Real-Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – The 7 Biggest Risks to Financial Stability 1) The vulnerability to runs in wholesale funding markets that can lead to destabilizing fire sales; 2) The housing finance system that continues to rely heavily on government and agency guarantees, while private mortgage activity remains muted; 3) Operational risks that can cause… Continue reading Risks To Financial Stability
The Wall Street Journal – Drop in Borrowing Squeezes Banks Businesses Hoarding Cash Is the Latest Blow to Lenders; ‘We Didn’t Expect the Wall We Hit’ U.S. companies are pulling back on borrowing, which could put a drag on the limping U.S. economy and make it even harder for banks to break out of their… Continue reading Lending Slows
The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard:The great Spanish nation can end its crucifixion at will by leaving EMU The mind goes numb. Spanish unemployment jumped by yet another 237,000 people in the first quarter to 6.2 million, or 27.2pc. This is equivalent to roughly 8.3 million in Britain, or 39 million in the United States.… Continue reading The Pain In Spain
The Financial Times – Gillian Tett: US mortgage market depends on state support This week, the American economy passed a small milestone. For the first time in six years, a Gallup survey showed that just over half of Americans now expect house prices to rise over the next year. That is a sharp contrast to… Continue reading Is The Mortgage Market Still A Free Market?
The New York Times – CARMEN M. REINHART and KENNETH S. ROGOFF: Reinhart and Rogoff: Responding to Our Critics LAST week, we were sent a sharply worded paper by three researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, at the same time it was sent to journalists. It asserted serious errors in our article “Growth in… Continue reading Reinhart and Rogoff Fire Back
The Wall Street Journal – Renaissance Funds Take a Tumble Two funds run by Renaissance Technologies LLC, the giant hedge-fund firm founded three decades ago by mathematician James Simon and now headed by two of his lieutenants, have stumbled in April, with one fund losing about 6% in the month. The losses were largely driven… Continue reading Hedge Fund Struggles – The Renaissance Technologies Edition
Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Obama Wants to Make Sure You Don’t Retire Rich A bullet point on Page 18 of President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget sounds ominous: “Prohibit Individuals from Accumulating Over $3 Million in Tax-Preferred Retirement Accounts.” That it appears in a section titled “Strengthening the Middle Class” is odd since such a proposal… Continue reading Capping IRA Accounts
Barron’s – Doomsday? SocGen Predicts S&P to 450, Gold at $10,000 While most of the market seems to be getting behind stocks these days, even allowing for the occasional blip, there are of course some bearish folks out there. Not just bearish, but extremely bearish, and willing to fly in the face of the rest… Continue reading Now This Is Bearish!
The Wall Street Journal – From ‘Fabulous Fab’ to Grad Student Fabrice Tourre is trying to get on with his life. Since he first emerged three years ago as the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +0.58% employee at the center of one of the most bruising regulatory battles in the firm’s history, Mr. Tourre has… Continue reading Fabulous Fab Update
None Today
Comment Today at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 BST), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. In a November 4, 2010 Washington Post op-ed , the day after QE2 was approved, Ben Bernanke defended FOMC actions with the… Continue reading Can The Federal Reserve Create A Sense Of Permanence?
Hartford Courant – UConn Students Might Get A New $100 Million Recreation Center Gym Would Be Financed By Student Fees, Not Taxpayer Dollars UConn students, who have grumbled for years about inadequate fitness facilities, could get a $100 million recreation and wellness center with a 50-meter pool, climbing wall, synthetic turf field, room for yoga… Continue reading Anecdotal Evidence Of Why Student Loans Are Rising