Robert Sisyphus

Right Side of History Update

2009-07-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

If you were on the right side of history last year: Bad news. You are on the wrong side of it this year.

Quarterly Letter to Investors

2009-07-09T16:30:00.001-07:00

To be frank, we had a bad quarter. I don’t want to bore you with a bunch of numbers, but let’s just say that now is a good time to think about all the positive things in life. For instance, for those of you in good health: at least you have your health! For those of you with people who love you: you have people who love you! Think of that!

I’ve received a lot of emails recently from people asking if their assets are safe. I want to assure all of our investors that your assets are perfectly safe; there are merely fewer of them. Make no mistake about it: these are hard times. The market has been a real bitch. I know what some of you are thinking: “Wasn’t the market up this quarter?” Yes, it was. But no, we didn’t invest in it. At least not that market. You see, as a hedge fund, we can take a long or short position in any market in the world, no matter how arcane or ridiculous. For instance, did you know that Swaziland has its own currency? Well, it does. What does that have to do with your retirement funds? A lot.

I admit to having made some bad—let’s call them bone-headed-- investment decisions this quarter. And I want everyone to know that I take full personal responsibility and have fired the trader who placed the orders. I also want to address something else. There has been a lot in the news lately about fund managers who have had, let us say, lapses in ethics. I want to assure everybody that all of the funds lost around here were lost ethically. We place morals as our highest value. Everything else comes second.

In other news, there has been a lot of confusion lately about our moving offshore. To clarify: the fund has not moved offshore, just the office. What country are we in? I’m going to make that the trivia question of the month. Winner gets a returned phone call. Hint: the surfing lessons are a lot more fun than the Spanish lessons. My attorney also points out that there are no extradition laws.

Technical Analysis of Global Temperatures

2009-07-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Looks like a bubble may be forming:

If we break through support at 40, sell!

Iran changes the meaning of the word velvet

2009-07-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

In the context of revolutions, the word velvet has now been turned on its head.

From AP:

In boldly worded statements posted on their Web sites, Khatami accused Iran's leadership of a "velvet coup against the people and democracy..."

The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 took the word for 2 reasons: Because it was peaceful (soft to the touch) and because Vaclav Havel, one of the leaders of the revolution who would eventually become president, was a big fan of the the punk rock band the Velvet Underground. I like Khatami but he seems to have misinterpreted the connotations of the word velvet in this context, which used to be positive. No longer, I guess.