Punks…All Of You! You’re All Wrong About the NBA Finals
My post yesterday that the Miami Heat would win the NBA Finals was met with a flurry of emails from dissenting readers. Look, I know the Spurs are good…they’re in the Finals and that should be enough to prove that point. And yes, Parker is arguably the best point guard in the game. And Yes, Ginobili is brilliant at times. And yes, Leonard can be an explosive role player. And I’ll even concede that the Spurs have a leg up with coaching with one of the best coaches ever in Popovich. But against the Heat, they’re all punks. Lebron is going to make Leonard look like a lost puppy…he won’t be guarding him for long.
And as far as Ginobili goes against the Heat, he’s a punk who will only show up in spurts but it won’t be enough. And Duncan, he’s old. And Parker? Well, I can’t really talk much smack about Parker…if he’s on all cylinders he’s pretty much impossible to stop. But bottom line, if the Heat are on their game, they cannot lose. Wade’s going to be a different player starting tomorrow, guaranteed. And without Hibbert in the game Bosh might even show up for the party. And if Allen gets going, watch out! And if it’s a close game, I’ll take Lebron to win it. I was watching ESPN last night and it seems everyone thinks the Spurs are going to win in 7. I think they’re all wrong and so are you. YOU’RE ALL A BUNCH OF PUNKS! How do you like me now?! I’ve got the Heat in 6. That’s all I have to say about that.
My Schedule: I have an appointment in Irvine at 10:30a and otherwise available.
My Market Watch: Bonds Up – Prices Strong. The 30-year bond is up +32bps so far. We’ve seen this before though…bonds get bought by traders early in the morning and then sell off before the coffee is done brewing. I hope it sticks today! This morning was the ADP Employment Report and bonds were unaffected. The report indicated less new jobs than anticipated which is obviously considered a negative report for the economy. In turn bonds picked up while stocks declined.
Friday is the Jobs Report and so far based on what I’m reading we are expecting 160,000 new jobs to have been created in May. Remember, the number of jobs created is irrelevant…it’s more about what we expect versus the actual number that matters. If the number is much less or much higher than expected, then trading will really fly. Up until the report, traders can only predict what will happen and buy and sell according to their best guess, based on opinions and other data. More to come….
Miami Heat. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat own the NBA Championship. Yes, I know they still have to play the San Antonio Spurs but come on! There is no way the Spurs have a chance against this team. The Heat have been playing awful and still they win. Last night they finally got some production from Dwayne Wade and look what happened. And for all you Lebron James haters out there because he left Cleveland, you need to get over it. I admit he was stupid to make such a big deal out of it with all the press conferences and hoopla. But moving to Miami was smart, very smart. By joining Miami and keeping Wade there he all but insured a long run at the NBA Championship. He looked at other great teams and learned he needed to have more than one superstar to achieve greatness, i.e., the Lakers with Magic and Kareem. Miami now has all the tools…they have a great bench, great role players, and great superstars. Their biggest weakness, besides Wade’s knees, was in my opinion the coaching staff but that too seems to be improving. For example, putting James on Paul George last night was a brilliant coaching move by Erik Spoelstra. I’ll take the Heat to win the Championship this year, and next year too assuming they are all back and healthy.
Goodbye To One Of Our Own
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What’s more is there is no floor of support even in sight. What I mean is traders usually look to the past performance of bonds to help them decide when to buy. These indicators are called moving averages and when the bond is heading down they are called “floors of support.” They are referred to as floors of support because when the bond reaches the floor, traders usually look to buy…this makes the price of bonds increase and betters rates/pricing. But right now there is no floor…that’s why the bond just keeps selling off and down down down down down it goes. What we need is a statement by someone at the Fed to reaffirm QE so we can reverse the trend….
Don’t misunderstand the discussion…never was it suggested that it was by design people were killed so please don’t take offense. My colleague only analogized that Mother Nature can be a devastating destructive force, and this is a natural thing. The discussion then turned to the topic of the Quentin Tarantino movie Natural Born Killers in which a psychotic pair played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis go on a killing spree. In the movie Harrelson’s character compares himself to a lion who kills a zebra…it doesn’t feel bad about it…it’s natural. Of course, the lion is killing for food and a tornado doesn’t kill at all. Rather, it is simply a form of nature that carves out a path. What I found interesting was the argument that a child brought up in a hateful environment, like in Al Qaeda families, is trained to hate and bring violence upon the hated. Hate recycles hate. She argued that a man brought up in this environment doesn’t feel bad about killing…he is the lion or like Woody in the movie. I suppose that was the whole point of Tarantino’s movie. At least a lion kills and the death has meaning…it provides sustenance. And a tornado’s destruction has positive effects on the land over time…it is function of nature. But no such argument can be made for human killers…I argue there is nothing natural about it…it is pure weakness. As I said, my discussions yesterday were intense and heavy…but the focus was always on the victims and their families…I continue to pray for them….
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