Friday Reads
By Barry Ritholtz - October 23rd, 2009, 3:00PM
A few interesting items
• Elizabeth Warren for President (True Slant)
• Fed weighs its words on ending near-zero interest rate (FT)
• The New $1 Million Bill (Bloomberg)
• Uh-oh: Taking It To The Street(.com) (Zerohedge)
• Systemic Risk in the Financial System: Insights from Network Science (PEW)
• Mona Lisa’s smile a mystery no more (New Scientist)
Anything catch your collective eye?
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Elizabeth Warren for President? Um….maybe she would be OK but the electorate already voted against another “nagging/know it all” mom-wife type in Hilary Clinton …..
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Andy, you don’t really think the votes against Hilary were for her being seen as a “nagging/know it all mom-wife type” do you?
That’s kind of like saying the public voted against the earnest peanut-farmer type in 1980.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
@AT,
Most folks were not against her as much as they were against a retread of the Clinton years. I just couldn’t take 4-8 years of that again. I actually admire her, loathe him. Not to rain on the peace and prosperity that those years brought, but the seeds of today’s economic meltdown were sown then as well.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
@dss: I was just about to write the VERY same thing. I think you nailed it.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Well, if you’re tired of following flashy financial flim-flam … closer to my neck of the woods the politicians stick to what they know best … mostly construction graft …
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/police-probes-mafia-allegations-in-the-palermo-of-canada/article1334813/
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Re: Elizabeth Warren for Pres.:
She knows economics, law, and has integrity. Sounds like a good combination to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A
Current Pres. is clearly not about change. We still have the Summers, Geithner in high places. At least Greenspan is gone, but now we have to deal with Paulson at the Treas. No change here.
Let’s not forget Brooksley Born:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1302794657/
Still looking for a few good men, or women in high places in gov’t. Removing the bad ones works too.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Calpers – Too Big to Fail and Investing Like It
Actually sounds like Goldman Calpers
http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/10/calpers-california-pension-plan-too-big.html
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Laughing at Mannwich – try writing a blog for 3 months, you will appreciate the time load factor!!
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Barry, we, the commentariat, demand morrrrre!
(Seriously though, chalk up the high expectations to your past performance. …That and “Happy Birthday”.)
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I’ll tell you what I’m NOT enjoying reading: The tea leaves of this market right now. This week has lacked conviction in either direction.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Yeah, that’s it…we need another Harvard lawyer (Warren) mucking things up. I’d rather elect someone chosen at random out of the first thousand names in the Boston phone book.
And we should put Mugabe’s portrait on the future $1m bill.
And who fucking cares if yesterday was your birthday BR? I want to know: What have you done for me lately?:)
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Happy Birthday, Barry! Is that what the car shopping was about last week?
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Mighty skimpy list, Barry.
~~~
BR: Its Friday, and I did 2 big pieces today, plus Dylan — and yesterday was my B-day. Cut a dude some slack!
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Curmudgeon, could we please base our opinions on what people stand for rather than where they were educated or teach?
>> I’d rather elect someone chosen at random out of the first thousand names in the Boston phone book.
How about the Wasilla phone book? I’ve seen that movie already. Two thumbs down.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Also: I like how you kept up with the discipline of 10-a-day, Barry — for like two weeks.
I knew there was something I liked about you.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
“Andy, you don’t really think the votes against Hilary were for her being seen as a “nagging/know it all mom-wife type” do you?”
Yes. It was only after she broke down on TV and started showing a more emotional side that she started to turn the tide in her favor. Before that she came across as a hard nagging wife type for sure. I think she’s smart as hell and would have made an ‘ok’ President, but the she did come across as a nag.
Elizabeth Warren/Brooksley Born in 2012…Yee hah…now, that would be a motivating ticket!
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Wunsacon:
What they (politicians) stand for? How quaint an idea. It seems to me, no matter what flavor it says on the packaging, they all taste the same.
The Wasilla phone book would be fine, too. Maybe there’d be a chance of finding someone that wasn’t as intimidated by the self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe as the last two occupants have been.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
If Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day then Friday is bank failure day! “Hey, hey SCB, how many banks did you close today”?
My guess is 6.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Where is that uber bullish guy?
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Rolling Stone magazine has a fascinating article about short selling….
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30481512/wall_streets_naked_swindle
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Real 2009 Budget Deficit: $1,785,603,936,384.06 (gotta include the 6 cents)
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/10/real_2009_budget_deficit_17856.html
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Anything catch your collective eye?
Yes, CR’s chart on the Freddie Mac deliquency rate:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SuHKCxUVZ3I/AAAAAAAAGoA/9ceJiXilOpY/s1600-h/FreddieMacDelinquency.jpg
…Recovery by any other name would smell as, er, sweet…
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Off Topic:
any comments about AAPL, AMZN, MSFT etc all going up more than 100% since march??
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
or delinquency rate for all you prudes out there who can actuallytypewithoutmessing ujp…
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Art Cashin from earlier this week. The dude is awesome:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/art-cashin-interview
Many happy returns, Barry, you look good for 30.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
@BR: I was just busting your chops. Should have used the old emoticon, I guess. Great work, as always!
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
@techy: Can anyone say “tech bubble, part deux”?
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:09 pm
The difference between bankers and pirates:
http://www.bearishnews.com/post/2500
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
One more problem for BofA. It has become fall guy for all the issues.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1540-BOOM!-Friends-Of-Angelo.html
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
http://mises.org/story/3764
“If anyone in Washington were to be so wacky as to seek to extend the pain of a recession, what course would they follow? On page 26 of America’s Great Depression, Rothbard presents that very catalog of idiocy:
Here are the ways the adjustment process can be hobbled:
1.Prevent or delay liquidation. Lend money to shaky businesses, call on banks to lend further, etc.
2.Inflate further. Further inflation blocks the necessary fall in prices, thus delaying adjustment and prolonging depression. Further credit expansion creates more malinvestments, which, in their turn, will have to be liquidated in some later depression. A government ‘easy money’ policy prevents the market’s return to the necessary higher interest rates.
3.Keep wage rates up. Artificial maintenance of wage rates in a depression ensures permanent mass unemployment. Furthermore, in a deflation, when prices are falling, keeping the same rate of money wages means that real wage rates have been pushed higher. In the face of falling business demand, this greatly aggravates the unemployment problem.
In addition to “minimum wage laws,” don’t we now have “living wage” ordinances, “project labor agreements,” and, for our unionized government employees, “automatic step and seniority raises” in addition to cost-of-living adjustments that boost the pay of government employees as well as welfare recipients — even when the cost of living is falling?
Rothbard continues, cataloguing precisely the wrong things to do if you want a recession to end:
4.Keep prices up. Keeping prices above their free-market levels will create unsalable surpluses, and prevent a return to prosperity.
5.Stimulate consumption and discourage saving. We have seen that more saving and less consumption would speed recovery; more consumption and less saving aggravate the shortage of saved-capital even further. Government can encourage consumption by “food stamp plans” and relief payments.
Note that America’s Great Depression was published in 1963. How’s Rothbard doing at predicting Obamanomics, so far? About the only thing he seems to have missed are “Cash for Clunkers” and the fledgling “green jobs” boondoggle.”
…I read Jeremy Siegel’s note about the good and bad of monetarists and Keynesians this morning, as you probably did too. Yes, I know. If we didn’t do anything we’d be in the GD II. Ok, maybe. But this capsule of a 1963 work about clearing out the deadwood to allow an ecomomy to recover is still worth thinking about. Where is the endgame………? What are British citizens thinking today?
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Where will scientific (and financial) illiteracy lead Americans?
http://www.realclimate.org/
Gotta love the loan reset chart.
http://www.businessinsider.com/more-black-swans-in-store-for-the-us-economy-2009-10
Hopefully the Wall Street-Washington Revolving door “Public Servant” malefactor’s
take up Marathon Running:
http://www.arthurdevany.com/
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:36 pm
@techy
Nifty Fifty.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Happy Born Day Mr. Ritholtz
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Why do we have to limit the new million dollar note to only one mug shot? Put the three stooges on it; Greenspan, Paulson and Bush.
Belated Happy Birthday BR. It was also my mother-in-laws birthday. She would have been 92.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
What am I watching/seeing today? Unfortunately the overly moronic Fast Money was on again during my afternoon workout. The excitement from three of the “traders” actually made me question whether the market was really down. Wouldn’t know it from them. Sounded like we put up 5% gains if you listened to them.
Barry, you know some of these guys, I’m sure. They now seem to be caught married to their positions. It began happening two days ago – they were coming out in full force on the great earnings and we’re off to the races. That’s when it clicked in my head. That’s when I dumped AAPL.
Look at the chart. Not even from a tea leaf reading perspective, no hocus-pocus, no waves, none of that stuff. Pull up a simple candlestick chart of the Dow with nothing but volume on it. Notice something? Go back to the last big volume day of 9/18 and that chart will tell you an awful lot.
I initiated my DXD yesterday and added today. It’s in the air now, something nasty is coming soon. JMO.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
@ HW
“Something nasty is coming soon.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-soul-is-lost-and-collapse-is-inevitable-2009-10-20
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:29 pm
the list continues to grow…
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/10/bank-failures-102-103-two-more-florida.html
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
i dont think AAPL & MSFT (and maybe many more cash rich companies with decent valuation) can be bubbles..
AMZN, CRM etc maybe bubbles….but looking at amzn earning growth it makes me wonder..
i guess i will use 5% to buy some cheap put spread….and see what happens.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
@techy: MSFT certainly isn’t a “bubble”, and maybe not AAPL, although one can never be so sure when that fad will end.
AMZN, CRM will be ripe for shorting down the road, especially AMZN.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
American’s cutting spending…so who is going to get the economy out of the big hole this? they rescued it in 2001. but they aren’t going to do it this time it would seem. and if they don’t we take the rest of the world with us too. so it will continue that slow fade. at least its no longer a death spiral
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33437831/ns/business-us_business/
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Don’t marry positions. Long RSH calls, long SPY puts. I like Wanger’s take.
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Pat G.@6:28 –
its more than an economic crisis, it is a moral crisis
and that has nothing to do with religion
other than the religion of greed.
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Life is too short not to live it with a dog.
Great companions.
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:38 pm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=al5.EHL9NEBQ
“Goldman Sachs Still Paid for Swaps on Redeemed Bonds”
Just another perfect example of political corruption, negligent risk management, and ultimately violation of the taxpayer…
And guess who’s got their hands all up in the shit? Oh, just your old dear friends, GS. Of course they do!
This part was great:
“New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund Authority sold $345 million in auction-rate bonds whose yields fluctuated with short-term interest costs. The agency finances road and rail projects.
“This vividly shows the risk of entering into interest- rate swap agreements,” said Christopher Taylor, former executive director of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board in Alexandria, Virginia. “The world’s got to see what stupidity even the sophisticated investors like the transportation fund can get into.”
Uh huh. Yep.
Good thing the smart boys at GS are there to sell them “protection” now.
And just under’s whose nose did the original deal take place? Oh, none other than Jon Corzine a NJ Senator at the time… who used to be Chairman where? Oh… GS. Who’s a member of what? Oh… the bilderburgers?
Man, you cant make this shit up. Its not even sensational anymore, its just another example. I’ll repeat it, there’s nothing sensational here, its just pure flat out well executed greed and corruption. And its not just NJ, its everywhere. The fact that taxpayer money is allowed to be utilized in this kind of shit just disgusts me to no end.
Oh, and I forgot where NJ Governor Corzine plans to get the loot to service the debt from:
“To help prop up spending, officials have suggested raising New Jersey’s 14.5 cents-a-gallon gasoline levy, the fourth- lowest among U.S. states, according to research by the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.”
Just raise taxes.
I know… its Friday night, I should chill…
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I-chill I-man U-chill-too
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Wes@7:01
The word ’soul” is used as a metaphor. Did you read the article?
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
“…In sworn testimony to attorneys on Aug. 8, Sibel Edmonds described a Pentagon where key personnel helped pass defense secrets to foreign agents or provided them names of knowledgeable officials who were vulnerable to blackmail or co-option.
And firmly rooted in this espionage program in the 1990s, according to Edmonds’ deposition, were two men who, with the election of George W. Bush as president in 2000, found themselves in the Pentagon: Douglas Feith, who would head the Office of Special Plans, and Richard Perle, who would become chairman of the Defense Advisory Board.
“They were 100 percent directly involved,” Edmonds told Military.com. “They were not in the Pentagon [in the late 1990s] but they had their people inside the Pentagon.” One of those people, she said, was Larry Franklin, an Air Force officer assigned to the Office of Special Plans who, in 2003, passed classified information to representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Office, or AIPAC. By then Feith was leading the OSP…”
http://www.military.com/news/article/ex-fbi-translator-claims-spying-at-dod.html
~~
“By the end of high school, all young adults are instructed to understand and apply the scientific method to match data with hypotheses to explain the data. Most adults report they are able to do this under realistic conditions; that is, they have rational explanations for reality on a day-to-day basis, and especially for important issues. Daily, more adults are focusing their competent intellects upon our largest political and economic issues. Daily, more adults are constructing hypotheses of intentional destruction of our American rights, values, and economy as the only rational explanation of such gross malfeasance with US government and economic policies.
The facts clearly reveal Hitler-sized lies to orchestrate two Wars of Aggression, with rhetoric to expand illegal war into Iran by outrageous lies about a simple treaty (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and unbelievable contrivance of President Ahmadinejad’s speech of October 2005 which never threatened Israel (“wipe them off the map”) that you should take 5-minutes to verify by reading the speech for yourself. The facts clearly show the largest give-away in world history of the public money to a parasitic class of gambling-addicted financial and political “elites.”..”
http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m10d23-Review-Fall-of-the-Republic-an-Alex-Jones-political–economic-documentary
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Matt Taibi’s complaints that Obama han’ts fixed everything in eight months in office is a naive, self-promoting, screech.
God, I hope his fifteen minutes are up soon.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
@Pat G. –
yes, i did read the article
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
@Wes
Good. I interpreted the word soul as being used to describe the ‘inability of public and private America to take their fiscal responsibilities seriously. To make the hard decisions when needed’. How about you?
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
If you read nothing else, read this:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/rajs-world
And, READ IT, don’t just OOGLE the pictures!
(hey, since I’m apparently CNBCS, and Barry, and HW, and Ahab, and Karen, and I-man, and all the Franklins, and Wes, and Pat, and Mutt, and Andy, and McF, and who knows who else, maybe I’m RobotTrader TOO! Maybe I’m ALL OF YOU!)
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
@ bergsten
I know you’re not me because I OOGLED and saved the image. That guy was ugly. You would think that with Victoria’s money she could hire a Chippendale. lol
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Hire Manny?
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
@ Wes
Do you know what he looks like?
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
@Pat G. –
I did not focus on the “Soul” of capitalism per se, but the 20 reasons.
..and the last sentence
..about the moral issue thingy
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
@bergsten
You are not me either because I don’t see why that zerohedge post is so important to read. If you filter out the juvenile humor and irrelevant pictures, you are left with “fund manager arrested for insider trading could have gotten same results just by momentum trading.”
I’ll have to give it to you that this statement has a lot of credibility, coming from zerohedge, after all its founder is famous for his killer momentum trading skills and not because he was busted by the SEC for insider trading… oh wait!
http://nymag.com/guides/money/2009/59457/
“[Zerohedge's] founder is a 30-year-old Bulgarian immigrant banned from working in the brokerage business for insider trading.”
If you want to read an interesting take on this issue, I’d rather look at this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704224004574489324091790350.html
“Insider trading is impossible to police and helpful to markets and investors.”
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
@ Wes
I know. I liked the article. Mainly because it reflects my viewpoints. I went gambling today at one of the local casinos. I took $100 to lose. Now losing $100 at a casino is not hard. After about 4 hours, I was down $25. Now, I could have blown the other $75. But I’d had my fill of gambling and figured that the $75 could be better spent so I brought it home.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Pat G.@8:51-
i have no idea what manny looks like,
and, i searched TBP – it was not manny, afterall, it was Bruce in Tn!
March 26th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
..err. i hate it when i do that
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
@ Wes
Gotta run. My other post to you will be up in a minute or two. I’m afraid I used one of those “banned” words. Have a great weekend.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:06 pm
..you too Pat..
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
VD-
what is wrong with you?
are you mental or just blinded by your devotion to Obama?
what you are- is a fool-
look at outcomes- not campaign bullshit and party line nonsense-
and if things don’t turn out well for your hero- it doesn’t mean you need to stand on the ledge deciding whether to end it all- decide instead-
to be a man- if it’s possible
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Dont feed the infected, Captain. The cure for that type of VD is a long way off…
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Who cares if Wall Street ‘talent’ leaves
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/23/news/newsmakers/fed.feinberg.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009102310
I personally don’t care.
P.S. Call me Ahab,
“Outcomes” take time, not eight months. To put it into perspective for you, we as a nation have been trying to catch up to the rest of the world on health care, arguably the most important issue there is, for generations. It’s almost done.
If you enjoy Taibi’s open-mouth, gum-gnashing style, great. It’s not for me.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
well VD-
if you have ever read my posts- i am on board w/ a single payer plan-
anything that gives insurance companies forced customers and control-
REJECT-
if that is YOUR ONLY BAROMETER- and it’s single payer- then ok
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 pm
VennData, I hear what you’re saying. But, to the extent people start getting pissed that not enough good policy is being done, I’m slightly in favor of it. People gotta bitch to the O-man and the Dems, apparently, in order to move them along.
I just hope any annoyed independents and non-wingnut GOPers (the few left) turn to 3rd parties (Green, libertarian, anything) and not to the GOP. I’ve personally decided that I don’t care what the GOP “promises” about economics; using government to project their religion is the cause they support most effectively.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:07 pm
wunsacon..
sadly GOP will still get 45% of the votes without asking for it…
we have too many religious rights in this country…who will give their vote to any white christian dude….
alabama,, missisipi, louisiana, texas, georgia etc… even the democrats in these places are not actually true democrats…since their constituents are religious rights they have to work against anyone..
we think wall street, economy, global trade, unnecessary war are the real issues……they are not for almost 45% of the people…for them its all about their belief system….and if necessary they will burn the country down(actual words from well educated professional alabama man)
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
human evolution has left much to be desired…
Greed, Selfishness and delusion……we cant be saved
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
You sound as misanthropic as I have become. . . death of the philosopher, too smart for your own good. I would relish a real “Libertarian” alternative, alas, they are corrupt crackpots as well. Albert Camus for President(posthumously, of course)
that said, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125630337678303795.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_markets
and see the other thread on annotated oil in which i have been moderated for self referential linking.
“With ignorance and arrogance, success is assured.” Samuel Clemens
“If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.” Voltaire
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.” Tao
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
since they won’t let you view the link, text: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125630337678303795.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_markets
The dollar carved out moderate gains against the euro and hit one-month highs against the yen Friday, as global risk appetite shriveled in the face of weaker stock markets.
News of a surprise contraction in U.K. economic growth also damaged sentiment by cutting into optimism about global economic recovery prospects, resulting in a sharp selloff for the pound and leaving it as the major underperformer on the day.
Late Friday, the euro was at $1.4996, from $1.5028 late Thursday. The dollar was at 92.07 yen from 91.28 yen, while the euro was at 138.07 yen from 137.18 yen. The pound suffered the day’s most crushing losses, falling to $1.6307 from $1.6621. The dollar was at 1.0095 Swiss francs from 1.0048 francs.
U.S. stocks were solidly in the red, weighed down by flagging shares of energy companies amid a pullback in oil prices, and the selloff was also informed by a sense that the recent rally past the 10000-point mark for the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasn’t backed by the economic outlook.
That diminished the appetite for risk and forced at least a pause in the dollar’s continuing downtrend against many currencies.
The euro slipped slightly below the psychological $1.5000 threshold against the U.S. currency late Friday as stocks deepened their losses, but that reversal and Friday’s modest correction in a general sense isn’t seen as damaging the euro’s potential to move further above $1.5000 in coming days.
Another major development dimming risk-taking Friday was news from the U.K. that its economy contracted by 0.4% instead of growing by 0.1% as expected, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of economic decline.
While some believe the pound could see some relief from general dollar weakness, the magnitude of Friday’s selloff and the shock to economic expectations could just as likely lead to further decline.
October 24th, 2009 at 12:22 am
and also, in reference to human evolution(and evolution in general),
Charles Darwin: “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge”
seems to be a trend among the misanthropic sages of history.
October 24th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Happy Birthday Barry,
Everyone’s a Scorpio it seems almost. My brothers birthday is tomorrow and my birthday is on 31st October.
October 24th, 2009 at 3:16 am
Happy B-Day dude!
Nurses Got Sick From the Swine Flu Vaccine in Sweden • 190 Adverse Reactions 1 Suspected Death
October 24th, 2009 at 3:26 am
Two pretty good games(Or maybe I’m just getting old enough that they ‘feel’ good):
This is a pretty good tennis game(as long as you guys don’t mind putting on a skirt
) with a great tournament format where you can play some of the greats. This one is pretty addictive. At least it is to me, a tennis fan. I’d definitely put this into the time sink category:
Tennis
Tough 3D pong game
October 24th, 2009 at 5:35 am
Elizabeth Warren is very smart, great thinker, and knows her facts plus she is PASSIVE, what ranckles me is if you watch all the bs the folks they put in charge, like the new SEC guy being 29, lol, this is the best guy for the job………..alot of it is like Bush only hiring yes men………….Warren was hired because she’s passive and plodding and no one will listen too her, pretty simple deal imho.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:44 am
That piece by PEW is High-Grade ProleFeed.
connect it to http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=Macroprudential
to see, another example of, what agitprop looks like..
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/agitprop
and, if you’re, really, interested, see BenBer’s address, available on C-SPAN, given, 22 Oct 009, on the, putative, Topic: Financial Regulation & Oversight at the Wequasset Inn, hosted by the FedRes’ Boston outpost..
October 24th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Pete from CA at 8:55pm your link to the NYMag caught my interest tonight .. was featured here at TBP here in time:
The Dow Zero Insurgency
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/09/i-am-an-amiable-skeptic/
as a pajama-clad crank I wanted to post what I captured as interesting … and state on the Obama WH not change’g the world fast enough for some bloggers and others .. I wondered (as my Senator) why he was such a fast rising star .. BUT I am still happy with him as my POTUS .. I swear sometimes – what do you want a dictator – & am just about 100% sure what you want is the GOP in charge of the dictatorship …. 3rd party races into the mixup .. a woman in charge … what we need is more referendum type democracy and less characters running the show – except the wisdom of masses
now from the Pete in CA link:
“and pajama-clad cranks all vying to explain the complex machinations that got us into this mess and to critique governmental solutions. Sites like Naked Capitalism, Seeking Alpha, the Big Picture, Infectious Greed, Angry Bear, Calculated Risk, and Zero Hedge have hatched communities based on discontent and disbelief, forming a kind of ragtag insurgency against the financial Establishment …… Early on, the readers of these blogs seemed to be a relatively small and disparate group—a smattering of day traders, academics, and people who worked in and around the edges of the financial industry. They were “gold bugs” and “dollar bears” united by their hostility to Wall Street and their conviction that the U.S. economy was heading off a cliff ….. But as his posts got more detailed, a theme began to emerge: Wall Street was a vast conspiracy. Nothing could be trusted. All markets were corrupt. The darker his vision the more popular he became”
http://nymag.com/guides/money/2009/59457/
and a post in that thread by blogger “bigbadworld on 09/28/2009
ZH serves a very important purpose. When financial journalists/bloggers/analysts see something that looks like a conspiracy, talks like a conspiracy and acts like a conspiracy – it is usually because it is one. If the White House is actually monitoring our blogs, I would be very happy. They might just learn some home truths about these complex markets that they are attempting to reign in.”
October 24th, 2009 at 9:39 am
this, that BR had posted in the ‘Think Tank’ is the text of what I was referring to, above, @06:44:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/financial-regulation-and-supervision-after-the-crisis-the-role-of-the-federal-reserve/
October 24th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Pete from CA-
first off- the ZH link from Bergsten is a post by RobotTrader- and his articles are usually humorous- and feature scantily clad models- that is his shtick-
secondly- dude lighten up-
third- why are you defending Raj Rajaratnam and insider trading?
October 24th, 2009 at 11:17 am
me at 6:45am “3rd party races into the mixup* .. a woman in charge … what we need is more referendum type democracy”
is InTrade selling tickets on a Woman POTUS in 2012 yet …it seems heavy in the MSM lately .. since we can’t change the laws fast enough for Conan tobe POTUS maybe Mrs Conan .. seriously it seems heavy in the MSM ….. and on this mansession .. whats the world coming to .. how long before we need 2 heads of household, a working child or two and a walking talking robot .. to make ends meet for capitalism .. ie labor for stuff
* mixup – was meant as mashup .. Candidate C.1 takes 16% from CandA and possibly 5% from CandB … and CandC.2 takes 5% from CandA and possibly 16% from CandB
October 24th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I have a background in networking, both theoretical and practical, and so read the network analysis of the financial crisis with interest. It was at a very high (i.e. abstract and non-technical) level but solid. And the fair inference, though not explicitly drawn by the author, is that we need more free enterprise and less government, sort of the opposite of what little o and his leftist clown troop is up to now.
In network terms, the the system will be more robust with more nodes with richer connectivity between them….and fewer centralized nodes that produce large local clusters. When it wanders back into the main stream, starting maybe nov ‘10 for example, the advice to government would be to promote small business instead of protecting a few favored big ones. And to reduce regulation that inhibits business from adding new partners, all over the world.
As regards Cramer, I subscribed to realmoney for one year before cancelling. In the end it was just too much unfocused commentary and tips on the market. Making investment or speculative decisions on this basis is of course the road to ruin. I think Mr. Cramer’s success on TV has made many people jealous, and as such he engenders hatred far beyond what he deserves. Taken with appropriate number of grains of salt, I have found him entertaining and engaging. Anybody who pays to follow his investement moves for his charitable trust, while, I think that a fool and his money SHOULD be soon parted. I shed no tears.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
@ahab
I am not defending insider trading, I just found that article more interesting than the drivel from zerohedge.
If bergsten’s post was tongue in cheek then I am a sorry that I took it seriously.