More Volatility Probably In Store, Bob Johnson of BET, Mitt Romney at Bain, and Mobile Payments!!!!

Well, it was another topsy turvey roller coaster ride in the financial markets last week as the market ended the week up after one big down day. It is probably too much to expect to have a non eventful week, as between earnings reports and the daily events in Europe, investors are probably in for continued volatility. Many leading investors believe the market is still very cheap, and I agree. Getting the rest of the world to see the same thing is out of anyone’s control. You keep looking for lots of value, whatever you think that is, and go from there. I still continue to maintain a big issue is the leveraged ETF’s amd High Frequency Traders front running trades based on momentum, which is not investing. It is taking advantage of technology for a zero sum game trade, but ultimately, guys like Jim Rodgers, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, etc are not practicing this market behavior, or I would suspect not. Great interview with Black Entertainment Television Founder Bob Johnson, who sold out to Viacom and made a ton- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/business/robert-l-johnson-anger-has-no-place-in-business.html?_r=1&ref=business In my estimation, the best Republican candidate is Mitt Romney, and it is not even close. Here is some more background on his time at Bain Capital, with some shots taken, as usual, by the NY Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/politics/after-mitt-romney-deal-company-showed-profits-and-then-layoffs.html?ref=business Mobile payments are surging, and will continue to grow, so here is some more information about this market from Ebay, Google, and Paypal: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/how-google-ebay-and-paypal-are-gearing-up-for-a-very-mobile-holiday-shopping-season/ I hope everyone has a great few weeks before Thanksgiving, and if you have any comments, questions, or thoughts, to share, please post!!!!! As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk of losses on invested capital. One should research any investment and make sure it is suitable with your objectives, risk tolerance, risk profile liquidity considerations, tax situation, and anything else pertinent to your financial situation. Also, the CFA credential in no way implies investment returns will be superior for any charterholder. Yale Bock, CFA