Submitted by Tyler Durden, publisher of Zero Hedge Every now and then we go through the list of IG11 companies looking for something that just looks out of place. This time around our attention was caught by a financial company, whose CDS was trading at a level which we initially thought had to be a […]
Read more...Chimps craft ultimate fishing rod BBC Free Advice: Watch the Mail and Opt Out of Verizon Sharing Your Personal Data Gizmodo. Obama Disses Economics Blogs Joe Weisenthal, Clusterstock. Several readers pointed to this, but I take it differently than most do. The very fact that he mentioned econ blogs (and tried to downplay them) must […]
Read more...Submitted by Rolfe Winkler, CFA, publisher of OptionARMageddon.com Policy-makers not only misunderstand the economic crisis, they continue to underestimate it. Consequently, solutions to date have not only failed to “fix” anything, they have made the problem worse. The problem isn’t falling asset prices, it’s not rising foreclosures, it’s too much debt. With an assist from […]
Read more...This Telegraph article attributes the bearish outlook for the euro to deteriorating fundamentals and expected rate cuts. As the yen attests, a sharp fall in economic activity and prospects can lead traders to change their views, sometimes abruptly. And the euro has always had a whiff of doubt about it, with less than the full […]
Read more...While Wolfgang Munchau’s latest comment for the Financial Times, “An L of a recession – reform is the way out,” fell short of being apocalyptic, it was the gloomiest piece I can recall coming from him. Munchau argues that the world is going into what is politely referred to as an L shaped recession, but […]
Read more...Dancing black hole twins spotted BBC Jailed for a MySpace parody, the student who exposed America’s cash for kids scandal Guardian (hat tip reader michael t) The Bottomless Bailout Ralph Nader, Common Dreams (hat tip reader David) Mortgage Fraud Case Poses Federal Quandary New York Times Why is the CIC buying Big Four state bank […]
Read more...Before I start shredding “Nationalize? Hey, Not So Fast,” by Alan Blinder in the New York Times, let us first go back to the basic problem,, nomenclature. Blinder does not specifically do so in this article, but opponents to nationalization often raise the image of enterprises being expropriated by the state, in other words, healthy […]
Read more...I must confess to being very late to read Nassim Nicolas Taleb’s The Black Swan, and frankly had considered NOT reading it. First, it has been so widely reviewed and discussed that I had assumed the additional knowledge to be gained by reading the book itself would be marginal. Second, I’ve read a bit of […]
Read more...Salacious content driving the adoption of ebooks? ITWorld Scholes Advises ‘Blow Up’ Over-the-Counter Contracts Bloomberg. Of course, the industry association (the ISDA) howled. Random Musings On The End Of The American Experiment Bob O’Brien. Zeitgeist watch. Economic Crisis Takes a Toll on Flower Shows New York Times Death of Highly Leveraged Illiquid Strategies? Pension Pulse […]
Read more...I’ve gotten a very good response to my request for help with my upcoming book, both for research/sanity check support and (when the project is further along) review of select chapters. For the benefit of those who expressed interest in being on the research team (not to worry, it will not be a cast of […]
Read more...Even though I often take on the Wall Street Journal’s depiction of new stories, the flip side is that it does break significant news stories. Today is one of those days, although I wonder about an item this juicy hitting the wires on a Friday evening. Remember that the reason for shoring up AIG was […]
Read more...Paul Keating, former Austrailian Prime Minister, gave an assessment of Timothy Geithners’ performance in the Asian crisis that is sharply at odds with US reports. According to Keating, Geither completely misread the nature of the crisis, that it was the result of hot money flight, but reverted to the standard IMF “country facing currency crisis” […]
Read more...Dear readers, I am going to be making some changes to the blog over the next few weeks, and anticipate the result will be a plus, although I know some of you are very resistant to anything new. First, we will be adding some guest bloggers in regular slots, each posting one day a week. […]
Read more...We have sometimes pointed to a paper by Nobel prize winner George Akerlof (of “markets for lemons” fame) and Paul Romer on the phenomenon of looting. Forgive us for repeating ourselves, but this paper was written in the wake of the savings and loan crisis, and was clearly ignored, because if anyone had heeded their […]
Read more...This tidbit comes in a Wall Street Journal story, “Top Treasury Candidates Pull Out“: Treasury has identified and is vetting other people for top slots, including H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of top law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and an adviser to virtually every firm on Wall Street, for the deputy secretary position, two people […]
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