<Click on chart for larger image> MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Apple’s Market Value: To Infinity and Beyond! Apple is now the most valuable company of all time. Shares are rising again this morning, continuing the sharp run-up of the past few weeks that has propelled the tech juggernaut to its all-time high. The stock recently… Continue reading Apple Becomes The Largest Company Ever
CNN Money – Obama should have fired Bernanke a long time ago With the economy limping along just months before the big election, the president is probably wondering if he should have sent his Fed chairman to the unemployment line.In the summer and fall of 2009, President Obama faced a tricky decision: Should he reappoint… Continue reading Bernanke
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Buffett’s Move Raises a Red Flag A decision by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to end a large wager on the municipal-bond market is deepening questions from some investors about the risks of buying debt issued by cities, states and other public entities. The… Continue reading Munis
The Financial Times – Mohamed El-Erian: Spain’s hesitation could cost it dear On the surface, it seems strange: Spain is offered large loans at below-market interest rates, coupled with significant additional support by a regional central bank willing to buy the country’s government debt on the secondary market. Yet the government is reluctant to officially… Continue reading Spain & Greece
The Wall Street Journal – Time to End the Fiction of ‘Frannie’ The case for keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FMCC +5.22% off the government’s books has gotten even weaker. Last week, the Treasury Department said it would change the way the two mortgage giants operate in terms of their government lifelines. Rather than… Continue reading Fannie & Freddie
Business Insider – Does A Watched VIX Ever Boil? Everyone is talking about the VIX — the so-called fear indicator — and how it’s dropping to near record lows, signaling a high degree of complacency in the market. This is taken as evidence that by some as evidence that the market is due for a… Continue reading The VIX
The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Germany backs Draghi bond plan against Bundesbank Germany’s director at the European Central Bank has thrown his weight behind mass purchases of Spanish and Italian debt to prevent the disintegration of the euro, marking a crucial turning point in the eurozone debt crisis. “A currency can only be stable… Continue reading Yet Another Plan To Save The Euro
The Wall Street Journal – Next on Financial Front: A New and Improved Libor? After convincingly impersonating the Keystone Kops for years, U.K. regulators have sprung into action with plans to reform Libor, raising the prospect of a complete overhaul in coming months. If Libor—a gauge of the price at which banks can borrow money… Continue reading LIBOR Reform
Bloomberg.com – How Volcker Launched His Attack on Inflation When Paul Volcker took over as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Aug. 1, 1975, he became a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the panel within the Federal Reserve System responsible for managing credit conditions and interest rates. The… Continue reading A History Lesson On Paul Volcker
Time Business – Junk Bonds: Wall Street’s Newest Bubble? In an effort to nurse the long-ailing global economy, central banks around the world have maintained near-zero short-term interest rates for many years now. The Federal Reserve has even gone so far as to buy up billions of dollars worth of government and mortgage bonds and… Continue reading Junk Bonds
The Wall Street Journal – Epic Stock Rally Finding Few Fans “This is the most disrespected rally I’ve ever seen,” says John Buckingham, who manages about $100 million in two equity funds as chief investment officer at Al Frank Asset Management in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Sluggish trading volumes and continued outflows suggest few investors are… Continue reading Are Stocks Climbing A Wall Of Worry?