Morning Audibles

I had a thread, kind of, ready to go for this morning (which, frankly wasn't that interesting because it was just a collection of idiot reporting on financia;l and political stories... A "collage", sort of...

I often think that in another place and time, I might have tried my hand as a skit writer for Saturday Night Live...

Anyway, last night I was doing my usual C'MON MAN Monday Night football thing, (it was a particular night because I had some important things riding on the outcome involving payouts in some Fantasy Leagues)... When I woke up this morning, I did my usual thing and did a quick check around the blogosphere to see what was happening...

I came across this post at andytsgang.blogspot.com

http://andytsgang.blogspot.com/2010/10/see-i-can-still-post.html

This was from bergsten, (who CV still suspects is CNBCS)... Anyway, as a host myself, I feel it appropriate to comment...

First of all, I want to say that I thought it was a very accurate portrayal (by bergsten)... So basically, if I were to have made a comment in that thread, I would have said "Thumbs Up"...

I'm going to touch on a few issues...

Bergsten was correct in the unfolding of events last December... Most people easily remember that the Ritholtz blog was where these personalities (who are passionate about economics/politics/socio-economics) were collected in the first place...

I can only speak from my own POV, but the thing that used to bother me about the Ritholtz blog was the fact that BR seemed to be acutely intent on executing a form of control, and keeping things filed into some kind of tidy order... I remember having "codes" with I-Man (and others), where we would exit to abandoned threads to talk about the tape and other things... It was like truckers changing CB channels...

I'm critical about BR for a lot of things, but in the end, I have no right to criticize him for how he wants to run a blog that he spends time and effort to produce...

It was (to me) natural, that Andy (and others) were feeling the same thing, and A LOT of credit should go to Andy T for creating a new space (last August) that eventually many regular posters at TBP decided was to their liking as it was a little more "user friendly"...

That lasted a few months until Andy had to close up shop (because of a new job)... It happened without warning, and basically, on a Sunday night... By the next Morning (Monday), bergsten had set up a new shop... I can honestly say that had I known Sunday Night, I would have done the same thing... The difference? 3 hours... (California time versus East Coast time)... I was already asleep in bed in the moment it happened...

My thoughts, (when visiting the new site - Monday morning) were...

- Oh good... at least this thing is still in tact
- Someone is going to have to take care of content going forward (not an easy job)
- Damn this page is ugly
- If it's not ANDY's anymore, it's going to need a new identity

CV was the first one to "suggest", in that thread, that a name (not andytsgang), and a SLOGAN would be appropriate... I suggested that everyone nominate something, and karen came up with TRADERS-ANONYMOUS... I've been involved in situations where things are stolen, so I did not delay while an entire grand debating society deliberated on the outcome... CV is NOT a fan of "too many cooks"... So I registered the blogspot...

The rest, was basically played out in public... I know, for about a week (and ever since), I was subject to intense HATRED by certain populations... Others gave me the benefit of the doubt... Within a week, I decided that I would never be able to make a bunch of people happy, so I did a Jerry Maguire, and took my ONE CLIENT (ahab), and went another direction...

That's where it still stands (10 months later)...

What's the outcome? What's this blog all about?

If I could characterize it, I'd say it's about DISSENT... EXPRESSION & DISSENT... Most who are involved in trading (as most here do in a not insignificant way), know about DISSENT... You always have to challenge your own resoning... I, personally, find myself enraged mostly towards people & groups who simply accept the status quo... I could conjure up many metaphors here, but the best would probably be the American Revolution... Let's put it this way, if THE INTERNET had existed back in late 1700's, I doubt the AR would have ever occurred... I doubt BR's "tsk" "tsk" letters to King George would have cut it...

So basically, I ENCOURAGE live debate, and even "shouting matches" on this blog... While I don't model myself after Zero Hedge, I'd say that I do fundamentally like their "fight club" mentality... I think that you'll find here that after a good fight, people pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and shake hands in the end...

So basically... Come here and say anything you want to say (but prepared to get pistol whipped if somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed)... I DO NOT edit and delete comments (need to address that subject, because it was pointed out in the bergsten thread that I DID edit out a comment on one occasion in the past)...

It was a comment by Mutt... Frankly, it was so long ago that I forgot the exact subject matter, but I do remember, that before I took it off, I addressed, to Mutt directly, that I was going to do so... I basically said, "let's not go there at this time"... Maybe that was an ERROR on my part... Little did I know that one isolated instance (in which I did my best to explain why I was doing it at the time), would get tossed back in my face...

Anyway, if Mutt is reading this, he should remember that occasion, and acknowledge that I am correct in what I'm saying now... Unless you failed to see my comment as to my actions...

In any case... What you see is what you get on this blog... I've been banned from posting comments at TBP, so basically if I have to address a TWSWB POV, I have to do it here... I have a user handle at Zero Hedge (but I rarely post there)... Any appearance at andytsgang.blogspot.com is met like a sweaty person walking into a mosquito factory...

So I post my ideas here... And I've said before... I'm an equal opportunity assassin... Nobody is too big or too small to be put under my microscope... As a fair exchange, I don't object to being placed under anyone elses microscope...

Sometimes it's going to be calm, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes boring, sometimes whimsical, sometimes rowdy... I don't care... All you need to do here (and to keep this thing alive), is to BE ALIVE, and to BE ALIVE, you have to BE INVOLVED (not just the "consenting" & "polite" parts of you [which is the stuff of failed relationships, over time])...

So have at it...

CV