That is what a wise man once said…

Today I saw on CNBC that Perma Bull Jim Cramer did his Doug Kass impersonation and made his low of the year market call.  I’ve seen some clips of the recent interviews on Bloomberg and CNBC featuring Meredith Whitney, Nouriel Roubini, Gene Munster, Dick Bove, etc. and if you’ve read my CNBC cheat sheet you too can be a psychic and guess what they had to say.  These days I’m inclined to just put my TV on mute whenever someone from the CNBC cheat sheet appears because I can already tell what they will have to say.

The problem here is that we are all biased with an opinion.  Just about every market prognosticator brought on air has some sort of position in the market.  Whether it’s called “talking your book” or “reflexivity” or simply stating an opinion because it’s their job to, we can never truly be neutral making market predictions if we have a vested stake.

Remember Cramer also said to buy Bear Stearns and Kass also said to buy Lehman Brothers before both companies wound up in bankruptcy.  It just goes to show you that you really have to do your homework and you can’t rely on the flip flop positions of the CNBC commentators.

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So I’ve been reading “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis and it confirms a lot of my cynicism towards Wall Street- how markets are rigged by white collar criminals and how the media and government are generally delusional in their endless optimism.

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Image taken from my iPhone

I go to a nearby gym four to five times a week where I exercise by running on a treadmill.  What I have noticed over time is that some fellow runners (especially women) make it a point to cover their treadmill’s screens with a towel. It’s as if these runners make an intentional effort to hide the numbers that are displayed on the treadmill- the total miles run, pace, elevation, calories burned, etc. I’ve been thinking about their approach to running on the treadmill and I believe that there are valuable lessons that may be applied to investing.

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Alright so I’m not one to typically cuss. After all, yours truly is supposed to be a nice geek. However, the price action this morning in Dendreon [DNDN], a stock I have a position in, is a reminder of how Wall Streek F*cks like Elliot Favus make up stories to possibly profit from a sudden price swing.

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