GOOD PRICELINE STORY.... So a guy I know is
flying from Seattle to New York last week. Flight kept
getting delayed, and delayed, and delayed. And funny,
who was up there at the counter complaining most
vociferously?!?! Why irony of ironies, it's Jay Walker
of Priceline!! Plane was supposed to leave at 6 p.m.
By 1 a.m., still nothing, so Jay orders a mega ice
cream!! Then gives up and leaves. Guess you didn't
name your price on that one, Jay dude!!!! Didn't get
that one from Billy Shatner, did you Cochise!?!?!
(Nyark, nyark, nyark, all the way home!!!!!!!) How
come you can't borrow any P-line shares???? All been
shorted already!!!!
UNICOVER....Heard about this scandal in the
insurance biz? I rapped about it on Moneyline last
night, but was pre-empted in many markets by the
Kennedy funeral. Okay, here we go: So the insurance
business is pretty crappy right now. Rates and returns
are low, so it's no surprise that an obscure Illinois
company, Unicover, could easily sell insurers a
reinsurance product in the workman's comp area it
touted as being able to boost their bottom lines. Only
problem is, for it to work, it had to keep being sold
over and over like a chain letter (or as some say like a
Ponzi scheme!). Anyway, a few months ago Sun Life
of Canada said, Enough! This is bogus and we're not
paying it back!! That started a chain reaction in the
biz, and now no one is paying anyone!!!! Alice
Schroeder, ace insurance analyst at Paine Webber (she
did the Berkshire Hathaway report), says there's about
$4 billion of toxicity out there. A lot of companies
have a Unicover problem, including Cigna, Johnnie
Hancock, Aon, and many smallies. The biggies can
handle it. But Reliance, run by former '80s raider Saul
Steinberg has the biggest problem, according to
Schroeder. REL has perhaps as much as $1.3 billion
in exposure (and a market cap of less than $1 bil!!!!!)
No way will they be on the hook for all $1.3 bil. Still
the stock is down from $19 to $6!!!!!! I also hear they
are talking to Gen Re about a capital infusion. Might
be the right time for the Steinberg family (which now
includes daughter-in-law Maria B. from CNBC!!!) to
sell out!! Unicover won't comment, and a Reliance
spokesman said Schroeder's figure is too high, and
that it will recover all its bread. He also said it is not
talking to Gen Re about getting more money. Well,
stay tuned.
Loose Change
Moneyline vs. Space.com. So I did go to both the new
Moneyline party (celebrating Stuart Varney and
Willow Bay) AND Lou Dobbs' Space.com party.
Okay, apples and oranges, yadda yadda. Buuuuut, it
was interesting. Moneyline party pretty
straightforward. Fair number of Time Warner mucky
mucks, Rick (da man!) Kaplan and Rich (you da man,
too!) Bressler included! Now Space.com was
different! It was at "Mars" a space theme restaurant
thing. Here's what happened. Came in, didn't have an
ID, so grabbed one on desk. It belonged to Bruno
Cohen (head of programming at CNBC). Grabbed a
bunch of space pens. Saw Lou with Sally Ride. Got
some packages of freeze dried French fries and ice
cream. Reporter from Forbes tried to interview me.
Ran out with much swag, looking pretty crazy by
then. Cabbies refused to pick me up. Wife not pleased,
but pretty good fun.... Went running in Central Park at
lunch. It was HOT!!! A couple of drooling dogs and a
few guys with funny British accents and me.... UPS
IPO???? I say forget it. That company is squirrel city,
baby. I don't think they will function well as a public
company. So used to being closed and PRIVATE.
Song inspired by UPS: "Oh, what's the color of dog
poop? Brown, brown, brown!!!" A 50-year-old-
woman sang that me when I was 20. She was singing
about her alma mater in Providence. WEIRD!!!!...
Speaking of dogs. Good one: Three guy dogs are in a
bar. A Black Lab. A Border Collie. A Chihuahua. A
VERY hot Alsatian bitch walks in. Boys are panting!!
She says: "Whoever of you can use the two words
'liver' and 'cheese' in a sentence the best can come
home with me." Lab says: "I like liver and cheese."
She says okay. Collie says: "I HATE liver and
cheese." She says okay. Chihuahua says: "Liver alone,
cheese mine!!!" Little Taco Bell guy got the nod!!...
Okay more on "Klato verato nikto" from Terry: It
"was first used in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' to
stop the robot. But then it was used again in 'Evil
Dead: Army of Darkness' as the magic words. Now
even more important is that though I'd like to claim
the hipness crown, my daughter (who found out today
she is pregnant with my first grandchild) is my source.
If you can't be hip, at least have a kid who is." Thanks
Terry. And congrats!!!!... Confirmed death of Patty
Donahoe. This from a reader: "True that she's dead,
liner notes on a King Biscuit live album confirm.
Cause, less sure of. Saw them live once, what a great
show they put on." Thanks Fred. I'm dressed like a
movie studio chief's boyfriend today. Uhh, I think I'll
go home and change now!!!!!!!...This is for Nelman:
"Being married to a Silicon Valley worker, I often
find myself trying to make sense of ridiculous
buzzwords and techie doublespeak that I hear at the
dinner table and at cocktail parties. The words sound
good but they convey absolutely no real meaning.
Among all the gibberish, my least favorite phrases are:
'Industry-Leading Solutions Provider,' 'Premier E-
business Enablers,' and let's not for forget 'Best of
Breed.' And the list goes on. There. I said it and thank
you. I feel much better now.-Paul." Well thanks Paul,
so do I!!!!!!
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