The Dutch Octopus
Wednesday is Bastille Day in France and there will be no newsletter that day, because I have personal business to attend to.
Today our pro-Dutch reporter is preparing an octopus stew by chopping up lots of garlic while her buddies blow vuvuzelas. A German octopus correctly forecast every single winner in the World Cup which ended yesterday. with Spain the champion. Meanwhile an economist panel, having rightly predicted Spain would win its first-ever Mundial in a first poll, then revised its figures to produce a muddled message
It reminds me of Harry Truman who said: “what I need is a one-handed economist.” But an 8-handed creature, despite another octopus’s brilliant foresight (or perhaps because of it), is being sacrificed in Amsterdam.
Your editor thinks the best team won. Dutch fouls and far kicks tried to stop the Spanish who advanced with brilliant handovers and clockwork passes. The best moment was the arrival of 91-year Nelson Mandela, dressed for the South African winter in fur coat and hat.
The French are in soccer disgrace after their team lost its only match because les bleus turned on their manager and refused to practice. French chefs still make very good octopus stew being creative and self-indulgent, insubordinate and egotistical. This works better in cooking than in football.
The low point of the World Cup was the murder of 64 Ugandans watching the final game at two different sites. They were attacked by terrorists with a grievance not related to the game, reportedly from Somalia. As heightened security makes it harder to murder Israelis, Americans or Europeans, the Al-Queda terror machine is turning on softer targets like African sports fans.
In the market today, bad news is good news, for example that BP is trying a Notre Dame pass to try to stop the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, and also may cede shares to a Chinese takeover bid. It will sell its Alaska crown jewels to Apache Corp.
And good news is bad news. Banco Santander is being penalized for plans to further expand in South America and for its purchase today of the German branch network of Skandinavska Enskila Bank. These are marks of its management’s confidence in the STD balance sheet.
Your editor however is still frightened of the Spanish banking sector, however enamored of Spain’s football prowess.
So today paid subscribers are going to be told about a German specialty chemical stock to buy. It will have to be bought with a specialzed brokerage for international trading, like HSBC (my bank); Euro-Pacific Capital (Peter Schiff’s firm), or Lassalle St., a specialized brokerage whose principals are subscribers to this newsletter (tel: 407 539 1004). I could not do the trade with E-trade and my trying to do so is why this blog is late. We also have news from France, Britain, China, and Israel.
