We’re late this week for a good reason: skiing. We hit the Vail slopes today (and as the comedian said, “We’re here all week!”) See a couple shots off my Blackberry here and here. No new snow in awhile, but the crowds were small, the snow groomed well, the sun shining. It hardly gets better.

Have you been keeping up on the intrigue in global markets? There’s the central banker in Argentina resigning after a battle with President Kirchner over use of reserve currencies. In Greece, even King Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans would find the country’s balance sheet a mighty foe. The Euro has plummeted (after our Italy trip, darn it). Australia leaves its interest rate alone after a series of raises, juicing the markets and dropping the Auzzie dollar. Continue reading →

Jan 19-22: What You Should Know About Program Trading

A word on last week’s panels in KC (see Dick Johnson’s write-up at his superb blog) and NYC about modern trading: Had a great time in KC and felt we effectively explained how different time horizons and purposes, combined with lots of passive market-making, affect stock prices today. In NYC, it was a bit frustrating. We started in the middle and never got out of the maze. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t. Continue reading →

Hope you enjoyed MLK Weekend! We were on bikes for the first time in Twenty Ten as temperatures tickled the high 50s Saturday and Sunday on Colorado’s Front Range.

TRAVEL UPDATE: I’m in Kansas City today joining Joe Ratterman, CEO of BATS, and Jeff Albright, head of equity trading at Waddell & Reed, for a NIRI panel on how stocks trade. Thursday Jan 21, I’ll be at the NYC NIRI meeting with Professor Bob Schwartz of Baruch College, Jim Ross from NYSE Euronext, and Donald Bollerman of Nasdaq OMX to “demystify the markets.” See Events & Articles at modernir.com for more, and join us. Continue reading →

Thought for the day: “Chaotic action is preferable to orderly inaction.” – Will Rogers

Speaking of chaotic action, let’s review trading basics. We tend to think trading is buying and selling stock. To quote John Kerry, would that it were! Most trading today isn’t done for capital appreciation but to capture short-term divergence or to balance risk. Continue reading →

Happy New Year!

I grew up in the Snake River Breaks northwest of Boise. In tiny Huntington, where I quarterbacked the eight-man high-school football team, a guy ahead of me several years achieved local fame at middle linebacker for the Boise State Broncos. BSU was I-AA back then, in the Big Sky league. Last night, it was great seeing the Broncos go 14-0, beating undefeated and 4th-ranked TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. The little big sky school has come a long way.

Speaking of a long way, here we are in Twenty Ten. What to expect this year? Continue reading →