February 3, 2009
Assuming we’re not creating a parallel banking system, the following is a good plan for how to handle toxic asset purchases in a rational and transparent way: I'd like to see it done something like this. We form a new...
Bernie Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos will be testifying tomorrow in Congress on how the SEC dropped the ball in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. The WSJ has obtained a copy of his document submission/testimony, and it’s all here. Weirdly fascinating. I...
Interesting piece by Asha Bangalore today at NTRS on various “what if” economic scenarios going forward. Here is the list, and you can read the piece for her (surprisingly sanguine) take: What if U.S. consumers abstain from spending? What if...
Interesting factoid from GM’s results today: GM estimated the industry’s annualised selling rate for cars at 9.8m in the US in January, down from 10.3m in December, and less than China’s estimated annualised selling rate of 10.7m last month. [via...
We need a replacement expression for the hackneyed phrase “pork barrel”. While it was once evocative, it has become stale and no longer evokes the necessary disgust with the awfulness of too much of government spending. Suggestions and ideas, please....
The Smart Growth Manifesto (Umair Haque) Sprott says U.S. depression will double gold price (Bloomberg) Is the U.S. a Japan 2? The Return of Japan’s “Free Fallin” Stag-Deflation and the Risks of a U.S. (RGE) New Deal deniers and...
The FT’s savvy columnist Martin Wolf on Charlie Rose talking the World Economic Forum and the ongoing global recession/depression:...
Continuing on my with my discussion of consumer discretionary spending, especially with respect to restaurants, here is a useful NPD chart of y-o-y restaurant industry traffic over the last few years. The data points in September and October were epochally...
Could corporate debt defaults turn into subprime for the insurers? Interesting new report out arguing as much: Corporate debt defaults may cost U.S. life insurers “substantially” more than losses on securities linked to subprime, Alt-A and commercial mortgages, said Eric...
Default swap spreads increase markedly on Japanese electronics names, led by Toshiba (DW) Fitch downgrades California 2008/09 RANs (Fitch) Foreclosing the Crisis (TNR/Glaeser) Pershing Square's Annual Investor Presentation (Dealbreaker) Debt detox, purging and parasite cleansing. (Debtonation) Veneroso: Japan on...
