites.

Re: Is Who You Are What You Do?

Matt_SF — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:15:00 -0000

This is why I hate trading. There is no sense of fulfillment or sense of building anything other than the bottom line.

Days like today (down days) are when I really miss the old job more and more because there was a sense of building something or making a difference. Granted, I was only lining big pharma's pockets with more cash, but that was still somewhat gratifying from a "seeing a project come full circle" principle.

Re: Friday Finance Followers – I’m No History Professor Edition

Matt_SF — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:52:39 -0000

Larry,

Were you bullish on gold when it was at $250, or just a momentum investor?

I've found there are three types:

1) those who invested in gold for the right reasons since proper portfolio allocation suggests you keep a small percentage in precious metals.

2) those who were bullish on gold when it was at $250 some time ago.

3) momentum players who want to keep the bullish sentiment in place so they can keep their gold coin eBay business going.

Which might you be?

As for having a clue, the same resentful comments were uttered on oil bubbles, real estate bubbles, and on and on.

Re: Senator Dodd Going Ahead With Overdraft Legislation

Matt_SF — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:14:44 -0000

I'd say it's the best thing Dodd has done in 2009 to protect his Senate seat against the oncoming election battle with Peter Schiff.