Archive - Apr 4, 2009 - Story

A little noticed document Moody's released on March 24 entitled "Moody's Approach to Evaluating Distressed Exchanges", could mean accelerated defaults for troubled companies pursuing debt buybacks in the open market, and the end of this practice, as companies will have no idea if Moody's will decide they merit the unenviable designation of "Limited Default."

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

This past week was very interesting as FX took a cue from the US equities rally and the markets started looking for yield again, further exacerbated as people are starting to question Japan's fundamentals. As we have commented extensively on the weakness of the yen (here and here), we won't rehash but in short, there are not many signs of life coming out of Tokyo.

This past week was very interesting as FX took a cue from the US equities rally and the markets started looking for yield again, further exacerbated as people are starting to question Japan's fundamentals. As we have commented extensively on the weakness of the yen (here and here), we won't rehash but in short, there are not many signs of life coming out of Tokyo.

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...