Been an interesting couple of days here, but I'm certainly looking forward to my next disappearance to Utah.

• BelowTheCat II (aka the big, black, furry guy) had developed the habit of pawing at my LCD screens, including the four above my desk and the big Sharp AQUOS in the living room. He goes nuts when Cramer is on, but really freaks out at Larry Kudlow's antics and starts pawing like he wants to kill. Smart cat.
• On that note, Barry offers a good translation from Kudlowish to standard English. And I should note that those who have met him in person at Milken Institute events tend to agree that his off-camera persona really is different, unlike Jim Cramer whose persona on TV is real...
• I met Prince Andrew last night. In the course of brief conversation I called him "dude." Probably should not have done that, but to his credit he did laugh and point out that he had been called far worse.
• Toddo's call for buying Apple (NasdaqGS:AAPL) calls with the stock around $120 yesterday was spot on the money. I'm in the same trade and feeling like this one has some legs to it despite already being up significantly in the face of a mostly down market. Tight stop around the $115 level in the stock.

It's been a busy few months. I've been dating, working and considering new career options. In between I've been writing very little. The Casey Saga came back and then went away again, as did fellow blogger Aspeth. I switched bars due to a minor fling with a regular at my previous regular bar. My neighborhood coffee place raised prices again, despite government assurances that there's no inflation.

In other news:

• Jeff Matthews has a take on the Google Guys that is spot on. I always thought that "Don't Be Evil" was an impossible goal for a company that was as large and influential as Google. Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. And Google is pretty powerful. A better goal might have been to set up the company in a manner that kept the evil in check. But when 2 guys control the bulk of the stock with super-voting rights, there is absolute and unchecked power over what the company does. Thus the squandering of company money on a 767, pet initiatives unrelated to their business focus, and other things that may eventually be the undoing of this great company. And yeah, I hate hypocrites, no matter how much I like their companies' products.
• Mish points out why the subprime bailout is a government sham, designed to make it look like they're doing something when they're not. As I pointed out to Mish in an email this afternoon, this proposal also ignores another fact. The people who might be helped by this are also the people least likely to want to stay in their homes for five years. In fact, they are the people most likely to have to move due to career, family or other considerations. When they need to move, sending in the keys to the bank will still be the best option.

I was away for a week for a brief birthday away and a family visit to New York.

The big black furball was apparently not all that happy. Within seconds of my return, he decided to "mark" my suitcase which was standing inside the front door. I also noted that he did similar things in the bathroom, near the litterbox. A complete change of the litterbox (which really wasn't overdue) and cleaning of the area with Nature's Miracle seems to have solved the problem. He hasn't repeated.

Still, got to get him used to me being out of the house a little more frequently.

This video is really cool:

-btc

Being a black cat on Friday the 13th can't possibly feel all that good.

I've been keeping a close eye on the fluffy one today, because along with Haloween, Friday the 13th is a date when the place goes into lockdown due to the nasty things that some evil people do to cats (and especially black ones) that are unfortunate enough to be found outside on these dates.

Fortunately, the big black furball took it all in stride. He's been lazy all day, alternating betwen his favorite green chair upstairs and one of my keyboards downstairs.

Time for a Snooze.

And yes, he has become a bit of a redhead...

It was a lazy, hazy Fourth in my part of the world. After several days of nonstop sun, the coastal overcast hit with a vengence, just in time to ruin everybody's beach day and ensure that half the fireworks in Marina Del Rey exploded inside the clouds and out of view.

But other than the reactions to occasional explosions outside, the cats took it all in stride.

The formally dressed one lounged around on the patio for much of the day. Strangely enough she couldn't even be bothered watching the resident birds.

While the big black furball hung around and eyed birds and squirrels while guarding the patio door. Good to have him there in case an army of terrorist meese, uh mouses, make that mices, should decide to ruin the holiday by invading the premises.

Sirius Pops provided all-American compositions throughout the day. A BBQ'd steak with leftover scraps for the feline population concluded the evening.

-btc

Wrath of the RHIGF

I spent my day snaking hairballs out of my shower drain.

The drain has become progressively worse and worse since my Raven Haired Italian Girl Friend (RHITF) stayed here a while back.

I believe I have now completely cleaned out all the long strands of raven-colored hair from the drain, and I can shower without quickly standing in dirty water up to my ankles.

Still, sort of miss having her here, though a recent shorter-haired visitor of Czech origin has made up for the company. Too bad she's returned home too.

Israel Passport Update

Well, I got the document as discussed the other day. But apparently only good for one year. It seems that the US government has been concerned about foreign nationals arriving here, "losing" their passports, and then getting new ones in an effort to avoid anybody noticing that they stayed far longer than their tourist visas permitted. This avoids their being blacklisted for future travel. In most cases passports are not even renewed: the person is usually given a one-way transit document good for only a few months and allowing the holder to go home.

I was allowed to get an actual passport because my old one which was issued in 1973 was "lost" so long ago and because there's no question of my legal status in the US. Still, at the US government's insistence, I can only get a 1 year document after reporting a loss. In six months I can go back and request that it be extended out for an additional nine years, upon proof of being here legally, which I already provided.

Yet another example of our Department of Homeland Security generating lots of rules and "action" with no real results.

Weekend Cat Update

The RHIGF is the source of only one type of problem hair this week. With the recent increase in temps, shedding activity has increased significantly. Time for some serious grooming.

Panorama Photo Update

Got myself this neat little device from Really Right Stuff, who make some of the coolest camera-support equipment available. I've calibrated it and did some experiments, and it's pretty fantastic. Don't have any really worthy images, but look for some soon. My 20mm lens seems to be just about perfect for panoramas on the digital Nikon.

iPhone Mania

My own take on this is that it'll open up the smartphone market for consumers in a way that it has never been open before. That said, as Kevin Wassong notes, it's not a device for my mom, and in truth is overkill for my needs too.

But it's not going to displace the BlackBerries in the business market until things like integration with enterprise email servers are worked out, and possibly not even then. I have not had good results with touch-screen keyboards of any size in the past and am somewhat skeptical of the reviews claiming that it's not an issue. Maybe not for casual consumer web surfing, but has a real crackberry addict tried it and liked it?

The Death of Biotech and Pharma

David Miller of Biotech Stock Research points out in this month's newsletter that it is quite possible that biotech and pharma, along with much of health care, is likely to become uninvestible in the coming years. Copyrighted stuff, so can only give tidbits here. Justifications for this are mostly political: in addition to the liklihood of more regulation and price controls, the FDA has come under so much political pressure to avoid approving drugs with risks, that the liklihood of approval has been signficiantly reduced, the liklihood of approval subject to ongoing re-evaluation much increased, and thus the costs of bringing something to market increased signficantly. At this point a drug that experiences significant side-effects in only 1% of the people who take it is being questioned. That type of scrutiny would have kept lots of current drugs off the market. It is a big deal.

He forecasts that in coming years, we'll see a move away from drugs that work for everybody and towards solutions that integrate genetic testing of the potential patient, with a selection of drugs that are uniquely suited to that patient. From my perspective, the problems with this will continue to be political. What if you come up with a drug that works well only with people whose "genetic identifier" includes the gene for blue eyes or low-skin pigmentation? Think the polticians won't intervene against a "racist" cure, even if grounded in good science?

Summer Travel

It looks like this summer's travel will be mostly related to my mom's upcoming move. While my brother and I are happy to finally see this happen, an August move in Manhattan is not sounding like fun.

Perhaps I'll manage to squeeze in a quick birthday trip to the mountains.

-btc

My tuxedo-wearing girl is typically a pretty active cat. But sometimes she can be the most serene creature I know:

It's October, and perfectly on cue, the big black furball has decided he needs to go outside.

Yes, in a neighborhood with a bunch of BB-gun and paintball-armed juvenile delinquents, on Friday the 13th, two weeks before Halloween, who else but Mister "Look at me I'm a big black cat!" would decided that he needs to explore?

Usually I can leave the garage door open all day and he won't move more than a foot past the edge. He won't even cross the driveway on most days.

But on Friday the 13th, he decided to try to make his own bad luck. And I ended up late for a meeting after chasing him down for half an hour.

Fortunately, he is usually quite happy to sit on my upstairs railing looking down on us lowly creatures in the living room. Unlike me, he prefers to be up above the crowd:

HE WHO MUST BE OBEYED!

I have spent much of the past two days figuring out the optimum technique for applying eye drops to a cat.

I have discovered that there is no such thing as an optimum technique for applying eye drops to a cat.

Wrap in a towel, hold down body with right arm, push up head with right hand while simultaneously pulling down the eyelid and applying drops from bottle in left hand seems to work best.

"Best" being a relative term.

Why would anybody think that something so warm and fuzzy could be scary or bad luck???

Chez BTC is in lockdown. The black furry one is a bit of an escape artist, and while he's never gone past the edge of the driveway, there's still no way a black cat of mine is going to be wandering outside on Halloween weekend.

-btc

The return from Ojai
Minyans in the Mountains was a fantastic experience, many new friends and experiences. And after extending the experience by hosting Laurie and Lisa in L.A., I'm still hung over. I'll have seperate commentary later.

Still No Inflation
But my local coffee place has raised prices 5-10% in my absence. Explanation? It's costing more to get everything delivered. Attempts to hold the line on price increases by increasing revenue from wireless internet and cutting back on non-essentials have not been sufficient.

Cat Relationships
Are a major pain. Things have settled down a bit between BTCat I and BTCat II. (Major props to cat-sitter Marie for dealing with them in my absence!) But hissing and snarling still breaks out. Tomorrow they're both off to the vet.

No Inflation
But my local beer and burgers place (OK, it's more than that) has raised prices on the menu for the second time this year and are cutting back on some things. My local coffee place has not changed prices much, but is now charging for wireless internet, which used to be free. One of the owner/managers explained that the cost of everything is going up and they're trying to hold the line on price increases by charging for some of the "extras."

Auto Parts Stores Still a Joke
I still can't get a windshield wiper blade to fit a current model Honda Accord from any of these jokers. But yesterday I had to drive around to three different stores just to get the various items I needed to clean and wax my car. And nobody stocks that basic great stuff -- cheesecloth -- anymore. I got it at a supermarket. In fact, I got most of the stuff (other than the Meguilar's wax) at a supermarket. I really don't know what the future is for these guys.

So Now Delta is Going Bankrupt Too?
Big surprise. I never finished penning the promised commentary on my recent experience with (among others) them. All I can say is good riddance. Time to let them fail and let the chips fall where they may. Eventually a world will emerge with much less capacity, where not everybody can afford a trip to New York for the weekend, and where airlines can be profitable. For those who thought ultra-cheap airfares were a birthright, I'm sorry.

Boing!
The above is clearly a negative for Boeing, no matter what justification the analysts pull out of their asses to justify continued expansion of the civilian fleet.

Cat Conundrum
Whatever allergic reaction I had presumed to be related to the arrival of BTCat II was either a temporary thing or a pure coincidence. Now, it's time for the long road towards reconcilliation and maybe even friendship between felines. Things seem to be calming down, but still at least one cat fight per day.

Off To Ojai
I'll be joining the Minyans in the Mountains, starting tomorrow and may have some comments coming out of that sure-to-be fantastic conference.

Overstuck
I've had some words over at Jeff Matthews' blog about Overstock.com (NasdaqNM:OSTK). I find these long/short battles to be fascinating and as I told one "fan" of mine by email yesterday, it seems that both sides are so adamant in the correctness of their position that they're willing to ignore huge amounts of public information. I continue to watch this fantastic theater from the sidelines, partly out of sheer boredom, partly because it kills me to sit by while people make allegations and assertions about issues for which there are solid facts available in the public domain. And for the record, I think the CEO is a looney, but wouldn't touch the stock either way.

H-P to buy Scitex for $230 million
As a veteran -- or maybe that should be refugee -- of HP's personal computing division, I always thought the Compaq merger, and most of the other things that went wrong during the tenure of Carly Fiorina came at the expense of potential growth and acquisitions in other areas. Nice to see that the new CEO is on track to do things that make more sense.

I shouldn't have delved into something as poltically charged as Bob Novak and his problems. This isn't a political blog, and the number of emails I've gotten from the poltically obsessed on both sides of the supposed political spectrum, is just not worth it. So if you're wondering why comments are now closed, that's why.

Can adding a second cat to an already cat-friendly household suddenly cause one to become allergic? Or do I just happen to have a cold at the same time. (For now, betting on a cold. I really do like the guy, though he and Clio still don't get along at all.)

Shortage of jet fuel looming at airports
The energy crunch of 2005 cannot be blamed on any single factor, as this article clearly explains. (Thanks to Jeff Matthews for pointing it out.) Refineries and pipelines have all failed to keep up with demand, and in many ways our political process has made it even worse.

BelowTheCat now has a companion.

She's not really treating him as such, but she'll wise up.

He's actually been here since Sunday, but they just met face-to-face today. Some difficulties ensued.

Hopefully things will settle down over the coming weeks.

I have received a letter from the Welk Resort Group. Apparently I have been carefully selected from among 67 families in my area for the unique opportunity to visit the Welk Resort San Diego and hear a sales pitch. They will also throw in a bunch of fun activities, or at least they think they're fun.

Ooops. They apparently have carefully selected a Mrs. BTC, not me. One day, perhaps I'll meet that wonderful woman somewhere...

And while I'm on the topic of wonderful women, it was quite nice to stop by Minyanville HQ while I was in New York. Most of the peeps were out, but I enjoyed a welcome handshake with Toddo, and brief meeting with Farley and Billy, then a longer conversation with the lovely and talented Vanessa, who is putting the final touches on MIM2.

With all the troubles with the space shuttle, I have regrettably come to the decision that America should dump any and all plans for space travel. One could obviously argue that the money is better spent elsewhere, and that "prestige" projects like the shuttle ceased to be relevant in the post-cold war world, but my argument is simpler. America just doesn't have the stomach for the risks that are inherent in space travel. The simple reality is that a commercial aircraft achieves the levels of safety it does only because of billions of hours of flight experience, and hundreds or thousands of carefully controlled test flights before an individual aircraft type is considered worthy of commercial use. By that standard, the entire world's experience in space is pretty much at the same stage the Wright Brothers after their first couple of years of flying. If we are not comfortable with the risks that are inevitable at this stage of the game, then we shouldn't be up there. Not in the shuttle and not in any successor vehicle which -- though more modern -- will inevitably be experimental in its own ways.

At last nights Socal Israel Chamber of Commerce event, one person in particular stood out. Not because he wasn't Israeli, or even Jewish. Not even because he was African American. The invite list was pretty broad and as the topic was digital-media focused (more on that tomorrow) there was pretty good response from outside the groups who would typically populate this organization's events.

This guy stood out because he was walking around offering his mortgage brokering services. As I've noted elsewhere, the trend of mortgage brokers inserting themselves into virtually all events one can go to -- even my local farmer's market -- is almost unprecedented. I last saw it during the late dotcom days, when all these individuals were naturally selling other types of opportunities.

BTCat is happy to see me, but very upset when I go out. Her new friend is due to arrive after my birthday party. Several difficult weeks of adjustmnt are expected.

Not unexpectedly, Sony continues to be in trouble, as the changeover to flat screen TVs continues to be a profitless upgrade cycle for most of the manufacturers. As I've noted before, I believe the only possible way to make money on this is through component makers. AU Optronics (NYSE:AUO) is probably the best pure play on LCDs and has been stuck in a pretty tight range for since the beginning of May.

A lesson I remember from the WFR Course, which the Boy Scouts apparently forgot is simple: heat exhaustion is not a heat problem, it is a water problem! Or more to the point, a problem due to lack of water. This is something anybody going to a Boy Scout Jamboree, or who spends any amount of time in the outdoors should know. It's almost as obvious as being careful about walking around with long metal poles under powerlines.

A good friend who is a former broker with a history of being a good tell, recently called me from downtown L.A. asking for a ride. Turns out he had just cashed out a bunch of his holdings and purchased silver coin from a dealer in the Jewelry District. He's also gotten out of brokerage completely and is back in school working on a new career in healthcare. Definitely not advice, but worthy of consideration.

Finally, I found my old copy of Extraordinary Popular Delusions on the shelf at mom's place. Always worth re-reading this classic, if for no better reason than to remind yourself of the need for continuous risk assessment and management, and to point out once again that the crowd frequently doesn't understand or consider the inevitable fallout of its irrational behavior.

I haven't been posting all that much lately, because there's really not all that much to say. Some, like CNBC, Jim Cramer and others who are paid to fill space, have tried to get people excited, but that's my style.

The markets aren't presenting many opportunities and in keeping with my lesson from early June, I'm not trying to force anything.

I didn't have any major comments related to anything I've heard out of Semicon, and get the feeling that Intel's awaited numbers will be a yawner.

In the lack of any real stimulus in either direction, I suspect markets could start to float up again and tomorrow I expect to start positioning a bit longer after taking my exposure pretty flat recently. This, somewhat in keeping with the thesis I pointed out on Friday.

In the meantime, I've cleaned the place up, shredded several years worth of stuff that was overdue for destruction, destroyed one shredder in the process, and possibly found a housemate for BelowTheCat.

-btc

I've been sick this past week and not really able to write much. In fact, it's been tough to even keep my balance, the ear infection was so bad.

Apparently, somebody got bored while I was in bed.

You can spend a small fortune on cat toys, cat furniture, scratching posts and all manner of other cat amusements only to find that fuzzy-face would prefer to shred a roll of toilet paper or carry around a piece of string all day long.

Can't live without them though.

-btc

It's been a tired and sick week here at Chez BTC. After returning from New York on Tuesday, I have been suffering from a bad cold that may have turned into an ear infection. At least that's the way my right ear feels at the moment.

But it's Saturday, so unless things develop into a real emergency that would justify an ER visit, I'll have to wait until Monday and then fight for a space among all the other people who have been forced to put off seeing a doctor since Friday afternoon.

It would be much easier if I were a cat.

My vet, as it so happens, keeps weekend hours. Open every Saturday and Sunday, for most of the day. True, not every one of the vets on staff is there on any given day. They set and adjust their schedules by individual needs and desires. But there's always a full staff who can handle routine stuff and always at least one surgeon on call during the day.

So why is BelowTheCat getting this exemplary service but I can't find it for myself?

• Moving to a place that is walking distance from the best pizza in LA could turn out to have been a mistake.
• Cats apparently take longer to adjust to new surroundings than people. The presence of cat hair on the keyboard suggests that the adjustment process has completed.
• My new cable system offers Bloomberg. Not having to listen to the cheerleaders ranting on that other network has done wonders for my blood pressure.
• I am hearing some upbeat comments from friends at smaller software companies both here in the Southland and up in Silicon Valley. While I am somewhat pessimistic about the hardware business I am watching the applications side for opportunities.