April 7, 2008

Bubbles are Good For You Because ... They Are

I'm generally a fan of efficient market theorists Eugena Fame, but I have to confess his argument in a recent Minneapolis Fed interview that bubbles aren't bubbles leaves me cold. Region: Some economists—you know them well—say that the stock market...

Quote of the Day: Commodities Markets

Quote of the day comes from commodities markets -- lead, to be specific. Here is John Deave, a retired barrister and churchwarden in Stathern, England, talking about the spate of lead roof thefts at local churches. It is driven, of...

San Diego Homes Bottoming?

I'm seeing more and more of this sort of thing in existing home sales listings around San Diego. Not sure if it constitutes bottoming in the local market, but it is interesting: Sales History Historical home sale price (1): $736,500...

The Myth of the Angel Investor

A few people are wringing their hands at news that Foundation Capital has raised a $750mm fund, using it as an excuse to wax despairingly about the disappearance of early-stage investors from the market. After all, you can't very well...

Pete Peterson on Subprime, Bailouts, etc.

Good Charlie Rose interview with Blackstone's Peter Peterson. Subjects include bailouts, subprime, etc....

Yahoo's Jerry Yang Needs to Get on With Things

By all accounts Yahoo's Jerry Yang is a nice guy. But he is beginning to bug me, especially with his latest "Dear Steve" note to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer. Purportedly a calm and rational letter laying out why Yahoo continues to...

The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Problem

This is just too easy, but it's hard not to be amused at the mortgage troubles faced by the Mortgage Bankers Association. It is being forced to pay much higher prices than it expected on its new Washington offices, and...

Graphical Look at Real House Price Declines

Nice figure in a current IMF paper on the global boom-bust cycle in residential real estate. Here we can compare what's been happening in a host of countries all finding real estate going off the rails at once: Denmark, Spain,...

Alan Greenspan vs. His Critics

Apparently recent criticism of Alan Greenspan's March 17th column on risk in the Financial Times got under the ex-maestro's skin. He has responded today with a thin-skinned and consciously obscurantist defense, one that you would do well to read in...