Thank God It's Friday!

It's been a long rough week. I had no idea that being a house man took that much time. How did I ever have time to work?

The day usually starts around 6am for the first cup of java and to check the Dow and Nasdaq futures. Then a close monitoring of the activity around the opening bell.

After sending of the missus to work (to bring home the bacon), I have my breakfast and read WSJ. The morning is filled with idea creation, research of potential investment strategies and tracking of the current positions. I have lunch around 1pm, right after the closing bell but keep watching the after hours.

I do some exercise around 2pm - biking and/or working out. Then it's movie time which has been challenging this week due to the great sunny weather. Our living room faces west so around 3-6pm it's like a sauna. I usually fall asleep halfway into the movie and wake up around sunset at 6-6:30pm when it start to feel a little chilly.

The evening starts with a glass of red wine and the preparation of the dinner. It's either very well planned or just on impulse. The missus arrives around 7pm and we discuss the daily highlights and have dinner together.

Then I enter into the state of deep contemplation, either reading or thinking. Usually ending up falling asleep around 9:30pm while watching an early episode of Frazier or the Monk.

So you see, I deserve some slacking time this weekend!

Go Martha! Go Martha!

I've with great interest been following the Martha madness since she got out of prison. Not that I'm that interested in her or her products. I think she represents a very old world view and stuffy attitude towards such fun activities as cooking and gardening. I understand that she doesn't try to cater to my consumer needs and if she did she would be in trouble. No, she is looking to satisfy the house wife from the fifties that honors matching pillow tops and having the meal ready when the husband arrives.

My interest is purely financial. I noticed on the day of her release that her stock was hitting an almost all-time high of $37 intra-day. I looked through the key statistics: current earnings, future growth (top and bottom line) as well as guidance. I wanted to find out where this mega growth was going to come from that the stock price implied. I mean, the stock had gone from around $10 in the middle of last year to $37 last friday. There has to be a story, I thought!

I did the math in my crazy mind giving MSO a generous P/E of 30 and therefor a projected EBITDA of $62MM this year. I quickly found out that the company LOST over $60MM last year and is not planning to get back in black until 2006. The P/E on Friday was 800 and the top line growth negative.

Hmm, this is the first no-brainer short I've seen for a long time, I thought. The company doesn't make money, is not planning to make money and former executives are selling their stocks. It just have to get a Fibonacci haircut, possible retracement of 38%, 50% or even 62%. We have so far seen a drop of 32% in 4 trading days and my target is $18 within the next 3-4 days. But it could get close to $10 in a few weeks.

Martha - I'm slowly becoming a great fan! ;)

Things Are Coming Together

The Salice Salentino is a little young but works for a lazy late afternoon. The sun has still another hour before it desends and our venetian shades are at 45 degrees. Spring is finally here and I enjoyed the first day in months, only dressed in jeans and t-shirt. You cannot beat that feeling.

I believe my body and soul is becoming accustomed to a life of leisure. I'm starting my 4th week off and I feel very carefree. I still have a few things on my to do list to knock off and today was very productive. I think I executed as many as four, including leaving our house and venture into the world.

I even went for a short bike ride and did a very basic workout. Not bad. I hope my to do list will be terminated by friday so I can spend the next 8 weeks just doing nothing.