To quote the late great Francis Sinatra, "Happy New Year and all that othah mutha jazz". A new year yes but not much of a change. Meaning stocks keep going one way. And it ain't down. Forgive me for my tardiness but I was still thawing out from watching the NY (really NJ) Jets beat up the Cincinnati Bengals last frigid evening. It was the last game in Giants Stadium. Oh the irony of it all. It was a bit emotional as I was "hugging it out" with the folks in my section for perhaps the last time. We aren't going to be sitting together next year and some of us might not being sitting there at all. You see after 26 years, the Jets and Giants decided to build a new stadium on the public's dime. Yeah I know. I know. It was "privately funded". However ask those "private funders" how their investment is going since they tried to pass the cost onto unsuspecting existing season ticket holders or anyone else who wants to buy (i.e. the public), and I do mean anyone. But alas that's for another discussion.
It did get me to thinking about a similar problem that we have been alerting you about for awhile though; the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) debacle. Since it is 2010 and people have been brushing problems under the rug for at least 3 years now, we wanted to remind you that billions and billions of dollars of CMBS "stuff" is maturing this year. When people don't pay back their debts when they are scheduled to do so, that is called a "default" and could lead to a "bankruptcy." Catching my drift?
Well the quote of the day came from some article I read on bloomberg.com today (sorry bloomberg.com people, I cant find the article again to give proper credit and my fingers are still frozen together). Well they were talking about a rally in CMBS and RMBS (residential) last year and whether or not it can be sustainable this year. A fund manager named Bill Eigen said he bought CMBS and RMBS early last year, sold it at a profit, and is now shorting the stuff. His nice quote was, "PPIP is not going to fill up buildings." Here here brother! What that translates to is that it doesnt matter what cockemamie (technical term) scheme with funny acronyms the government comes up with to prop up these markets, if people aren't paying rent in the buildings, those buildings are going B-U-S-T bust, bust, bust!
So tread lightly when jumping "all in" to markets during the 2010 "new year of hope".
Also if you have time, now that the Jets made the playoffs, call 1-800-469-JETS and see if you can get seats ANYWHERE you want in the new stadium next year. They should be sold out right? Uh huh. Oh and if you do decide to buy tickets, please drop my name. I think there is a referral program where I get a free hot dog or something if you do buy. I'll split it with you. Now I'm going to light myself on fire to really thaw out.
Comments