Meanwhile, aboard The Errol Flynn–where I am just as connected as I am when I am back at The Factory–Flash and I are entertaining Cary, Pinky, Holly and Amanda. Flash is in an apprenticeship program, and I have just given him a new incentive: his own Bloomberg terminal. You’ll get to know Flash in time. He’s someone everyone needs to know at some point. Like the rest of the cast here at the set of the richest man on the planet, Flash adds an immense amount of value.

“WHAT?” Flash asked, “You think gold might pull back?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I admitted, “That’s why I sold the majority of it.”

“You said you wouldn’t sell it till it hit $10,000 per oz. Why the switch?”

“I still think it’s going to $10,000 an ounce,” I smirked, “but I am cautious in the short term. I think we could see a pullback more severe than I want to sit through. Besides that, there are so many things that I want to buy now. And I can always get right back into gold whenever I choose.

Gold is crowded here–is there a gold bear anywhere? I haven’t met one in weeks.” I continued. “What’s more, I haven’t seen or heard from a bull in stocks in what seems like months. There are too many bulls in gold and too many bears in stocks.”

“So what are you buying?”

“Calls in everything–especially financials like Goldie (GS). I haven’t been this bullish in a while. You know I love the bull side–particularly when there are too many bears.”

Then Pinky called and said to meet her in the lounge, where we sang with Cary Okie.

Flash didn’t even show up to the party in the sky; he stayed back in the office lost in his new Bloomberg. Flash is one of the greatest traders I’ve known. And he is just getting started.

And the beat goes on.

Dedication: My yoga pals I spent time with in Ubud.
“Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud and one the stars.”
–Frederick Langbridge (1849-1933)

Earlier today I was closing some deals when I remembered that it was time for me to address the eBusiness Cashual nation. I started eBusiness Cashual (eBC) while traversing a myriad of sumptuous hotels and satellite castles that Robin Leach could only add to his champagne wishes and caviar dreams. It was within these undisclosed locations that I made my formal Cashual breakthrough: my rags to riches tale is fodder for more than a Hollywood epic. I had undervalued myself—I had a higher purpose.

As this indubitable knowledge materialized, the eBC concept was conceived—yet it remained unborn. The possibility hung in the air in front of me like a 15-year-old awaiting his driver’s test. Still the dream was taking form, and I believed in it.

Laboring to birth my business brain-child, I considered the most important aspects of industry and production. The best businesses are the ones that empower others to create their own businesses. Think eBay or Google or Amway. How many people have founded businesses upon the generous platforms of the these giants? The catch: though free to a large audience, these businesses do require some fees to be paid. Someone is taking a cut. But If I could come up with a business so robust that it was impervious to these cagey cuts, a profit would be profit.

Now I have transcended entrepreneur and become philosopher. If I define my business as one that empowers others, but also disables the process of profit skimming, I may just have a new concept: the reverse pyramid scheme!

Standing atop my pyramid and reveling in my intellectual bounds, I realized after all, it is all about me. In attempting to explain how it wasn’t, I confirmed that it was. The best businesses are free to a very large audience, are viral, and no one else takes a cut of the profit. Deducing through the algorithm, it becomes clear: The best businesses are lifestyles.

Thus the painfully beautiful birth of eBC—the lifestyle of Vinnie Vega—sprawling in it’s newborn purity before you. EBC is a collaborative enterprise contact management cloud solution from which we can all gain. It is what it is. There is no face or book in it. Here at eBC, we start in the street, steady on our feet, and we always keep it eBusiness Cashual.

We Love You eBC.

Meanwhile, as the world turns, so does the Factory and it’s cast of characters. X is monitoring world events; The Consigliere continues to build his law firm specializing in the law of attraction; Pinky Megiston is beautiful; and Anything Anywhere! seeks more avenues through which he can add value.

Apart from all that, sovereign risk spreads are igniting. The dollar is catching a flight to safety bid and stocks are crushing lower–the S&P 500 is off about 2.5% as I write. Gold and silver have been pummeled most severely, off 4% and 5.5% respectively.

Sovereign risk spreads have risen dramatically this week, led by the European majors. Holders of sovereign debt—in particular Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain—are running for cover. Not surprisingly, politicians will blame these events on speculators. However, a closer look at the money flows reveals true fear: real money is fleeing sovereign debt (selling government bonds) as opposed to speculators driving risk higher by buying credit default swaps (insurance). Nations with the largest deficits and the most in need of short term financing are being sold the hardest.

Dubai has continued to see risk premiums rise, as it scrambles unsuccessfully to sell off some of it’s holdings. Like a skydiver free-falling through the air, Dubai is reaching for it’s reserve chute. The velocity is building to the perilous downside. Hope is not a viable strategy here and now; but other than bluff, it may be all they have.

The crash of 2009 was not foiled—it was postponed.

We are sitting on the precipice of something special. An event where fortunes will be made and lost. Great art will be inspired, and an ageless tale will be re-told.

And the beat goes on.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Flash and I are discussing life and markets. Flash has been on and off the payroll for years. Strategically, I employ him as a sometimes/sometimes-not consultant. I remember when I knew he and I would work together. We had met through some money dealers in Asia, and he was describing some of his best trades.

“You’ve had a lot of great trades. How did you prime for so many good ones?” I asked.

“By being able to stomach the bad ones,” he smirked.

Ever since then, Flash and I have collaborated. If you’d like to communicate with him directly, try him at flash at mrvolatility dot com.

Positioning

My year end positioning remains the same. The trend in gold and silver remains up, and I am still looking for new highs into year end. In this instance, I am not the market. Be that as it may, I can control my entries and exits. I continue to monitor world events. Like any other trade, the most important thing is the exit plan. Don’t let winners turn into losers.

Private Eye

Due to the media’s obsession with sports icons at the moment, I feel it appropriate to update my readership connection on my relationship with Pinky Megiston. Here is the deal: our relationship continues to be appropriately inappropriate. I will explain. Pinky is my client in that she pays me a retainer for private investigation services. We are also romantically linked. I know you are thinking that this dual intimacy is highly unbecoming, as in most circles it is unacceptable to date your client. But in this instance, the faux pas is forgivable—if not favorable. The logic: everything has been disclosed online.

Words

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Special Ops assignments require intermittent withdrawal from the world wide connection. It’s great to be back, however, and I would like to I’ll leave you, the faithful, with some relevant words (the ones blaring in my ears as I write in fact). No one lays it down like the mighty Mos Def:

“You know you can’t stop my go
You can’t stop my go
Born to be who I am
(Been born to be who I am)
Bright light from a distant star
(Bright light from a distant star)
Miracles, answered prayers
(Miracles, answered prayers)
Huh, all in together now
You can’t stop my go
I’ve been born to be where I am
A bright light from a distant star
Miracles and answered prayers
You can’t stop my go
I’ve been born to be where I am
Mos light from a distant star
Miracles and answered praaaaaayers…”

And the beat goes on.

In the future (past), society began to re-asses the utility of being online. The internet (as we know it) develops in a series of cycles. In time, we learn that during certain cycles, it becomes more valuable to utilize the internet to hide oneself as opposed to promote oneself (inversion).
-Mister Volatility

After a conference call with my assistant, Tonya, I am still uncertain if I own any preferred shares of Twitter. Trading public markets is like venture capital with one caveat—timeframe. Venture investors trade over periods of years. Mister Volatility (that’s me) invests in ventures himself and has, from time to time, lent money to VC firms to participate in their arbitrage. Private equity is a longer timeframe trade. In public market trading there is sufficient liquidity on smaller timeframes (scales), down to the millisecond. These micro scales present results to the exponential–so I must build models to trade them. The liquidity cycle of Venture Capital is much longer. Given the variance in timeframes my investment focus is dual: Private equity on in the longer frame and public (liquid) markets on the shorter.

I do not own any direct shares of Twitter—but it is possible that I own some through a fund. The reason Tonya doesn’t know is because she doesn’t know everything about me. If there is one imperative I can impart about assistants, even the great ones, it is this: keep some secrets.

Anyway, what I am saying is that I want to buy shares of Twitter, even if I already own some. If I already have some, I’d like more. I understand there are shares for sale at Sharepost.com, and I instructed Tonya to take care of it. Unfortunately, she said the website will not accept my registration because The Tinker Factory does not release it’s physical addresses, and an address is required. Therefore, if anyone is interested in selling me shares, please come by the office sooner rather than later. I am an internet analyst after all, and my analysis reveals that the market cap of Twitter will surpass that of Google. In fact, it will be the second largest company in the world (as measured by market cap). We will talk about the first largest company in the world later, but I’ll give you a hint: think automated distribution and green energy. (But don’t limit yourself to the typical definition of clean and efficient power. Might not “green energy” refer to banking–some money is green and banking is about moving money, which requires energy!)

Perhaps someone will be in touch soon to sell me some shares. No matter, I am going to build some companies over the next couple of weeks that I’ll sell to Twitter for stock as opposed to cash.

And the beat goes on.