***Washed Out – @ Santos Party House – Monday October 18th.  Not a CMJ show but going to be incredible. NYC debut. If you haven’t heard him, you gotta! http://santospartyhouse.com/index/event/id/1054

***Tiger City – @ Bowery Ballroom – Wednesday October 21st.

AND @ 213 North 8th Street Brooklyn (the old Supreme Trading space) – Thursday October 22nd - http://www.shoutitoutloudmusic.com/SIOLM_CMJ_10_22_09.jpg

Zaza – @ Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow St. 9:45PM to 10:30PM – Wednesday October 21st

***Delorean – @ The Delancey – Thursday October 22nd.

AND @ Pianos – Saturday October 24th Midnight

Choir of Young Believers – @ Piano’s 1 AM – Friday October 23rd (late thursday 22nd night).

***Neon Indian – Topman/Jelly NYC Showcase @ Root Studios in Brooklyn - Saturday October 24th. free-with-RSVP (topman@jellynyc.com)

***The Almighty Defenders – Topman/Jelly NYC Showcase @ Root Studios in Brookly - Saturday October 24th. free-with-RSVP (topman@jellynyc.com)

EDIT: MORE SWEET SHOWS

***FIXED CMJ Freakout Chapter 2 w/ PARALLELS (live) & AEROPLANE @ Tribeca Grand Basement (JDH & Dave P) – October 22nd 10pm

***Hercules And Love Affair + James Zabiela, Aeroplane, Shinichi Osawa @ Fillmore Irving Plaza – Friday October 23rd 9pm

I thought why not have her collect ordinary trash on the street? The city could set up a homeless center that would give people money for trash they picked up. The center could also provide city services (healthcare, education, food) to those who are homeless and serve as a great community and focal point of outreach.

And it would clean the streets and create inexpensive “jobs”

Grim Job Report Not Showing Full Picture

“As bad as the headline numbers in Friday’s employment report were, they still made the job market look better than it really is.

The unemployment rate reached its highest point since 1993, and overall employment fell by more than a half million jobs. Yet that was just the beginning. Thanks to the vagaries of the way that the government’s best-known jobs statistics are calculated, they have overlooked many workers who have been deeply affected by the current recession.”

Citi over 20 by year end? No way, maybe above 6?

Now…continue to maintain short hedges, but I am keeping close to market neutral.

——————

The US equity markets are in a pickle. The economy is souring, inflation is not contained, and the price of oil is quite volatile.

My suggestions: Keep your equity in strong select companies that will weather and profit in the coming year and hedge your portfolio by shorting the Dow.

I suggest purchasing DXD for 2x the inverse performance of the Dow-30 – this is essentially shorting the dow with 2x leverage. I have been short the Dow since the start of June and have kept my portfolio flat to +1-3% over the last few volatile weeks. I am not ready to remove my market short yet, but will do so when i think the markets will start to recover.

Where I am long (and why):

RSX – Economy is performing strongly, record rise in oil prices is bringing in huge amount of $$ into the country and this will trickle down into all industries and positively affect the economy

HMIN – valuation at 14x is attractive given its very very strong growth projections. This company is taking advantage of a cultural change in China. More people are traveling for business and pleasure. More people will be staying in hotels/motels. HMIN is rapidly building out cheap efficient business hotels/motels. Whats not to love. China’s GDP could remain flat and there will still be a change in the way people live which will benefit HMIN

INFY – I used to be much more bullish on this, now I am neutral to slightly positive. Outsourcing will continue in many international countries. It will also pick up in India as domestic companies there take advantage of the knowledge and experience built up by the international BPOs.

CCJ – Nuclear energy is our only feasible energy solution at the moment. Demand will significantly increase. Supply of Uranium wont catch up. Prices will rise. Cameco is the largest miner of Uranium. Simple

and you might think I am crazy for this one….

C (call options) – I think we will see stock back up over 20 by end of the year…this is pretty speculative

Thoughts?

Sugar ethanol imports ->lower ethanol prices ->lower corn prices ->lower agriculture commodity prices -> lower food prices -> lower inflation -> more room for Fed to lower rates -> more chances to avoid deep recession

Up until now, all the sites (facebook, myspace, etc) have been digitizing our human relationships and making them easily searchable, indexable and shareable. But so what? What next? it was and is my belief that that in and of itself is not enough to keep users interested in something in long run, nor a business sustainable economically.

The real question remains…what can we do once we have established our relationships and networks in digital form? How can we make our lives simpler, easier, and more efficient.

The areas most ready for this enabling technology will be communication and collaboration.

The good news is that i’ve caught the tech bug again and have been tinkering around with a friend on a new idea-an idea that builds upon the already created social networks and really does something everyone will find useful. Ever since I dropped my plans in 2004 to enter the space with a startup and really add some new features (features which not even facebook has really touched yet) to social networks, I have been waiting for something to pull me back.

This is really vague but stay tuned for updates…and if anyone is interested in discussing the world of digital social networks and applications please contact me.

The military-industrial complex seems real AND frightening to the freedom of self-determination and right to determine the movement of our democracy in America.

Quoting from the Wikipedia article on Military-Industrial Complex:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction…

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defence with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower