International Comparison of Living Space Per Capita

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Nice chart from Nomura ... hard to be bearish on property in China looking at the big picture.

What's the deal with Russia? No one has upgraded from those squalid Soviet-era apartments, or what? My favorite movie of 2012 was 'Elena,' which features a suburban Moscow apartment block, beautifully placed next to a giant cooling tower. Those subtle Russian movies fill me with a dark joy.

How Much Lost Trading OXY?

Added on by C. Maoxian.

OXY was Monday's trading idea.  Assuming you got long that dummy spot in the morning, where was your initial stop? Could you have gone to breakeven by the end of the day?  When price rapidly reversed on Tuesday morning, how much of a hit did you take? 

White House West

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Architectural Digest has a feature on the Bush Ranch outside of Crawford Texas.  I noticed when viewing the satellite photos of the place that W. has a single golf hole there, approachable from opposite directions.  See it?

Movies Watched -- A Touch of Sin

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a movie by Jia Zhangke, a young Chinese filmmaker whom I joke makes copycat European arthouse films in the same way that other Chinese manufacturers make fake Gucci handbags and Rolex watches.  

There are four separate tragedies presented and the movie runs over two hours. The first is a pure revenge fantasy ... this movie obviously is banned in China because any kind of violent solution to the various social problems presented is a no-no.  I wasn't that thrilled with it, or any of Jia's other movies for that matter.