Vencie Surf Report 07/21/08 Ass Kicking Extraordinaire

Well, let's see - super low tide in Venice at 6:00 am and we all know what we get on low tides in Venice, don't we? That's right - walled up, suck out junk.

Well, guess what we have today? Walled up, sucking out junk!





I know, I was as shocked as you.

Not surprisingly nobody in the water, at least not yet. The swell is in the waist to chest high range so it's not flat, but there is really no point in getting in the water until it fills in some, say around 10 am, lasting until the high at 1 pm.





Until then I would say you are out of luck unless you feel like driving north like I did yesterday. Was a bit inconsistent but man, the crowds - there had to be 50 guys in the water at Staircase, an all time record for sure. Caught a couple nice bombs but that place just doesn't like the high tide.

No boyos out and about this morning, but the HobOlympics are DEFINITELY on for this Saturday. A hidden location near the pier and outside the jurisdiction of LAPD has been selected and the contestants are being informed this week. Due to the heightened security at this year's event it will, unfortunately, be invitation only, but what the hell - you have to qualify for the regular Olympics, why not the HobOlympics?

At any rate, stay tuned for more details. I plan on having a more comprehensive event list this year and will try to keep the chug of war the last, rather than the first, event. But we shall see.

OK - one quick thing about this latest rally in the financials. It all started last week when Wells fargo came out and "beat the street", sending financial stocks to their biggest weekly rally in decades. My contention has been that these banks are full of shit and are fudging their numbers so they can beat estimates by a penny or two. Well, turns out I was right.

According to their latest filing, Wells Fargo "took the unprecedented step of extending charge-off acknowledgment from 120 days to 160 days. This allowed the bank to move less capital to loan loss reserves and report better than expected horrible earnings."

Now, why would a bank do that? What possible rationale would they have for changing a decades old rule of saying that when someone is 120 days late we move that loan from the asset to the loss column? Is 40 days really going to change things? Is the economy going to turn around and be much, much better in 40 days so that now all these deadbeats can pay up? I don't think so. They did it for one reason: so that they could "beat the street" this quarter.

This is pure proof that these banks are lying and nothing on their balance sheets can be trusted. The consumer is tapped, mortagage and credit card delinquncies are continuing to rise, these banks are not generating new revenue and their only purpose in life right now is to keep the ship afloat for one more quarter and pray to God Almighy that some fucking miracle comes along to pull their collective chestnuts out of the fire before all of these avuian flu infected roosters they have created come home to roost.

Some numbers can't be lied about, though, and I expect we will all get a healthy dose of reality when new and existing home sales come out this week. That should start sending the banks the other way.

At any rate, I am as tired of beating on this soap box as you are reading about it, so here is something a lot more entertaining.

Fedor Emelianenko made his UFC debut this past weekend and well, let me be the first to say this guy is pretty fucking amazing. I don't know how much I would need to step in the ring with the guy but it would have to be at least enough to cover the cost of a live-in nurse, a wheelchair and a feeding tube, 'cause that is what I would need right after the fight.