February 17, 2009
Quiz question: Every developed country in the world has seen its consumer confidence fall over the last two years. Which developed country has seen the smallest two-year decline in its consumer confidence index? 1-2-3, go! First to come up with...
Summit of Mount Laguna near here today after snow, with the radio antenna emerging from cloud:...
But insolvency is not "insolvency under a stress test", any more than you can say someone is "dead" if they are dead assuming they were run over by a bus. -- Falkenblog...
Good new Martin Wolf column out comparing the U.S. experience in this deflationary deleveraging with what has happened in Japan: The good news is that the asset price bubbles themselves were far smaller in the US than in Japan (see...
Clip ‘n’ save: Despite the gloomy outlook in the U.S. and global economy Fitch believes sports-related ratings have financial flexibility to manage the uncertainties facing the sports industry in 2009. - Fitch Ratings (“U.S. Sports Outlook 2009: Are They...
Bank failures by the numbers (Real Property Alpha) Should We Be Worried About Dubai? (Setser) U.S. Retail Sales of Non-Games Software Experience near Double-Digit Decline in 2008 (NPD) The most embarrassing G8 moments of all time (FP) Sports industry...
There is a somewhat surreal correction in the current Economist with respect to evolution and America: Correction: Evolution Feb 12th 2009 From The Economist print edition In "Unfinished business", published on February 7th, we said in the United States a...
Speaking of Stanford International, it strikes me, based on this performance data's raging unlikelihood, that maybe the financial firm ran on a version of improbability drive: It worked so well because it could work at all. That sort of thing....
I'm highly fond of the "blame the SEC" strategy during a Ponzi scheme. As I recall, Madoff tried something similar. Either way, check this clip from the SEC litigation release concerning Stanford International:...
I'm late to this, but here you are, your moment of morning Ponzi zen: SEC Charges R. Allen Stanford, Stanford International Bank for Multi-Billion Dollar Investment Scheme FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2009-26 Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 — The Securities and...
As the introduction to a Foreign Policy special issue on the "axis of upheaval", Niall Ferguson writes about why Somalia, Russia, and Mexico (and Iraq, and Iran, and possibly Thailand and Indonesia) will be countries affecting our near future. Economic...
From Rolfe at OptionArmageddon, the latest bank leverage stats. Still some Leverage Numbers of Unusual Size out there, even if we are seeing sprightly shrinkage at Morgan Stanley and Goldman. Something seems funky with the GE number, however, and I...
Some big currency moves today, with a general flight underway to U.S. dollars. Check the cross rate percentage changes with any of the eastern European markets, for example -- and Poland and Hungary in particular. [via FXStreet]...
From my friends at TheStreet, an animated look at U.S. bank failures. Nicely done....
I have to confess that while in many ways I think it would be the best thing for California, there still seems little chance California will default on any of its bond obligations. Either it will find one more Republican...
From late last week, the IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn on the Charlie Rose show talking the credit crisis and global recession/depression thingie:...
Good Juan Enriquez talk from the recent TED conference in Long Beach on the credit crisis, and some aspects of life on the other side....
The January 2009 container traffic data is out for the Port of Singapore, and it's about as bad as expected. Traffic was down 20% year-over-year for the month, which is worse than we saw in December, even if the rate...
State Budget Troubles Worsen (CBPP) California to notify 20,000 state workers today that their jobs may be eliminated (Reuters) Good analysis of the CBO analysis of the final stimulus bill, including the point that as a percentage of GDP...
Frankly, I'm tired of the entire discussion about the merits, or lack thereof, of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner save-the-banks non-plan plan, if mostly because I think he and his merry band of economists discarded the best idea first, that of...
