I’m sure I have another post on this Blog called something like, “shorting Facebook, blah, blah, blah…”. you go look for it, I’m feeling quite self-involved, today.

background for warm-up:

short sellers bet against shares by borrowing the security, then selling it. if the stock drops, they buy it back at the lower price, return it to the lender and pocket the difference as profit.

let’s be very clear… the primary reason the typical retail investor (you) can’t short Facebook (FB) TODAY
is because “shorts” looking to bet against Facebook early face an uphill battle. honest traders will admit the stock will be hard to borrow, at least for a few days – and, only the best-sourced hedge fund managers will able to find lenders.

a buddy of mine that is a prime broker at one of the top underwriters of the IPO said the firm would not be lending shares, at least until the initial settlement in the first three business days of trading. this is a form of “managed” risk.

seriously.

…and, it’s legal.

seriously.

“I don’t know how many shares will be available for shorting,” said the broker, who requested anonymity (hell yeeeeah). “We would only provide them once the deal has stabilized.”

voila!

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

so…

it’s no surprise that Facebook’s IPO is now as inevitable and comparable to anything relative to teen-aged self entitlement and adult wife-swapping.

…isn’t that what Facebook is for?

c’mon… all this and I still can’t find the Greg Trussell I knew in college, class of 1984. Greg, if you’re reading this, what’s up?

even when Facebook has tons of cash, I bet it’ll still ask users to ‘like’ Papa John’s damn pizza, everyday.

originally, the whole point of a company going public was to raise money for growth and also allow citizens to share in the fortunes of the company by stock acquisition. it made a  lot of sense… consumers would by the companies products and also shares. that ecosystem was self-sustaining and aligned with capitalism.

[pause for gripping sound bites]

Mark Zuckerberg, creator of the popular social networking site Facebook, is being sued by two former classmates who claim he stole the idea. What do you think?

“Poor guy. Sounds like he could use a smiley-face comment.” - Antonio, Systems Anaylst

“I hope the site isn’t shut down before I figure out what the poke feature is for.” - Paige Foster, Valet

“They probably would have guarded their secret more carefully had they only known that people’s basest voyeuristic and exhibitionist predilections could be exploited for money.” - Kyle, Rigger

[end of pause]

but, I can’t reconcile a Facebook IPO. the company does not create, build and deliver products like Apple, or even Google, if you want to stretch your imagination along with a sense of reality. Apple’s share price makes sense. the company offers products that people value enough to buy more of daily (read this Motley Fool article, because I said so). so, the company has value which is reflected in it’s stock.

but wait… should I at least try to be open-minded? consider the following drivel, op-ed, Surprise! Turns Out Mark Zuckerberg Is A Great CEO, by the nefarious Henry Blodget /1, no less.

its not the “cover jinx” (read the story!) that will kill this IPO… its the fact that the original investors are cashing out at the high. based on my own (admittedly small and anecdotal) research (that reads trite, doesn’t it?), about ten percent (10%) of the people I know have completely deleted their Facebook profile, and the volume of posting is trending down… and, according to my kids, their friends have dropped their Facebook time in favor of Pinterest. I suspect that FB activity is way down, but information like that is being hidden, while glowing articles, underwritten by Goldman Sachs sycophants will proliferate, until after the IPO.

in fact, this is such a puff piece its laughable. coming from the beacon of integrity known as Henry Blodget. I wonder how many shares he was promised for writing this article — conveniently at the start of Facebook’s PR campaign for their IPO. Its not as though Blodget has a history of falsely inflating IPOs for his own personal benefit…oh wait, that’s why he was convicted 12 years ago!

looking at Facebook (not literally; Joanne and I refuse to use it), all I see is a tapestry of self absorption and entitlement. as the Facebook IPO prepares for launch, current polls already have American’s convinced the social media platform is a fad.

all 1,472 employees of Facebook, Inc. reportedly burst out in uncontrollable laughter Wednesday following Albuquerque resident Jason Herrick’s attempts to protect his personal information from exploitation on the social-networking site. “Look, he’s clicking ‘Friends Only’ for his e-mail address. like that’s going to make a difference!” howled infrastructure manager Evan Hollingsworth, tears streaming down his face, to several of his doubled-over coworkers. “oh, sure, by all means, Jason, ‘delete’ that photo. man, this is so rich.” according to internal sources, the entire staff of Facebook was left gasping for air minutes later when the “hilarious” Herrick believed he had actually blocked third-party ads.

any rationalization for the strike price is out the window along with any logical valuation protocols. so, why isn’t this a red-flag for everyone? if the opening price is $38 per share, what analyst in his right mind is going to tout that for long? their objective will be to lie about how great the company is just long enough for their traders to dump the stock into someone else’s lap. what growth strategy could possibly make sense that will fuel a sustained growth trajectory for the stock that could reward investors long-term?

well… I’ve given this some thought, and I’ve come-up with some possible new Facebook features analysts could get worked-up over, tout, and rely upon to hoodwink unsuspecting pensioners that are generally clueless about social marketing, and are hoping to cash-in on the Facebook “craze” – which is oh-so apropos.

to wit…

SweetSpace.com, the new social networking start-up from Caltech wunderkind Ima Felon, will launch soon with the stated intent of bridging the gap between Facebook and Facebook. “the easiest way to explain SweetSpace is that it’s essentially Facebook meets Facebook,” says Felon, noting that like Facebook, SweetSpace.com will allow its members to communicate publicly by having a wall that people can post to, but, like Facebook, members will also be able to message other users privately. “ultimately, the goal of SweetSpace is to be Facebook for the Facebook generation.” Felon added that the new site will have pri­vacy issues comparable to Facebook, but assured users it will deny them, just like Facebook.

in its ongoing effort to enrich the way people connect and interact, Facebook will  introduce a new feature that allows users to cancel their accounts. “to complement our recently overhauled interface – which now provides users with a real-time log of every single thing their friends are doing at any given moment – we’ve added a function that allows people to delete their entire profile with the click of a button,” said company spokesman Sef Entitled, describing how the change would bring “an exciting new level of user control” to Facebook. “it’s a really cool feature we’re happy to be offering for the very first time.” the company later confirmed that account closures would not stop Facebook from continuing to acquire, permanently store, and sell all information about its current and former users until the day they die.

after deciding to disable his Facebook account in an effort to increase productivity, Chad Fakid announced in a Facebook update Thursday that he was now “off the grid.” “I’m dropping off the radar for a while,” wrote Fakid, 36, who lives in a two-story house with running water, electricity, regular garbage pickup, wireless Internet access, and high-definition satellite television service. “if you need something, text me.” Fakid has not been heard from since earlier this afternoon, when he confirmed via Twitter that he was “maintaining radio silence” and then checked in to his local coffee shop on Foursquare.

in an effort to enhance its social media presence, Walgreens pharmacies announced Wednesday the launch of ”RxSocial,” a new Facebook plugin that enables users to ”view, share, and comment on” the prescription drugs their friends are taking. “our goal is to create an interactive community that lets your friends see what your current dosage of Xanax is, what method of birth control you prefer, or whether you’re likely to have any spare Adderall,” said Walgreens e-commerce chief Sona Chawla, explaining that drug purchases show up automatically on users’ Facebook profiles and appear in their friends’ news feeds. ”RxSocial even offers a real-time view of which drugs are trending right now.” at press time, Gina Sims of Lawton, OK had picked up her lithium.

I don’t know if Facebook is really just a fad. but, the stock is probably a short opportunity. the floor is where Goldman Sachs picked-up their shares.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

1/ In 2002, then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, published Merrill Lynch e-mails in which Blodget gave assessments about stocks which conflicted with what was publicly published. In 2003, he was charged with civil securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He agreed to a permanent ban from the securities industry and paid a $2 million fine plus a $2 million disgorgement.

my unabashed umbrage with the media is no secret to readers of this blog.

I’ll submit, and without reservation, a simple truth:

I feel that the irresponsible media is the greatest cause for a bad history that repeats itself. they abuse their position in our society and fail to use their powers for good, all too often. history books are spun by people with the perspective driven by agenda. so, history certainly does repeat itself for many a reason.

so, to be clear, bad examples are often replicated because the media fails to give us accurate information. they also leverage opinion where it is not understood.

so, bad history repeats itself because the media tells it to.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

I probably have your attention.

but, this post is not what you might initially think. I’m not stapling the race card to my forehead, here (I’ll let Obama do that). in fact, when he learned of the topic and before he read the actual post, one of your Congressman contacted me with a tirade that turned to redoubtable bluster once he understood the true message.

to wit…

although this warrants more research, Ben Battell gave me a heads-up over some legislation that didn’t get much press, but has (had?) ramifications and implications that are down right fascinating, and culturally relevant.

take a look at the following article aptly titled: Tanning salons burned by new health care law.

come on… you gotta hand it to him, Obama is slick. and, the Democrats are insidious in their relentless efforts to undermine best practices and stick it to the GOP. the Obama administration turned-up the heat on tanning salons across the country with the passage of its new health care bill.

a 10% tax on individuals receiving indoor tanning services was tacked on, and the initiative is expected to generate $2.7 billion over ten years. as a result, many salon goers and owners are outraged by the so-called “tanning tax” and think they’re being unfairly targeted by the bill.

evidently, the foundation of all this has some loose statistics around tanning beds and cancer.

fair enough…

An indoor tanning tax will therefore “serve as a signal from the federal government to young people that indoor tanning is dangerous and should be avoided,” said Dr. William James, president of the academy.

In addition, because the United States currently spends about $1.8 billion on treating skin cancers each year and $300 million on melanoma alone, the tax will significantly reduce the future costs of treating skin cancers, Dr. James said.

but, tanning enthusiasts (and race car drivers) have pushed back saying,”There was no due diligence done on how much money this will raise, and it’s going to be nowhere near what they are expecting,” he said. “After taxing female entrepreneurs and primarily female customers, this is the other part of what’s so repulsive about this tax.”

“This is going to close tanning salons,” said Joseph Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, which has 3,000 member salons. “You can’t just pass on a tax like this to customers and not have it hurt your bottom line.”

however, this is really a direct shot at a class of people (or, people without class) that frequent tanning salons with discretionary income in-hand.

namely, white Republicans.

I am not sabre-rattling!

I simply think this is hilarious. it’s the perfect crime. Democrats will tell black people that tanning booths are just another self-indulgence enjoyed by “rich white people”. so, they’ll be all for it. let’s throw Asian and Hispanics into that pot as well.

wait… it get’s better. the 10% tanning tax has replaced the 5% tax on cosmetic surgery that was originally included in the bill. that tax, nicknamed the “Botax,” would have included Botox injections and breast implants among other elective surgeries, but was cut out of the bill last year after heavy lobbying from the medical and dermatology industries.

but, the problem is the wives of wealthy athletes and members of the House and Senate (the later with health plans subsidized by your tax dollars) also want botox and fake boobs. so, that was “nipped” in the bud.

it should, and will be noted, here, that Mary Dailey (see comments in that referenced article) offered her own hardly unique, and Democratic perspective (and, likely with a raspy voice):

I don’t see anything wrong with there being a tax on tanning. They have already taxed the hell out of ciggarettes which are just as unhealthy as tanning. I don’t tan because I don’t want premature wrinkles.

dear Mary… how many avid smokers do you know that don’t have a lot of wrinkles (and, smelly clothes)? well… maybe people that smoke a lot and have fake tans and boobs die quicker so we don’t see as many of them around Milton, Georgia and the Polo Grounds (more likely so Kentucky, Northern California and Tennessee). but, it’s a good bet Obama will work hard to bum-rush them through Natural Selection to the voting booths so they can take everyone else with them.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork