Lehman’s inability to strike a deal with Bank of America or Barclay’s or to receive some form of government assistance was a deliberate tact. Let the invisible hand take care of Lehman and the market is supposedly better for it. So who decides, exactly, what companies get bailed out, and which are left out to dry? The Fed itself has said “Given the exceptional pressures on the global economy and financial system, the damage caused by a default by Bear Sterns could have been severe and extremely difficult to contain.” So how is Lehman’s bankruptcy any different? The general consensus is the Bear Sterns collapse and Fed mandated bail out bought everyone enough time to attempt a rescue of the inevitable. Although the Fed was unwilling to assist in saving Lehman they were willing to lower their credit standards for the last remaining investment banks.

So what does this mean for you and I you might ask? The answer is you should probably get used to living on a budget. You most likely won’t be able to renew that lease on your BMW. You should probably start making your own coffee at home. You should definitely be thankful for what you have, because America is officially for sale! I won’t even begin to speak of the overwhelming number of job cuts in the banking industry alone. Some predict upwards of 200,000 people out of work by this time next year. Just don’t go out on any monetary limbs anytime soon.

Muxtape may be down but Justin’s concept lives on through OpenTape. A new kind of mix tape software, it may just be the promiscuous cousin of the former service. It’ll run on just about any PHP5 web server. For those with the means, OpenTape essentially allows us to host our own special version of Muxtape. I missed my library enough to install it and get it playing with even more great music.

\\geekrolling.com\remux

Pretty much what I’ve been listening to recently. Some peaches, I’d like to think rare, but mostly things you haven’t heard before. WARNING: Ed Banger and DFA are up in this bitch.

1. Imani Coppola - This song just jumped out at me for having funny lyrics. The reason it’s first, is because it’s the truth.
2. Lykke Li - My favorite song at the moment. Just easy jammin and she’s easy on my ears like the Cardigans.
3. Vampire Weekend - What’s not to like when white kids play African pop riffs.
4. Nine Inch Nails -The first single without a label. The best things in life ARE free.
5. Late of the Pier - I’m sorry, but this makes me feel like I’m coked up in a french nightclub cir 1973.
6. Crystal Castles - I go absolutely bananas to this shit.
7. Fujiya & Miyagi - I adore how this builds and builds until it’s perfect.
8. Busy P - Did I mention I enjoy repetitive dance music!
9. Beck - Consistently delivers good, amazingly produced music.
10. The Cool Kids - Gotta have the EQ just right on this one.
11. Nujabes - Perfectly blended jazz and hip-hop.
12. Bird Peterson - Mashing Sabbath all day every day.
13. Beastie Boys - The best song you’ve heard a hundred times.
14. Justice - Passionate sounding, but how do you know really?
15. Hercules and Love Affair - Throw back synth filled with 90’s connotations.
16. Hey Willpower - I fucking hate this song enough to make you hate it too.
17. Hocus Pocus - Swinging international hip-hop.
18. Nujabes - Intellectual beats from Japan.
19. Jackson And His Computer Band - The composition on this song alone. It’s just ridiculous.
20. Nujabes - Just kills. Everything about it from the lyrics to the piano.
21. JDilla - Austin bringing me home again.
22. Vampire Weekend - Two words. Hammer and Tongs.
23. Justice - A sweet remix that puts it all out there.
24. Kate Nash - I want to talk with this bird so bad!
25. The Blood Arm - From their garage to your headphones.
26. Tapes n’ Tapes - Straight ahead rhythm rock.
27. Kill The Noise - Obscure, but tells you how it is FTW!
28. Mr. Oizo - Heavy, heavy ruckus.
29. ABX - What could go wrong mashing Lil Kim and MGMT?
30. Digitalism - A remix that caught my attention.
31. Nujabes - Another exquisitely produced track to rock to.
32. Royksopp - Most. commercial. sounding. track. ever.
33. Sabastien Tellier - Great drama, filled with strings.
34. Hot Chip - A soild DFA remix. Wait for it now!
35. The Chemical Brothers - The closest to a radiohead song this duo can get.

However, that said, I choose to recently manage my own 401k and in the  pursuit of knowledge and learning, I’m posting my experiences here you for you to examine.

Much of the investment advice/learning material I’ve been able to find on the internet is focused on the ever evaluation of practically living stocks. The market breathes, if not by some imaginary force, also by an invisible pulse. I follow day traders, penny stockers, investment and portfolio managers, angel investors and hybrid media/investment types. Hardly ever can I find the static long investor, eager to share his wisdom. The breed of my fathers age, who in a time of deep perspective decided it would be a good idea to develop money, just doesn’t care about the little investor. Obvious reasons for this could be lazy investors don’t bother with the internet. They are after-all, baby-boomers, utterly inept when it comes to blending technology. And yet another reason could be disclosure. If your not trading your not shouting.
The first trade I ever performed was a buy of NVDA at 18.29 and a sell at 24.52. I had nailed a 52 week low and sold at near it’s peak. I held my investment for 2 months and made a 34% return. Beginners luck? I’m willing to think so.

As so eloquently detailed in my first post, I bought into BCS thinking it would be immune to the U.S. Economic slowdown and my naiveté got the best of me. I had been watching BCS since the March decline and decided, because it was a European bank, and it was minimally invested in the sub prime mortgage debacle, it should remain a sound investment. I bought in at 28.30 and after watching my pick loose envious amounts of steam, I decided it was time to cut my losses. I sold @ 25.80 for a loss of 8.6%.

I’m under the impression that because I have a smaller amount of capital to invest, I should invest more often. However, that too may eventually lead to false logic. Not to discount my own analysis, but I feel as though larger portfolio’s have more to loose. I for one would be cautious, so would you. As I look to tomorrow morning with the knowledge that there WILL be a rally, I’m attempting to decide which of my P/E winners that are at or near their 52 week lows AND have decent analysis, will be my monetary development. Round 2 anyone?

This may be the previous stomping grounds for what once was (will always be), a rollerblading website, but the times just keep on changing. And when I say new, I mean that in every sense. I deleted the previous database which you can still find if you look hard enough. I wanted to really start clean, manage my level of fun, and leave the rest to you. What I will say is with age, your interests skew. Some weeks I devote more hours to rollerblading websites than actual skating. Both of course pale in comparision to the multitude of hours spent living and working. So there you have it Work Life and Rollerblading. One and two are not mutually exclusive.

More on more… later

I picked up Barclays Bank last week during decline @ 31.40. I had been waiting for the drop since March, and upon falling past 31.70, it’s been a very attractive stock in my eyes. While practically all financials have had write downs and reevaluations, Barclay’s was forthcoming quite early, and didn’t hesitate to take action. As a result, they’ve ridden a very fine line against losses. BCS has also not taken the opportunity to raise capital, something I believe would help the stock. It has some great upside potential in my eyes. Should they choose to raise capital, I expect a buyout of an undervalued M&A or equities capital markets broker. The decline was an expected bump in the road, but of all banks Barclays calls peers (notably UBS and RBS), they were the most attractive.