Links Earth Day

Fertility expert: ‘I can clone a human being’ Independent (hat tip reader Carrick)

World’s major rivers ‘drying up’ BBC (hat tip reader Steve L)

Climate Change Schizophrenia Marc Gunther, The Big Money

We Fought A.I.G. and A.I.G. Won Steve Davidoff, New York Times

Why the ‘green shoots’ of recovery could yet wither Martin Wolf, Financial Times

How economics lost sight of real world John Kay, Financial Times

Debtholders vs. U.S. Over Chrysler Deal New York Times. The bondholders want 65 cents on the dollar PLUS 40% of the company when the debt trade for 15 cents. And guess who is leading the bondholders? JP Morgan and Citi.

Five Buildings that Should not have been Built Robert Green

For Housing Crisis, the End Probably Isn’t Near David Leonhardt, New York Times. A new datapoint: auctions.

Barclays’ Massive Loan Pool Eludes Notice Dan Freed, The Street.com

Is the American dream a nightmare? Susan Reed, Global Post

Weak Fundamentals Suggest Oil Prices Will Remain Low Oxford Analytica (hat tip reader Michael)

Commodities Boom and Bust Just History Repeating Itself Metal Miner

IMF vs Treasury and FSA Robert Peston, BBC

Let Insolvent Financial Firms Fail: Fed’s Hoenig Reuters (hat tip Joseph)

A Report Card on Obomanomics, Approaching One Hundred Days Robert Reich

The gang that couldn’t shoot straight: dosh-for-bangers, courtesy of the UK Treasury Willem Buiter

Antidote du jour: My brother Roy thinks two white moose equal one black swan:

The odds of seeing an albino moose are astronomical and to see this in the upper peninsula of Michigan , near Wisconsin , is even greater than astronomical. To see two of them together is nearly impossible.

We wanted to share these photos with as many people as possible because you will probably never have a chance to see this rare sight again.





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12 comments

  1. bobo bobo

    yves: Debtholders vs. U.S. Over Chrysler Deal New York Times. The bondholders want 65 cents on the dollar PLUS 40% of the company when the debt trade for 15 cents. And guess who is leading the bondholders? JP Morgan and Citi.

    Yves is off on a cricial point. The NYTimes is referring to secured lenders, not bondholders. The secured lenders on average have historically gotten about 70 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy. In contrast, bondholders have gotten 30 cents on the dollar historically on average. JP Morgan and co are arguing to get paid like senior secured lenders historically have. Geithner appears to be arguing for the senior lenders to get paid like bondholders.

  2. bobo bobo

    Regarding Geithner’s testimony at the Warren committee yesterday, does anyone know the name of the Geithner aide who was sitting behind Geithner wearing clunky plastic glasses, and nodding or shaking his head to express stereotypical banker views?

  3. yoganmahew

    Um, aren’t white moose genetically determined? So the chances of seeing two together is only slightly higher than seeing one assuming you are seeing a family group…

  4. bob

    Lots of White Deer

    http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/the-white-deer-at-the-seneca-army-depot/

    There is a good history, but it does not include that the guards at the fenced in depot would for years allow "culling" of the herd. They would not allow the white deer to be taken. After 40 or so years, 400 out of 700 are white.

    Google earth on this place is good for a few hours of wasted time. HUGE. Notice the peace sign in the south-eastern corner.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=seneca+army+depot&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&view=map&ei=UwzvSeRtjo426o7JSw&attrid=&z=14

  5. Luke Lea

    I have a constructive proposal to prevent future housing crises and increase ownership: Rely on automoatic bank withdrawals. A lot of people are simply too disorganized for a whole variety of reasons to manage their monthly bills in a timely manner, even when they have the money. (I’ve been there myself.) A few late payments and next thing you know their credit score plunges and they are forced to pay usurious interest rates, which likely as not they cannot afford. We end up with a system of debt slavery or else large-scale defaults.

  6. Valentine Michael Smith

    My hypothesis on white moose — more albino moose are like more light or darker colored Peppered Moths depending on which helped them survive predation (the predominant color tracked a sootier or cleaner environment to help them be invisible against treebark).

    If Ms. Palin and her ilk are hunting moose from helicopters, white moose would be the survivors.

  7. skippy

    @VMSmith^^^above,

    Not to worry Ms. Plain would just sequester a police helicopter with thermal imaging and .50 Cal Barret with thermal scope to off set any genetic advantage gained by generational mutation.

    Ahh the ancestral beating of ones chest after a successful kill from a few hundred feet in the air, with hot coffee and the heater on high.

    Now alert the national guard to go fetch the noble beasts and clean them, its BBQ time.

    Skippy…pass me a Bud k…can’t clean my loaded weapon until I’m really pissed.

  8. Yves Smith

    bobo bobo,

    I did make a an error in description, but I do not think the implication is wrong, as you suggest. My statement of the position of the banks’ position and where the debt is trading appears to be accurate, save the use of the term “bondholders” for senior secured creditors. I would assume it is bank debt, although bonds can be secured too.

    And the New York Times does say the debt is trading at 15 cents on the dollar, so the comparison does appear accurate. Pretty much all the commentary I have read on distressed debt says recoveries this cycle will be markedly lower than historic norms. Secured creditors have to liquidate assets. Think they are going to get very good prices? Pretty dubious.

    And the guy behind Geithner is probably the real Treasury Secretary. Geithner is just his puppet.

  9. bobo bobo

    yves: And the New York Times does say the debt is trading at 15 cents on the dollar, so the comparison does appear accurate.

    —-

    S&P estimates that chryler 1st lien loans would collect 30-50 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy. That is more than 15 cents on the dollar, although less than the historic average of 70 cents on the dollar for senior bank loans.

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