Archive - Nov 2009 - Blog entry

In addition to taking a big chunk out of individuals' 401(k)s, last fall's market meltdown left 92% of corporate pension plans underfunded at year's end, according to a study by investment consultant Wilshire Associates. As bad as that sounds, it pales in comparison to the shortfalls in public pension plans.

Just a thought

An empirical analysis of the most recent NY Fed and FDIC loan loss data shows things getting materially worse, despite the $75 billion foreclosure prevention efforts, quantitative easing, zero interest rate policy, and hundreds of billions of dollars of injected liquidity and MBS purchases. What can we expect with even the slightest blip upwards in interest rates... Complete mayhem among many dead banks would be my first guess.

Did you know that the tax code ENCOURAGES high levels of leverage?

Whatever you think about the leaked emails showing that "tricks" were used to "hide the decline" in the climate data, and the fact that the original source data showing historical climate information was destroyed, you should agree on two things.

A Detailed Technical Update of the S&P cash, S&P futures, DJIA cash, Gold futures, the VIX and the US Dollar Index ... as well as a look into the "Crown Jewel" of Dubai

Global warming scam exposed as scientific fraud; Copenhagen summit approaches, Abu Dubai goes bust; financing problems spread to governments, Washington insists on Colombia 'full spectrum' base, new H1N1 bypasses adaptive immunity, Gibbs' Virology paper suggests lab origin, US mint suspends sales of Eagles, Bernanke to run his mouth on Thursday.

World trade volumes grew sharply in the third quarter of this year, data from the Dutch CPB research institute showed on Friday, in a further sign that the global economy is pulling out of crisis.

Did you hear about Citi's $8 billion dollar loan to Dubai?

What could possibly connect Best Buy, Paul Krugman and the carry trade? The answer is is that everything is connected.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive”...ourselves. With apologies to Sir Walter Scott.

I am just waiting for someone on CNBC to utter the "R" word: resilient. When you hear that word, make sure you run for the exits.

To claim that our pension system is working is simply ridiculous. The bankers will defend their profits but they're not delivering the goods at a reasonable cost.

On a global scale, Dubai World's debt problem seems relatively minor, but it illustrates the impact from one tiny country in an increasingly interconnected world. The Dubai news also cast doubt over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, and the prospects for a bottoming of property prices.

Background to, and fallout from, Dubai debt crisis.