6 January 2011 Hey Buddy Can You Spare a Berkshare

BAGAKOAA 6 January 2011 Hey Buddy Can You Spare a Berkshare

We weren’t able to keep close tabs on the market today, but from the occasional sound bite we were getting, the skepticism about the ADP report yesterday lingered into the trading pits today. Volume stayed even with yesterday, but I think many are waiting to see what the jobs number tomorrow will bring. The ADP number has everyone primed for big blow out. If we don’t get it, look for a 2-3% correction.

As I mentioned, we did not get a chance to play much today. We did make a nice 24.4% profit on a May 8 dollar put for Talbot. If you recall we indicated here that some forward looking (2011) comments by analysts was making the future look a little cloudy and today the May Puts provided some upside.

As a refresher for those that need it, a put option is the right, but not the obligation, to sell a stock at a predetermined price on a future date. In essence if you are feeling bearish about an equity, you would buy a put option and wait for the stock to go down. When it goes down, you make a profit. There is probably more downside to this Put, but I wanted to take a 24% gain after a week and half. Not too shabby.

What’s a Berkshare Worth?

Have you ever heard of these things? A Berkshare is a monetary device known as an alternative local currency. That’s right, it is used in lieu of the almighty dollar. So far there are almost 3 million Berkshares in circulation. It is used by merchants in and around the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.

Berkshares are not a one off. There are many ALCs in the US and Canada. The ALCs in Canada sprouted a few years ago when the Loon went crazy against the US dollar. With the desperate state of affairs in many of our US states, we could see more local communities adapt their own currencies.

Now this plays right into the kind of doomsday scenario one of readers really likes, BUT (Behold the Underlying Truth) the more I read about ALCs and the recent proliferation of “US Dollars not accepted here” scenarios popping up all over the globe, and the the recent agreement between Russia and China to Trade in each other currencies versus the traditional US Dollar petro exchange, could get a few folk antsy.

Imagine if the US Dollar were not the Global Reserve Currency. We are going to do some economic and historical investigating when we get time, but this is an interesting scenario to kick around.

Rednecks of the World Unite.

The term Redneck dates back to the 1890s when describing white southern farmers as they would be in the fields all day and get burned on the back of their necks. The use has now grown to include those individuals who might also be called hillbilly, “White Trash”, and my favorite the little used “Cracker”.

Anyway, we took possession of our temporary kitchen quarters today and I could only think of the Jeff Foxworthy Joke, “If your wealthiest relative just got a new home and asks you to come over and take off the wheels, you might be a redneck.” Have a looksee and set a spell as the little woman will be fixin up some victuals.

This was written from inside our home, our first night in the house since December 22.  It good to do a propper blog again.
 
Salve Lucrum