Archive - Nov 2011 - Blog entry

Once again, it is time for the Banzai7 Thursday Rip! [COFFEE IS ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED]

As far back as May 2011, Bernanke admitted the benefits of QE were less attractive. Now he’s not only admitting that asset bubbles exist (something Greenspan never admitted) but that Central Banks may even need to “burst” them!?!? In plain terms, the Fed will NOT be launching another round of QE or major policy changes until the next round of the Great Crisis hits in full force. And by that time it will be pointless anyway as once the defaults begin, the leverage in the global banking system will implode rapidly.

Missing customer funds might be those of MF Global itself.  Also, JPM gets to keep any and all collateral and cash it seized in return for $8 million?

European Central Bank policy makers said the bank can’t do much more to stem the region’s sovereign debt crisis, suggesting they are reluctant to significantly ramp up bond purchases to lower Italy’s borrowing costs.

The overwhelming majority of media content being created now in 2011/2012 (film, television & music) is being BLINDLY financed with hopes that NEW reliable and profitable media streams will emerge quickly before the "old" income streams completely dry-up.

It was self-defense! Those skinny students must have been terrifying to those poor "peace officers" in riot gear ...

Toyota and Honda are planning to export U.S.-made vehicles to Korea. But to what banana-republic levels will the dollar and real wages have to sink before U.S. manufacturing is competitive with China?

Indeed, the MF Global failure suggests that the US and EU banking systems may be facing a far larger problem than even the most bearish analysts suspect.

The ramifications of the “set up” are rather significant.

The answer to the question “How to Stop the Drop in Home Values” is not a matter of knee jerk reactions, more moral hazard, bad policy pushed through on a populist wind, or a problem you solve by principal reductions.

Yeah, that's right! I said it. They CAN'T TRADE!!! Haven't I proven my point yet?

The Fat Lady Singeth, yet no one is listening!!!

The notion of more austerity and  economic growth solving Italy’s debt trap is the pinnacle of silly season.

"I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the EURO."-- George Socrates

To put US household debt levels into a historical perspective, in order for US households to return to their long-term average for leverage ratios and their historic relationship to GDP growth we’d need to write off between $4-4.5 TRILLION in household debt (an amount equal to about 30% of total household debt outstanding).