Disclosure: I used to be a huge fan of the Economist, because it was well written, broad ranging, intelligently non-partisan, and (at least politically) often contrarian. But ever since the start of the Bush era, it has taken a marked shift to the right, in both its political and economic coverage. Take this story from […]
Read more...I continue to be amazed at how the use of language has gotten skewed in America. “Conservative” and “liberal” were once descriptive (or at least the degree to which they were pejorative depended on who was using the term). Today, “conservative” means “responsible” and “liberal” is “out to get the rich and destroy the economy.” […]
Read more...Kuwait had a closed door session to discuss its reserves with Parliament before reaffirming the country’s proven oil reserves at 100 billion barrels. As Xinhua points out, this is a odd and troubling set of events. Parliament had refused to pass the budget, which shows a large deficit, unless the oil ministry came clean with […]
Read more...A Canadian study, “Food Web–Specific Biomagnification of Persistent Organic Pollutants,” published in Science Magazine, identifies a new class of chemicals that pose a potential threat to human health. This conclusion results from a more fundamental insight: the traditional method of looking at bioaccumulation did so by studying marine life. However, air-breathing creatures discharge toxins differently […]
Read more...From the Wall Street Journal: Standard & Poor’s lowered ratings on 498 bonds backed by subprime home loans, comprising the vast majority of the 612 bonds that it earlier this week said it was reviewing for downgrades. The ratings company also said the 612 bonds were originally worth $7.35 billion, not the $12 billion it […]
Read more...That’s the question from Felix Salmon, and like Diogenes looking for an honest man, so far he hasn’t found anyone who has an answer. Salmon is getting close to the dirty secret: no one has an answer. The most they have are some interesting datapoints, factoids, and analyses. At the risk of having someone prove […]
Read more...One of the themes du jour is the overrated reporting that goes on in the Wall Street Journal (and we’ve waxed eloquent on this subject many times before, as the posts tagged ‘Media Watch” will attest). While the Journal’s coverage of company news is generally good to very good, it appears that they put their […]
Read more...The Wall Street Journal, in “Fitch Sees Rising Shakiness In Commercial Mortgage Arena,” tells us that the rating agency issued a warning Wednesday on frothy lending in the commercial real estate arena. The problem with this story is that the WSJ makes it sound as if that’s news. It isn’t. The Financial Times reported on […]
Read more...I find it interesting when factoids that are already in the public domain get treated as if they are news. Stephanie Pomboy, as reported by Barron’s Alan Abelson (hat tip Barry Ritholtz) tells us that there are a lot of adjustable rate mortgages that have no equity. And, of course, if housing prices fall, more […]
Read more...Has the Murdoch era already begun? Two days in a row we have had page one stories in the Wall Street Journal that managed to skew the facts. Today’s piece, “Foreign Investors Face New Hurdles Across the Globe,” is misleading in a minor and a major way. The minor way is likely to be apparent […]
Read more...Most news stories touting the findings of a ten year investigation of organic versus conventionally farmed tomatoes make broader claims (example; CNNMoney “All-natural veggies good for heart“) than the study’s immediate findings, namely that the fruit, when raised organically, has nearly double the level of some key flavinoids (quercetin and kaempferol. Flavinoids have been found […]
Read more...Today’s Wall Street Journal, in “Mortgage Mess Shines Light on Brokers’ Role,” tells the sorry tale of one Altaf A. Shaikh, who frequently used the name Zak Khan and left a path of financial devastation in his wake as a subprime mortgage broker. This isn’t a great job of reporting. By focusing on one, and […]
Read more...While we’re have a cliche fest, an ill wind blows nobody good, and it looks like that Bear Stearns hedge fund debacle had some unexpected upside, namely, producing a flight to quality, meaning Treasuries, sparking a rally. I’m sure you could have said the same of past crises (just for starters, the 1997 emerging markets […]
Read more...OK, schizophrenia is a bit too strong a word, but it got your attention, right? “Dissonance” is closer to the mark, and differing points of view in a plugged-in, market-savvy paper like the Financial Times is an interesting sight to behold. Both stories address the same general topic, namely, whether the current mess in subprimes […]
Read more...Either it’s a horribly slow news day, or the Bloomberg people are besotted with the Bear Stearns story. I imagine journalists enjoy schaudenfreude as much as the next guy. From late afternoon until now, even after the Asian markets have opened, the top story on its “Breaking News” section is, “Bear Stearns Enlists Mortgage Chief […]
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