Lets sell out...and resuscitate ourselves

I have an answer to the housing crisis which will in turn revive our economy. We need to relax our nation's immigration policy to enable foreigners who want to buy houses do so. Sovereign Wealth Funds and Foreign Corporations want to buy up American companies with abandon, so I don't see why we don't let foreign real estate investors buy up our inventory of houses. This plan should at least stabilize the housing market. The US dollar has been on a free fall trajectory for many years now (in fact, if you overlay the chart of the dollar to the Ancient Roman currency, it bears a scary resemblance, and we all know what happened to the Roman Empire), making US assets extremely cheap for foreigners. Our government should put a relaxed immigration policy for the benefit of housing in place BEFORE we decide to intervene and support the dollar.

Vix is sick

The CBOE volatility index is an excellent tool to time your entries into and out of stocks. When the Vix spikes it usually is a great time to buy stocks. Vix spikes means there is much fear in the market, leading people to sell anything and everything. Vix spikes are also a good time to reduce your shorts. On the other hand, when the Vix is floundering, it means there is minimal fear in the market and an indication that investors are sticking out their neck for added return. This is a great time to short the market. One should harness the power of the Vix for alpha generation.

Position Yourself Accordingly...

Every once in a while, groups of assets fall out of favor and one needs to be able to pounce on the opportunity and commit enough capital to make a difference. One needs to set the entry low enough so one can start to dollar cost average down into the trade. Buying something is a commitment to constantly lowering the cost of a falling asset and holding it until sentiment rises. Ones ability to hold onto a falling asset over time can test ones will power to buy more, hold it, or sell it.... 

Every once in a while, groups of assets get too elevated and one needs to pounce on the opportunity and commit enough capital to make a difference. One needs to set the entry high enough so one can dollar cost average up into the trade. Selling something is a commitment to constantly raising the proceeds of a rising asset and holding onto it and hopefully being flat when sentiment falls. Ones ability to hold onto a rising asset over time can test ones will power to sell more, hold it, or buy it back...

And so it goes...

First Post - Stream of Consciousness

Wikipedia defines stream of consciousness writing as a literary technique that seeks to portray an individuals point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his sensory reactions to external occurrences.

I am a mere trader in the maelstrom that is global investing, and I react to circumstances that are beyond my control. Sometimes my reactions win big and I capitalize on my intuitions, and at other times I lose the shirt off my back. I tend to be contrarian in nature, entering into a trade when others are heading for the exits, and leaving a position when others are chasing the asset that is being elevated to euphoric levels. I hate getting out of a winning position early, and nothing bugs me more than leaving money on the table, but so it goes....

I am intrigued by an honorary Samurai named Munehisa Homma who was a rice trader and most successful fund manager in history in 18th century Japan. He positioned himself bullishly when others were bearish, and bearishly when others were bullish.

This Blog will attempt to concisely and coherently chronicle my thoughts and observations on investing in the global marketplace.