Bloomberg – Barry Ritholtz: Laughing Along With the Fed Last week, 1,865 pages of Federal Open Market Committee transcripts from 2008 were released to the public. Bloomberg studied the transcripts, finding, on average, about 25 references to laughter per meeting. This was almost half of the 45 giggles per FOMC meeting noted in 2007. Jim… Continue reading More On Fed Laughter
The Huffington Post – Warren Buffett Says What Wall Street Doesn’t Want You To Hear Wall Street should really hate Warren Buffett. America’s cuddliest billionaire is always treated like a rock star on CNBC or Wall Street or wherever else he appears to spread his folksy investing wisdom. But have you heard the stuff he… Continue reading Buffett Speaks
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Yuan’s Decline Triggers Fears on Leveraged Bets Currency’s Recent Fall Is Partially Attributed to Investors Looking to Exit Trades Before Losses Soar The sudden slide of the Chinese currency over the last week has raised fears that the yuan is nearing levels that could… Continue reading The Yuan
CNBC – 5 years later, Rick Santelli ‘tea party’ rant revisited Five years ago, the American political landscape changed due in large part to one fed-up CNBC journalist. Rick Santelli, who covers the bond markets at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, had seen enough as Washington policymakers began funneling what would be trillions of dollars to… Continue reading 5-Years Ago, Santelli Rant Starts The Tea Party Movement
John Lefevre, the man behind @GSElevator DealB%k (NYT Blog) – Andrew Ross Sorkin: @GSElevator Tattletale Exposed (He Was Not in the Goldman Elevator) A three-year parlor game has been taking place on Wall Street to identify the Goldman Sachs employee behind a Twitter account that purports to reveal the uncensored comments overheard in the firm’s… Continue reading Goldman Sachs’ Elevator
The Wall Street Journal – Inside the Showdown Atop Pimco, the World’s Biggest Bond Firm After clashing with Pimco co-founder Bill Gross, CEO Mohamed El-Erian decided to leave the fund giant. Mr. Gross—by his own admission, a demanding boss—had long showed respect for Mr. El-Erian and indicated that the younger man eventually would take over… Continue reading The Pimco/Gross/El-Erian Saga
The Federal Reserve – FOMC: Transcripts and Other Historical Materials, 2008 The New York Times – Fed’s Aid in 2008 Crisis Stretched Worldwide Tuesday morning, Sept. 16, 2008, was perhaps the darkest time for the United States economy in modern memory — even if nobody knew it quite yet. It was barely 24 hours removed… Continue reading 2008 Transcripts
<Click on chart for larger image> MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Red Flag for Gold: Fear May Be Fading Experienced gold analysts are warning clients to be careful: If the fears subside, the price of gold could do the same. “Gold goes up as an insurance policy and then it is sold at a loss when… Continue reading Gold
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Dealers Seek U.S. Treasury’s Help in Regaining Grip on Debt The Wall Street banks known as primary dealers because they get to trade with the Federal Reserve and raise the money that the U.S. government needs to operate are concerned they are being marginalized because of advances… Continue reading The Primary Dealers Want Their Business Back
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MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Ackman Sees Big Upside to Fannie, Freddie Bet William Ackman is taking a big gamble on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but recently said at an investment conference he sees a huge upside on the bet: the hedge-fund manager said he believes the common shares of the mortgage-finance giants could be… Continue reading Fannie & Freddie