THE MAN-GINA
Theme for today: Denial. Recently canned University of Kansas football coach MARK "Five Hour Lunch" MANGINO said that he had to talk tough with recalcitrant players to instill discipline in the formerly lackadaisical KU football program. This from a man who is three times larger than Babe the Blue Ox.

TIGER TROUBLE
Like that easy Par 3 at the Omaha Country Club, TIGER WOODS just keeps on giving. The extramarital dalliances of the world's highest paid hybrid are further proof that white is nice but brown is betta, though the Accenture spokesperson seems to need some consulting about the nature of a "woman scorned." Dude, it's about the money. Divorce now or pay later. DO NOT rewrite that pre-nup to win her back. Repeat: DO NOT rewrite that pre-nup!!!

Word out of Orlando: Tiger Woods is re-writing that pre-nup.

GLD OR BUST?
Finally, some wisdom about the markets, since this is, after all, a site about commodities futures. You know, Farm Report, as in sows, soybeans, and sugar prices. Readers who've been buying up GLD like there's no tomorrow, listen up. While GLD is still not at that IBD (Investors Business Daily) magical 8% Maginot Line where one would cut and run, to use a GOP metaphor, I fear that bright line might be crossed come Monday, or sooner (watch the Asian markets Sunday night for a snapshot of what's in store). Word from CFR sources is mixed, as some think GLD will bounce back strong in Jan/Feb (whether the market prices that in next week, CFR is unsure). Others are not so sanguine and think that with the rise in the dollar GLD is due for a correction. That said, GLD might be the exception to the IBD rule, given that it is a highly volatile trade to begin with and its popularity is not solely due to the weak dollar. Even if, for example, online juggernaut AMAZON (which Crotty owns along with GLD) presses down 8%, I would not sell it because long-term it is best of breed. It has won the e-commerce war, with WAL-MART trailing. Yes, as a commodity, GOLD operates by a different logic. Still, even if interest rates do eventually go up because of the surprisingly strong job numbers report on Friday (MONK MEDIA is hiring bloggers!), I don't think the miniscule money tightening that the Fed is expected to deliver six months hence will impact the money supply all that much or dampen continued inflation speculation. Also, to borrow from a Revolutionary War metaphor, the Feds have not yet begun to over-spend. There's a hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus money still on the table.

Still, with the parabolic moves in GLD, one is tempted to sell out of the stuff (which for the Crotty would be a mighty big sell), and move into dollar-agnostic momentum stocks (whatever the heck those are). More on this subject late Sunday night.

HOOK 'EM HUSKERS!
Saturday is the long-awaited NEBRASKA-TEXAS smackdown for the Big 12 Championship. I will be not hanging with my Husker posse at the Irish Rogue near Times Square. Instead, I will be closely watching the game at home, so I can absorb the inevitable disappointment in relative solitude. Naturally, I will be pulling for NDAMUKONG SUH (the best player at his position in college football) and the Husker front four to rain pain on COLT MCCOY and the overrated Longhorns. But I have a gut feeling that in a close match (just like with Virginia Tech and Iowa State), my beloved Huskers will find a way to lose.

Have a parabolically great weekend!