Leo Kolivakis's blog

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has proposed several changes to the pension system for police officers and firefighters. But the unions are suing, and they may have a good case.

Falling stock markets in May sent pension plan assets lower, resulting in the worst funded status for the typical U.S. corporate pension plan since October 2009, according to monthly statistics published by BNY Mellon Asset Management. The funded status in May declined 4.3 percentage points to 82.0 percent.

While the May jobs report was disappointing, it's nowhere near as bleak as many believe. One month's data will not make the difference. Lots of hysteria out there, but the reality is that US fundamentals are improving and this will eventually spill over into the labor market. A deeper analysis reveals some encouraging trends...

The European Commission is proposing that an already-planned central European Union regulatory body — the European Security Markets Authority — should take on oversight of the existing rating agencies when it is due to begin work in January 2011. Will this be enough?

Bottom-line: You can read all the bears in the world, focus on events in Europe (which are bullish long-term, but nobody bothers to mention this), focus on the BP disaster, focus on every piece of negative data in the world, but the reality is that the US economic recovery is picking up steam. Expect a monster jobs report this Friday, and it's not just a one-off from Census hiring!

The BBC’s business editor Robert Peston said: “Given that BP is a core holding of most British pension funds, that’s tens of billions of pounds off the wealth of millions of British people saving for a pension.

Don't look now, but rate hikes are coming, and Canada will likely lead the way among G7 countries.

Time to look past short-term market turbulence and see why fundamentals are improving. It will be volatile, but the market will keep grinding higher. Choose your stocks and sectors carefully, however, the big beta moves are over.

Alright ZHers, enough with the gloom & doom. It's time to fess up to the fact that it's not as bad as you think. In fact, it's time to get bullish on America and the rest of the world. Put away your crash helmets and enjoy the long weekend.

More comments on pension compensation from a senior pension fund manager and some thoughts on David Einhorn's op-ed piece.

Michael Travaglini, head of Massachusetts' pension fund plans to quit next month, citing as a reason efforts by legislators to limit what he and his staff can earn. Interestingly, Travaglini is joining Grosvenor Capital Management, one of five firms slated to manage the Pension Reserve Investment Trust board’s $3.2 billion in hedge-fund assets last fall. Talk about violating basic pension governance rules!

Another day, another pension bomb blows up: "The Teamsters' Central States Fund has been woefully underfunded for years. It had only 47 cents on every dollar owed in 2007 and likely is much worse today in light of the recent economic downturn." And guess who wants to draft legislation to bail this mess out?

The end of the welfare state as we know it is near. No doubt this represents a victory for the Chicago Boys and neoliberal economics. But the final chapter has yet to be written, and labor will not go down quietly.

"With low growth, low birthrates and longer life expectancies, Europe can no longer afford its comfortable lifestyle, at least not without a period of austerity and significant changes. The countries are trying to reassure investors by cutting salaries, raising legal retirement ages, increasing work hours and reducing health benefits and pensions."

It's silly to compare today's markets to those of the 1930s or even 1990s. Erratic moves have become the norm, not the exception. What's driving these moves and what is the paradox which threatens the integrity of capital markets and might ultimately threaten the global economy?