The Big Picture

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• Connecting with the Fluid Consumer
• WSJ: Do you spend more or less time on Facebook now than you did a year ago?
• 10 Mid-Week PM Reads
• ‘Brand Love’ Index Score
• Found: MFGlobal Monies!
• A Real Phony
• Why the Fed Trumps Weakening Economy
• 10 Mid-Week AM Reads
• Ritholtz: Economy’s Lousy, But US Stocks Still Look Good
• ADP private job adds a touch light

Connecting with the Fluid Consumer Posted: 02 Feb 2012 01:30 AM PST Connecting with the Fluid Consumer: iStrategy 2012 View more presentations from Critical Mass

WSJ: Do you spend more or less time on Facebook now than you did a year ago? Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:30 PM PST Great question from WSJ’s DealJournal: > Do you spend more or less time on Facebook now than you did a year ago?

10 Mid-Week PM Reads Posted: 01 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST My train reading: • Europe May Be Planning 1.5 Trillion Euro Backstop Fund (Spiegel.de) versus Hedge Funds Brace for Euro Zone Break-Up (NYT) • This is HILARIOUS: SEC Enforcement Actions (Securities and Exchange Commission) • Why use an advisor? Scapegoats and Trigger Men (The Reformed Broker) • The Man Who Fired Greenspan (Naked Capitalism) • Fed Two-fer: …..-I Don’t See How This Can Continue (Tim Duy’s Fed Watch) …..-Consumer Saving is not Usually a Bad Thing (Bob McTeer’s Blog) • Facebook's IPO will be way overvalued (Market Watch) • Where Would We Be Without Apple & CAT? (WSJ) see also An Apple TV set in 2012? (Fortune) • To Colleagues: I’m Outta Here (WSJ) • CBS Greenlights Comedy From Louis C.K., Spike Feresten (Hollywood Reporter) • Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business (The Onion) What are you reading? > Down with the Ship? Not so fast!

‘Brand Love’ Index Score Posted: 01 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST How do you feel about brands you use? Click to enlarge: Source: The Future Wealth Report January 2012

Found: MFGlobal Monies! Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:38 AM PST Authorities believe they have traced more than 90% of client monies prior to subsequent transfers from MF Global. Here’s Dealbook: “Investigators have determined what happened to nearly all of the customer money that disappeared from MF Global around the time of its bankruptcy last Oct. 31, but have not publicly disclosed their progress, fearing that doing so might cripple efforts to recover the cash and pursue potential wrongdoing, people briefed on the investigation said. While authorities have traced hundreds of millions of dollars to banks, MF Global's trading partners and even the firm's securities customers, investigators remain uncertain about whether they can retrieve the money. Some recipients were entitled to payouts from MF Global, which could make clawing back the money difficult. For instance, securities customers withdrawing their money as MF Global began to collapse were paid from accounts that belonged to futures clients, according to other people briefed on the matter.” I expect we will see JPMorgan (JPM) as a counter-party recieved lots of that cash. > Source: After a Delay, MF Global's Missing Money Is Traced By BEN PROTESS and AZAM AHMED Dealbook, January 31, 2012, 9:42 pm http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/mf-globals-missing-money-is-slowly-being-tracked-down/

A Real Phony Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST Frederick Sheehan is the co-author of Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve. His new book, Panderer for Power: The True Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession, was published by McGraw-Hill in November 2009. He was Director of Asset Allocation Services at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston. In this capacity, he set investment policy and asset allocation for institutional pension plans. ˜˜˜ “You’re wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you’re right. She isn’t a phony because she’s a real phony. She really believes all this crap she believes. You can’t talk her out of it…. She’s nuts.” -Of Holly Golightly, from Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) ~~~ “While central planning may no longer be a credible form of economic organization, the intellectual battle for its rival – free-market capitalism – is far from won.” “Anti-capitalist virulence appears strongest from those who confuse “crony capitalism” with free markets. Crony capitalism abounds when government leaders, usually in exchange for political support, routinely bestow favours on private-sector individuals or businesses. That is not capitalism. It is called corruption.” -Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, GREENSPAN, who centrally controlled and underpriced the most over-leveraged interest rate in the world for 18 years and is now cashing in like a reality TV celebrity. Financial Times, January 30, 2012, under the fanciful title: “Meddle with the Market at Your Peril”

Why the Fed Trumps Weakening Economy Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:53 AM PST Here’s my (2nd) Yahoo Finance video from yesterday: > Click for video > First video is here A Housing Bottom Is Nowhere In Sight; there’s a nother in the queue

10 Mid-Week AM Reads Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:48 AM PST My reads this AM: • Worst Profits Since 2006 Fail to Dent Rally in Europe Stocks (McClatchy) • Rating Firms Face Pressure on Hill (WSJ) • The pitfalls of the Facebook IPO (LA Times) see also Personal Data's Value? Facebook Is Set to Find Out (NYT) • Apple Invades $3.8 Trillion Wintel Office Market With iPad as Wedge (Bloomberg) • Europe is stuck on life support (FT.com) • Blaming the messenger: Greece’s chief statistician under fire (McClatchy) see also Greek Bondholders Are Said Set to Get GDP-Revival Sweetener in Debt Swap (Bloomberg) • How Swedes And Norwegians Broke The Power Of The '1 Percent’ (Business Insider) • The man who shaped Obama's drive to hold banks accountable (Washington Post) • Europe’s debt crisis: Where things stand (MoneyCNN) • FAQ: the crackdown on insider trading in Congress (Washington Post) What are you reading? > Home prices still falling Source: Washington Post

Ritholtz: Economy’s Lousy, But US Stocks Still Look Good Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:34 AM PST Yesterday morning (January 31, 2012), I recorded this video with Yahoo Daily Ticker: > Source: Barry Ritholtz: Yes, The Economy's Lousy, But Stocks Still Look Good

ADP private job adds a touch light Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:53 AM PST ADP said 170k private sector jobs were added in Jan, 12k below estimates and Dec was revised down by 33k to 292k. The Dec figure though is still well above the Government Payroll figure of 212k reported last month. Also, ADP reported a 204k job gain in Dec while the Government said it was 120k. Thus, the discrepancy remains between the two data points month to month but over time they come close after revisions. Getting into the details of the report, the Goods producing sector added 18k jobs, 10k of which were in manufacturing and construction added 2k. The Service providing job gains totaled 152k led as usual by small and medium sized businesses. Bottom line, the 170k figure compares to the 2011 monthly average of 160k and thus points to a continued recovery but the mediocre pace this far into a recovery still remains frustrating. Friday’s estimate for private sector payroll gains are 165k, about in line with today’s report. Overall gains are expected to total 145k as the government sector continues to shed jobs.

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