Even the rich are feeling the pinch of this downturn a bit. Some of it is that even the wealthy cut back in bad times (if nothing else, conspicuous consumption becomes a tad unseemly), but in addition, the rich are more levered generally speaking than heretofore, so some may also have good reason for caution. […]
Read more...I have occasionally seen Paul Volcker on the street, but never thought the circumstances were right to accost him him. Today I saw him in the neighborhood fruit and vegetable store. I went over and introduced myself, shook his hand told him I was a fan of his and that I remembered the days when […]
Read more...The Bloomberg report on Minneapolis Fed president Gary Stern’s hawkish views noted that he has a more sanguine view of the health of the financial system than other FOMC members do. From Bloomberg: The Federal Reserve shouldn’t wait until financial and housing markets stabilize to raise interest rates, central bank policy maker Gary Stern said. […]
Read more...When I read this Bloomberg story, “Blackstone Risks Hedge Funds’ Return as LBO Lending Evaporates,” my first reaction was “conflict of interest”. My second was “lawsuit”. Everyone casts a blind eye at arrangements like this until the returns falter. My third was that everyone interview seemed extremely reluctant to say anything critical of Blackstone. That […]
Read more...The results of the auction of the Cheyne SIV portfolio do not portend well for other SIV restructurings. From the Financial Times: A benchmark auction of distressed debt assets has given investors a gloomy guide to the prospects of recovering cash from the troubled structured investment vehicles that have been at the heart of the […]
Read more...Beavers breed again in England BBC Measures to help species cope with climate change? PhysOrg WSJ: One fact about government outsourcing is settled: It sure doesn’t save money rdan Angry Bear Apple Climbs Into Third Place in U.S. PC Market PC Magazine Fatalism is not the answer Aline van Duyn, Financial Times. Headlines like that […]
Read more...It’s truly remarkable what a short squeeze and the threat of tighter governmental oversight can do. According to the Wall Street Journal, Freddie Mac is now considering raising $10 billion of equity to keep a government rescue at bay, or at least contained. But what are we to make of this attempt at stagecraft? The […]
Read more...Both are victims of the high cost of grains, wheat in the pigs’ case, corn for the catfish. as the New York Times explains. And US hog farmers aren’t faring too well either: Catfish farmers across the South, unable to cope with the soaring cost of corn and soybean feed, are draining their ponds… Corn […]
Read more...I had a sneaking suspicion when Merrill announced the sale of its sake in Bloomberg for $4.4 billion that the quarterly loss had to be in that range, despite forecasts that the loss would be in the $1.5 to $2 billion range. Bloomberg is too good a business to sell unless there was a pressing […]
Read more...In a TheStreet.com($) story with the above headline (hat tip reader MIchael), Doug Kass noted that the price increase in the Financial Select Sector SPDR was 13%, an 11 standard deviation event. According to Kass, the odds of an eleven standard deviation event is equivalent to the world ending – between three and four times. […]
Read more...The Financial Times reports that despite the snappy rally in bank stocks in the US, which may have been partly fueled by short covering, money market traders expect banks to face rough sailing till the end of 2010. From the Financial Times: Traders are betting that the credit crunch will still be hurting banks at […]
Read more...Democracies with separation of powers less likely to stop using torture PhysOrg Offshoring is a Dubious Policy, When the Question is Oil Drilling Jeff Frankel Growing disparities in life expectancy Economic Policy Institute When the state does not enforce property rights Dani Rodrik. I assume his closing comment is sarcastic. The May TIC data (with […]
Read more...This sad tale comes courtesy Katie Porter in “The REALLY Sad State of Mortgage Servicing” at Credit Slips: A customer legally tape-recorded his conversation with his mortgage servicer, one of the nation’s largest financial institutions (and no, it’s not Countrywide!) His attorney shared it with me, and I’m posting some excerpts…. Bob I was wondering […]
Read more...I got this far in the Wall Street Journal article, “Capitol Hill Storm Envelops Fannie-Freddie Rescue” and started seeing red: The Congressional Budget Office is expected to estimate the cost of Treasury’s proposals to the federal government to be in the tens of billions of dollars, according to people familiar with the matter. That estimate […]
Read more...Before you break out the champagne on the news that international investors like the US (or more accurately, hate its stocks less than those of other nations), the article does not address the weighting of equities relative to other asset classes (ie, total allocations could still be down due to shifting more capital to commodities, […]
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