Ballard's Stock Inches Upwards as MSM Graduates Him To The Big Leagues

OBSERVATIONS: Indianapolis Star reporter Francesca Jarosz pens an interesting article on Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard (GBAL). As we read we had a difficult time determining if this was a pro-Ballard or con-Ballard.  It is true that he rode a wave of discontent that included anti-tax protesters, Peterson-fatigue and the Monroe doctrine.  Now according to many he's apparently part of the machine he raged about 3 years ago. 

We did find it somewhat surprising that Jennifer Hallowell, chief architect of two successful Brizzi campaigns and the catch phrase "Who Izzi?" was quoted considering she is rarely in Indianapolis and must be video teleconferencing her services. Nevertheless we will give the mayor the benefit of the nod on this one.

ANALYSIS:

UP: GBAL $130

DOWN:

GOP Investors Sound Off On Tom John and David Brooks "Handling" of the At-Large Election

Here's an email from a reader who asked if we would use their comments to open a dialogue on this issue. If there is related documentation associated with this topic we will post it here as an update.  The email is unaltered and identity of the sender will remain anonymous at their request. 

Whoever you are:



If my comments could be used as a springboard for more discussion, if desired, but not directly attributed, I would appreciate it.

I seem to be the only person getting their panties in a bunch over how this election is being handled by County GOP Leadership. Elections run with fairness and integrity of process are near sacred to me. The way Tom John and David Brooks have run this at large election is near criminal in my book. Isn't there supposed to be a level playing field for candidates-or at least the pretense of one? The blatant favoring of one candidate over another in this "election"is unbelievable.

Non favored candidates(all but one or two) were not given access to the forms for filing their candidacies, PC contact lists and invitations to candidate forums as favored candidates were. Personal requests, email, phone calls for them went unanswered. Response from Tom John was that only" official" filed candidates would be invited to candidate forums.

The day the GOP officially sent out filing forms? Wednesday of last week. The day an invitation for pc's to attend a township candidate forum went out? Same Wednesday of last week-meaning candidates invited to the forum had been asked before the forms for filing had been sent out by GOP headquarters,


Now, we have another candidate forum having been held this past Thursday evening with only Angel and Avachino featured- the declared front runners by TJ and DB. About 100 central PC's were invited and many other candidates didn't even know about the forum. Talk about unfair advantage. Talk about abuse of power. Talk about unmitigated gall!

The floor is now open. Please feel free to post your thoughts.

Trading Day Coming Soon! IPSE Declares "NYSE Ain't Got Nothin' On Us!"

Well folks we decided to post the guidelines for our virtual trading model, you'll find them listed by category beneath the blog title. Yep right...up...there...

Each link will take you to a seperate page where you can get a sneak peek of how we plan to operate a trading day. Now don't worry if it sounds a bit complicated once you start trading it will begin to make sense.

We've tried to account for trading glitches however we won't really know how well things will go until the frenzy starts. So if you have any questions  post it here and we'll get an answer to you as quickly as we can.

** Trading will start within 24 hours after  the tenth follower has registered.  In the meantime check out the instructions and get your calculators warmed up!

A market is the combined behavior of thousands of people responding to information, misinformation and whim.



Kenneth Chang

Is Jackie Cissell Starting Sizzle? If So, Angel Rivera Must Be Asking "Where's the Money?"

OBSERVATIONS:  We've gotten three emails on a new mailer that has hit the homes of PCs in the last two days from aspiring at-large candidate Jackie Cissell (JCIS).  As we've posted previously here and have noticed here there hasn't been enough reliable intel to push a clear frontrunner until today.  With the election only days away I think we feel safe in our assessment.

Now we'd be mighty obliged if one of our kind readers who scan the mailer or any other candidate's pieces and send us a copy to (ipse00@yahoo.com).  If this is true and we can't see the benefit of such an easily verifiable pronouncement then we think this separates Jackie from the pack by the simple fact she has money to put out a mailer to several hundred PC across the County. 

This also raises some serious questions about the true of party-bosses ( TOJO / DBRK ) as they continue to push the candidacy of Angel Rivera  (ARIV).  If we were Mr. Rivera we'd crank up a little music with some Latin bass, get Tom John and David Brooks on the phone and ask them to show me the money! 

Until then we're forced to lower your stock a bit. You're down but not out.

ANALYSIS:

UP:  JCIS $120;

DOWN: ARIV $80; TOJO $10; DBRK $90

IPSE COMMERCIAL BREAK: LOAO! Thanks IDEM!

OBSERVATION: We saw this today over at IDEM and only wish for comedy sake this was true. For his  creativity and good-natured ribbing we give the IDEM stock a little bump.  We're wondering how far is IDEM is willing to take this?

ANALYSIS:

UP:  IDEM $125

DOWN:

IPSE UP and DOWN PART II: The GOP

OBSERVATIONS:  Well lets start with Mr. SOS himself Todd Rokita (TROK).  In one of those great moments in legislative history a unaminous statewide smackdown. Two separate posts here and here. What makes this smack down particularly painful is that the Indiana Senate is overwhelming Republican.  We're wondering who is advising Todd on his political strategery. Surely he didn't think this was going to pass, let's face it - there are Senators up there with underwear older than Todd's political career.  Both bloggers make similar points in their own way as Rokita has been temporarily blinded by his own ambition. Somebody get this guy a seeing eye dog. Quick. 

Next up is Dorothy Henry.  (DHEN) gets an earful from POPL as he makes his case against her selection for the currently vacant at-large seat of former Councilor Kent Smith.  We've recieved several emails on this topic with everyone wanting more analysis on this race. Our position is that there are still too many candidates to track their stock value in a meaningful way. We are however beginning to see a few break away from the pack. Obviously Angel Rivera still has the strong backing of TOJO  and the part insiders while there seems to be a pitched battle between Jackie Cissell (JCIS), Dorothy Henry (DHEN) and Aaron Williams (AWMS). 

We were also told to watch out for sleeper Achiveeno Reeves who was one of the few candidates to challenge a loaded question from Center Township (by- way-of lily-white Hamilton County) David Brooks (DBRK)  Finally, apparently David has issued orders that under no circumstances will there be another African-American on the council. He states that "we need a Hispanic now". 

Oddly enough we haven't heard anything about the other would-be councilmen Bruce Shumacker or Mike Jezierski.  We'll keep our ears and eyes open so we don't miss anything however authentic info has been sketchy at best.

ANALYSIS:

UP:  OGPL $140;

DOWN:  DHEN $85; TROK $70

The IPSE UPs and DOWNS PART I: The Democrats

OBESERVATIONS: Well its been a topsy-turvy day for the stock market as the our winners and losers are separating from the pack. First up IPOP has real good cross-examination on the tempest in the teapot is starting to boil over. As a matter of fact IDEM also decided to weigh in with a story of his own.

Unfortunately BWMS takes a tremendous hit and his stock will tumble again.  As we said earlier, its not the scheme that was flawed it was the crowing about it afterwards that really set things off.  MKEN has remained silent and on this issue which make it look like Brian is fighting against PCs instead of for the nomination, not a good perception. There's a lot of time between now and May 2011 and we still believe that Williams is still in the game, however he will need to get in front of this issue very, very quickly.

ANALYSIS:

UP:  IPOP $140; IDEM $110; MKEN $130

DOWN:  BWMS $90

Daniels Stock Continues Upwards as POTUS Talk Increases

OBESERVATIONS:  The MMM to POTUS chatter has went viral since the George Will article a few days ago. And the interest of fairness we will always give props to pundits who recognize the strength of a politcial opponent and in this case we give IPOP a nudge upward for his begrudingly acknowledgement of MDAN potential ascension to the national stage. We're not sure if Daniels is just being coy about the issue or really wants a change of address to 1600. Again, time will tell. One note we found in the comment section of IPOP that bears mentioning, you know you are scaring the competition when they start attacking you and your family in a personal way. 


ANALYSIS:

UP: MDAN  $170; IPOP $130

DOWN:

Making Introductions: Chairman Tom John Meet Kettle!

OBSERVATIONS: Wow. That's all we can say after reading this article concerning Marion County Republican candidate for sheriff Bart McAtee decision to run against the slate.  Can Marion County Chairman Tom John (TOJO) be any more disingenious in his public statements considering his past history?  This is the same guy who in the last election publically mocked and did everything in his power to derail the candidacy of now Mayor Greg Ballard (GBAL) in 2007.  This is the same guy who understands cronyism because he practiced it unsuccessfully last year. 

We find Tom John's sanctimonious BS not only ludicrous in its insinuation but flaccid against McAtee's straightforward challenge to the slated process.  For what its worth like CBRZ,  TOJO stays on the trading board because of the position he currently holds as chairman and not his performance.  Can it get any worse for the local GOP leadership? We're still measuring this aspect and as part of our stock simulation we will start assessing his possible negative influence (halo effect) on other GOP/DEM stock value as a function of his position.

ANALYSIS:

UP: BMAC $90

DOWN:  TOJO $15

Paul Ogden + Gary Welsh = Blues for Ballard

OBSERVATION:  In what could only be described as a double team on Mayor Greg Ballard (GBAL), Paul Ogden (OGPL) and Gary Welsh (ADIN) have teamed up once again to give Ballard the Blues.  For Paul its all about the perception of leadership and for Gary its about the money.  Paul's compelling argument has some merit and while Gary gets continues to get a bit spastic on the very mention of this topic he post does raise legitimate concerns. We are wondering if the Ballard's non-response strategy really works. Anyway here's our decision.

ANALYSIS:

UP: OGPL $135; ADIN $115

DOWN: $125 GBAL

What Happens When Vern Brown Only Sees Things In Black And White? His Stock Drops!

OBSERVATIONS: We knew we had picked a winner when we selected VBWN in terms of its erratic volatility and of course we weren't disappointed.   We can't help but wonder "what the hell was he thinking?"  I mean this isn't the first vote on the merging of township fire departments into IFD.  At last count this is the 4th such merger ( Washington and Warren occurring under Peterson adminstration) vote.  As a matter of fact in 2007 Vernon was Peterson's top cheerleader for the policy.  We can't help but be a bit cynical and insulted that Brown couldn't develop a better rationale to explain his vote nor make a distinction between this vote and his previous ones.

According to our sources because most township fire departments are small compared to IFD hiring and turnover is infrequent which leads to the apparent lack of diversity. It was also noted that most minority applicants would rather apply to the largest fire deparment in the city where their chances of being hired in dramatically increased. 

As a result we believe that Brown's comments were not only disingenuious and stupid considering his previous votes, but also racially inflammatory and inappropriate for a firefighter/elected official to make in public.  This cannot be helpful to the assimilating process for the Franklin Township firefighters and IFD adminstration as they move forward. Even taking into consideration Vernon's history of playing the race card (even on other African-Americans) this was by far the most ill-conceived rationale for a vote we have ever seen or heard on the council.

Councilor Brown forgot the first rule of public speaking "It is better to be silent and have people think you are a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt".  For us there's no doubt and therefore we unabashedly devalue his stock.

NOTE: We'd drop it more however we're fairly sure he won't do anything in the next few months to increase his stock value.

ANALYSIS: 


UP: 

DOWN:  VBWN $50

IPSE Asks: How Strong is Terry Burns' Stock Strength After Allegations of Margin Trading? Can Ron Gibson's Stock Provide Leverage In Democratic Nominee Battle?

OBSERVATIONS:  We're monitoring two stituations here. The first one concerns the allegation that Terry Burns author of the highly popular political blog Indianapolis Times (ITIM) is trading on the politcal margin. 

According to the chatter he was given (and apparently accepted) the option of having his slating fee of $6,000 delayed until after the primary.  Since  Democrats have a built-in advantage in Marion County we don't feel this will ultimately impact him in the general election but we do have some concerns when it comes to his stock value.

As everyone in politics knows one of the first talents that makes a successful candidate is their ability to raise money and when it comes to slating its also a measure of candidate committment to the cause and the Party.  Now we aren't suggesting that Terry doesn't have a committment to his party, however we are  perplexed that a well-known blogger like Terry - who knows no boundries when it comes to promoting his party's candidate or denigrating his opponents, doesn't have enough inside support to raise his own slating fee.  We will keep watch to see what the impact if any this will have on his role as loyal opposition to the GOP. Right now we feel we must lower his stock a bit.  Of the principal GOP elected/appointed positions to profit from this we finally settled on GBAL, not so much because he needed it but because we couldn't bring ourselves to increase the value of tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

The second item is dark horse democratic mayoral candidate Ron Gibson (RGIB) as he continues his under-the-radar campaign. With all that's going on here. It will be interesting to see how Melina Kennedy (MKEN) who appears to have the local Peterson Democratic machine and other big-hitters behind her will fare against the something-new kid Brian Williams (BWMS) who brings an energetic and new for Democrats. We feel that if Ron plays his cards right not only could influence who will ultimately be the Democratic candidate for Mayor in 2011, it just might be him. Don't laugh stranger things have happened.

We will watch these development closely to see how the two Titans negotiate with each other and more importantly how they negotiate with Ron.

ANALYSIS:

UP: RGIB $110; GBAL $145

DOWN:  ITIM $85

Brian Williams Stock Suffers Slight Dip As He Forgets That the Key Word in Surprise Attack is the Word "Surprise"

OBSERVATIONS:  It seems that Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Williams (BWMS) may have created a bit of a flareup in the Democrat primary race. Without getting into the minutiae we can summarize by saying that Williams announced with grand exhortation that he had frontloaded the primary race for mayor by preparing to embed (via election) his own team of PCs for the upcoming primary contest.  We note that this practice is not unsual as it is the same method that party chairmen use to maintain their powerbase until they decide to leave or are forced to leave. 

Our only critique of this plan was its public announcement.  Having foot soldiers ready to roll in a contested primary race with no incumbant is quite an accomplishment. Of course it only works when the other guys never see it coming.

Bottom line we think a fifth column stealth plan best works when.its STEALTH! 

We are monitoring the chatter here and possibly here as it seems to be everyones favorite watercooler to see how much this will impact candidate Williams' stock in weeks leading up to the primary. Of course now he will not have a compelling reason to run against the slate if he loses (which we expect would be a no-brainer anyway).

So will this be a tempest in a teapot or the Democrat's Katrina? Only time will tell. As of now we believe that Melina gains a bit and Brian loses a bit and this is not a gamechanger at this point.


ANALYSIS:

UP: MKEN $125; INBA $120

DOWN:  BWMS $100

Brizzi Stocks Take Yet Another Hit. How Low Will He Go? No One Really Knows But We Imagine Curry Is Short Selling

OBSERVATIONS: It is not a good day for Brizzi  (CBRZ)stockholders as yet another layer of this onion is peeled away courtesy of Russ McQuaid from Fox 59. In our opinion, never have we seen one man with so much political  promise, lose so much, so quickly in such a uncharacteristic way.  At this point the only reason we've decided to keep his stock above junk bond status is the fact he is duly elected as Marion County prosecutor and it is the office that is propping his stock not the man. 

We're not sure how GOP candidate Mark Massa (MMAS) can have a successful 2010 campaign as long as the Brizzi onion continues to bring tears to everyones eyes. Meanwhile Marion County Democratic Candidate Terry Curry (TCUR) willl see a nice jump in his stock values as his successful bid centers on a comparison between Brizzi and himself. 

ANALYSIS:

UP: TCUR $110

DOWN:  CBRZ $15 MMAS $125

Market Responds Positively on News of Ogden Diversification

OBSERVATIONS:  Its not often that food critics actually enter a kitchen to cook, however Paul Ogden (OGPL) is putting his money where is mouth is by becoming a candidate for Pike Township School Board. We're not sure if being a political blogger will translate into more votes in this race, however we do believe it win or lose his IPSE stock gets a nice little bump. 

ANALYSIS:

UP:  OGPL $130

DOWN:

Market Uneasy As Rumors Of Insider Trading In At-Large Race Surfaces..

OBSERVATIONS:  We felt we had to report this item as it could have an impact on the outcome of this race. We've received three emails that raise our concern that not all candidates for the recently vacated at-large seat held by Kent Smith are being treated equally.

According to our sources, GOP Chairman Tom John (TOJO) has decided to only authorize the release of the precinct committeman list to selected candidates. This action provides them with a huge advantage in gaining a head start in vote counting.  Candidate without the current list are locked out of system or at least delayed and depending on how the preferred candidates package their numbers could be foreced out of contention by the perception that a defeat is a foregone conclusion. 

This allegation has a direct impact on two stocks; Tom John (TOJO) because he is the GOP Chairman and runs the process and Mayor Greg Ballard (GBAL) who is the highest ranking party official and member of the executive branch.  While the mayor may or may not be an active participant in this vote manipulation scheme, as the top GOP elected official he stands to benefit enormously if the process yields him a guaranteed supporter in the event that Ed Coleman (ECOL) decides to vote with the Democrats in a close vote on taxes increases or passing the 2011 budget. 

Ironically we can't predict what the outcome would be if the names of those preferred candidates were reveled to us. On one hand we would need to reflect their support from the insiders that could boost their value significantly. On the other, we would need to gauge the blowback, if any, from committeemen who feel like the system has been corrupted and their options limited. We will watch this process closely and welcome any additional information from our readers.

ANALYSIS: 

UP:

DOWN:  Tom John (TOJO)- $15; Greg Ballard $140

New Stock Offer: "Angry White Boy" Enters the Market, Chris Douglas Stock Plummets

OBSERVATION: Last night someone sent us the link to this blog suggesting it might make for interesting trading. Well we admit the name alone "Angry White Boy" was enough to make us curious.  Of course the ticker symbol  we selected (AWB), we will not be able to mention one without thinking of the other. In our opinion this post knocks Chris Douglas's (CDUG) stock value down to slightly above junk bond status.

As anyone knows PCs are your party loyalist and significant portion of your base and in this particular election the only ones allowed to vote on March 1st.


What makes this such a damaging disclosure is that not only are these Chris's own words, they all but destroy his standing with PC who are the ones voting. Just before we posted we discussed whether Chris should just declare himself a Democratic party member as as his future in the GOP, Tom John notwithstanding is completely over at this point.

UPDATE: According to AWB Chris has dropped out of the race however we will need another verifiable source before we remove him from the board.

ANALYSIS: 

UP: Angry White Boy (AWB) $105

DOWN:  Chris Douglas-(CDUG) $15; Tom John (TOJO) $20 

Oh the Interesting Stocks You'll Meet From Those Seeking the At-Large Seat

OBSERVATIONS: (First our apologies to the great Dr. Seuss.)  It appears that the waters have cleared a bit and we can identify the top contenders for the now open seat formerly held by GOP Kent Smith now stands at 7 so far:  Jackie Cissell, Chris Douglas,  Dorothy Henry, Mike Jezierski,  Angel Rivera, Bruce Shumacher and Aaron William. While this is a relatively short race (the winner to be selected on March 1st) we will give an analysis however we will only add the winners on the Board unless new information convinces us otherwise.  There are several posts out there on this race here here, here ,<--- this one was particularly interesting in its approach.  Our intial values are based on name recognition within the party. Again these are our intitial reactions and do not include information on who has the support of the Mayor Ballard (GBAL) and/or GOP Chairman Tom John (TOJO).  If that information becomes available to us we will make adjustments if necessary.

ANALYSIS:   Jackie Cissell-(JCIS) $110; Chris Douglas-(CDUG)  $100; Dorothy Henry-(DHEN) $90; Mike Jezierski-(MJEZ)-$105; Angel Rivera-(ARIV) $90; Bruce Shumacher-(BSHU) $110; Aaron Williams-(AWMS) $105

After 47 Years of Political Service Bayh Closes Family Business.

OBSERVATIONS: Well with the exception of 4 years between 1982-1985 for the last 47 years the Bayh name has been a fixture in Indiana politics. Today that changes as U.S. Senator Evan Bayh announced today he will not seek re-election this year. This has fueled not only speculation on why he is retiring (you can view some of the early interpretations here), there's also commentary on the implications of his sudden announcement and who may jump into the race on the Democratic side.

Since the market is still shaky we will wait to post any stock analysis until a authentic list of candidates from the Democratic Party - emerges unless of course, tomorrow offers new insight.

And to think we had dismissed this race as a yawner.

ANALYSIS: Pending

Real Time Stock Trading Coming Soon to IPSE!

Yep it has taken us the better part of six weeks to work through the logistics and framework for realtime online trading on IPSE stockmarket but we think we've finally got it. Expect an announcement and guidelines soon.

Lincoln Plowman Stock Dips As Indy Star Enter the Uncharted Waters of Investigative Journalism

OBSERVATIONS: As we mentioned earlier, we didn't want to devalue his stock aggressively until more facts in his case could be brought to light, however today's article certainly doesn't help Plowman's (LPLO) stock value. And we couldn't help but notice that the Indy Star has finally started doing a little investigative journalism. Question: Is the use of the word "primer" a hydraulics metaphor or a basic class in elementary reporting? Keep this up and we just might put your stock on the board.

ANALYSIS:

UP:

DOWN:  LPLO $50

Paul Ogden Stock Jumps After Mention In Today's BCD

OBSERVATION: Local blogger Paul Ogden (OGPL) get a nice boost for a mention in the Behind Closed Doors section today. What makes this notable is that is is rare that the MSM acknowledges bloggers. Obviously someone believes Ogden's request has legs. I wonder how Barnes and Thornburg attorney Joe Loftus who is handles Health and Hospital issues for the City will handle this issue. Perhaps another round of veiled threats? Regardless it will be stealthy as everyone knows how much Joe hates the spotlight.

ANALYSIS:

UP: OGPL $120

DOWN: JLOF $95

New Stock Offer: May and Fishburn Something New for the Grand Old Party, Layton A Familiar Brand for the DEMS

OBSERVATIONS:  We attended both slating conventions so that we could at least verify posting from others and came to the conclusion that these three (one, two, and three) bloggers were for the most part accurate.  After looking over the field wee would like to introduce two new stocks for your GOP buying pleasure Congressional District 7 candidate Carlos May (CMAY) and Marion County Sheriff Candidate Dennis Fishburn (DFISH). Both by most accounts are outsiders fighting well known and well funded candidates.

We find the Sheriff's race particularly interesting from a "familia" point of view, particularly as a primary candidate. Fishburn's unslated opponent Bart McAtee (BMAC) may run against the slate and could be a formidable opponent. The irony is that both Fishburn and McAtee are a product of their father/son relationship. Bart has his father former sheriff Joe McAtee to thank for his postive/negative name recognition and Dennis of course is the father to the decorated IMPD police officer Jason Fishburn who has successfully battled from death's door to see his father run for the County's top cop. Again this has no bearing on their stock value just an interesting factoid.

John Layton (JLAY) comes well prepared for the race with battle scars from his first tangle with Cottey, which by the way was not very pretty.  With a Democrat leaning county he has the wind at his back however must contend with past stories that might be a distraction.  Of course like Curry (TCUR) hee faces a primary challenger in African-American candidate Mark Brown bypassed the slating process and vowed to fight to the end. Overall this should be an interesting election year.

From a Chairman's point of view, Ed Treacy (ETRY) must find a way to effectively deal with Greg Bowes (GBOW)  who refused to go through slating without alienating the young African-American base that are his main source of support. 

For Tom John (TOJO) he desperately needs a countywide win. And just so we are clear if Mark Massa wins it a result of Mark Massa's and the full financial network of the Governor and not Tom John. We would take a more charitable stance hand Massa been Tom's first choice.  Another sweep of countywide offices would drop Tom stock to junk bond status and renew the call for his resignation.  Overall both Chairmen should receive a boost in their stock as each convention was lively and full of energy.

ANALYSIS: 

UP:  ETRY $105, TOJO $25; JLAY $110, DFISH $110; CMAY $110, INBA $105, IPOP $120,  ADIN $105

DOWN:  BMAC $80, MBWN $90

Oh and here's the Indy Star's take on the convnetions this weekend with a somewhat lively discussion on the slating process.

New Stock Offer: Greg Bowes Finally Announces His Candidacy for Prosecutor

OBSERVATIONS:  Well here's the announcement all of Marion County (especailly Democrat Chairman Ed Treacy) has been waiting on, current Marion County Assessor Greg Bowes has made his campaign for Prosecutor official. We found it interesting that his announcement would fall on the same day as the Democrat party slating, but certainly better than doing it on a Friday. Not sure how this will turn out but based on all accounts Bowes is going to take this all the way through the primary.





ANALYSIS:

UP:  GBOW $110

DOWN: TCUR $100; ETRY $100

New Stock Offer: Ron Gibson Is Back And He Wants To Be Mayor!

OBSERVATIONS:  Apparently there aren't enough Democrat candidates for mayor so former city-county councillor Ron Gibson has tossed his hat into the ring.  We're not sure why the former at-large councilman has decided that this was the race to enter as opposed to another run for his former seat, unless its because he feels there's a chance to capture the grassroots and/or minority vote.  We will note here that he is the first declared African-American male to run for mayor and second African-American to possibly run (the late Honorable Z. Mae Jimison unsuccessfully ran in 1995 against then mayor Goldsmith) for the 25th floor. All we can say right now is Gibson has never disappointed those who like a little spontaneity in politicsthis should be fun race to watch.  Of course with the African-American population around 25% in Marion County and heavily represented int he Demcratic party, this could be a bit dicey for Ed Treacy if he uses too heavy of a hand in dealing with a legitimate African-American candidate for Mayor.

ANALYSIS: 

UP: RGIB $105

DOWN:  ETRY $105

New Stock Offer: As GOP's Mark Massa Enters Prosecutor's Race

OBSERVATIONS: In one of the clunkiest machinations we have ever seen, the world's worst kept political secret has been revealed as Mark Massa (MMAS), legal counsel to Governor Daniels has announced his bid for GOP candidate for Marion County Prosecutor.  If he lasts for 24 hours on the campaign trail will last longer than the first GOP candidate. By all accounts Massa comes in with good creditials and heavy fundraising potential.  The downside is that stockholders that heavily invested in (CBRZ) are still fuming at the breakneck race to the bottom of their investment and are wondering if there management will selloff assets in order to recoup some of their losses (a Brizzi resignation). I guess a 20% off coupon for appetizers at this restaurant hasn't yielded any boost in popularity yet - maybe two-for-one drink specials might do the trick.

ANALYSIS:

UP: MMAS $130, MDAN $160

DOWN:  TCUR  $110

Should Daniels Stockholders Take A Long Position? George Will Sure Thinks So.

OBSERVATIONS:  Governor Daniels recieved a big boost today as his name is again making the national news all without having to set foot out of Indiana.  While he stated in 2004 that it would be is last political race, the first rule of being a politician is "never say never". And I guess we didn't actually hear him use the word "never".

ANALYSIS:

UP:  MDAN $150

Councilman Lincoln Plowman Catches Attention of the Feds, Never A Good Sign

OBSERVATIONS: The Indy Star is reporting that IMPD officer and City-County Councillor Republican Lincoln Plowman (LPLO) has been placed on suspension pending the results of an apparent FBI investigation.  As part of the standard protocol Plowman was forced to turn in his badge, gun and vehicle.  Neither Ballard, public safety director Frank Straub will comment on the matter.  With little information available we can only surmise what the charges are and how damaging this could be for Plowman's politcal, professional and personal future.  District #25 is a very safe republican district and therefore this holds no direct boost for democrats in Marion County.  We will continue to monitor this event and adjust the market accordingly. And a word to the wise...it is never a good time to be investigated by the Feds.

ANALYSIS:

UP:

DOWN:   LPLO $60

Kent Smith Steps Down, Tom John Becomes Relevent Once Again

OBSERVATIONS: In a bombshell announcement at-large GOP councillor Kent Smith is stepping down for what appears to be mounting personal committments, leaving the door open for a host of would-be replacements including Aaron Smith son of Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams (OWMS), wealth advisor Chris Douglas, local businessman Angel Riveria and CIB member Dorothy Henry.  We're still mulling this new development and may offer an additional analysis at a later date after things become a bit clearer however we will give GOP Chairman Tom John (TOJO) a boost (god knows he needs one) as he will have significant influence in the final decision.

ANALYSIS:

UP:  TOJO $20

DOWN: -