Category Archives: Investment outlook

The False Dawn of Ending Coronavirus Lockdowns

It would be nice if relaxing the lockdowns would solve a problem, any problem….

More Public Pension Fund Pain: LACERS Reports Hit to Liquidity from Private Equity Capital Calls; Are Fund Managers Exploiting the Dumb Money Yet Again?

Private equity firms are sucking cash out of their limited partners at the worst possible time, exposing public pension funds in particular to liquidity crunches and fire sales.

Taleb Questions CalPERS Ben Meng’s Competence and Honesty in Defending Missed $1 Billion Hedge Gain; Taleb Estimates CalPERS Net Loss on Meng’s “Alternative Mitigation” Over Two Years at $19 Billion

Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls out one of CalPERS CIO Ben Meng’s Big Lies, and unearths an even bigger one.

The Fed Backfires: Shock and Awe Rate Drop to 0%, Emergency Bond Buying Program Leads to Limit Down Drops in US Equity Futures as Real World Coronavirus Damage Worsens

The Fed just told everyone to assume the brace position.

Boeing Crashes: $43 Billion in Share Buybacks Turn into Existential Threat

Yves here. When we made grim prognostications about Boeing’s future, we were treated as nuts. By Wolf Richter, editor at Wolf Street. Originally published at Wolf Street Boeing’s shares [BA] came unglued, plunging 18.1% today, after having already plunged over the past four weeks. Since February 12, shares have crashed 46%, and since the peak […]

Mr. Market Loses It Over Coronavirus Risk: Oil Tanks, S&P Futures Trades Halted on Limit Down Overnight, Gold Jumps

Coronavirus infects Mr. Market.

Airlines: Bleeding from Coronavirus, and Worse to Come

Coronavirus carnage continues, particularly at bankruptcy-prone airlines.

Is the U.S. Fracking Boom Based on Fraud?

Is the seamy side of fracking the only side?

HSBC Announces Mass Job Cuts, Huge Write-Down, Asset Sales, Halt of Share Buybacks. Warns of Coronavirus Impact on Credit Losses & Revenues in China & Hong Kong

Once storied, now sprawling TBTF HSBC has started a big retrenchment in the face of mounting business woes. Is it the canary in the coal mine?

Yet More Finance Profiteering: Green Bonds

Count on Wall Street to find a profit angle in actual or pending disaster. Green bonds are becoming a hot idea.

Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Twenty-Two: Profits and Cash Flow Keep Deteriorating as Uber’s GAAP Losses Hit $8.5 Billion

Dissecting how Uber spun its 2019 financial reports. The actual results continue to be ugly, with no path to profit.

Rentier Capitalism: Great for Stocks, Lousy for Growth

An oddly neglected paper gives an idea of how much rentier capitalism has distorted the US economy.

Coronavirus: Australia Faces Calamity

Identifying likely economic road kill from the coronavirus outbreak.

Do Davos Billionaires and Bankers Really Believe Booms and Busts Are Over Because They’ve Trained the Fed?

Fed tightening is no longer needed to create recessions, given fragile credit structures and a growing pandemic out of China.

Student Loans, Meet Greece: Extend and Pretend Bond Maturities

Shed a crocodile tear for investors in student loans: they are sometimes discomfited by short-lived downgrades when loan maturities are pushed out.