Happy Hour 3.28.2008

On a Freaky-Fantastic Friday that has been fortuituously fortold by a feroicious fluffy feline here at fox.

We have the following guests booked for this evening:

- Ted Weisberg, Seaport Securites 

- Zane Tankel, Apple-Metro C.E.O.

- Saul Simon, Lincoln Financial Certified Financial Planner

- Dr. Marc Lamont Hill

- Shannon Liss-Riordan , for Kid in Massachusetts

- Lis Wiehl

- Lizzy Goodman, Blender Magazine

- Phillippa Raschker, Senior Athlete

Join Cody and Rebecca Gomez for a live Happy Hour at the Bull and Bear at 5:00–or at 5:00 and 11:00pm on FB

Click HERE to find out where you can See Happy Hour where you live.

Happy Hour 3.19.08

Another Wacky Wednesday lined up for this week.....We have the following guests booked for this evening:

-Tom Di Galoma, Nomura Securites

-Mark Amitage, Carbon Neutral Co. President

-Julianne Waldron, Nets Green Initiatives

-Paull Young, Converseon

-Scott Rothbort, Lakeview Asset Management, professor Seton Hall

-Todd Harrison, Minyanville

Join Cody and Rebecca Gomez for a live Happy Hour at the Bull and Bear at 5:00

–or at 5:00 and 11:00pm on FB

Click HERE to find out where you can See Happy Hour where you live.

Credit Crunch: Where Are We Now?

Throughout 2007, in my weekly wrap up column on TheStreet.com that I used to call "Weekend Vittles", I started featuring "This Won' End Well" anecdotes about the top of the boom/bubble we were living in.

This one's from my July 27, 2007 issue called, "Weekend Vittles: PC to Replace Credit in Your Pocket":

"Here's a bonus "This Won't End Well" quote of the week from Maria Bartiromo's interview of Sumner Redstone in this week's BusinessWeek: "And if we did decide to take one of these companies private ... there would be more money offered than we could possibly handle."

Folks, that statement is the epitome of a boom."

Wonder what ol' Redstone would tell Maria right now about how much money he's being offered. I'd say it's somewhere between nothing and nothing meaningful.

You were supposed to sell all those tops last year. Market's down 20% since then.

We supposed to be buying now?

The Cody Blog Moves to CodyWillard.com

From RevolutioNetwork.com to Seton Hall to managing money to TV and media to writing about my trading for pay on TheStreet.com and the Financial Times...I just fell behind in keeping The Cody Blog rocking.   But, although I just this weekend launched another part of the RevolutioNetwork of sites, Dividend.com, I've actually been easing back on the gas pedal a bit.  And now I'm bringing the flow back.

But I want a new look, a new feel.  I want to take all the lessons I've learned about blogging from this site and on RealMoney and take it to the next level.   

So The Cody Blog has moved to CodyWillard.com.  I'll be posting about life, pop culture, trading, investing, technology, rock, media, getting my heart broken -- a lot like what went on here.

Trading Call - Buy Into This Panic

Buffett didn't mean it as a trading rule, but it is a great one anyway -

"Be greedy when others are fearful. Be fearful when others are greedy."

Not an investment call here...but a trading call -- If I were running money, I'd be starting to scale into some slightly-out-of-the-money index calls. Maybe the SMH and even the SPY and QQQQ to add to the (so far VERY WRONG) calls I'd be wanting to own in the financials such as the XLF.

Two keys though -- 1. options and short-term trading market calls are not exactly "safe" places to risk your money. Such risks are not for the faint of heart. 2. Key phrase in the prior paragraph -- "starting to scale into". That means don't make a big stand or draw a line in the sand for a trade like this. I'd be using a TINY bit of capital to start about a 1/3 position for now with the DJIA at 12,800 and change right now.

PS. I don't miss the giant knot in my gut and stressssss I'd be feeling right now putting money to work in this panic. (But if this trade works out, I do guarantee I'll be sick to my stomach that I didn't make any money on the idea. For example, you have any idea how sick to my stomach I am whenever I realize that I sold all my January TSCM $12.5 calls back before I started this show? They've quadrupled since then. Sigh.)

Computer/Tech Savvy Intern Wanted

We are looking for an intern for about 10-15 hours per week as needed. Strong computer skills and knowledge about programming the latest gadgets a must. Strong performance will lead to a paid position. Please e-mail your resumes to us at joan.clwillardmedia@gmail.com.

Up 300% on VMW in Three Days? Sell!

Okay, so in the still better to be lucky than good category, we sorta nailed that VMW near-term bottom on Monday when the stock was at $73, eh? The stock's trading at $92 this morning. Momo is a sharp knife!

If you bought most any out-of-the-money January or February calls in VMW, you've got a triple or quadruple in them in three days' time. You ever heard that old saying on Wall Street that bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered?

Don't be piggy. Keep the common for an investment, but start selling those calls right now. Take half off the table today. Sell another 1/4 of them tomorrow. And let the last tranche ride til expiration in January or February and maybe you can roll 'em up then.

Time to Buy VMW, Methinks

Momentum cuts both ways, and if you rode VMW up on its explosive move higher since its IPO earlier this year, you know what I'm talking about. The momo traders have been killed in this thing, with it at $73 a share, it's now down 40% from its recent highs less than a month ago.

Were I still running money, I'd be buying a little VMW common here for an investment and I'd also be buying some January or February out-of-the-money VMW calls for a trade here too.

Not for the faint of heart though...it's still very much a momomo name.

Happy Hour Guests 11.19.07

Happy Hour kicks off Thanksgiving week with some stellar guests including: Jon Lonski- Moody's Investment Service's Chief Economist; George Stapleton- Mega West Energy CEO; Jerry Moskowitz- FTSE Managing Director; John Doherty- Waldorf Chef; Julia Allison- Star Magazine and Dave Nelson- DC Nelson Asset Management.

Tonight's Jams Courtesy of Pearl Jam---the only band from the Grunge Universe to survive...and one of the greatest jam bands of all time! (Alive, Glorified G., Rearview Mirror, Not for You, Who You Are, & Black) Rock On!

Posted by: Joan

Tonight’s Happy Hour Line-Up 11.16.07

For those of you don't already know, Cody has a new show on the Fox Business Channel (Channel 43 in NYC) Monday- Friday live at 5:00pm and repeating at 11:00pm. The show shoots at the bar in the Bull & Bear Restaurant at the famous Waldorf Astoria and it's appropriately titled Happy Hour. Check it out and let Cody know what you think!

Guests on tap for tonight are: Bob Brusca of Fact & Opinion Economics; Porter Bibb of Media Tech Capital Partners; Polina Raygorodskaya, Model; Joe Concha of Fox Sports; Tracy Byrnes, fellow member of the Fox Business Channel; the luminous Laurie Dhue; Maren Faiella of Ryder System Inc, to talk a bit about Fannie Mae losses; the NY Post's Frank Scheck on the continuing strike crippling Broadway; and Fox contributor Mike Straka.

Today's Jams byTom Petty--Into the Great Wide Open, What Are You Doin' in My Life?, Letting You Go, Running Down a Dream and You Got Lucky!

---Joan