The Wall Street Journal – When Is a Default a Default? Hedge-fund manager Mark Brodsky is seeking to push the boundaries of credit-default protection: He is trying to make a claim before a default has even occurred. Mr. Brodsky’s fund, Aurelius Capital Management LP, is claiming a unit of the former TXU Corp. has already… Continue reading What Exactly Do You Own With A CDS Contract?
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch.com – September is the cruelest month Commentary: September on average has been terrible for stocks The stock market definitely has its work cut out for it in September. The month’s historical record is nothing short of dismal, and there doesn’t appear to be any easy way to wriggle… Continue reading ‘Tis The Season To Sell
The Telegraph (UK) – Double-dip fears across the West as confidence crumbles The Western world is at mounting risk of a double-dip recession after key measures of confidence collapsed in both the United States and Europe, with Germany suffering the steepest one-month fall since records began in the 1970s. The US Conference Board’s index of… Continue reading Double-Dip Recession Talk
Comment Yesterday Chicago Federal Reserve president Charlie Evans was on CNBC pleading for more stimulus. To view the interview click on the picture above. Charlie’s interview created a stir because of his forceful argument for QE3 and higher inflation targets. This is not a change of view for Evans. We have thought of him as… Continue reading Charlie Evans
The Financial Times – Analysts scale back US earnings expectations US companies have once again shown double-digit quarterly growth, but analysts are already ratcheting down their expectations for the next quarter. With more than 490 of the companies in the S&P 500 index having reported earnings for the second quarter, the basket of leading US… Continue reading Earnings Estimates
The Wall Street Journal – David Malpass: Beyond the Gold and Bond Bubbles Shouldn’t the Fed try to improve incentives to invest in growing businesses? Treasury bond yields have been at near-record lows and gold prices at record highs, attracting millions of investors into idle assets through coins, exchange-traded funds and even warehousing facilities. This… Continue reading The Federal Reserve, Gold And Treasury Bonds
The Wall Street Journal – Debate Heats Up Over Commodities Holdings A battle is heating up over whether investors in oil and other commodities markets should be required to lift the veil of secrecy that shrouds their trading bets. The debate has simmered in the three years since oil prices spiked to record highs in… Continue reading Evil Speculators
The Financial Times – Martin Wolf: Struggling with a great contraction The authoritative National Bureau of Economic Research of the US does define a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months”. This is to focus on the change in output, rather than its level.… Continue reading Living In A No Growth World
The Wall Street Journal – Who Would Bail Out the European Central Bank? The ECB has been ‘talking its book’ by opposing sovereign debt restructurings Week after week, market watchers hang on the German chancellor’s every pronouncement about the euro-zone’s debt travails, so one might be forgiven for thinking that Germany has been propping up… Continue reading The ECB
Bloomberg.com – S&P Rates Subprime Mortgages Higher Than U.S. Standard & Poor’s is giving a higher rating to securities backed by subprime home loans, the same type of investments that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, than it assigns the U.S. government. S&P is poised to provide AAA grades to 59… Continue reading Subprime Mortgages Are Rated Higher Than The U.S.
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Comment Yesterday Jim Bianco was on Yahoo Finance discussing the divergence between the credit and equity markets. To view the interview click on the picture above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. Yahoo Finance – As Markets Surge, Jim Bianco Urges Caution: “Expect More Losses to Come” Building on last week’s 4.7%… Continue reading Credit vs. Equities