Archive - Sep 2009 - Blog entry

There is little follow through on either side of the equity markets. Outsize bets in either direction are not warranted.

This is the first in a series of what some may consider as “gold bashing” articles. I am not short gold in any shape or form. I am simply presenting the other side of the argument in response to what I deem to be dishonest, gold-pimping commercials that we are subjected to all day long on TV. I may be wrong, but I am honest.

In the opinion of many, the growing severity of recent financial, economic and military crises suggests that this ability has been greatly reduced and that U.S. hegemony is now coming to an end. The highly publicized nature of these imperial misgivings makes this latest version of the nexus seem persuasive.

We have two choices for what to do with our savings: 1) we can “park it” in existing assets (stocks, bonds, mattresses), or 2) we can invest it in new capital formation. What makes us choose one over the other?

A doubling of the pension rate is terrible news? I got a better idea, why don't we also cap public sector pensions in North America? Any politician courageous enough to propose this idea here? Of course, that means a cut in their own gold plated pensions.

Presently many otherwise intelligent and capable individuals in America do not seem to understand the origins of the financial crisis -- and the multiple aspects (or shall we say 'tentacles'?) of its origination.

A analysis of busted Ginnie Mae MBS. This comes from a Wall Streeter who prefers to remain Anon. Scary stuff.

Financial stocks had a huge run up from their bottom. Many have doubled and tripled, but are they still cheap?

How much money was lost in RE this morning in my neighborhood? At least $50mm. A very sad and troubling real estate deal has proved to be a wake up call.

That gasping sound you hear coming from the commercial real estate market just means it's alive and kicking.

I feel it appropriate to help distribute Karl Denninger's video response to the currently in vogue effort of the government-subsidized media to discredit those AMERICANS who question current government policy and who suspect that the economy will get worse before it gets better.

Like I said at the start of this post, the world is awash with liquidity, so keep buying them dips and pay attention to the hedge fund heave-ho. It looks like things are getting bubbly all over again.

Americans will have to reach into their wallets and buy some Treasuries. POMO is almost over. Someone has to buy this paper. The problem is that at the current yield the adjusted return is less than 1/2 percent per annum. Who's buying that?

There is debate (and confusion) over whether the average American has actually increased his saving rate or whether this is a mirage. Ha!... Felix Salmon points out that some economists actually think that buying stocks and bonds is consumption - not saving. Much of the confusion arises from the need to distinguish between "investors" and "savers".

The dirty little secret in the pension world is that kickbacks are more common than people think in the private markets and hedge funds where funds try to bribe underpaid pension fund managers. How do I know? Because I have been approached in the past (very subtle, using words like 'facilitate') and witnessed my fair share of shady deals across many pension funds where I asked myself why the heck is this pension fund manager so gun-ho on that fund?