Archive - Mar 2011 - Blog entry

Hopefully, this will turn out NOT to be as bad as it sounds ...

Who says large public defined-benefit plans can't compete in the PRPP space?

Barring some seemingly impossible refutation of Roddy Boyd's observations and analysis from visiting CCME, I'm ready to call this game over. CCME is a massive and entirely obvious fraud.

While there may have been a tsunami in Japan (and Money McBags heard rumors that it was caused by...

The burgeoning demand for energy has spilled over to the corn market, where demand for feedstock by ethanol refiners is going from strength to strength. Nearly 40% of the country’s corn crop is being diverted to ethanol production. Expect the volatility of food prices generally to increase. (ADM).

A "fun" story to watch. Folks are going to squirm...

The world is on its way to a Gold standard again. This is not mere conjecture or prediction. It’s fact. Utah has already passed a bill allowing Gold and Silver to be used as legal tender. Similarly, Virginia has passed legislation (though the Governor has yet to sign the bill) that would permit the state to mint its own Gold and Silver coins.

In the fantasy world of right-wing commentators, a bloated public sector has saddled the taxpayer with a £1tn liability for lavish pension payouts for town hall pen-pushers...

Update: It's possible that a meltdown may ALREADY have occurred at one nuclear power plant.

Kami: "any thing or phenomenon that produces the emotions of fear and awe, with no distinction between good and evil." --Motoori Norinaga from Kojiki Den (Record of Ancient Matters)

Nobody seems all that alarmed that the largest bond fund in the world has dumped all of their U.S. Treasuries.

Just because Deloitte has signed-off on China MediaExpress Holdings' filings and has yet to step-down does not mean there isn't any fraud. Unfortunately, some people seem to think Auditors are an all-knowing, all-powerful force for good to protect investors. This, the case is not.

I said it! Bill Gross said it (and put his money where his mouth was by selling off all US treasuries)! Common sense says it... Central Bank manipulated interest rates are too low. They will rise. What happens when they rise during a supply glut of real estate, foreclosure issues and a slow economy??? Put it this way... What made the markets crash in 2008: unemployment, slow economy, snow... Or real estate prices getting in touch with reality?

Taxes are always on the mind of the electorate, and while individual rates of taxation garner the greatest fraction of our attention, the way corporations are taxed is important too. A change in direction in this area could potentially free up a lot of capital, all the while reducing a great deal of waste.

The selloff we saw this week is consistent with my long term view that we are permanently downshifting from a 3.9% to a 2%-2.5% growth rate, and the lower multiples this deserves. Given our flaccid growth prospects going forward, I think the new range will be 10-16. It does not make today’s 15 multiple look like such a bargain.