Two of the most accurate forecasters of the credit crisis anticipate that economic conditions will deteriorate further. Nouriel Roubini, who has been consistently been on the dire end of the opinion spectrum, characterizes our current situation as stag-deflation. Meredith Whitney, who was the first banking analyst to call the crisis in financials, and has made […]
Read more...Beached whales die in Australia BBC Research on mice links fast food to Alzheimer’s Reuters The Return of the Skyscraper Index Dollar Daze Retiree Havens Turn Younger to Combat Bust Wall Street Journal PwC survey says consumers stay home as they repay debt Times Online Quantitative easing: printing money like mad to ward off deflation […]
Read more...One robin does not make a spring, but I was struck by the subtext of this article at Bloomberg, “OPEC Failure Foretells Decline 10 Years After $10 Oil.” The mention of $10 oil is an odd bit of anchoring. And the general tone is surprisingly pessimistic. Key excerpts: A decade after OPEC failed to prevent […]
Read more...In the early days of this blog, I’d regularly compare the Wall Street Journal’s reporting of a news story with that of the Financial Times, because in the vast majority of cases, the Journal had either gotten it badly wrong or was putting a very positive spin on a less obviously cheery fact set. That […]
Read more...I came up with this in revising an article. The US circa 1929 and China now: Alpha creditor.
Read more...Readers no doubt recall that the Fed announced the creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, which will lend as much as $200 billion against new or recent vintage asset backed securities collateralized by “student loans, auto loans, credit card loans, and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.” One wonders if the order […]
Read more...OPEC’s meeting over the weekend, which held off from making further cuts despite oil prices hovering in the low $50s per barrel, a level that is causing distress among the cartels’ members. What was eyecatching, however, was not the failure to act per se but the byplay. As we noted earlier, OPEC members tend to […]
Read more...Sorry for the short list tonight, but I need to get on a more normal schedule. Protection boost for rare gorilla BBC Obama Team Seeks Possible Change to Aries, Orion Space News Another View: How to Save the U.S. Auto Industry J. Ronald Trost (who negotiated the Chrysler rescue), DealBook (hat tip Credit Slips). The […]
Read more...You simply cannot make this up. I found a section of this priceless commentary from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe via Marc Faber’s latest newsletter (hat tip reader Dean), and had to verify it. The original provides an even richer mine of material. From the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (boldface theirs): As Monetary Authorities, we […]
Read more...This ought to be a celebratory event, the scrutiny of a powerful player in the financial system who heretofore seemed immune to criticism. And what is interesting about the spotlight on Citigroup consigliere and board member Robert Rubin is that, unlike Greenspan, the reassessment is starting while he would still appear to have his hands […]
Read more...I am puzzled by some recent market anomalies, which are breakdowns of established patterns: 1. Long dated Treasuries rising (a deflation signal) as stocks stage a dramatic rally 2. Dollar weakening while long dated Treasuries rise (the dollar and bonds usually go together) 3. Oil stocks rallying more than the S&P (28% versus 18%) when […]
Read more...As we have noted before, when oil prices are as low as they are now, OPEC members are in a classic prisoners’ dilemma. If they all adhere to production cuts, oil prices will be stronger as a result. But with governments badly dependent on oil revenues, the temptation to cheat is high. But if everyone […]
Read more...There is a rather odd article up on Reuters with the headline, “Short selling declines as U.S. stocks scrape new lows” It is mainly concerned with the issue of whether shorts are culprits in the recent price declines of automaker and certain financial shares. The declining short interest says the attempts to implicate them are […]
Read more...And he was not the only casualty. From the New York Daily News: A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning…. “He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off […]
Read more...Wild Boar Storms Frankfurt Church Der Spiegel Potentially Universal Mechanism Of Aging Identified Science Daily Wall Street drowns its sorrows Financial Times Farm subsidies – a necessary evil? BBC KPMG In The News – Not The Good Kind Re: The Auditors Business leaders warn of Christmas sales meltdown The Independent Pharmaceutical companies “delaying cheaper drugs” […]
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