MCM Macro Signing off, for now... Thank You -KM

Dear MCM Friends,

First, let me thank you for taking the time out to read what I've had to say for the last 10 weeks. After almost 10 years on Wall Street, spending 10 weeks by myself, hammering out my sometimes nonsensical prose, had its moments of doubt! Your constructive feedback kept me going however, and for that I will be forever grateful.

In hindsight, it helps that we ended up on the right side of a major US stock market move, but making a short term "call" on the market is not a basis for a long term business model. Refining and improving my already proven investment process, however, is.

This week's US Market Performance:
Dow (1.51%); S&P500 (0.75%); Nasdaq (2.58%); Russell 2000 (2.35%)
For January 2008 to date:
Dow (4.96%); S&P500 (4.59%); Nasdaq (8.01%); Russell 2000 (8.01%)

The most important takeaway from my time away from the madness of the hedge fund industry's crowds is the confirmation in my gut of the fundamental belief that understanding company and economic cycles are processes, not points. Patience is required, and consensus building is not. Many Hedge Fund managers attempt to build businesses around who made the last "great call." Few understand how repeatable the investment process was behind that "call". As a result, they are often managing their businesses reactively, rather than proactively.

At this stage of my life, if my #1 ambition was to be compensated, I'd already have accepted one of the many generous hedge fund jobs that have been put on the table. Instead, I've decided to hang my hat on the convictions born out of my investment process - they beat any Wall Street offer you can give me.

To say that the game of levered long investing is coming to an end would be an understatement. With that new reality come tremendous market opportunities for those with entrepreneurial ideas that are creatively destructive.

I've decided to take this idea to the next level and invest my time and capital into building a real business. I intend to compete with mostly everything that's considered "acceptable investment advice" by current market participants. For the next 6-8 weeks, I'll be shifting into my top gear. I have my new team in place, and we're ready to grind.

Unfortunately, that means my focus will be moving to the operational side, and I won't be able to provide you with the same level of diligence that stands behind the convictions I've been willing to be held accountable for via MCM Trades, Trends, Themes, or Trades.

But, I'll be back!

Best of luck out there, and thanks again.

Keith McCullough