It only takes opposition by 10% of the bondholders to stymie an out-of-court restructuring of GM. The FT believes that there are enough bondholders who, via being net short GM bonds via credit default swaps, have good reason to block a negotiated outcome and force the automaker into bankruptcy. And that poses risk to the […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. I want to follow-up on my last comment on the “W” recovery because it is absolutely critical for policymakers and investors to understand the arguments on both sides of the inflation/ deflation debate. I will make this post considerably shorter than the previous one, but there is […]
Read more...So much for the green shoots theory, at least as far as an early Chinese recovery is concerned. From AFP (hat tip reader Michael): Chinese exports fell 22.6 percent in April from a year earlier in the sixth straight monthly decline, state media said Tuesday,… Exports from the world’s third-largest economy totalled 91.94 billion dollars […]
Read more...Submitted by Rolfe Winkler, publisher of OptionARMageddon Much has been said here and elsewhere about the stress test’s lack of credibility, especially after word emerged about “intense bargaining”over the results. Not to belabor the point, but some data may be of use. Of the more promising developments early in the process, the Fed articulated the […]
Read more...Scientists pinpoint fats danger BBC Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police Chicago Tribune In-house fraud cases surge Financial Times Stressing Fannie and Freddie – What Does It Mean? Bruce Krasting Rising Credit Card Losses Are Next Challenge for Banks New York Times Mortgages Over 5% Mean Fed Purchases as Bonds Slump Bloomberg Rating Agency […]
Read more...This post is from reader Gonzalo Lira. Although I beg to differ with him on a couple of his observations, it’s certainly colorful and thought provoking. I give my quibbles at the end. Insofar as this burgeoning Millennial Depression goes, I’ve noticed there are two sorts of people: Ones such as myself, obsessively following every […]
Read more...I recall in the mid 1980s when people who should have known better (McKinsey consultants and analysts covering the banking industry) were adamant that banks would never cut their fees or interest rate charges (19.8%) on credit cards. I remember thinking of the confidence over credit card pricing every time experts insisted that hedge funds […]
Read more...Benjamin Friedman, in a review of George Akerlof and Robert Shiller’s Animal Spirits, makes an interesting observation: As in past financial declines, what is sorely missing in this discussion is attention to what function the financial system is supposed to perform in the economy and how well it has been doing it. Today attention is […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. First things first, let me tell my mom that I love her dearly and wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day. Now, I have put off writing this comment long enough. This is partly because analyzing this economy is not as easy I first […]
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Read more...Gorilla mums keep family in check BBC The danger of drugs … and data Ben Goldacre, Guardian. Merck plays nasty. “Rats Outperform Humans in Interpreting Data” Mark Thoma Body Weight and the New Normal Paul Kedrosky Psychologists Are Better Stockmarket Speculators Than Economists jck A U.S. Hog Giant Transforms Eastern Europe New York Times (hat […]
Read more...Despite quite a few warnings, the stock market rally continues to grind upwards. Although past is not always prologue, this upswing has not featured a new leadership group, as enduring bull markets normally do, nor has it reached the crushing valuation lows (PEs of 5-8 versus roughly 11 in early March), Moreover, despite the mythology […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. Now that the results of the stress tests have been revealed, I would like to share a post with you that I wrote on Credit Writedowns about two weeks ago. In this post, my operating assumption was that the stress tests were a grand charade. Summers […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. On Friday, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said that she favors a new proposal for federal regulators sharing oversight of companies that pose financial risks to the economy: SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said she’s “inclined toward” the idea floated this week by the head […]
Read more...When Comets Attack: Solving the Mystery of the Biggest Natural Explosion in Modern History Popular Mechanics Goldman Sachs Shareholders Rebuff Firm’s Board for First Time Bloomberg On Wall Street: Beware of the sucker’s rally Financial Times (hat tip reader Dwight) Green Shoots Or Rose-Colored Glasses Tyler Durden. Extensive quotes from David Rosenberg on the unemployment […]
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