Archive - Dec 10, 2009

• Brown, Sarkozy Op-Ed: Global finance, global regulation (WSJ)
• Citi TARP talks uncertain says Treasury official (Reuters)
• France said to consider following U.K. bank bonus tax (Bloomberg)
• Dems to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash (Politico)
• Sovereign credits get less than royal treatment (Barron's)
• Wells Fargo cuts as much as 30% in principal from Pick-a-Pay OptionArms (Bloomberg)
• Is the Fed engaged in qualitative or quantitative easing? (EContrarian via RCM)

• Asian shares were mostly lower Thursday as continued risk aversion hurt demand.
• Australian employers add 31,200 jobs, six times estimates; currency gains.
• Australia's jobless rate unexpectedly falls to 5.7 percent in November.
• Bank of Korea keeps key interest rate at record low at 2% as economy recovers.
• China puts squeeze on property speculators with tougher sales tax penalty.
• China says US, Russia dumped electrical steel.
• Climbing yen, economy concerns sends Japan stocks lower; Nikkei loses 1.4 percent.

RANsquawk 10th December Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc.

So remember that Bloomberg story about how Goldmanites were arming themselves to resist a popular uprising?  You know, the one that some people took (incorrectly) to mean that some sort of secret connection enabled Goldman employees to get concealed carry permits in New York City when almost no one else could?  We looked at it pretty carefully here on Zero Hedge and wondered if the Goldman bashing hadn't gone a bit far.  Well, the story turns out to look pretty much like bullshit.

Considering it was just a year ago when we were jolted into this banking-induced recession, you can imagine my astonishment when I read this recent Forbes headline:

“Dubai's Failure Exposes A U.S. Advantage
The well-regulated U.S. financial sector has a lot to show for itself.”