Amaranth Apology to Investors

Here's the letter. Here's a summary, oops we'll make up for it and will never do it again

To Investors in Amaranth's Multi-Strategy Funds:

In light of the events experienced by Amaranth's multi-strategy funds over the last two weeks, we would like to respond to our investors' queries regarding the status of redemptions and the future of Amaranth's business.

Temporary Suspension of Redemptions

As you know, the Amaranth multi-strategy funds have recently received substantial redemption requests. In light of the volume of these requests, as well as informal feedback from a number of investors, Amaranth has determined that it is in the best interests of the funds and their investors to temporarily suspend redemptions for September 30 and October 31, 2006. This temporary suspension of redemptions will enable the Amaranth funds to generate liquidity for investors in an orderly fashion, with the goal of maximizing the proceeds of asset dispositions, while seeking to treat all investors equitably through pro rata distributions.

Under the funds' current circumstances, Amaranth believes that temporarily suspending redemptions and making pro rata distributions is a more appropriate approach to managing investors' desire for liquidity than invoking the Gate. The cash distributions contemplated in connection with suspended redemptions would not, when paid, be subject to the Gate, the 25-month initial lock-up or any redemption fees or charges.

All investors in Amaranth's multi-strategy funds will receive written notice of the suspension under separate cover.

We note that redemptions and capital withdrawals that were validly requested for August 31, 2006 have been timely paid by the funds.

Current Plans

While we continue to evaluate the situation in light of the liquidity of the funds' portfolios and investors' desires, our current intention is to dispose of the remaining positions in the funds' portfolios in an orderly fashion over time, seeking to maximize sales proceeds and to make periodic cash distributions to investors on a pro rata basis, subject to anticipated reserves. During this period, we intend to reduce our operating expenses to the extent that we are reasonably able to do so while also seeking to retain the key staff required to manage the process going forward. We will be contacting you with further details of this process in the near future.

Strategic Partnership Discussions

Amaranth has previously announced that it is pursuing negotiations with other firms regarding potential strategic alliances that would enable the continued operation of the Amaranth platform. We continue to pursue negotiations but have no announcement at this time.

Transfers to Third Parties

Several of you have inquired about Amaranth's policy toward transfers of shares and LLC interests to third parties. As reflected in the funds' governing documents, Amaranth or the Board of Directors of Amaranth International Limited must consent to any transfers. While reserving its rights to consent to transfers in its sole discretion, Amaranth currently intends to provide this consent (and to recommend to the Amaranth International Limited Board that it consent) where the following conditions are met: (1) the transferor timely notifies Amaranth or the Board of the proposed transfer, (2) the transferee satisfies all of the eligibility criteria for investing in the Amaranth funds (these criteria are set forth in the funds' subscription agreements), (3) the transfer would not result in any of the funds becoming "plan assets" under ERISA, (4) the transferee acknowledges that it is making the investment on an "as-is" basis, not relying on any information provided by Amaranth in making its investment decision and (5) the transfer is not made in violation of applicable law together with such other requirements as are set forth in Amaranth's form of transfer agreement.

Performance Update

We estimate that, as of Friday, September 29, 2006, the Net Asset Value of the multi-strategy funds had declined approximately 65% to 70% month-to-date and approximately 55% to 60% year-to-date. We are providing a range given the significant number of trades executed during the month and the limited time available to calculate the estimate. We expect that the monthly estimate, which will be calculated in accordance with our normal month-end closing procedures, will be within this range. We will work diligently to provide you with a monthly estimate within as close to our normal timeframe (Wednesday, October 4, 2006) as possible.

Amaranth is committed to acting in the best interests of the funds' investors and to keeping investors informed of decisions made in furtherance of this objective. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding during this challenging period

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Know Where to Plant Tulips?

You can plant your two lips on these links

Want to see what the money looks like in any country in the world. Go Here

Microsoft's Zune Dead on Arrival

WOW Great day for RIMM and ENER

Mark Cuban is not all knowing. He sure made a bunch of bad calls in 1999. ......but he made enough to be worth 5 Billion

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Stock Market Art

I love photos and art of the exchanges. I am always looking for nice pieces. I have no affiliation or make any commission on these photos but here are a few I like. Click on them to see who painted them or took the photo. I have a special love of the Chicago Options Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade art and photos. If you have any that you think are especially nice please email me.

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IPhone Confirmed

Here is some of the coding in the new ITunes 7.01. Would you put all this in the code if you didn't have a phone on the horizon?

"4301.043" = "Are you sure you want to manually manage music and videos on your mobile phone? You will need to manually eject your mobile phone before it can be disconnected safely."; ...
"4301.045" = "Are you sure you do not want to manually manage music and videos on your mobile phone? All existing content on the mobile phone "^1" will be replaced with content from your iTunes library.";

...
"4301.047" = "The software required for communicating with the mobile phone is not installed correctly. Please reinstall iTunes to install the mobile phone's software.";
...
"4301.053" = "The mobile phone "^1" contains new voice memos. Would you like to move these voice memos to your iTunes library?";
"4301.054" = "Moving voice memos to your iTunes library...";
...
"4301.066" = "Some of the iTunes Store files in the iTunes library were not copied to the mobile phone "^1" because the mobile phone may only contain content from five iTunes Store accounts.";
"4301.067" = "Another user on this computer is using the mobile phone software, so iTunes is unable to communicate with this mobile phone. Please ask the other user to log out.";
...
"4301.070" = "The mobile phone "^1" cannot be used because it requires iTunes version ^2 or later. Go to www.itunes.com to download the latest version of iTunes.";
"4301.071" = " Would you like iTunes to delete enough photos and albums from the mobile phone to make room for the songs?";
"4301.072" = "iTunes cannot sync photos to the mobile phone "^1" because all of the albums selected for syncing no longer exist.";
"4301.073" = "iTunes cannot sync photos to the mobile phone "^1" because all of the folders selected for syncing no longer exist.";
...
"4301.077" = "The mobile phone "^1" is synced with another photo library or folder. Do you want to sync with your photo library and replace all existing photos and albums on this mobile phone with those from your photo library?";
...
"4301.093" = "iTunes cannot sync photos to the mobile phone "^1" because your Aperture Library could not be found. Open the preferences window in Aperture and enable the preference to share previews with other applications.";
...
"4301.107" = "Sending workout data to nikeplus.com...";
"4301.108" = "Downloading Nike*+*iPod voice kit...";
"4301.109" = "Installing Nike*+*iPod voice kit...";
"4301.110" = "Updating contacts and calendars on "^1"...";
....
"4301.115" = "Mobile Phone Setup Assistant";
...
"4301.123" = "Are you sure you want to sync TV shows? All existing TV shows on the mobile phone "^1" will be replaced with TV shows from your iTunes library.";
"4301.124" = "Are you sure you want to sync TV shows? All existing content on the mobile phone "^1" will be removed and replaced with TV shows from your iTunes library.";

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Two Trades Today

A calendar spread selling the 35 calls of ENER and buying 07 35 calls. Did this for 2.80. Not as much premium as I wanted in October but I like the trade. Will be buying leaps as well soon.

Bought AMGN 72.50 Oct calls on a gamble. .70 was a good price seeing that if it break 72.50 it will run.

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12 Rules of Trading

These are so simple but I have to read them over again to make sure I don't get away from these basic rules

The 12 Golden Rules for Successful Trading

1. Adopt a definite trading plan.

Because of the emotional stress that is inherent in any speculative situation, you must have a predetermined method of operation, which includes a set of rules by which you operate and adhere to, thus protecting you from yourself. Very often, your emotions will tell you to do something totally foreign or negative to what your market trading plan should be. It is only by adhering to a preconceived formula that you can resist the emotional temptations and stresses that are constantly present in a speculative situation.

2. If you're not sure, don't trade.

If you're in a trade and feel unsure of yourself, take your loss or protect your profit with a stop. If you are unsure of a position, you will be influenced by a multitude of extraneous and unimportant details and will probably end up taking a loss.

3. You should be able to be right 40% of the time and still show handsome profits.

In speculating, it would be folly to expect to be right every time. An individual with the proper trading techniques should be able to cut his losses short and let his profits run so that even being right less than half the time will show excellent profits. This point is re-emphasized in Rule Four.

4. Cut your losses and let your profits ride.

The basic failing of most speculators is that they put a limit on their profits and no limit on their losses. A man hates to admit he's wrong. Therefore, an individual will often let his loss ride, becoming larger and larger in hopes that eventually the market will turn around and prove him correct. Then after a while, he begins hoping for a small loss and gives up hoping for a profit. Human nature also dictates that an individual wants to take his profit right away and thus prove himself correct. There is an old saying, "You never go broke taking a small profit." But you'll certainly never get rich that way. Being satisfied with small profits is the wrong mental approach for making money in speculation. If you are correct when entering a speculative situation, you will know it almost immediately and will show a profit quickly. However, if you are wrong, you will show a loss and you should remove yourself from the situation quickly. Taking a small loss does not necessarily mean you were wrong in your thinking. It simply means that your timing was perhaps incorrect and that you should wait for the correct timing and situation to allow you to reenter the market. Remember, in any speculative situation, the market is the final judge. An individual must let the market tell him when he is wrong and when he is right. If you show a profit, ride it until the market turns around and tells you that you are no longer right, and, at that time, you should get out...but not before! On the other hand, the market will also tell you if you are wrong and it would be a serious mistake to argue with what it is saying.

5. If you cannot afford to lose, you cannot afford to win.

Losing is a natural part of trading. If you are not in a position to accept losses, either psychologically or financially, you have no business trading. In addition, trading should be done only with surplus funds that are not vital to daily expenses.

6. Don't trade too many markets.

It is difficult to successfully trade and understand a specific market. It is next to impossible for an individual, especially a beginner, to be successful in several markets at the same time. The fundamental, technical, and psychological information necessary to trade successfully in more than a few markets is more than the individual has either the time or ability to accumulate.

7. Don't trade in a market that is too thin.

A lack of public participation in a market will make it difficult, if not impossible, to liquidate a position at anywhere near the price you want.

8. Be aware of the trend. ("The Trend is your friend")

It is vitally important that a trader be aware of a strong force in the market, either bullish or bearish. When this force is at its height, it would be folly to attempt to buck it. However, one must learn to recognize when a trend is about to run its course or is near a period of exhaustion. By an ability to recognize the early signs of exhaustion, the trader will protect himself from staying in the market too long and will be able to change direction when the trend changes.

9. Don't attempt to buy the bottom or sell the top.

It simply can't be done unless you have the aid of a crystal ball or some other tool which could be peculiar to the mystic. Be content to wait for the trend to develop and then take advantage of it once it has been established.

10. Never answer a margin call.

This rule acts as a stop loss when your position has weakened considerably. By dogmatically and arbitrarily adhering to this rule, you will be forced to get out of the market before disaster sets it. It is often difficult to admit you're wrong and get out of the market (which you probably should have done well before you received a margin call). However, the presence of a margin call should act as a final warning that you have let your position go as far as you conceivably can (unless the initial margin is out of line with the volatility of the contract).

11. You can usually sell the first rally or buy the first break.

Generally, a market which has just established a trend either up or down will have a reaction and good interim profits can be made by recognizing this reaction and taking advantage of it. For example, in a bull market, the first reaction will generally be met by investors waiting to buy the break. This support generally causes the market to rally. The reverse is true of a bear market.

12. Never straddle a loss.

A loss by itself is difficult enough to accept. However, to lock in this loss, thus making it necessary for you to be right twice rather than the once (which you previously found impossible) is sheer absurdity.

You must retain control of the situation and yourself. Do not allow your position to control you. It is a mistake to find yourself in a position larger than you can reasonable handle. When this occurs, you will find that the sheer size of the position, rather than the facts of the situation itself, affects your judgment

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I Know a Good Place to Plant Tulips

You can plant your two lips on these good links

Here come the Lawyers. "Blackberry Thumb" big problem. Replacing Atari thumb

Some Freak in Rubber Boots. and yet I can't look away.

One cool Clock.

Great stocks come down to one main thing. Great Earnings.

By Far one of the Worst Web Sites Ever. Nothing against the content.

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Teens Playing Russian Roulette with Computer Dusting Spray Dust Off

It is hard to believe how easy it is to die from simple misuse of Dust-Off. This is real and very dangerous. I checked the Snopes entry myself before posting.

You can verify this story at Snopes. Take time to read the full explanation that snopes has compiled- you need to understand the possible implications from kids using household products to “get high”.


Latest Drug in School - 'Dusting'

First, I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for it's crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.

I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't. I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at themfor wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them.

On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.

On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM.

I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU.

The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. ITS NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian Roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you're breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open. The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why its more accepted. There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.

It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.

After Kyle died another story came out. A probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.

We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it. April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I cant help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.

This Officer is asking for everyone who receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers.

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MyBlogLog

I have no idea what I was smoking last night I really screwed up my links so I thougt I might set up a nice and correct link. I do like the site but like Digg a few blogs seem to really run the action around there. The tools are very helpful and easy to use. I have a new look to my site and will be taking it off blogger in November. I am having it professionally done but it still will be little ole' me doing all the typing and posting. Go to MyBlogLog here.


PS: Press on the pretty girl to go to TaleoftheTape. I screwed up his link as well.

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Things Aren't Always As They Appear

Corn is too low. The yields are coming in 20 bushels lower than what most thought. How do I have such insider info. All you have to do is call the elevators, they will gladly tell your their takes. Commodities are struggling but corn is the place to be. I am a buyer of 07 fall as well. By the way, the picture to the right is made of burnt toast. Yep a burnt toast piece of art.

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Know Where to Plant Tulips?

Plant your two lips on these links

Somebody should be worried about soaring derivatives

I joined MyBlogLog, not a bad site

I've been Googlized. Type in Brian Hunter Energy and up I come

I really would like to work at the Red Bull Office

Is it wrong to buy misspellings and direct them to your site? Story Later

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Washington Salaries 2006

Not making enough trading or at your regular jobs? Here are some of the crazy jobs and their crazy salaries.

White House Gift Logger $15/hr

Chief of Staff to the First Lady $149,000 ($16,000 raise from last year)

Two Gift Analyst @ $30,000 each

Director of Presidential Proclamations $51,700

Director of Coalitions Media $57,100

Director of Presidential Messages $52,000

Assistant Supervisor of Classification $54,336

Director of Mail analysis $73,200

and my favorite Ethics Advisor $100, 547


Here is a complete list

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Marchex Inc Is Worth Much More Than You Think

Here is a story from DNJournal.


More than a decade ago, a small group of visionary individuals began dabbling in a hobby business that eventually mushroomed into what we now call the “domain industry”. Those early pioneers realized that domain names constituted the real estate of the Internet and, despite being ridiculed by others, they firmly believed that one day domains would hold great value.

Their faith was strengthened as they observed that people who were surfing the Internet would often type in specific domain names when searching for something on the web. That behavior produced “traffic”, something the first domainers knew would be prized by advertisers, just as foot traffic is prized by commercial businesses in the real world.


Equipped with this knowledge and the foresight to act on it, early domain investors built portfolios of good generic domains and many went on to make a very nice living by selling their traffic to Internet advertisers. The fledgling industry flew under the radar for years, dominated by “Lone Rangers” scattered around the world.

Seattle-based Marchex, Inc. changed all of that and ushered in the “modern era” of the domain industry early last year when they closed on the $164 million purchase of the Name Development portfolio (more commonly known by domainers as the Ultimate Search portfolio), a collection of over 100,000 domains that had been assembled by an exceptionally savvy domain pioneer named Yun Ye. That huge acquisition by a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: MCHX) suddenly put the domain business in the spotlight and attracted other major investors, both public and private, who are now spending tens of millions of dollars in this space.

Marchex Offices in Seattle

While Marchex is now being challenged by other well-funded competitors seeking to consolidate or “roll up” the domain business, most experts say the company is well positioned to fend off challengers because that bold $164 million stroke gave them the highest quality portfolio of any of the new domain conglomerates. In addition, Marchex has not sat still since acquiring those domains. They have continued to add to their portfolio and are busy building out many of their prime domains to further increase their value.

Since the domain business had been such a well kept secret, we were curious to know who the people behind Marchex were, how those principals had learned about the opportunity in domains, what they have been doing since entering the business and what they have planned for the future. The company’s Chief Strategy Officer, Peter Christothoulou, helped us fill in the blanks.

To finish reading the story go to DNJournal

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Stock I'm Long

Many think this is overbought and the technicals may point to a fall but I think the financials are rock solid and will continue to play this into November (unless my stops get hit, ha ha)

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Stock I'm Short

Been short a few day and will continue to short until I see a reversal

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2006 White House Salaries

Not making enough trading or at your regular jobs? Here are some of the crazy jobs and their crazy salaries.

White House Gift Logger $15/hr

Chief of Staff to the First Lady $149,000 ($16,000 raise from last year)

Two Gift Analyst @ $30,000 each

Director of Presidential Proclamations $51,700

Director of Coalitions Media $57,100

Director of Presidential Messages $52,000

Assistant Supervisor of Classification $54,336

Director of Mail analysis $73,200

and my favorite Ethics Advisor $100, 547


Here is a complete list

Continue Reading...

Washington Salaries 2006

Not making enough trading or at your regular jobs? Here are some of the crazy jobs and their crazy salaries.

White House Gift Logger $15/hr

Chief of Staff to the First Lady $149,000 ($16,000 raise from last year)

Two Gift Analyst @ $30,000 each

Director of Presidential Proclamations $51,700

Director of Coalitions Media $57,100

Director of Presidential Messages $52,000

Assistant Supervisor of Classification $54,336

Director of Mail analysis $73,200

and my favorite Ethics Advisor $100, 547


Here is a complete list

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Decisions, Decisions Which Car to Buy

After being nominated by myself for pimp trader of the Year and former Nursery Pimp of the Year I've decided to get myself a car to match my image. I know this is spending my money before I made it but I have an image to uphold. Which one should I go for. One says successful and the other says muther f'in successful.

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Know Where to Plant Tulips?

Plant your two lips on these links


Amaranth going to keep their risky trading, just not energy

"Not Quite Perfect" McDonalds Opens in Outlet Mall

Mark Cuban Predicts the Decline of YouTube

List of the Slut Paris Hilton has slept with. I took my name off to protect my wife

Seeking Alpha has become my favorite financial blog. Constantly great.

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2006 White House Salaries

Not making enough trading or at your regular jobs. Here are some of the crazy jobs and their crazy salaries.

White House Gift Logger $15/hr

Chief of Staff to the First Lady $149,000 ($16,000 raise from last year)

Two Gift Analyst @ $30,000 each

Director of Presidential Proclamations $51,700

Director of Coalitions Media $57,100

Director of Presidential Messages $52,000

Assistant Supervisor of Classification $54,336

Director of Mail analysis $73,200

and my favorite Ethics Advisor $100, 547


Here is a complete list

Continue Reading...

2006 White House Salaries

Not making enough trading or at your regular jobs. Here are some of the crazy jobs and their crazy salaries.

White House Gift Logger $15/hr

Chief of Staff to the First Lady $149,000 ($16,000 raise from last year)

Two Gift Analyst @ $30,000 each

Director of Presidential Proclamations $51,700

Director of Coalitions Media $57,100

Director of Presidential Messages $52,000

Assistant Supervisor of Classification $54,336

Director of Mail analysis $73,200

and my favorite Ethics Advisor $100, 547


Here is a complete list

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Brian Hunter and Amaranth Say "I'm Sorry"

"We feel bad about losing our money, but we feel much worse about losing your money," . These are the words of Amaranth founder Nick Mauonis. It seems that floor traders finally got back at Amaranth, who the traders say pushed them around for months with their huge positions. None of the floor traders were willing to let them out of their positions. According to the NY Post, " A lack of buyers in the public market forced Amaranth to pay J.P. Morgan and Citadel Investments nearly $2 billion to take on the risk of its natural gas portfolio earlier this week."

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REDO: Screw Wal-Mart Buy Apple

I can't believe Wal-Mart has the audacity to ask movie studios to lower the wholesale costs of their DVDs if Apple is allowed to sell movies online. According to an article from BusinessWeek "As the largest seller of DVDs, Wal-Mart accounts for roughly 40% of the $17 billion in DVDs that will be sold this year, a financial lifeline to big-spending studios. But now Wal-Mart's video business faces a potential threat by Steve Jobs and Apple Computer (AAPL), which in mid-September, sources tell BusinessWeek, plans to announce it will start offering movie downloads from its iTunes store.

The notion of kids running around with full-length movies on new, wider-screen iPods that Apple is expected to unveil as well is causing grief in Bentonville, according to Hollywood executives. The $312 billion a year retailer, they say, wants concessions that could include lower DVD wholesale prices. " This is the kind of bullying that Wal-Mart has been getting away with for too long. Yes they get lower prices to the general public but this is straight blackmail. Right now Apple has only Disney studios signed on but eventually the other studios will get greedy and want their movies available as well. Then they can say "Screw you Wal-Mart , if you don't want to sell our DVDs then don't beyaaches" If people have to go somewhere else to buy hard copies of movies they will. Best Buy would gladly pick up any slack left by Wally World. It is about time a big player took some of the sales away from them instead of the other way around. Go get 'em Apple

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Former Stock Pimp of 2005

I may not even be nominated for Stock Pimp of the Year 2006 at Tale of the Tape but I gave myself the award New Pimp of the Year. I hope to win the big award down the road as I build my following and trading abilities, but I hope to start by just earning a link at his site. One step at a time. My problem is I own a nursery and get so busy during the spring and summer that my blog suffers. Fortunately I was awarded Nursery Pimp of the Year so it makes me feel at least I am good at something. I may not be the best trader of the nominees but I certainly intend to be funniest of the group. You may leave broke but your stomach will hurt after laughing so much. I am looking for a partner to help with the site during my busy times and I will be splitting the .o5 a day my blog brings in. I have started slowing down so look for my site to get better and better. By winter my blog will be back to being da shizznet. So until the day comes I'll just keep drinking out of my cheap ass Wal-Mart plastic cup.

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Going Out For a Nice 23 Mile Run

Yes 23 miles. I love to run marathons and to run those things you have to run some long runs before the race. Today is the last long one. It's an easy way to burn 3000 calories. My goal is to qualify for Boston but I am afraid I not in that great of shape. People wonder why I don't keep up the blog but when you run 5 miles in the morning, work 12 hours, come home and spend time with the family, you just don't have a lot of time to be creative and blog. Because of all the other things I do, I will have to settle for a time somewhere around 3:30. I only run to keep my belly from hanging over my belt when I sit in front of the ticker all day during the winter.

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Got My Ass Spanked

I thought I had set my stops on FDX today and got home and saw I took a loss on a stock with no stops set. Found out stops only work if you actually enter them. Oh well, maybe I'll get luck and gap up on Monday for no reason.

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Creative Way to Raise Money

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Just Watching Today

Have a bunch of work to do today. They market is sitting uncomfortably where its at. Overall people think it needs a correction but they can't seem to come up with a great reason. Profits coming in strong and of course guidance is conservative. Why wouldn't it be? Who wants a high bar? Housing? It was bloated all along but nobody said anything about it. Now that it is getting back to reality people are talking about that being negative. I think it is a good thing. Have a good day.

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Photos Of New Playstation 3 Packaging

I really didn't believe it would ever come out but they have atleast made the boxes. I am assuming they are only display boxes . I just needed to see something like this to make me believe they were actually going to release this thing before Christmas. Here they come. Although they are using a 60 gig model, they boxes say 20 gig so the boxes are all for show. Either way, here comes the PS3. Look at all the gamers drooling. (disclosure, I am not a "gamer" just long ERTS as of today) Pictures from Gamespot then Engadget.

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Want to Know Where to Plant Tulips?

Plant your Two Lips right here. On these great links

You would think he could buy a better name. One of Forbes' richest men.

A funny blast from the past ebay auction. Still loved it.

TraderMike Called the reversal today absolutely perfect.

46 Things I Wish My Mom Taught Me About Money

Man Jumps 50 Feet to Retrieve $20

50 Smartest Things To Do With Your Money

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You've Heard of Trader-X : Now Meet Trader-S and Trader-N

They are constantly on the look for good stocks.

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List of Companies Affected by Amaranth and How Much

Goldman Sach's Dyanamic Opportunities Fund .... Fund will subtract 3% off profit this month
San Diego County Pension Plant.... Has $175 Million invested in Amaranth
Union Bancaire Privee Asset Management..... Rumored to have $475 Million in the fund
Arden Alternative Asset Management.... Had $40 Million in the fund
Ivy Asset Management of Long Island......$50 Million
Morgan Staley's Institutional Fund of Hedge Funds (what the hell is that?) $123.6 Million

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What the Hell Happened to Good Quality Straws

When I used to go into McDonalds and get a coke I used to get a high quality thick straw that I could hold the wrapper, push down on the straw and out would come a fully intact straw. No breaks or bends that cause the sucking action to be diminished. I didn't hyperventilate from gasping too much air while trying to draw a good hit of Mt. Dew. Go try and do that today. McDonalds and Steak and Shake seem to be the only companies that have this figured out. The shit I got at Wendy's today (I don't eat their food merely grabbing a diet Coke on ice) got a big old crack in it and ruined one my favorite drinks. I know you're saying why are you all worked up over a stupid straw? The reason is simple. I don't drink coffee (I know I ask for a tip for coffee but it always goes to a soda) and the only way to get my morning caffeine buzz is to drink soda. I can't stand warm soda and don't enjoy it out of a can so I have to turn to a cold, on ice, diet Coke. I drink several of these a day and it keeps me going. I have worked 12 days straight and get up at 5 am every morning to go running so its all I have to keep the motor running. Here's where the straws get in the way. Corporate America is so concerned with keeping cost down that in addition to not hiring anyone to pick up trash or clean the bathrooms, they have decided to scrimp on straws. The gas stations are the worst. I have to open 5 straws carefully just to avoid a broken gaping hole. I figure this is the only way to keep the drinks $.69. Don't tell anyone this but I actually keep a few extra straws in the console in case I get breakage. For those of you that still don't get it. Imagine your coffee cup had a lid with no second hole. You can't get a good sip of it and it would drive you crazy. Or it wasn't insulated enough and was so hot you had to set it down between each sip. Now you know. I was thinking of shorting the companies with bad straws but then I thought they probably were having better quarters because of all the straw savings. They only thing worse than a faulty straw is broke and a faulty straw.

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REDO: Here's One Good Short for Oil

I pointed this out Monday and so far it's been good. Keep short on this one.
From IBD

Schaefer's Investment Research is recommending clients keep shorting energy. In particular, it's suggesting Oil Services Holdrs (AMEX:OIH - News). That view was initiated last month.

"It has been in a long-term uptrend," said Nick Perry, a technical analyst at the Cincinnati-based research and advisory firm. "But this ETF's momentum is waning. And as a group, oil services have been losing momentum since mid-May."

Perry has it high on his short list since Wall Street seems to still favor the ETF. Seventy-six percent of the fund's stocks are rated as buys by consensus analyst rankings, according to Zacks Research.

"So we're seeing weakening momentum, but analysts are still on board," said Perry. "There's a lot of potential for heavy downgrades on this fund."

The ETF has what's referred to as a rounding top. "The ETF's rally in April broke above the ETF's historic peak," said Perry. "But it failed to hold those gains."

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