Movies Watched -- Jodorowsky's Dune

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Kind of interesting, the story of a sci-fi movie that was never made ... Jodorowsky seems like a lovable lunatic ... he assembled a crew of talented characters in the mid-1970s, especially the artists HR Giger, Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, and Chris Foss, to work on his vision -- the storyboards they created are amazing.  Hollywood wisely didn't touch the project because they anticipated it would go over budget and wouldn't be 90 minutes long. There was a Dune movie made, directed by David Lynch, but it was a disaster.

I was interested to know what drugs were being consumed by everyone back then ... did Jodorowsky have some source of amazing Mexican weed? Recommended if you're interested in movie history. 

"Dees bastards with dee sheet, I mean dee money, wouldn't fund my insane, drug-addled vision!"

Pandora Pop, 1 Minute View

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Supposedly a rumor of a buyout ... Pandora's Music Genome Project is valuable ... not sure who would buy them though, Apple? Day traders don't care ... it's just a trade.

VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Was unaware that this existed before Friday ... ticker symbol UWTI (U for Ultra, WTI for West Texas Intermediate, I suppose) ... this shows how out of touch I am ... if it doesn't cross my radar, I just have no idea about it. 

Salix Pop, 1 Minute View

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Salix Pharma (yes, another biotech stock) popped on a $175 buyout offer ... the scanner of course would pick this up at 12:40 PM and assuming you weren't at lunch (or fast asleep in China), you would have gotten in early enough to make a few bucks. 

Nanex posted a millisecond chart of SLXP on Twitter ... this is a slightly better look than my $9.99 a month datafeed can give. 

Acadia Pop, 1 Minute View

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Rare bit of up on a very down day ... Acadia Pharma (yes, another biotech stock) moving up from the open, quietly though, not sure I would have noticed ... but at lunchtime it got unusually active and I probably wouldn't have missed it (no scanner report from last night available, but I can guess). 

By the time this news appeared, the top was in of course:

Acadia Surges as Canceled Events Lead to Deal Speculation 2:36 PM EDT March 10, 2015

House of Cards -- Season Three

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Finished it today, what, ten days after it was released? So not exactly a binge. The show hasn't jumped the shark quite yet, but maybe soon? The homoerotic stuff makes me uncomfortable. Kevin Spacey has never struck me as a tough guy ... he might be a ruthless sociopath, but the softness (and pudginess) I see in him messes up the image for me.

Stamper works better as an evil guy because he's so lean (even more gaunt after his recovery). The same is true of Putin, er, Petrov.

Robin Wright reminds me of Rachel in Blade Runner ... the perfect posture, the poise, the diction, the clothes, the bleached teeth (and hair), the Stepford Wife / Ice Queen thing. Season three takes a twist on her sociopath story, not sure if it makes sense. 

Again (like Bosch), this show probably appeals to late Boomers and Gen X. Not sure if the kids (Gen Y and Millennials) care for it.  I can still recommend it to members of the liberal coastal elite; the show won't fly in flyover country. My selected screenshots below.

Cast: Kevin Spacey (b. 1959); Robin Wright (b. 1966); Michael Kelly (b. 1969); Mahershala Ali (b. 1974); Molly Parker (b. 1972); Elizabeth Marvel (b. 1969); Jayne Atkinson (b. 1959)

ETF Trading Portfolio Update -- March 9, 2015

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Important change as the TBT reverses ... I've been long the TLT (short interest rates) this way since September 2013 (!), but will now switch sides.  When the ^TYX went briefly below 2.25% on 1/30/2015 (see bottom chart), that may have marked some kind of generational low ... time will tell (and I'm always happy to reverse position when prices dictate).

Long view of the long bond: