Thursday Reading
By Barry Ritholtz - July 9th, 2009, 3:11PM
All good stuff:
• A law to tame wild bankers (Guardian)
• All of the jobs created in the US this century have been lost (Econbrowser)
• Economists Oppose More Stimulus (WSJ)
• Shipping industry in deep water (Los Angeles Times) see also Shipping flashes early warning signals again (Telegraph)
• Capacity Utilization vs. Inflation
• No Rest for the Wealthy (NYT)
• Manhattan Rents Decline as Unemployment Cuts Demand (Bloomberg)
• Advice from an Economist Who Saw 1929 (Time)
• It’s time retailers quit showering us with weather excuses (Marketwatch)
Did I miss anything good today? Please use the comments . . .
July 9th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Any readers live near Kansas City, MO and planning to attend? I’m sure that there are a lotta questions the rest of us would like to suggest …
July 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
that was in reference to the Bernanke town hall meeting (which seems to have suddenly dropped off the list)
July 9th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Excellent commentary on retailers’ weather excuses at Marketwatch. It read like a blog post! Telling it like it is and calling them out.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Addendum to my previous post:
One thing he neglected in his last paragraph as true causal factors is the huge debt burden that was partly created by excessive, conspicuous consumption at those very retailers. And that they overbuilt their businesses/sector betting on the endless continuation of that unsustainable trend.
But other than that, nice pointed remarks.
July 9th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
another manhattan rental link:
http://curbed.com/archives/2009/07/09/market_reports_number_of_manhattan_rentals_cut_in_half.php
July 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Film About Little Guy Battling Huge, Morally Bankrupt Organization Made By Huge, Morally Bankrupt Organization
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/film_about_little_guy?utm_source=b-section
July 9th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Thanks for the link, Karen, LB needs to hit the streets again in August to find a new domicile large enough to accommodate Schadenfreude Asset Management’s enhanced trading desk and enlarged asset base. Sounds like there may be some bargains out there in Manhattan rentals – plus there is that hole in the kitchen ceiling…..
July 9th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Did you miss this
William White, a Canadian, worked for various central banks for 39 years, most recently serving as chief economist for the central bank for all central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland………………….
It was August 2003
The Jackson Hole paper was an assault on everything Greenspan had preached and, as everyone knew, he was not fond of being contradicted. Other members of the audience glanced surreptitiously at the Maestro to gauge his reaction. Greenspan remained impassive, his face expressionless behind his large spectacles, as he listened to White. Later, during a more relaxed get-together, he refused to even look at White………….
The Fed chairman was not even impressed by a letter the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA), a trade association of US mortgage providers, sent to the Fed on Sept. 23, 2005. In the letter, MICA warned that it was “very concerned” about some of the risky lending practices being applied in the US real estate market. The experts even speculated that the Fed might be operating on the basis of incorrect data. Despite a sharp increase in mortgages being approved for low-income borrowers, most banks were reporting to the Fed that they had not lowered their lending standards. According to a study MICA cited entitled “This Powder Keg Is Going to Blow,” there was no secondary market for these “nuclear mortgages.”…………………………
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,635051,00.html
July 9th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Apologies for losing it (temper, not reason) on the Federal Reserve Independence Kohn prepared statement post. But when I actually read the example of independent central bank studies he alluded to, well . . .
July 9th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
EU finds drug firms make billions stalling genericsIan Traynor in Brussels
July 10, 2009
EUROPEAN patients, taxpayers and national treasuries are being fleeced of billions of euros because of the big pharmaceutical companies’ elaborate campaigns to delay the marketing of cheaper generic drugs, the European Commission says.
“There is something rotten in the state [of the pharmaceutical industry],” said Neelie Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, unveiling the findings of an 18-month inquiry. “Makers of original medicines are actively trying to delay the entry of generic medicines on to their markets.”…
http://www.smh.com.au/world/eu-finds-drug-firms-make-billions-stalling-generics-20090709-desm.html
July 9th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
“CIT Debt Plunges on Bets Lender Isn’t Too Big to Fail”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=amnabnhMuPmc
“Shaw Cuts 2009 Forecast After Quarterly Profit Falls ”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a_qFoX1.i2po
July 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
This one too:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31829337
And the pic on drudge of Obama and Sarkozy both drooling over that chicks ass is priceless:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090709/ids_photos_wl/r3356552547.jpg/
July 9th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
HUD releases $1.2 billion for homeless:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/07/09/hud_releases_12b_in_stimulus_funds_for_homeless/
Cute political cartoon from Toles:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/cartoons/20090706_ink_tank?pg=17
July 9th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
No Rest for the Wealthy
“The leisure class is in great measure sheltered from the stress of those economic exigencies which prevail in any modern, highly organized industrial community,” he writes. Back then, an industrial baron could embark on a leisurely European Grand Tour without worrying that his company would be disintermediated before he crossed the Atlantic. But today, Wall Street billionaires can be reduced to mere millionaires in a few months, and dot-com entrepreneurs can go from flip-flops to Gucci loafers and back again in a single business cycle.
July 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
What does this mean? I know what it says, but what does it mean?
July 9th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
It means theres gonna be some burnin and lootin.
July 9th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Gold % Annual Change
USD AUD CAD CNY EUR INR JPY CHF GBP
2001 2.5% 11.3% 8.8% 2.5% 8.1% 5.8% 17.4% 5.0% 5.4%
2002 24.7% 13.5% 23.7% 24.8% 5.9% 24.0% 13.0% 3.9% 12.7%
2003 19.6% -10.5% -2.2% 19.5% -0.5% 13.5% 7.9% 7.0% 7.9%
2004 5.2% 1.4% -2.0% 5.2% -2.1% 0.0% 0.9% -3.0% -2.0%
2005 18.2% 25.6% 14.5% 15.2% 35.1% 22.8% 35.7% 36.2% 31.8%
2006 22.8% 14.4% 22.8% 18.8% 10.2% 20.5% 24.0% 13.9% 7.8%
2007 31.4% 18.6% 10.4% 23.0% 17.9% 17.5% 24.7% 21.5% 29.2%
2008 5.8% 32.5% 32.4% -1.1% 11.9% 30.4% -14.9% 0.2% 44.3%
Average 16.3% 13.3% 13.6% 13.5% 10.8% 16.8% 13.6% 10.6% 17.1%
(6 mos.) 30 June 2009 4.9% -9.1% -0.3% 5.0% 4.1% 3.1% 11.3% 6.8% -6.8%
July 9th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Condo Association Files Bankruptcy
by CalculatedRisk on 7/09/2009 04:25:00 PM
South Florida’s Maison Grande condos.
July 9th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
constantnormal@5:40-
i think it means men are loosing more jobs than women, but, it could be the other way around since it is not clearly defined
July 9th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
uuuhhhh – it is clearly defined when you read the text, it’s just not on the chart
so, what does it mean, hmmm
she has to pick up the tab, pay the bills and next thing you know you are out on ur ass ?
July 9th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
“i think it means men are loosing more jobs than women,”
Yes, that’s what is say, but what does that mean? Are we now in some bizarre form of reverse employment discrimination? Is this a reflection of millions of men going off to Iraq and Afghanistan because they can’t get jobs here? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MALE CHAUVINISM!!??!!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
are people in the military not counted as employed?
perhaps singing up for the military for some is due to the lack of job opportunities for their particular skill set
reverse discrimination is probably not a big factor, although, i see preferences given to females and ethnically diverse people, but i would be surprised it that is a significant reason for this
hard to be a mcp (remember that one, oldies) when you ain’t bringin’ home the bacon
July 9th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
My wife says it is because men make more, and so are being shot first, in the ever-present drive to make the workplace more efficient.
July 9th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
“are people in the military not counted as employed?”
I don’t know for sure, but I had thought that the spike back in 1949 was due to guys coming back from WWII and dumping a whole lotta men into the employment pool, faster than they could be assimilated. But that doesn’t explain the other bumps upward in male unemployment in 1983 and 1993 — apparently, guys tend to get axed in greater numbers during recessions.
July 9th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
iman-
excellent links- the bloomberg article on C was most interesting- the picture of Obama and Sarkozy staring at that chick’s ass-
priceless-
however- beauty is a thing to behold- so- it’s all good
July 9th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@I-man,
i 2nd the whale boat captain – kudos for the o and sarkozy shot
happened to a friend of mine riding his segway into st lukes hospital
only it was two cops…too funny
July 9th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Constant – No, what it means is that industries that traditionally employ more men (Banking, Construction) are being hit the hardest while industries that traditionally employ more women (education, health care) are still growing.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
ooooh, Thor, some actual insight (no sarcasm whatsoever intended, seriously) – very nice.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
@Thor
“No, what it means is that industries that traditionally employ more men (Banking, Construction) are being hit the hardest while industries that traditionally employ more women (education, health care) are still growing.”
—
Thor – but play that scenario out to infinity…
At some point…FOR GROWTH…We don’t need a planet full of schoolteachers & nurses (even though Franklin thinks so)…
So for better or worse you have to decide…If you want an economic GROWTH fabric, it DOESN’T DO ANY GOOD to invest in a future where job growth is geared towards those professions (teachers & nurses)…
Unless, of course, you want to re-instate SLAVERY and make all the ‘goods producers’ (like construction workers) SLAVES…
July 9th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
It’s late and I don’t see a link to Kohn’s statement. So here it is because EVERYONE should read this and be very concerned. The FED is apparently taking lessons from the banksters or is it vica versa?
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1247205960.php
As to the inflation (Gary North) versus deflation (Mish Shedlock) debate read this:
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1247061244.php
As to capacity utilization versus inflation debate read this: More importantly remember the ’70s..
http://www.morganstanley.com/views/gef/archive/2009/20090703-Fri.html#anchorbe6052be-67c7-11de-9228-3fb01e8a07e2
July 9th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Yes, Barry, you did miss something. The FT article about solutions for California, such as Oregon buying it out, busting it up into smaller states, private investment funds, Dubai investment, etc. Unless I overlooked it, I DIDN’T SEE ONE THING ABOUT CUTTING UNION WAGES/RETIREMENT, CUTTING SPENDING IN OTHER AREAS, etc and getting rid of some useless polticians who vote only for their only interests and not the overall good of the state.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
@Pat G…
All I had to see was a MS dot com link there to see that all three were just talking their book…
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley is going to put out the FULL COURT PRESS to try and get people to but the oil they have in container ships floating on the high seas…
I’d rather buy a shopping mall…
July 15th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
This is a test of formatting within a reply
This should be in italics
And this should be underlined
Apologies for cluttering up your blog.
July 15th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Do colors work too?