Mark Cuban Switches to Offense

You were probably sleeping last night at 2:41 AM est so I don't blame you if you haven't gotten to Mark Cuban's latest blog post.

It seems he is working overtime to generally discredit the SEC at the same time that they are working furiously to prosecute him.

Cuban's Friday night reading list included the Office of Inspector General’s Report to Congress regarding the SEC, a report I didn't know existed and wouldn't know where to find without Google. In his post Cuban takes issue with two things in particular - lax trading rules for SEC employees that clearly traffic in material non-public information, and an alleged retaliatory investigation by SEC staffers.

He also takes issue with the fact that the SEC tried to slip the report out on the Friday after Thanksgiving when no one is paying attention. This whole thing has bacome an interesting case of "who's watching the watchers" and Cuban as the central figure ensures that the story will get more than enough attention in the press. This should be good.

Five Wonderful Days

No, I'm not talking about our Thanksgiving break.

It is generally accepted that during the depths of a bear market, most amateur market participants have ceased liking the market, moved past hating the market and are so worn out that they cease caring. In this environment, stocks can have breathtaking up moves with nobody seeming to notice.

In the five days ending Friday, the S&P 500 rose 19.1%. That's a big move and I haven't heard anyone outside of CNBC mention it. In fact, when I was having lunch yesterday a bartender who kind of knows what I do went out of his way to mention how bad the market is.

I'm not saying that the bottom is in. I am saying that long-term investors can't afford to miss too many 20% moves. Unfortunately, the next 10% is more likely down than up.

Up is still good.

The Bad News Is

That it is raining. No golf today. Edit: Freezing snow. Yikes.

The good news is that I will be able to delay putting up the Christmas lights for one more week.

Newspapers Win One for a Change

CBS' 60 Minutes has been promoting their expose on Internet gambling all week. The episode will run tonight.

The Washington Post this morning is running the same story.

I was surprised when I began reading the story - at first I assumed it was a large coincidence. I was somehow more surprised when I realized that the story had been done jointly and that 60 Minutes appears to have agreed to let the Post get the story out first.

"Unlike brick-and-mortar casinos that undergo rigorous security checks, many Internet gambling sites operate in a shadowy world of little regulation and even less enforcement, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and CBS's "60 Minutes" has found. Dozens of these sites are located in countries with no reporting requirements. The licensing agencies there essentially operate as pay-as-you-go boutiques, generating millions of dollars in fees while showing little interest in policing rogue sites. "

It's clear that scheduled TV is in the process of largely becoming something else. There are far fewer people tuning in weekly to watch the same thing at the same time. 60 Minutes is one such program, and I still look forward to it. That they agreed to be scooped by a "partner" is tough to comprehend.

Be Very Quiet

Quick check-in from Woodstock NY.

There isn't much going on from my vantage point. The scene from the 5:00 am opening of Macy's was not exactly frantic. The worst retail Christmas ever? I'm not sure but it's bad.

God bless everyone in Mumbai and those with friends and family there.

Happy Thanksgiving

Futures are down and nothing is going on. We get a bunch of economic news this morning which will be noisy and not-too-meaningful in the big picture.

I don't have much to say today. I'll be back over the weekend.

Enjoy the family and don't eat too much.