I was having a total WTF moment on Friday, trying to ride out the market’s bank nationalization paranoia and the new rabid bevy of speculators who profit on the short. I needed to make a decision about a bank preferred stock that was getting hammered. I thought it was way oversold. But the problem with investing is that sometimes it doesn’t pay to be right when the rest of the market wants to be wrong. There was only one person in the office who could help me — our resident “WTF” guru.

Like a stoner attending a physics lecture, my co-worker listened with a bemused, vacant expression. I suspect Anthony has lived his entire life creatively side-stepping panic. His book, WFT?: How to Survive 101 of Life’s Worst F*#!-ing Situations is only a one delicious slice of a philosophy that basically kicks panic in the junk. Within three minutes, a solution was born. Within hours, it had played out as genius.

Since he was there, I decided to tap the Guru on a more personal “WTF” front; my lost blog posts. As I described how my early blog posts were lost – my blog host a likely victim of foreclosure and unemployment – Anthony barely raised an eyebrow. He mumbled, “I’ll send you a link.” Three minutes later, I had a link to the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. It doesn’t have everything, but it has enough to rebuild some of my favorites. Who knew? The Guru, obviously.

I’m not sure what WTF solution my friend and poker player Vinnie Procopio has up his sleeve. For months I’d been following the news of the defendants in the Borgata sports betting arrests without seeing any further hint of his name. But last week I came across this. It looks like he’ll get tapped with a $20K fine. And while he faces a recommended 364 day jail term, maybe it will come in lighter than that.

Another friend and poker player, MJ Bernstein, is also trying to overcome a serious WTF situation — and he’s asking for our help. Please read his blog here. The littlest bit of help would mean a lot to this young family, battling one of life’s toughest breaks.

And WTF is up with Jamie Gold? Does anybody else think it’s strange that Gold is reported to have received an eight figure sponsorship deal from a newly formed online company – considering he is hardly an “A” list pro and even the most established and profitable online companies are ratcheting back on deals in the wake of the economic downturn? I’m calling bullshit on this story. I suspect Jamie has a piece of this fledgling company – either as part of a sponsorship agreement or through personal investment. Value that for what it’s worth.

Photo Notes: Vinnie “The Prairie Dog” Procopio at the 2007 LAPC and Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP.