First - the “Away” part. Portfolio management is an all-consuming and ever-present process for me. I rarely take any time away during the trading day and if it happens, it’s usually not two days in a row. Other than skiing or beaching, there isn’t much that I prefer doing more than actively participating in the securities markets. However - “All work and no play makes Mike a very dull boy.” I need to get my life in better balance and I am “working” on that.

On vacation, you meet people and inevitably, as part of the small talk, you are asked what you do for a living. I hesitate to answer that question for several reasons. First, I am on vacation to be on vacation. Secondly, I do not give individual investment advice. The moment someone hears I am in this business, the requests for stock picks begin. Then I have to find a way to politely tell them I don’t give stock picks. It’s all a bit awkward and usually puts people off to the point where they go away. I am not much fun to have around. I really should come up with an alternate and dramatic and fun career to lie about in certain circumstances so that it’s a bit more enjoyable. I am “working” on that.

Last week, I was asked what I thought of the economy and the markets in general. Good questions, but really…. do you think my sunny disposition about the economy and our screwed up markets are going to make people happy while they are relaxing on a beach or at the bar? I know it’s not making me happy. So I have another choice - maybe I should just lie and tell them what they want to hear. Of course I cannot do that. I usually just say “it’s bad” and try to change the subject to the weather or sports or some other useless topic. I can talk about most things but oddly enough, unless I am here or in an appropriate environment, I don’t like to talk about what I do.

Being away from it all last week was much needed and it’s been tough to get back into my normal rhythm and routine. Other than the research I had to do to get the signals done this week, I haven’t been motivated to analyze what I missed. Consequently, I have very little to say.

When I hit the beach, I thought the market was ridiculously bullish. I kept thinking “Up Up and Away!?!” When I got back, despite the GE miss and poor trading action, I wasn’t seeing an end to the rally that was being mentioned by some commentators. In fact, this week’s signal changes were not dramatic at all. I only gave 111 new DOWN signals and while that was much more than the 19 new UPs, it’s really not remarkable. So I keep wondering “Up Up and Away!?!” That is yet to be determined.

I won’t be traveling much for a month so I won’t suffer from being out of touch and away. Sooner or later, I’ll feel like writing more often. Until then, I’ll be working on other pursuits.