ManyPeaks.com

I covered our wayward Goldman (GS) short around $203. Chalk another one up for the baddest asses on Wall Street.

Apple is getting all the news hype, but as a group the brokers are absolutely leading this market. Here’s the index for the brokerage sector. (We also covered our IWM short today — low probability of meltdown while financial stocks are rocking like this.)

We “paid up” this afternoon & grabbed some Knight Capital (NITE) to participate in the sector. While extended in the short term, its long term chart looks great.  Knight also has a nice fundamental story, including an under-appreciated asset management segment called Deephaven.

On a personal note: One interesting moment in my life happened in early 2001 at an interview with Goldman Sachs. The exact job description escapes me.. some kind of junior equity analyst gig. Honestly, it required recent news of the biggest Wall Street bonus extravaganza ever to even remind me of it.

Stocks - especially tech - were less than a year into the bear market. There were far more applicants than job listings on the Street. I gingerly limped from the 6 train subway stop to their lower Manhattan office as my severely sprained ankle bulged out of my wingtips. (pickup basketball in Brooklyn, oops)

It was in the middle of inteviewing that I made the 100% decision to leave NYC and get back to Kentucky with my lady Elizabeth. I was conjuring up some B.S. answer to a “what are your greatest strengths & weaknesses” question when I took a long mental step back and called it off on the spot.

I’m curious how I’d have performed there had it felt more right. Yet I have zero regrets.

Long NITE