I get worried when the Financial Times’ Martin Wolf starts adopting Stephen Covey-esque sloganeering, particularly when he goes so far as to call his financial services reform proposal “the seven Cs.” Eeek. Earth to UK: one of the big hidden advantages you have is that the lingua franca is your language. That cloying business jargon […]
Read more...First Wind Powered Community in US KOMU Dirty Volcanic Eruption In Chile Can Change Climate Culture of Life News. Check out Krakatoa. Priorities 26econ Credit crisis far from over: expert The Australian. Satyajit Das aruge that inflation isn’t so bad, given the alternatives. New Zealand Announces New Liquidity Measures Michael Shedlock The Short View: Crunchy […]
Read more...What’s good for GM is not longer what’s good for America. The supposedly good news that productivity is up, reducing inflationary pressures, is due to the fact that businesses cut their workforces and had those who remained do more. This has been a long standing practice in large corporations; a lot of staffers are doing […]
Read more...John Dizard gives a cautionary tale to the growing ranks of vulture wannabes, and in a clever two-for-one, also warns against bottom fishing in commercial mortgage backed securiites. Although the piece revolves around a single anecdote, it’s revealing. Dizard’s story reminded me of this Oscar-winning song from 2005 (skip to the one minute mark): From […]
Read more...A sharp increase in business bankruptcy filings is not only a tangible sign of business distress, but bodes ill for employment. Although the Bloomberg report does not break out Chapter 11 filings by size of entity, it’s a no-brainer than they would be concentrated in smaller companies, and it is those smaller entities that have […]
Read more...We’ve never been a fan of the pending acquisition of Countrywide by Bank of America. In fact, BofA’s apparent eagerness to buy a company clearly on the ropes seemed odd: why not wait until it went bankrupt, or at least was on the courthouse steps with a filing? We’re clearly old-fashioned, but in our day, […]
Read more...Goldman foresees a continue rise in oil prices due to continuing capacity constraints and continued strong demand from emerging economies. From Bloomberg: Crude oil prices may rise to between $150 and $200 a barrel within two years because of a lack of adequate supply growth, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts led by Arjun N. Murti […]
Read more...Steve Waldman at Interfludity did me the high compliment of picking up on an issue that is important to me and running with it: Yves Smith packs a powerful insight into an unassuming sentence: Liquidity is not a virtue in and of itself unless it produces a benefit to the real economy. Liquidity is often […]
Read more...Even though there has been a lot of whistling-in-the-dark talk that the credit crisis is past, the evidence is far from conclusive. On the one hand, BlackRock bought $15 billion of subprime debt at a mere 25% discount to face. In March, UBS was rumored to have sold $24 billion of Alt-A for 70 cents […]
Read more...It’s amazing how a problem isn’t a problem until it’s presented as one on television or a respected print outlet. Never mind the fact that the cognoscenti have been worried about the possibility that the two big mortgage guarantors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were too thinly capitalized relative to their massive balance sheets. Never […]
Read more...China mounts cyber attacks on Indian sites Times of India People with Mentally Demanding Jobs Reap Cognitive Benefits into Retirement PhysOrg High Food Prices or Low Food Prices: What Do We Want? Dean Baker Bank of America: Countrywide Deal “On Track” Housing Wire versus Acquisition of Lender Is Possibly in Jeopardy New York Times. I […]
Read more...The rebate checks haven’t yet arrived, and they are already being deemed likely to have little impact on the economy. That isn’t surprising. What is perplexing it that they were successfully portrayed for a short while as likely to do anything other than increase the Federal deficit. Readers may recall at the time the idea […]
Read more...Although we have spoken from time to time about the managerial and cultural failings of the financial services industry, an article today in the Telegraph by Roger Bootle provides a nicely balanced, colorful, and deceptively insightful overview of the issue, while also giving a taste of how the British variant of the problem differs from […]
Read more...The headline above may overstate the case a tad. I sincerely doubt the Milken Institute took much note of last Friday’s offering, Hubris, Denial, and the Financial Services Culture. They had plenty of coverage by the mainstream media and reportedly regard blogs with some skepticism (the person who was responsible for our panel on econobloggers […]
Read more...The Wall Street Journal so often presents the optimistic case that it’s important to reinforce those occasions when it provides a less than cheery view. Of course, a journalist is only as good as his sources, and the bullish bias is in large measure due to the insistent upbeat posture of CEOs and sell-side analysts […]
Read more...