What Kind of Financial Quarterback Will Timmy Turn Out To Be? Future of the Country Can Be Deconstructed Through the Lens of NBC's Friday Night Lights
Is Geitner QB1, QB2, QB12 or the Next Doug (Hail Mary) Flutie?
John (not to be confused with Hank) Paulson-- known as JP to his friends-- made a fortune shorting subprime mortgages. I am still not buying Tim Geitner's stock but I have less conviction about shorting Geitner than JP did about shorting the subprime index. I love nothing better than to be proven wrong . Happens all the time. Makes my day. To have misjudged a person's talent, character or potential. To miss a golden opportunity that in hindsight was so obvious. It makes me smile. It complete's me while re-affirming my own limitations and fallibilities. Never thought I sold any stock too early or bought it to late. A while back I bought some Apple at its near-low of $13; it just felt too cheap. I couldn't help myself. There was no compelling reason, no proven ipod or iphone-- just ideas-- but I bought the damn Apple srtock figuring Steve Jobs was a smart guy, they had $12 a share in cash on the balance sheet and the brand had to be worth a buck a share. Sold it at $24 and still feel like a genius despite the stocks current price of $120 a share plus or minus.
So what's all this got to do with Tim Geitner whose stock had been beat up pretty badly but seems to be experiencing a rally of sorts lately? Like it or not the world's future is very much tied to Tim Geitner's performance. Obama isn't dumping Geitner. I can't get fully comfortable with him but can't explain why I am so uncomfortable every time I hear him speak. For those of you who watch NBC's hit series Friday Night Lights, the following analyisis may help make sense of the "Geitner Problem". He is the quarterback but we don't know what kind of quarterback he will turn out to be.
I have become unexpectedly obsessed with FNL and my own Lights went off in an episode where the shows three quarterbacks (the Past, the Present and the Future) all appeared int he same episode. The QB Past: Jason Street (known as QB1), the country's most promising football star gets permnanently paralyzed in the first episode making a game saving tackle. He is confined to a wheelchair, loses his stunning girlfriend Lyla Garrity to his best friend Tim Riggins. Next up is QB Present (Matt Saracen) known as QB2. Totally unprepared, no confidence, but with an arm like a rocket launcher, Matt steps up and becomes a temporary hero replacing Street, gets Coach Taylor's hot daughter Julie along the way as a door prize until (to be continued)