Friday Morning: Shaq, Kass and Sentiment

By Chip Hanlon | June 27, 2008 | 11:35 AM | 6 Comments

Let's take them in opposite order of this post's title.

Sentiment 

The VIX closed at just a little under 24 yesterday. Yawn.  Total CBOE put/call ratio? 1.14. Reaching above 1 (more puts than calls purchased) is at least encouraging, but a panic-type reading would see this level solidly above 1.3.  In other words: for a 300-point down day, there was indeed far too much complacency. There's no evidence this market has washed out yet.

Doug Kass

What should the Fed have done? Doug Kass had the perfect line before the Fed met earlier this week, saying, "the consumer would be more helped by reining in food and energy costs than he would be penalized by higher short term interest rates." Amen.

Ben Bernanke may fear the economic consequences should he lift interest rates. Problem is, higher oil prices will deliver recession, anyway, if he doesn't.  Might as well at least defend the dollar if economic weakness is in our future, regardless.

Shaq

See the video of Shaquille O'Neal's recent rap? It was so pathetic I'm not even going to link to it like I typically would.  What do I see as the worst part of his "performance?"  Not the actual dig at Kobe-- their bratty, ongoing tiff is hardly worth mentioning and represents what makes today's NBA virtually unwatchable to this sports fan. The fact Shaq lost some of his volunteer Sheriff badges? Nah.

The most repulsive part of Shaq's rap was the part where he ripped Kareem Abdul Jabbar and insulted him as an inferior center.  Absurd. In fact, I still believe that Kareem routinely gets slighted in every "best player ever" conversation. You know how it starts... the conversation begins with Jordan, goes to Magic, then Bird, etc.

Wait just a second. As far as I'm aware, there has only been one player in the history of the NBA that no other player in history could have guarded: Kareem. In the Lakers half court set, everyone knew exactly who the ball was going to and exactly what shot was going up (the sky hook), but there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it. Kareem got the ball so frequently in crunch time-- essentially everytime-- that it just became routine.

That's in stark contrast to Shaq, who couldn't touch the ball in the last 5 minutes because it would essentially result in a turnover-- foul him, rebound the missed free throw and go the other way.  You can't be the MDE-- the 'most dominant ever," as Shaq humbly refers to himself-- if your teammates won't let you touch the ball in the 4th quarter.

I grew up in So Cal with the Showtime Lakers. I knew Kareem Jabbar.  Kareem Jabbar was a friend of mine. Shaq the Rapper, you're no Kareem Jabbar.

Hey Editor Before the open on May 16 with the S&P 500 at 1423.57, Jim, you penned a column questioning "the short-term prospects of the market". At that time the S&P 500 had increased 11.8% off its closing low on March 10, was at a four month closing high and had increased 1% the previous day. The VIX was at a 7 month closing low and investors were apparently singing in unison "Happy days are here again ...". But in your column you had the foresight to question a market that was only "buoyed by sectors that are fundamentally inflationary". You noted that "high oil prices haven't affected the major indices that greatly" and questioned "Can this phenomenon continue?" You noted that the rally "will become threatened by continued evidence of inflation". Soon we had the answer. Two market days later the market peaked on a closing basis 0.21% higher and has headed south ever since. You nailed the short-term prospects of the market. You nailed the essential reasons why traders should fear the market even though it was then in a strong up trend and at a four month closing high. You nailed that oil shouldn't be causing a rally, but rather causing concern. You nailed inflation. And you nailed it all during a strong stock market up trend - even almost at the high - not during or after the down turn. And you were able to publish such foresight at 1:27 AM! The S&P 500 is now down about 10% from when you penned your column. Kudos. Kudos. Kudos. I hope to see more columns written by you addressing your overall feel for the market. I know that your May 16 column will be almost impossible to top. But I also know from past experience that you have an excellent feel for the market and readers including myself could prosper from your insight. Your prescient piece published on May 16, 2008 at 1:27 AM: http://www.greenfaucet.com/traders-talk/can-energy-continue-to-lead-the-market John Slagle Submitted by John S on Fri, 2008/06/27 - 1:10pm » reply |

Don't worry-- Even though he Don't worry-- Even though he lost his Maricopa County Police Dept. badge, his dream of becoming a full-time deputy could still come true; the Tempe Police Department is letting him keep his badge. Submitted by LingCR on Fri, 2008/06/27 - 11:55am » reply |

I prefer Lew Alcindor He had the all the tools. However, he only tried during the playoffs. Submitted by Jim Slagle on Fri, 2008/06/27 - 11:52am » reply |

Shaq is sooooooooo Shaq is sooooooooo overrated. If they didn't ignore the rules and just let him plow backwards through positioned defenders on his way to the basket the guy would have averaged single digits. GREAT call! Submitted by jriles on Fri, 2008/06/27 - 11:46am » reply |