The New York Times – Robert H. Frank: Austerity Won’t Work if the Roof Is Leaking I RECENTLY spent a week in Berlin, where the entire city seemed under construction. In every direction, cranes and other heavy equipment dominated the landscape. Although many projects are in the private sector, innumerable others — including bridge and… Continue reading Austerity vs. Spending
The Wall Street Journal – Deadly Train Derailment Fuels Crude-by-Rail Concerns The deadly weekend explosion of a runaway crude-carrying train in Quebec threatens to ratchet up scrutiny of rising crude-by-rail shipments on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, amid a boom in North American oil production. In both countries, shipments of crude by rail have… Continue reading Transporting Crude By Rail
Zero Hedge (blog) – The Most Expensive Gas In The World At an incredible $9.98 per gallon, Turkey has the most expensive gasoline in the world – almost triple that of the US – closely followed by Norway at $9.97. In fact, as Bloomberg notes, the US can celebrate its good fortune at being only… Continue reading Prices At The Pump
The Atlantic – Mohamed A. El-Erian: Big Money vs. Bernanke: Who’s Right About the Economy? The last few weeks have seen yet more shots fired in the fascinating war of words between the Federal Reserve and hedge fund managers. Yet this spectacle is essentially a sideshow. The real battle is elsewhere. It relates to a… Continue reading Hedge Fund Managers Struggle
Reuters – A cruel, cruel summer for U.S. credit funds It’s shaping up to be a brutal summer for bond investors as the bloodbath in the U.S. credit market shows no signs of letting up, even as nearly $80 billion has already been wiped from funds. The past six weeks have been humbling for well-known… Continue reading Credit Funds’ Rough Ride
Bloomberg.com – Why We Underestimate Risk by Omitting Time as a Factor Suppose I offer you a simple gamble. Throw a dice: If you get a six, you win $10; if not, you lose $1. The loss is more likely; the win brings more money. Willing to play? The generally accepted way for deciding in… Continue reading Quantifying Risk
The Financial Times – ETFs close in record numbers despite industry boom Record numbers of exchange traded funds have closed so far this year, underscoring the difficulty many of the investment vehicles face in gaining traction among investors, despite the industry’s overall boom in popularity in recent years. About 117 ETFs have shuttered in the… Continue reading Closing ETFs
<Click on chart for larger image> MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – What Bear Market? Japan Stocks Are Surging Again After Big Fall Don’t look now, but Japanese stocks are marching higher and appear to be heading toward a technical bull market just weeks after falling into a technical bear market. After plunging over 20% from their… Continue reading The Nikkei Is A Gambler’s Paradise
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Federal Government Sued by Hedge Fund Over Fannie Bailout Hedge fund Perry Capital LLC sued the federal government late Sunday, charging it improperly moved last year to recoup the profits of Fannie Mae FNMA +4.38% and Freddie Mac, FMCC +1.97% the bailed-out mortgage-finance companies.… Continue reading A New Lawsuit In The Fannie/Freddie Bailout
The Wall Street Journal – Larry Summers Circles as Fed Opening Looms Former top Obama Adviser Is Said to be Interested in Taking Over for Bernanke President Barack Obama is expected to pick the next Federal Reserve chairman within a matter of months. Once again, Larry Summers is available. Mr. Summers, a former top economic… Continue reading No Janet Yellen?
The Wall Street Journal – Part-Time America A better jobs report in June, except for the impact of ObamaCare. The U.S. labor market may be gaining a little more steam, judging by Friday’s June jobs report. Imagine how much better it might do if ObamaCare weren’t encouraging employers to hire so many part-time workers. The… Continue reading Part-Time Workers
The Financial Times – Wolfgang Münchau: Forward guidance only works if you do it right The ECB appears more pessimistic about the eurozone than I am Mario Draghi said the European Central Bank would commit to keeping interest rates low for an “extended period of time”. Should we think of this as forward guidance? The… Continue reading ECB Forward Guidance