AWESOME: Google Docs Animation Presentation

via mashable.com

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

The Current VIX Reading May Be Vexing to Bulls

The VIX is under 16 again...

...a level that has recently signaled extreme complacency:

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

Yes, Jesse, There Is A Santa Claus

Thursday morning I received from Google a Cr-48 Chrome notebook. I'm not ashamed to admit that, for the first time in a very long time, I felt like a young kid on Christmas morning. From the moment I began watching the press conference introducing the notebook I began peppering the Chrome team with emails and applications to test drive the new computer. In fact, it was my only Christmas wish.

So Thursday morning there I was working away in my home office on my HP desktop when I heard a UPS truck in the distance. I stopped and turned my head to get a better listen as the sound approached. When I saw the truck pull up to the front of the house I was positively giddy with anticipation. Still in my robe, I opened the door before the UPS guy got a chance to knock and whisked the box out of his hands.

I ran the box into the kitchen and, hoping it wasn't a Christmas present for one of my two kids sent by an out-of-town relative, I cut it open and pulled out what might as well have been a Red Ryder BB Gun. Christmas had come early for me and I had Google to thank (or perhaps, Santa; either way, I "believe"). 

I have been playing with my new toy almost non-stop since then and here are my impressions of the Chrome notebook after the first 24 hours:

The setup was a snap. Lift open the screen, enter your google password and you're taken to a browser screen; all of this happens in a fraction of the time it takes to boot up and log into a windows or apple computer. If you've already been using the Chrome browser with Sync then the notebook quickly imports your bookmarks, preferences, apps, etc. so that there is essentially no setup needed. This is a massive improvement over traditional pc's that require extensive setup including backing up files from your old machine and copying them over to the new one and then reinstalling all the software you had on the old computer and updating and configuring it. What could take days to complete on a legacy pc (this is what I call them now) takes literally seconds on a Chrome machine.

The first thing you notice is that, in the words of Linus Upson, Google VP of Engineering, with Chrome OS, "there's barely enough operating system to run the browser." Everything you do on the notebook is within the browser. At first this is a bit disconcerting. No desktop? No software? But it's also very liberating. To replace the desktop software that can't be installed on the machine Google has created the Chrome Web Store featuring apps from a variety of sources. The benefit of this is that nothing is stored on the machine; it's all "in the cloud," and eventually it should be able to completely replace any desktop software you might need (this is a very early stage, to be sure, but Citrix Systems already has a very slick enterprise software virtualization utility for business Chrome notebook users that seemingly replaces all the desktop software you might need). No more software compatibility issues, no more upgrades, no more licensing headaches and if your machine crashes you can simply get a new one and, because everything is in the cloud, once you sign in everything is restored automatically. In my humble opinion, this is the promised land for personal computing.

I haven't found anything really to complain about in terms of the operating system just yet. It did take me a while to figure out how to perform a few simple tasks like managing extensions I had installed. I have also had some difficulty adjusting to some aspects of the hardware: I was unfamiliar with the touch pad and had to teach myself how to highlight and right click on things. I also think that the touch pad is too close to the keyboard. In typing my palms or thumbs have hit it by mistake and selected things or moved the cursor around when I didn't really intend to. But these are hardware issues separate from the OS.

So now it's actually been well over 24 hours since I've been using the notebook and I haven't needed either of my two desktops or my other laptop for anything that I couldn't do on this thing. Another benefit is that I plugged it in to charge for about an hour after I took it out of the box and have been using it almost non-stop since then without having to charge it again at all (the battery image shows about 1/3rd of a charge left). My family noticed at the breakfast table this morning that it makes no noise - there is no fan humming or gears whirring that anyone can notice. Finally, the size is very convenient; it's about half the size of my massive HP media-heavy laptop and is much lighter as well.

All in all the Chrome netbook is a huge leap forward in the realm of personal computing. I haven't found any reason yet that I might have any difficulty making it my primary personal computer for the foreseeable future. Mid-2011 will see the mass-production of Chrome OS computers and I fully expect them to see the kind of quick adoption that has made the Android smart phone such a rapid success.

Finally, I should say "thank you" to the Google Chrome team for making my Christmas wish come true. I'm honored to be selected to test drive the notebook. Now to figure out how to get Porsche to send me one of these.

Disclosure: Long GOOG

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Remembering John Lennon

Click the image above for an inspiring John Lennon remembrance by painter Denny Dent.

• Conventional wisdom says financial crisis is over but it pays to read between the headlines - MarketWatch
• US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off in two years - Financial Times
• Will 2011 be more like 2005 or 1977 for stocks? - Big Picture
• Jim Rogers Declares Ireland, Greece, And The UK To Be Totally Insolvent - Business Insider
• Wins And Dollars Adding Up For Ducks' Coach - OPB
• George Lucas Buying Rights To Dead Actors To CG Them Back To Life? - Geekologie

For links like these in real time follow me on Twitter.

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

Bend Foreclosure Map

Google maps has a feature that lets you display foreclosure listings. Click the map above for an interactive foreclosure map of the Bend area. Warning: it ain't pretty.

(HT, Chart Porn)

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

All I Want For Christmas Is A Chrome Notebook

I just finished watching Google introduce the new Chrome computer operating system and it's nothing less than revolutionary.

(Click the picture above for a video introduction to Chrome OS.)

My takeaways:

• Speed and simplicity are Chrome's two major advantages over the traditional computer experience. The laptop turns on immediately (zero boot time), commands and processes are nearly instantaneous and it features all the simplicity of using a web browser and an app store. There's nothing more to it and it does everything your computer can and more.
• Chrome eliminates the traditional operating system and installed software, the two biggest hassles of using a personal computer. Updates are automatic, security runs seemlessly in the background and you never have to worry about syncing or backing up data ever again.
• This is a CIO's wet dream: no more updating operating systems, installed programs, fixing network/server bugs. For this reason many Fortune 500 companies are already jumping on board. This will be a huge productivity boost to companies of all sizes.
• Google is taking all of the development, experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Apple products to the next level with a brand synonymous with simplicity, speed and value. I don't see how this won't revolutionize the industry.
• I want one.

Disclosure: Long Google (this is not a recommendation).

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

The (Technical) Bear Case For Apple

Back in April I first wrote, "The Bear Case for Apple," ticking off a few fundamental reasons to be bearish on the stock (and seriously ticking off the fanboys in the process). The stock price subsequently went into a multi-month trading range. It has since broken out above the range and I recently noticed some technical reasons one might be bearish on the stock at current levels.

Above is the daily chart of Apple's stock price. On Friday the stock completed a DeMark 9-13-9 (combo) sell signal. In addition, RSI, volume and MACD lines are all clearly diverging from today's new high.

On the weekly chart the stock completed a 9-13-9 (combo) sell signal back in early November and has made little progress since.

We also have an active sell signal on a monthly time frame. This combo 13 was put in around the same time as the weekly 9-13-9 signal was completed.

For an explanation of DeMark's sequential and combo indicators this is a decent overview. However, Tom's books are the best source for learning his market timing strategies.

DISCLOSURE: Short Apple

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Econ. 101

• Tobin's Q says investors are taking on "extraordinary risk" right now in the stock market - Pragmatic Capitalism
• Wouldn't it be awesome if our fed chairman followed Leslie Nielsen's lead? - Funny or Die
• Mounting State Debts Stoke Fears of a Looming Crisis - NY Times
• Are the Banks Insolvent? It's a Fair Question - Seeking Alpha
• Bank failures just keep coming - Calculated Risk
• For sale: Unabomber's Montana property, listed for $69,500 and 'obviously very secluded' - LA Times
• Is Twitter really worth $3 billion? - Bloomberg

For links like these in real time follow me on Twitter.

Posted via email from jessefelder's posterous