President Obama made an appearance at the cis-Hackensack outpost of Fairleigh Dickinson University1 to raise campaign funds for our governor, Jon Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs chief. I was going to post about this yesterday, noting that, if memory served, this was the first presidential visit to Hackensack since President Uribe of Colombia made a state visit here a couple of years ago. Then I wasted a half hour trying to find a good photo or article to link to about the Uribe visit, got frustrated, and gave up. Part of the problem with that search is that we've had a Colombian-American mayor here, so articles about him popped up. And we also have an annual Colombian Day celebration here, so that comes up too.
Fortunately, I missed the inevitable traffic snarls yesterday, but Cheryl wasn't as lucky; she got stock in gridlock on Hackensack Ave. on her way back from the Hackensack Financial District. She had to make an Italian illegal U-Turn (all the police were occupied with motorcade security, so she didn't get a ticket for this) and loop around Hackensack via the highways. In any event, thanks to the magic of YouTube, here is some Hackesack residents' brush with the motorcade of the Imperial Presidency2:
1This school was derided as "Fairly Ridiculous" when I was growing up. Most of its "Metropolitan" campus is on the trans-side of the Hackensack River, which divides the City of Hackensack from the Township of Teaneck.
2By way of contrast, I recall a photo of French President Sarkozy jogging in Central Park last month when he was in New York for the annual UN festivities. Exactly one security guard was visible in the photo.
Venezuelan stocks, according to Financial Times (Ratios*) have an average dividend yield of 20.2% and an average P/E of 2x. By contrast, the stocks in neighboring Colombia average 1% yields and P/E ratios of 19.9x. Much of the Venezuelan discount, of course, is due to the threat of expropriation from the Chavez government. Might some ambitious hedge fund decide to buy up Venezuelan stocks and then try to finance the replacement of Chavez with a capitalist?
The photo above, from Flickr, is of Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela 2008, posing on a boat in Vietnam, where she competed in (and won) the 2008 Miss Universe competition last summer.
Just a man with a man's courage.
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Please note also that none of what I write here should be construed as investment advice. Please do your own due diligence and use your own common sense before making any investment decisions.
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