Fore Warned Is Fore Armed

I have been out of town for the past few days, taking a brief vacation with a good friend to the gambling Mecca of Las Vegas, NV. During this time, I have had an opportunity to observe some interesting events regionally and globally. I am still a firm believer that if you follow the money, you always end up finding the bad guy(s).

I am a talkative person. I enjoy meeting new people and learning about what motivates them. I also enjoy gambling, especially poker. Las Vegas is a perfect place for a person like me. It's a bit like having your cake and eating it too.

The first, and most obvious event I witnessed happened while I sat at a $1-2 no limit holdem game at Bally's yesterday. They have a cozy poker pit which is conveniently located right next to the beverage station, so a cold drink is literally seconds away if you feel thirsty. The waitresses are, shall I say, a bit more mature than the ladies you'll find at other establishments like the Rio or Caesars Palace, but they are also friendlier and more efficient. They understand the nature of their business and complete it with near ruthless efficiency. As I sat there, folding rag hand after rag hand, my attention was drawn to the large TV screens that were all around the poker room. Most of them had CNBC on, chronicalling one of the largest single day crashes in Dow Jones history.

When you play poker, you get to meet all types of people. Some are nothing more than degenerate gamblers. Most are tourists who fantasize about a career as a pro poker player. The rest are pretty well heeled business types who understand the nature of risk and reward. That's really what poker is all about. These are the players that cause me the most distress.

I had the opportunity to chat with a couple of guys who were in town for a gaming industry convention. They were also watching the ticker drop on TV. The seemed to share the same level of concern that I have about how that impacts our lives, and the future of business in this country. They also indicated that their industry is suffering right now because of slipping gaming revenues. They also indicated that it could be a lot worse...they could be in the automotive industry. Ha ha.

Cabbies can also be a wealth of information about regional economies. The three I rode with at different times all indicated that their fares per day are at less than half what they were a year ago. Tips were getting smaller too. Even Vegas gamblers have a budget to live by now I guess.

Today, the Dow took another huge plunge, and re-tested the lows of October when it dropped below 7882. I can't help but think of what this does to the faith that Americans have in their sacred institutions. GE, Microsoft, all of the major banks took massive wallops today. Decliners lead gainers by a 6 to one margin. Yet in all this carnage, of nearly oblivious company had a GIANT increase today: VeriChip (nasdaq: CHIP).

VeriChip posted about a 15% gain today, at a time when other stocks in their same sector were getting hammered. VeriChip is in the business of RFID chips. They make devices which can be used to track assets for companies and governments all over the world. In addition, they have received Phase 1 approval from the FDA for continued trials on their new implantable glucose monitoring chip for diabetics. They also make a chip that can be linked to your complete medical history. They have just teamed up with Microsoft for a new project that will have implant users keeping their medical information on servers that can be accessed by medical personel in hospitals around the world. If you are a punter that likes to have the best of it, you would be wise to have a look at this company. They are cheap right now, but I have a feeling that they won't be for long. Their implantable tracking chip technology is just what the government ordered for keeping tabs on the peasants.

So I guess todays takeaway is this: buy the company if you like it, but don't buy their message that they are doing humanity a big favor with their tracking tedchnology. Giving up liberty for a bit of security ensures you'll end up with neither....and that's never a good bet.